Welcome to NOW’s new food column, Takeout Five. While New Toronto Restaurants goes on hiatus, we’re spotlighting just a small handful of the many, many excellent Toronto restaurants offering delivery or takeout during COVID-19. Join us here every week until this whole mess is over.
To see our full list of new delivery and takeout options during the pandemic, click here.
Ghadir
Maybe one of the best things about my move to East York was ending up in the delivery zone for this Middle Eastern meat market, which makes a mighty mean shawarma. (The $20 plate option with rice or fries is usually good for two medium-size meals get pomegranate molasses on the side and drizzle it on your meat for a truly transcendent experience.)
But if that sales pitch isn’t enough to give them your business, Ghadir also has a long history of charitable giving, including offering meals to the hungry during Ramadan. COVID-19 is no exception last weekend, the Ghadir crew went to Scarborough General to serve lunch for healthcare workers battling the pandemic.
1846 Lawrence East, 416-750-7404, ghadirmeatmarket.com
HOW TO ORDER: Takeout (in-house app / phone), delivery (UberEats, Doordash, SkipThe Dishes).
Project Gigglewater
Toronto’s new booze delivery rules are strict about only allowing pre-sealed vessels of alcohol, like bottles of wine or cans of beer. But what of the cocktail bars? Will their housemade syrups and bitters find safe harbour in these stormy waters?
Project Gigglewater is one of the first cocktail outfits in town to start offering cocktail delivery. While they’re limited to selling sealed bottles of alcohol, they can go wild with the fixins. Cocktail kits cost about $60 and get you up to eight drinks, in case you really want to kick up your heels one evening on the couch. Check their Insta story highlights for the full list of what’s available.
1369 Dundas West, @projectgigglewater
HOW TO ORDER: Takeout or delivery (Instagram DM).
Uncle Mikey’s (Dylan To Go)
Instead of just slapping their menu online – which, let’s face it, doesn’t make much sense for a lot of affected restos – Dundas small plates joint Uncle Mikey’s has created an all-new concept, Dylan To Go. (Fittingly, it’s named for the nephew who suggested the name for chef Michael Kim’s restaurant.)
So far, Kim’s takeout menu has focused on “health conscious K-food,” including kimchi (six different varieties of kimchi) and banchan, plus a laundry list of wine and sake options. Bibimbap and Korean fried chicken burgers are available on the weekend.
And if that wasn’t enticing enough, there’s pantry items like bottles of chartreuse-green wild-ferment yuzu/habanero/jalapeno extract made with kimchi brine. My day-15-quarantine-brain is very curious to know how it would taste on boxed President’s Choice-brand mac and cheese.
1597 Dundas West, 416-537-8973, eatunclemikeys.com
HOW TO ORDER: Through website (preorder only).
Momo Hut & Gardens
They’re a considerable ways away from momo central in Parkdale – and this Danforth mom and pop shop still took the first-ever Best Momos category in our Reader’s Choice poll last year.
The honour was well-deserved, for a number of reasons: First, their momos are delicious (and beautiful, thanks to a rainbow of veggie-dyed wrappers). But they also cater to all kinds of dietary needs, with a whole slew of veggie and vegan options like feta, spinach and vermicelli (a personal fave) or kale, curry and non-dairy cheese. Don’t worry, meat-eaters – the lamb and beef dumplings are still bomb.
They’re available on all conceivable delivery apps if you tag them on Instagram, you get 10 per cent off your order, and – if it helps, and I think it does – the owners are very nice.
401 Danforth, 416-363-8580, @momohutandgarden
HOW TO ORDER: Takeout (Ritual, 416-363-8580), delivery (UberEats, DoorDash, Foodora, SkipTheDishes)
Anatolia
One of the few places in Toronto offering Turkish dining, this strip-mall spot near Kipling station has been quietly turning out delicious mezes and manti for well over 15 years. This week, chef-owner Ayse Aydemir announced reduced takeout prices across the board in an effort to give back to the community: “We are thankful to our guests who have been supporting Anatolia until today,” Aydemir wrote. Etobicoke, if there was ever a time to order a million tiny beef dumplings smothered in melted butter and yogurt sauce, it’s now.
5112 Dundas West, 416-207-0596, anatoliarestaurant.com
HOW TO ORDER: Takeout by phone
@nataliamanzocco
