GHAZALE (78 Wellesley East, at Church, 416-922-4417 other locations: 661 College, at Beatrice, 416-534-7441 504 Bloor West, at Bathurst, 416-537-4417) Complete meals for $10 per person, including all taxes, tip and a juice. Average main $3. Open daily 9 am to 4 am (9 am to 5 am Bloor/College). Unlicensed. Cash only. Access: barrier-free (no washrooms at Bloor/College). Rating: NNN
Food isn’t often a priority in the Village. Best ass, no contest.
[rssbreak]
But you can’t beat Ghazale, the modest family-run Middle Eastern hole in the wall that started up under the marquee of the Bloor rep house some 10 years ago before expanding to College and now upstairs from the Cellar.
If you’re looking for a noon-hour quickie, that’s in the basement. But if you want a quick and dirt-cheap Pride pit stop, you’ve come to the right place.
Sure, there’s better falafel in the nabe – hello, Pita Break (565 Yonge, at Wellesley, 416-968-1032) – but Ghazale’s fabulously sour veggie cabbage rolls ($2.99) and Greco-Roman grape leaves ($1.25) are the Mediterranean wrapped in love, rich with minty short-grain rice, oily pesto and chickpeas.
Or go with a four-choice combo ($6.99): garlicky eggplant moussaka coupled with stewed lima beans, pickled beet ‘n’ kidney bean salad and raw cabbage slaw (all $1.99/$2.79 small, $3.49/$4.99 large à la carte).
A buck-a-cup lentil soup and a house-squeezed glass of antioxidant blackberry juice ($1.99) will have you back in the beer tent before the E kicks in.
