SATURDAY
Bi Bim Bap
950 Eglinton W, at Rostrevor, 416-787-7423, stonebowl.ca.
Bibimbap can be found at most Seoul food restaurants, but only Sam Lee and Janet Yun’s casual Korean cantina is dedicated to this meal-in-one rice casserole. And while Seoul food isn’t generally very veggie-friendly, this often innovative kitchen has much for even vegans to enjoy.
Best: seven different versions all told, the traditional a bowl of short-grain white rice garnished with seared sirloin, veggies – raw, wilted or slightly pickled spinach, carrot, cucumber, zucchini, burdock, daikon and seaweed – and a runny fried egg the Seed, a dairy-free take with black sesame, sunflower, pumpkin and poppy seeds and grilled portobello over mirin-marinated brown rice, both in sweet house-made red pepper ‘n’ apple gochujang hot sauce.
Complete meals for $18 per person, including tax, tip and a mug of barley tea. Average main $11. Open for dinner Saturday 5 to 10 pm. Licensed. Access: barrier-free, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNN
Black Skirt
974 College, at Rusholme, 416-532-7424, blackskirtrestaurant.com.
After making a splash at Wish a few years ago, Rosa Gallé and Aggie Decina strike out on their own to bring old-school rustic Italiana back to the former Little Italy. A charming room, engaging service and a no-nonsense card of reasonably priced Sicilian home-cooking classics add up to a trip back in time.
Best: to start, meaty white anchovies and garlicky chopped tomato on grilled Riviera baguette barely grilled skewers of lamb speducci splashed with olive oil pressed muffuletta panini spread with black-olive tapenade and piled with capicolla, mortadella, sweet and hot soppressato and giardiniere pickles beefy breaded veal sandwiches in Decina-family tomato ragu dressed with Provolone and grilled hot banana peppers secondi like veal ‘n’ ricotta ravioli finished with butter, freshly shaved parmigianno and fried sage leaves grilled New Zealand lamb chops in a balsamic reduction sided with mashed ‘n’ baked potatoes with mozzarell’ and sautéed rapini to finish, textbook tiramisu and pistachio-studded canolli.
Complete dinners for $50 per person (lunches $25), including tax, tip and a glass of Chianti. Average main $25/$13. Open for dinner Saturday 5 to 10 pm. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms on same floor. Rating: NNNN
Butter Chicken Factory
556 Parliament, at Prospect, 416-964-7583.
No longer Timothy’s Tikka House, this spinoff of Saffron Tree and post-Debu Saha Biryani House specializes in just one thing – super-tender slow-cooked chicken in a rich tomato cream. Other north-Indian-style mains show just as much expertise, while service and decor are also several steps above the norm. Delivery in the immediate area, too!
Best: butter chicken three ways, including boneless breast or dark meat on the bone in mildly numbing tomato sauce punched with spice instead of whipping cream, sided, like all mains, with basmati rice dressed with caramelized onion and saffron oil starters like the Sizzler, smoky tandoori chicken in yogurt marinade, skewered lamb kabobs, shell-on jumbo shrimp and blocks of char-blistered paneer melt-on-the-fork aloo gobhi adraki, aka potato cauliflower casserole explosive lamb vindaloo in nutty gravy to sop, garlic naan.
Complete dinners for $30 per person (lunches $20), including tax, tip and an Indian lager. Average main $13/$10. Open for dinner Saturday 5 to 10:30 pm. Licensed. Access: barrier-free, washrooms on same floor. Rating: NNN
SUNDAY
Pearl Court
633 Gerrard E, at Broadview, 416-463-8778.
This busy east-side eatery calls itself the best Chinese restaurant in Toronto and has a wall plastered with rave reviews from the 80s to prove it. It may have been true back then, but today it’s a solid mid-tier Cantonese cantina with a second, more intriguing Southeast Asian-influenced menu.
Best: from the latter, house Special Noodle, Swatow-style wide rice noodles slippery with sesame oil, strewn with sweet red pepper strips and zucchini, garnished with raw bean sprouts Spicy Vietnamese Beef, large pieces of pounded steak paired with carrot threads, bell pepper and button mushrooms, kicked with Thai basil and dried red chili in sweet, gloopy gravy be warned that Paper Wrapped Chicken is not a plateful of egg rolls but eight parchment-encased bundles of juicy deboned thigh in five-spice with coriander leaf, so just eat the contents deep-fried spring rolls stuffed with finely ground pork deep-fried soft shell crab (“as seen on Citytv!”).
Complete meals for $30 per person ($15 at lunch), including tax, tip and a domestic beer. Average main $10/$7. Open for dim sum Sunday 8 am to 4 pm. Licensed. Access: barrier-free, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNN
Pearl Harbourfront
207 Queens Quay W, at York, 416-203-1233, pearlharbourfront.ca.
Set in Harbourfront’s Queens Quay Terminal, this chic Asian dim sum palace has been around since the 80s, first as Pink Pearl , then with its amended handle since it moved to its current digs on the building’s south/lake side. Gracious servers in crisp white jackets work the room with carts daily, while at night an à la carte card of haute regional Chinese banquet dishes kicks in. Bonus: knockout view of the lake!
Best: from the carts, Pan-Fried Hockey Pucks, a golden quartet of crisply seared rice-paper potstickers stuffed with shrimp and wilted scallions deep-fried Treasure Wontons exploding with minced seafood stuffing barbecue pork pie, puff pastries filled with sugary char siu pork appropriately plump shrimp har gow pork siu mai topped with butterflied shrimp and garden peas retro comfort-food-style shrimp toasts to finish, flaky custard tarts still warm from the oven.
Complete dim sum meals for $25 per person, including tax, tip and a pot of green tea. Average dim sum $4. Open for dim sum Sunday 10:30 am to 3:30 pm. Licensed. Rating: NNNN
Rol San
323 Spadina, at St Andrew, 416-977-1128.
Chinatown’s most popular dim sum destination, this retro Cantonese cantina can get particularly hectic. No wonder servers are grumpy. And don’t let them stick you in the front room with the tourists and first-timers. Past an open kitchen, a second more spacious and atmospheric room – think Hong Kong disco – handles the overflow. Warning: count on a wait at the door, especially Saturdays and Sundays.
Best: from the dim sum card, pan-fried turnip or scallion pancakes deep fried battered shrimp with Miracle Whip multi-textured soup dumplings stuffed with shrimp and mushroom in briny broth bean-curd skin wrapped around minced pork in oyster sauce sticky rice in lotus leaf respectable shrimp har gow deep-fried shrimp with chive cake beef short ribs in black bean sauce from the à la carte menu, steamed live sea bass in black bean sauce ground pork with Chinese long beans.
Complete dim sum meals for $15 per person, including tax, tip and a pot of green tea. Average dim sum $2. Open for dim sum Sunday 9:30 am to 4 pm. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNN
