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Food Food & Drink

Weekend eating: December 1-2

Saturday

La Carnita

501 College, at Palmerston, 416-964-1555, lacarnita.com. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Grand Electric in Parkdale must be particularly chuffed. So what if both taquerias appropriated the formula – trendy tacos, hard liquor and harder tunes – from Big Star Tacos in Chicago? Smooth service and the lack of a lineup most nights make the somewhat higher prices that much easier to stomach. Best: owner chef Andrew Richmond’s signature In Cod We Trust fish taco of battered wild Atlantic cod, pickled red cabbage and tart Granny Smith apple lashed with lime, crema fresca, spicy tahini-like Voltron sauce Pollo Frito with southern-style fried chicken in peanut mole sauce dressed with pickled napa cabbage and tomato salsa deep-fried avocado with black beans and peppery chipotle sauce house-made chorizo with pickled red onion and sharp cojita cheese, all on fresh La Tortilleria tortillas tongue tostadas topped with grilled pineapple and beet sprouts in hot sauce halved avocados stuffed with ripe mango, toasted pumpkin seeds and Hostess Hickory Sticks fashioned from deep-fried plantain tortilla chips dusted with powdered ancho chili sided with chipotle-spiked chicken liver pâté charred corn on the cob slathered in yogurty crema fresca and anejo cheese paletas – Mexican popsicles – in flavours like key lime pie coated with crushed graham crackers, and salted dulce de leche with crushed chicharrón. Complete meals for $40 per person, including tax, tip and a pint of micro-suds. Average taco $5. Open for dinner Saturday 5 to 11 pm. No reservations. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNN

Hanoi 3 Seasons on Queen E

1135 Queen E, at Larchmount, 416-469-3010, hanoi3seasons.com. Owner Hai Luke Tran trades on the success of Toronto’s only North Vietnamese eatery by launching a second Seasons in suddenly chi-chi Leslieville. Sporting chic Southeast Asian antiques – temple benches, intricately carved screens – the new room is even smarter than the original. Also: 588 Gerrard E, at Broadview, 416-463-9940. Best: from a virtually identical menu, start with Hanoi’s signature dish, Hen, baby clams in chili-turmeric sauce sided with black sesame seed crackers rice-paper-wrapped spring rolls stuffed with minced sausage and sided with delicate calamari fritters laced with dill (Cha Gio Cha Muc) meaty green New Zealand mussels steamed in lemongrass satay grilled grouper with dill and chilies over vermicelli and pho fixin’s. Complete dinners for $30 per person (lunches $20), including tax, tip and a glass of house wine. Average main $9/$8. Open for dinner Saturday 5 to 10 pm. Licensed. Access: short bump at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNN

Sugo

582 Church, at Dundonald, 416-929-9108, sugotrattoria.ca. No longer the unpronouncable Voglie, Lia Buggemi’s rustic southern Italian trat was doing nonna della cucina five years before it became cucina alla moda. An authentic kitchen, two gorgeous garden patios and a lively late-night lounge make Sugo one of the hottest boîtes on the strip. Best: to start, alternating layers of vine-ripened Roma tomatoes and creamy fior di latte on a bed of organic greens doused with nutty basil pesto and buttery olive oil olives incassati – deep-fried house-made Casalinga pork sausage meatballs stuffed with green olives stuffed with salty diced pimento irregularly shaped thin-crusted Neapolitan-style pizzas dressed with family-recipe San Marzano tomato sauce, crumbled sausage, local ricotta, fire-roasted red peppers and house-pickled peperoncini chilies feathery gnocchi in sauce topped with beefy veal meatballs, fresh basil and shaved parmigiano to finish, tiramisu lashed with chocolate, mascarpone, Marsala and Illy espresso. Complete dinners for $45 per person (lunches $30), including taxes, tip and a glass of vino. Average main $16. Open for dinner Saturday 5 to 11 pm. Bar till close. Licensed. Access: six steps at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNN

Sunday

Bristol Yard

146 Christie, at Pendrith, 647-716-6583. With its period showbiz 8 x 10 glossies on the wall – Keith Moon, Sandie Shaw, Oscar Wilde, the Kray twins – and classic 60s mod soundtrack, ex-Blowup DJ Davy Love’s 20-seat luncheonette is the perfect evocation of a proper British caff. Why, he even makes his meat pies from scratch! Best: beans on toast, here updated as a white navy and kidney bean stew in sweet tomato sauce with crumbled Stilton cheese on thick slices of whole wheat toast the Full Monty, a massive fry-up of two eggs any style, house-made sausage, thick rashers of artisanal bacon, more beans, sautéed mushrooms, smoked home fries, grilled tomato and fried bread the Glasgow cheeseburger, Lorne sausage in sausage gravy on fried potato scones the Maradona, more fried bread dressed with rare grilled steak in spicy chimichurri sauce French toast encrusted with Rice Crispies sided with fresh fruit and clotted cream. Complete rock ‘n’ roll brunches for $20 per person, including tax, tip and a cuppa. Average main $12. Open for brunch Sunday 10 am to 4 pm. No reservations. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms on same floor. Rating: NNNN

Gallery Grill

7 Hart House Circle, at Wellesley, 416-978-2445. Once a private U of T faculty club, the restaurant in Hart House’s Great Hall still feels exclusive, from its soaring Gothic Revival stonework to its Mission-style furniture and coat-of-arms china. Veteran chef Suzanne Baby’s seasonally shifting card reflects local bounty at its best. Best: to begin, cheesy gougères with house-made almond butter raw zucchini ribbons dusted with toasted panko in preserved lemon vinaigrette locally sourced mains like roasted Georgian Bay whitefish over spicy apple ‘n’ scallion salad in Berkshire bacon vinaigrette house-made lamb merguez sausage in apple cider sauce over lemon ricotta pancakes to finish, Hart House Farm maple syrup crème brûlée to drink, grapefruit spritzers. Complete brunches/lunches for $35 per person, including tax, tip and a sweet sherry. Average main $15. Open Sunday 11 am to 2 pm. Reservations required. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNNNN

Momofuku Noodle Bar

190 University, at Adelaide W, 647-253-8000, momofuku.com/toronto/noodle-bar-to. For those who’ve experienced celebu-chef David Chang’s original storefront on Manhattan’s funky Lower East Side, the imported version in the super-luxe Shangri-La Hotel will come as something of a disappointment. Sure, the new joint’s bigger – making for shorter lineups, and there almost always is one – but the space itself looks like a Spring Rolls franchise from 10 years ago. The menu is also much shorter includes none of Chang’s sensational Milk Bar desserts. To get those, you have to pony up the big bucks at his Daisho or Shoto upstairs. Best: in whatever random order the kitchen sends out, Chang’s signature ramen, toothsome of noodle, intense of bacon-infused pork broth, dressed with very soft-poached egg, sweetly roasted pork belly and shredded shoulder al dente vegetarian mein in ginger-scallion sauce toasted rice cakes with sesame seeds in spicy sweet ‘n’ sour Red Dragon sauce atomic kimchi stew with more Chang-style pig but while they’re tasty enough, his pork-stuffed steamed buns smeared with hoisin pale next to those of the Banh Mi Boys. Complete meals for $35 per person, including tax, tip and a Steam Whistle. Average main $15. Open for lunch Sunday 11:30 am to 3 pm. No reservations. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNN

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