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
Sabai Sabai
225 Church, at Dundas E, 647-748-4225, sabaisabaito.ca. Sukhothai’s Nuit and Jeff Regular bounce back from Khao San Road with their tastiest Thai trat yet. Just don’t come looking for nuclear meltdowns. Instead of heat for heat’s sake, chef Nuit layers her spicing to allow the subtle nuances of lime, ginger and lemongrass to steal the show. And, no, they don’t do pad thai! Best: at dinner, shareable tapas-style plates like crisply char-grilled chicken wings and stir-fried shell-on shrimp anointed with holy basil a steamed catfish custard splashed with coconut cream that could pass for pumpkin mousse skewers of tender pork loin sided with vinegary nam chim dip cold chicken noodle salad dressed with toasted smoky rice powder at lunch, spicy beef soup with rice noodles and crushed peanuts old favourites like creamy Khao Soi noodles with shredded chicken breast gingery Massaman curry thick with braised flat-iron steak. Complete dinners for $30 per person (lunches $20), including tax, tip and a mock cocktail. Average tapas $7/$12 lunch mains. Open Saturday 5:30 to 11 pm. Licensed. Access: barrier-free, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNN
Skin + Bones
980 Queen E, at Carlaw, 416-524-5209, skinandbonesto.com. Libretto and Enoteca vets Daniel Clarke and Harry Wareham bring a polished downtown wine bar to a stylishly reconfigured east-side garage. Ex-L’Unita and Maléna chef Matthew Sullivan responds with an au courant tapas card that works as either late-night nosh or after-work three-course. Time will tell whether sleepy Leslieville can handle daily 5-to-6-pm half-price cocktails and champagne by the glass. Best: to start, chef’s miniature charcuterie board – sweetly braised beef tongue paired with smoky rabbit liver mousse and pork shoulder rillettes, say – and a basket of rustic house-baked baguette torchons of foie gras tossed with candied quince shareable mains like beef cheek bourguignon with cipollini onions, Perth County bacon and buttery sunchokes roulades of deboned chicken over roasted rutabaga purée with sunchoke chips and pickled red onion to finish, figgy beet sticky toffee with bone-marrow-infused caramel sauce. Complete dinners for $50 per person, including tax, tip and a glass of wine. Average main $22. Open for dinner Saturday 5 pm to midnight. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms on same floor. Rating: NNN
Sunday
A-OK Foods
930 Queen W, at Ossington, 647-352-2243, aokfoods.ca. This way-casual spinoff of Yours Truly may pride itself on its house-made ramen noodles, but the tapas-like starters on chef Chris Jang’s witty multiculti card are the true stars. Quick, friendly service and a soundtrack of 70s disco classics make the room’s communal picnic-bench seating all the more palatable. Best: tenderly braised ox tongue on a Greek salad of shredded lettuce, radish and mint dusted with Mexican feta-like cojita cheese sous-vide pork wrapped Korean ssam-style in lettuce Chino chicken wings doused in whole chili pods deep-fried ‘n’ sautéed Brussels sprouts à la Momofuku’s David Chang ramped up with smoky pancetta, sweet Kewpie mayo and shaved bonita flakes numbing Sichuan-style ramen with roast pork, pickled scallion and plump goji berries to drink, soothing syrupy horchata. Complete meals for $30 per person, including tax, tip and a domestic beer. Average tapas $8. Open for lunch Sunday 11:30 am to 3 pm. Licensed. Access: nine steps at door, washrooms on same floor. Rating: NNN
Café Fiorentina
236 Danforth, at Playter, 416-855-4240, cafefiorentina.com. Take two classically trained French chefs – Tina Leckie (Celestin) and Alex Chong (Didier) – and set them free in an all-day café-slash-bake-shop and get one of the Danforth’s tastiest alternatives to flaming saganaki. Counter service and a few scattered tables add to the casual vibe. Sous-vide takeout dinners, too. Best: from a constantly shifting lineup, sandwiches on house-baked yeast-free sourdough layered with seared rare steak, gooey Gruyère and pickled wild mushrooms house-cured Berkshire pork belly and puréed kimchee soups like duck broth with pastina creamy potato with leek soufflé-like quiches du jour, one day portobello mushroom with Brie, the next caramelized onion with Stilton house-cured charcuterie paired with local cheese at brunch, a take on eggs Benny with poached duck eggs in lemony hollandaise over pickled beets and Georgian Bay whitefish on toasted pains au lait whole flourless chocolate cakes. Complete lunches for $15 (brunches $20), including tax, tip and a fair-trade coffee. Average main $9/$12. Open for brunch Sunday 10 am to 3 pm. No reservations. Unlicensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNNN
Pizzeria Via Mercanti
188 Augusta, at Denison Sq, 647-343-6647, pizzeriaviamercanti.ca. Sorry, Libretto. And you, too, Terroni. But Toronto’s best pizza can be found at this suprisingly spacious parlour in the wilds of Kensington Market. Helmed by ex-Queen Margherita pizzaiolo Romolo Salvati – an actual Neapolitan! – this low-key trat is in a league of its own. Can’t do a whole pie on your own? At lunch, an 8-inch pizza and a small salad go for 10 bucks! Best: to start, bocconcini di pizza, miniature pizza rolls stuffed with prosciutto or fresh fior di latte cheese follow with the extraordinary Via Mercanti, two pizzas in one – a beautifully blistered, thin-crusted pie dressed with prosciutto crudo, spicy soppressata, fresh buffalo ricotta and ‘shrooms, with a second San Marzano-sauced Margherita welded on top sautéed garlicky rapini and crumbled house-made sausage sided with warm focaccia, a veritable DIY pizza vegetarian eggplant parmigiano to finish, old-school tiramisu. Complete dinners for $30 per person (lunches $20), including tax, tip and a glass of vino. Average main $13/$10. Open Sunday noon to 10 pm. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNNN
