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Food & Drink

Melon Mania

DaiLo’s Deep-Fried Watermelon 

Since debuting in a big way last year on College, Nick Liu’s teahouse-like spot has seen its most unusual offering – watermelon cubes showered with cornmeal and deep-fried – become its biggest breakout hit. Curiouser and curiouser: they’re plated with frizzy dehydrated “pork floss” that’s somehow both airy and chewy like beef jerky, with some Thai basil and juicy pickled melon rind to round things out. Deflating pleasingly with each bite, Liu’s watermelon makes for a totally novel – and ultra-addictive – eating experience.

503 College, at Palmerston, 647-341-8882, dailoto.com


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Natalia Manzocco

Little Sister’s Watermelon Salad

The watermelon salad occupies a small spot on a long list of small plates at this Indonesian-inspired midtown snack bar, and would undeniably make for a great palate refresher in a shared smorgasbord of satay, rendang tacos and Javanese beef, but it’s a perfectly balanced little microcosm all on its own. Surrounding the sweet compressed watermelon cubes, there’s a gently salty sambal vinaigrette, bright mint, fresh green onions, razor-sliced radishes for crunch and thin slivers of chili that set your mouth tingling.

2031 Yonge, at Glebe, 416-488-2031, littlesistertoronto.com


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Courtesy of Bent

Bent’s Spicy Tuna and Watermelon Ceviche

Susur Lee caused a minor stir when he put a salad of cubed watermelon and feta on the menu at his namesake restaurant, Lee. Four years on, that combo has become fairly commonplace – but Lee is still pushing the fruit’s boundaries over at Bent. His take on ceviche features pleasingly identical cubes of red tuna and watermelon dressed with onion, lime, crispy fried shallots, fiery rocoto chilies and croutons made from slices of crisped-up Chinese doughnuts (better known as youtiao). If that spicy-sweet roller coaster doesn’t sate your melon cravings, the pink stuff also finds its way into a cooling yogurt-dressed salad alongside Lee’s fried jerk chicken.

777 Dundas West, at Markham, 647-352-0092, bentrestaurant.com


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Natalia Manzocco

Patois’s OG Fried Chicken with Pickled Watermelon

At this surf-shack-like Asian-Caribbean fusion kitchen, watermelon plays second banana to the fried chicken, along with maple-sweetened Sriracha and funky soy-marinated daikon. The chicken’s excellent – hot, juicy and golden – but of the three condiments, the watermelon’s the one that steals the show, with the cubed fruit, Thai basil and rice-liquor marinade colluding to create an almost steak-sauce-like savouriness. If you’re not into poultry, the same fixin’s accompany battered, deep-fried cauliflower.

794 Dundas West, at Palmerston, 647-350-8999, patoistoronto.com


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Natalia Manzocco

Grill it yourself

Treating your watermelon to a quick sear on a hot grill not only impresses guests with your culinary ingenuity – it’s also dead easy. So easy, in fact, that after opening Me&Mine (1144 College, at Dufferin, 416-535-5858, meandmine.ca) in 2013, chefs Melissa daSilva and Joel MacMillan sent out grilled watermelon slices as complimentary snacks with each order. They’ve since taken it off the menu but have brought the dish back until July 25 as part of their second-anniversary celebrations.

If you’d like to try some DIY grilled melon at home, here’s how daSilva does it:

Cut your watermelon into inch-thick slices. Place them on a hot grill or grill pan just long enough to leave grill marks. (“You don’t want to overcook the melon or it’ll get too soft,” daSilva explains.)

Let it cool off and sprinkle with salt and fresh lime juice – and presto! You can serve it right away or keep it in the fridge to add to salads later. Tip: don’t be afraid to add your own personalized spin – chef Tom Dixon of the Stockyards has been known to slather slices of watermelon with a dry spice rub -before they hit the grill.

food@nowtoronto.com | @nataliamanzocco

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