Something is Wrong with This Picture

As you may or may not know, The Burger’s Priest has been chosen by Toronto Life magazine with having the burger of the year (2011).

The Offender

I got this news at the mall this past Tuesday, Jan 17th. Since then I’ve been trying to puzzle over how it’s popularity spread. I don’t know if maybe its because Now Magazine likes them and other people think because an important critic likes these burgers, they MUST be good?!? Or maybe its because someone has a secret alliance with this restaurant and has made it their mission to make this restaurant popular (no I’m not looking at anyone as I say this). Or it could be that our tastes are different than the other people that eat here. Clearly someone that enjoys exotic cuisine is not going to get excited by greasy, processed, bland food. Or an alien pod arrived, enjoyed the food and got other pods to inhabit people and make them like it.

Pod Food

As if this is not enough, I also learned on that terrible Tuesday, that The Real Jerk may be closing. For a place that by its outward appearance I originally thought was a tanning salon (come on, the big sun, the magazines at the front door and the big tinted windows), it turned out to be a remarkable Jamaican food place (except for the dry jerk chicken).

The Real Jerk is closing because the location was rented and the building owner decided to sell. Fortunately there is one lifeline: an on-line petition. http://www.savetherealjerk.com So we are going there on Sunday for what might be our last meal at The Real Jerk. Nana is going to miss the cod fritters and my mom the oxtail gravy. For me, I’ll miss all their food.

Congrats to Lazy Daisy’s Cafe

This is the logo for BlogTO, one of the biggest food blogs in the GTA.  They even have their own iPhone app.  They’re also the one’s who picked Lazy Daisy’s as #6 in the Top Ten Cafes in 2011.

I think this is truly amazing considering they just opened a few months ago.  It is places like this that will help to revitalize my neighbourhood of Little India.

Tortilla Flats

Because I like real Mexican food so much, I’ve always felt that Tex-Mex was just a scam.  But eventually I decided to try this style of cooking,  just to see how it actually is.  If Tex-Mex cuisine is anything like the cooking at Tortilla Flats: it would have gone out of style years ago.  If I was given a time machine, I would use it to stop myself from eating there (of course, I would be breaking about a dozen time-travel laws, but you see my point).

AVOID!!

There are only two reasons why I would eat here again.  One, because I was paid a lot to do so… and two, there has been an apocalypse and this is the only food left.

Enchiladas

The food came to the table so incredibly fast, that when I first saw the waiter with the plates I thought it was for another table.  The plates (the actual dinnerware) were hot but the food was cold.  Which means they either used a microwave or a magnifying glass and a lamp.  Nana got the Enchiladas, unfortunately for her.  There was some sort of gluttonous starchiness to the filling with hardly any actual chicken pieces. The refried beans were unlike any other we’ve ever had.  They had some vinegary sourness to them.

Chimichanga

I’ve never had a real Chimichanga in my life but this one was essentially just a “Pizza Pocket”.  You know when you go to a learning institution and the cafeteria is filled with frozen food products?  The rice was so bland when I tasted it, I thought that the yellow could only have come from food colouring.

Steak Sandwich & Fries

The reason I picked this sandwich was because there was Pico de Gallo on it.  At least that was what the menu said.  Apparently a few token tomatoes count as Pico de Gallo.  The steak sauce that the menu promised was non-existent.  To be fair, the steak was at least actually cooked and not microwaved, but it simply lacked that extra flavour that should be there.  Despite looking home-made, the taste of the fries reminded me of something you’d get at a fast-food chain.  Just cold, dead potatoes with too much salt on top.

Nana's leftovers

Aha!!! The enchilada’s in their true form.  Nana just couldn’t eat anymore.  And we did not get a to-go box.

A teenager, a microwave and the frozen food aisle at the grocery store could out-cook this place.

Tortilla Flats 485 Queen Street W

Lazy Daisy’s

The farm themed Lazy Daisy’s Cafe (more on that later) definitely stands out in our mixed, gritty neighbourhood.  One part of our area is a bit dodgy, the kind with the occasional public arrest (more on that in a later post!);  another part of our neighbourhood is Little India with a lot of stores empty and then a short walk south of us is The Beaches.  So needless to say a fancy family orientated cafe like this is the last thing you would expect.

The Lazy Daisy Cafe at the Coxwell & Gerrard end of Little India

Here is something I just thought of.  The grand and successful (I might add) opening of this cafe is not as strange as it might seem and actually quite logical.  Between the ethnic neighbourhood, the youngsters’ beach neighbourhood and the kind of grungy neighbourhood;  the rest of us needed a nice place to relax and get away from it all.

I felt this would be a good picture to give you an idea of the front part of the store.

The back of the cafe

The back holds a lot of goodies (to the right – off camera) for parents and their toddlers.  One thing that is clever, is a wooden Thomas the Train  table complete with dinosaurs and giant animals.  This may sound weird but so are trains with faces on them.

Some of the delicious treats from Lazy Daisy’s large and ever-changing variety of food.

Salted Caramel Brownie

My favorite regular Lazy Daisy goodie!!  As you might know, I do have a sweet tooth, and this is delicious satisfaction.

Nana's favorite - the Cheesecake Brownie

From what I hear from Nana, this brownie is most excellent and less sweet than the Salted Caramel brownie.  I have not tried this yet but am endeavoring to do so.

Chili with a cornmeal and goat cheese "Whoopie Pie"

For those that have a higher spice tolerance, like me and my mother, this chili actually does have a bit of zest to it.  And their “Whoopie Pie” is a stroke of genius and absolutely delicious.

This sandwich has a cute name but I can't remember what it is

Let’s just suffice it to say that this is a ham sandwich with real swiss cheese and honey mustard on fresh soft whole-grain bread.  The pickled green beans are tasty and tart.

I said I would elaborate more on the Farm Theme. A healthy new trend in the culinary world is called Locavore (getting your food from local sources ie small farms).  I am all about anything that is healthy, natural and environmentally friendly.  Especially when I think about the future.

Where would you rather get your food?

Here?

Or here?

Another thing we like about Lazy Daisy’s is that the  staff is always giving 110%.  One time I heard the owner talking about baking something at home to bring to the cafe for the next day.  The service here is friendly in the way that your neighbour would be friendly.  This is yet another reason to make repeat visits to Lazy Daisy’s Cafe.

Lazy Daisy’s Cafe 1515 Gerrard St E