Showing posts with label Ethiopian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ethiopian. Show all posts

Selam Vegan Restaurant (Toronto)

Posted on Saturday, April 27, 2019 by

Walk too quickly and you’ll like breeze by Selam as it occupies the basement of Pero restaurant. The only telltale sign of their shared space is their small signage by the door. Like its sister restaurant, Selam offers Ethiopian cuisine, except their menu is entirely vegan and most things are also gluten free, which makes the restaurant an excellent choice for dining with a group with varying dietary restrictions.

Although there are options to build your own platter, with larger groups, sharing family style is a fresher alternative. Amongst our table of six people, we shared seven items are were stuffed. As a lover of split pea soup, Selam’s version of the main was thicker ($10) and oh so hearty. Enhanced with a bit of curry and turmeric, the spices were lightly added more for colour and a depth in flavour.


For a bit of heat, the spicy eggplant ($10) and red lentil ($12) were both great choices – the latter having the most kick. Maybe it’s me, but I always love a good stewed eggplant, especially when it gets nice and soft and soaks in all the fragrant spices. It just goes so well with the injera ($3 for three pieces) as the sauce gets trapped in the spongy crevices or spooned over plain white rice ($3).


For something interesting, try the flax firfir ($10), which mixes flax seed with gluten free injera to form a dish that’s not saucy but rather eats like a savoury bread pudding. It’s an acquired taste - our table was split on its tastiness.  


With all the heavier stews, orders of the kale ($10) with garlic and ginger and okra ($12) with green onions and chili flakes were perfect to help add some crunch and freshness to an otherwise hearty meal. Selam’s kale is definitely not boring and chopped so finely that you can mix it into some of the saucier dishes to change the texture.


You definitely need a bunch of choices to keep the meal interesting. Rest assured, with smaller tables, Selam offers combination plates mixing 3 or 4 items or there’s also a $18 buffet, which has almost all the items from the menu.


While Selam’s food was tasty, the basement jazz club atmosphere was a bit strange. Moreover, while I understand their desire to showcase Ethiopian coffee, as the roasting beans were brought around, the low ceiling dining room filled with smoke and a nauseatingly strong smell of frankincense.  It’s a smell that just sticks and lingers, detracting from the otherwise delicious meal. In my opinion, skip the beans, and bring on the eggplant.

Overall mark - 6.5 out of 10
How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 812 Bloor Street West (basement)

 Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

Is That It? I Want More!

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Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant (Toronto)

Posted on Sunday, August 16, 2015 by

Lalibela Ethiopian franenscence

For the last class of a food writing course, we celebrated with a group dinner at Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant – an ideal place to meet vegan, gluten free and carnivore dining demands. Prior to the experience, I’ve never had Ethiopian food and knew little about the cuisine. Lalibela’s menu is rather extensive with a surprisingly large amount of meat options.

Although the tibs, a dish of sautéed meat with vegetables, sounds delicious, the meat is dry, hard and chewy.  Served on a sizzling platter, the zilzil tibs ($16) was aromatic when presented, but eating the beef was reminiscent of chewing on leather.  The rib tibs ($14.50) were better with the lamb pieces containing some fat which helped provide some much needed moisture. Additionally, the garlic onion and jalapeno tossed with the lamb was more pronounced and flavourful.

Lalibela Ethiopian zilzil tibsLalibela Ethiopian rib tibs

Personally, I’d suggest sticking with the stewed and braised meat dishes instead. The lamb stew’s ($12.50) liquid looked rather pale but was packed with flavour being made from a mixture of ginger, garlic, aromatic butter and light sprinkling of curry. If only the liquid was thicker it’d be even better as it was rather difficult to scoop the liquid with the injera.

Lalibela Ethiopian lamb stew

The special Ethiopian chicken ($16) were pieces of leg meat slow-cooked with caramelized onions, berbere (chili powder), garlic and ginger then served with hard boiled eggs. Although it was decent, it could use more berbere as the spiciness was so sedated. I’ve heard Ethiopian cuisine is known for spicy meats and rich flavourful sauces and hoped a dish with “special” in its name would be more impressive.


I noticed their menu was out-of-date and items such as the lamb stew, rib tibs and zilzil tibs are anywhere from $0.50 - $2 higher when the bill was presented. One discrepancy I can understand, but three out of five dishes is excessive.

The best dish of the night was the vegetarian platter sampler ($20) an impressive spread of eight thick stews on a piece of injera accompanied with salads. Injera is a risen sourdough made with teff flour with air pockets giving it a light spongy consistency. All the little crevices are perfect for scooping up the chickpea, lentil, beet, spinach and other stews. Traditionally, Ethiopians break off pieces of injera and with their right hand use it to pick up food.

Lalibela Ethiopian injera

Although a full platter of injera comes with the meal, the most flavourful piece would be the one the vegetarian platter is served on, soaking up the different sauces. The jalapeno laced salad in the middle was delicious and the crunchy cool lettuce a great contrast against the soft stews.


Lalibela offers traditional Ethiopian coffee ($10 and is sufficient for 4 people). If you’re interested, order it at the beginning as it takes time to prepare. First, the beans are brought out in a hot pan to showcase the intense coffee aroma while they’re roasting. They’re then brought back into the kitchen to finish roasting then grounded.

Lalibela Ethiopian coffee

After the meal, the coffee is brought back in a beautiful clay vessel along with lit frankincense billowing out a licorice smelling smoke, which is said to go well with the coffee. The coffee is poured into quaint little cups and can be taken with sugar or salt but with no milk. It’s rich and has a strong coffee flavour but not as intense as espresso. On the side is a large platter of popcorn; our waitress explained that in Ethiopia individuals tend to have snack foods while enjoying coffee.


Finishing our writing course with a meal was a great idea! I love the light injera where you feel you can have piece after piece without feeling stuffed. The vegetarian platter is a good choice for trying a variety of stews and ideal for the summer as it’s light. Eating at Lalibela was a unique experience, opening my taste buds to a world of new flavours.

Overall mark - 6.5 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 1202 Danforth Avenue

 Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!


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