Village Squire, 1977-09, Page 36TRAVEL
Short weekend trip can introduce
you to Toronto's delights
BY
BY CHERYL FREEDMAN
Someone once said about restaurants
that you can't eat the decor. But all too
often, tourists must choose between fancy
establishments with equally fancy prices
and dinners that are akin to Bert's
Beanery.
Toronto, however, offers a third
choice --the restaurant which combines a
carefully -designed decor with well-prepar-
ed food, low -to -moderate prices, attentive
service and a liquor license. Herewith are
four such eating places, where the priciest
entrees range from $5 to $7 and two people
can dine well for $15 to $20, including
wine.
The Underground Railroad, Toronto's
most popular theme restaurant, pays
tribute to the 19th century organization
that helped thousands of American slaves
escape to freedom. Barnwood walls and
rough-hewn beams, hung with crude farm
implements, wooden benches, patchwork
tablecloths, flickering candlelight, and
friendly waiters in engineer overalls and
red kerchiefs, all help make it a warm
haven for the hungry traveller. It offers
stick -to -the -ribs down home cooking.
Start with hush puppies, pig tails in a
piquant sauce or corn fritters. Naturally
you'll find southern fried chicken --and all
fried chicken should be this good --but you
can also order chitlins, ham hocks,
barbecued ribs, fried grouper, fish gumbo
or smothered steak. Fresh hot corn bread
comes with the meal, as aoes a variety of
vegetables, including okra, collard greens,
black-eyed peas, squash mixed with
pineapple and coconut and yams. With a
piece of spicy sweet potato pie, you will
indeed be full of that good ole southern
hospitality. If you want a lighter meal, the
Underground Railroad has a special
Sunday brunch and an after theatre menu.
The name "Tramps" hardly evokes
images of sunny Spain, but it's the only
element of this small unpretentious
restaurant that doesn't. The narrow,
brightly -lit dining area is decorated in
browns, yellows and oranges; small
cast-iron chandeliers, wall sconces, a
sandblasted brick wall and unobtrusive
recorded Spanish music, make for a casual
mood. You can start your meal with a
thickly -cheesed onion soup, a smooth
herbed chicken liver pate or mushrooms
sauteed and served in a buttery wine
sauce. Two entrees often featured as
specials are shrimps in wine sauce and
lightly -breaded chicken cutlet served with
a chur,ky potato -onion melange. If your
taste runs to Spanish traditional, try the
paella, saffron rice thick with shellfish and
chicken. Beef casserole, pork or lamb
chops, ham or mushroom omelettes are
34, VILLAGE SQUIRE/SEPTEMBER 1977.
served. The portions are ideal for a light
dinner, and even with a dessert of trifle or
flan. you will go away pleasantly filled but
not stuffed.
If you want to know what made Peter the
Great great. just try the robust authentic
Russian cooking at the Barmalay. For
openers. have a bowl of borscht,
vegetables in a garlicky tomato -beef broth;
or satsivi. cold pieces of chicken in a
smooth rich sauce; crabmeat salad and
caviar.
The entrees are hefty. The most popular,
and deservedly so, is the charcoal -grilled
sturgeon steak, a slightly smoky. juicy
piece of fish. Jarkoia is a stew made with
large chunks of sauced beef, served with
kasha. You can also try blintzes stuffed
with meat or cheese, beef stroganoff,
cabbage rolls or Barmalay chicken. which
is first marinated and then fried.
Dessert. which you must make room for,
can be strudel or the Barmalay cake. its
layers of crisp pastry sandwiched with a
creamy filling, or the Russian potato,
actually a chocolate vodka/rum ball. The
Barmalay is reminiscent of a Russian dacha
with wood -panelled walls and. a peaked
wooden beamed ceiling. Brightly -painted
lacquerware abounds, both as decoration
and as serving dishes. Even the samovar
sitting on each table, flanked by glasses in
silver filigreed holders, is not just for show,
a glass of hot Russian tea is an excellent
way to end your meal.
The Flying Food Circus menu boasts of
"catering tct the neurotic compensation of
eating". While the menu itself may be full
of such jocularity, the food is no-nonense.
Entrees include thick and juicy lamb
chops, steak, shrimps, honey -baked
spareribs and baked chicken. Or if you're'
feeling adventuresome, try a "world's
greatest hamburger". There are 11
variations thereof, all based on a
one -inch -thick, one -third -pound burger.
They range from the relatively simple
(cheeseburger, with four choices of cheese,
including blue cheese) to the rather bizarre
(healthburger, with yogurt and bean
sprouts) to the outright exotic (shrimpbur-
ger, with fresh shrimps and mushrooms).
The salad bar -- a.k.a. "a mouth-watering
array of antifatso treats" --includes a
turn -us -all -into -vegetarians chickpea sal-
ad, along with such regular's as green salad
and potato salad.
For dessert, you can go whole hog with
such fatso delights as triple fudge pie,
cheesecake, hot fudge sundae or pecan pie.
The FFC's mixed -bag decor -- 'chandel-
iers' fashioned of tea kettles and beer cans,
brass bedsteads, a country mailbox and
supergraphics--combine with low lights,
soft background music and friendly young
waitresses provide a roadhouse atmos-
phere that is both relaxing and fun.
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