Date: May 9, 2011
Location: 169 King Street East, Downtown Toronto (E. of Jarvis)
Website: http://www.kulturatoronto.com/
Meal: lunch
My thoughts:
I was really excited to try this restaurant after learning that Roger Mooking is co-owner/executive chef of this restaurant. If that name doesn't ring a bell, he has a show called "Everyday Exotic" on the Food Network (and he's got this amazing recipe for lamb..) I was slightly disappointed that I did not see him on that visit, but seeing as how it was a weekday afternoon and the restaurant was pretty empty, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.
Anyway, the food, however, did not disappoint. This is a tapas restaurant, so all the portions, including the mains, were quite small. What I really like was the unique offerings. I came here with a friend and we shared two appetizers and two mains. We ordered the Chicken Samosas and Goulash Soup for starters, and Shrimp Ceviche Tacos and Steak Frites for our mains.
Chicken Samosas: Definitely my favourite dish this meal. It was a complex medley of spices and herbs, with everything in perfect balance so as the flavours all blend nicely and not one of the flavourings can be identified (at least I couldn't). There were five dumpling-sized samosas for $11. (The waitress told us after our meal that this was one of their most popular dishes, and I can see why.)
Goulash Soup: My companion and I were intrigued upon reading "dumplings" in the description on the menu and decided to give this a shot. This was too salty for both our tastes and the "dumplings" were more like gnocchi in taste, texture and size (and I am not a fan of gnocchi). That aside, the soup itself was far from bland and had wide range of ingredients, all of which must have contributed to the flavour.
Shrimp Ceviche Tacos: If you are not familiar with shrimp ceviche, it is a traiditional Spanish dish of raw shrimp. This was quite possibly my first encounter with this dish, and it was.. interesting. Had there not been the tacos, which were made of taro root, and were thin-cut, crispy and delicately sweet, I think I might have gagged at the sliminess of the shrimp. (I eat salmon and butterfish sashimi regularly, but that's pretty much the entire repertoire of things I'm willing to eat and enjoy eating raw.) There wasn't too much shrimp per taco so the tacos balanced out the sliminess, so rest assured, I did not gag. In fact, I quite liked this dish, especially with the pineapple chutney that came with it. I would recommend trying this, as it is truly a unique dish.
Steak Frites: Nothing special here. We asked for our beef to be medium-rare, and it was probably more medium-well done, but it was evident that the grade of the beef was very good, so the meat was still very tender and juicy. The fries were cassava fries and as my companion and I noted, tasted significantly healthier than regular fries. They were not greasy, surprisingly, and crispy. For the price, I would not order this again. (Actually, we originally wanted to order the Mushroom Orechiette, but we were told this was not available at the time.)
In short, I would recommend checking out this restaurant. Don't expect to really fill up on the food here, unless you are willing to spend a lot. (My friend and I were 'comfortably full' at the end of the meal and we'd spent $50 total, which is significantly more than what people typically spend on lunch.) I would recommend this sheerly because Roger Mooking's culinary and artistic flair really shine through in his dishes, which makes for a great and interesting experience.
I was really excited to try this restaurant after learning that Roger Mooking is co-owner/executive chef of this restaurant. If that name doesn't ring a bell, he has a show called "Everyday Exotic" on the Food Network (and he's got this amazing recipe for lamb..) I was slightly disappointed that I did not see him on that visit, but seeing as how it was a weekday afternoon and the restaurant was pretty empty, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.
Anyway, the food, however, did not disappoint. This is a tapas restaurant, so all the portions, including the mains, were quite small. What I really like was the unique offerings. I came here with a friend and we shared two appetizers and two mains. We ordered the Chicken Samosas and Goulash Soup for starters, and Shrimp Ceviche Tacos and Steak Frites for our mains.
Chicken Samosas: Definitely my favourite dish this meal. It was a complex medley of spices and herbs, with everything in perfect balance so as the flavours all blend nicely and not one of the flavourings can be identified (at least I couldn't). There were five dumpling-sized samosas for $11. (The waitress told us after our meal that this was one of their most popular dishes, and I can see why.)
Goulash Soup: My companion and I were intrigued upon reading "dumplings" in the description on the menu and decided to give this a shot. This was too salty for both our tastes and the "dumplings" were more like gnocchi in taste, texture and size (and I am not a fan of gnocchi). That aside, the soup itself was far from bland and had wide range of ingredients, all of which must have contributed to the flavour.
Shrimp Ceviche Tacos: If you are not familiar with shrimp ceviche, it is a traiditional Spanish dish of raw shrimp. This was quite possibly my first encounter with this dish, and it was.. interesting. Had there not been the tacos, which were made of taro root, and were thin-cut, crispy and delicately sweet, I think I might have gagged at the sliminess of the shrimp. (I eat salmon and butterfish sashimi regularly, but that's pretty much the entire repertoire of things I'm willing to eat and enjoy eating raw.) There wasn't too much shrimp per taco so the tacos balanced out the sliminess, so rest assured, I did not gag. In fact, I quite liked this dish, especially with the pineapple chutney that came with it. I would recommend trying this, as it is truly a unique dish.
Steak Frites: Nothing special here. We asked for our beef to be medium-rare, and it was probably more medium-well done, but it was evident that the grade of the beef was very good, so the meat was still very tender and juicy. The fries were cassava fries and as my companion and I noted, tasted significantly healthier than regular fries. They were not greasy, surprisingly, and crispy. For the price, I would not order this again. (Actually, we originally wanted to order the Mushroom Orechiette, but we were told this was not available at the time.)
In short, I would recommend checking out this restaurant. Don't expect to really fill up on the food here, unless you are willing to spend a lot. (My friend and I were 'comfortably full' at the end of the meal and we'd spent $50 total, which is significantly more than what people typically spend on lunch.) I would recommend this sheerly because Roger Mooking's culinary and artistic flair really shine through in his dishes, which makes for a great and interesting experience.
