“Trust me, you’ll really like this place,” said Pete, who was driving
us through a series of darkened streets lined with warehouses,
factories, industrial lots and not a single human being in sight. “It’s
an awesome restaurant that used to be downtown, but decided to keep
their costs down by moving out here.”
Jeremy looked about suspiciously. “Uh, this restaurant isn’t running out of the back door of a dog food factory, is it?”
We’d taken so many twists and turns through obscure streets from our
start near Don Mills and Eglinton that I had no idea where we were. We
finally turned onto a street that I recognized — Laird Road — and
there it was, nestled between an auto body shop and something equally
industrial: a restaurant marked Marvellous Edibles.
In this neighbourhood of factories and yards full of trucks, I was
expecting one of those greasy spoons that happens to make the world’s
most fabulous banquet burger. Instead, we walked into a place that had
the decor of a French bistro.
It was packed with customers, and all of them were tucking into very
delicious-looking dishes. I saw a woman enjoying what looked like a
glazed duck on a bed of noodles, while the man beside her appeared to
be enjoying some kind of tenderloin with garlic mashed potatoes.
Someone else was taking their first sip of a steaming bowl of
apparently homemade chicken noodle soup, brimming with noodles.
We managed to get a seat despite not having made reservations. Pete and
I ordered the pork chops with spetzl and
red-cabbage-and-caramelized-apple casserole. The pork chops (CDN$18)
were perfectly done, and covered with a creamy mushrooms sauce and
slices of giant mushroom, and the spetzl and casserole matched it
perfectly. Jeremy had the steak and frites (CDN$16), which he reported
were delcious. The frites came with a side of “Cafe de Paris” butter
for dipping. It’s probably the kind of thing that would make a
cardiologist scream, but it’s oh-so-tasty.
Dessert was equally fantastic. Along with everything else on the menu,
they make everything themselves, even the bread. Jeremy had a
raspberry pie (CDN$7), Pete had a chocolate-raspberry mousse cake
(CDN$7) and I decided to have a slice of something they rarely
prepared: a cocount banana cream pie (CDN$7), piled high with
freshly-whipped cream and cocounut and packed with banana slices on a
thick shortbread-like crust.
I’m going to be atoning for this at the gym tomorrow.
The service is friendly, and the owner was going from table to table,
making sure that everyone was happy and making recommendations (he said
I should try their bread pudding next time).
If you like simple food prepared exceedingly well with the freshed of
ingredients in a nice bistro atmosphere, you’ll love this place. The
prices — pretty cheap considering the quality and generous portions —
will make you love it even more. It’s worth the car trip (it’s not
conveniently close to the subway), but be forewarned that the place has
a following — make reservations. For more details, take a look at their site.
(Special note to The Redhead: Next time you’re in town, I’m taking you there for dinner.)
