Lunch Tuesday: Kenzo, Pasta Pantry and Sushi Couture
Posted November 9, 2010 7:11 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
I’ve done less cooking at home than I would like this week, which means it’s been a particularly busy seven days for Lunch Tuesday.
It started with a visit to Pasta Pantry (1997 Yonge St.). Three freezers filled with stuffed pastas (pumpkin ravioli; tortellini plump with lobster and ricotta), a cold case with every kind of bagged short pasta, and a station at the back where long noodles were cut to order meant I wouldn’t even need to make the most basic of dishes.
Plus, there were two cases with sliding glass doors filled with sauces – and soups – in Bernardin jars. You’re encouraged to return them when you’re finished.
I went for rigatoni, and two kinds of sauce: the meat sauce, and roasted red pepper. The extremely kind woman at the counter asked if I lived in the neighbourhood, how far I’d be traveling, and encouraged me to refrigerate – or cook – my meal as soon as possible.
No problem there – it was dinner that night, lunch the next day, and a few other meals during the hectic week. I’d go back for the meat sauce, especially: finely ground beef in a rich tomato sauce.
On a day when I didn’t think to bring my lunch to work, I headed west to Kenzo (138 Dundas St. W.), a noodle joint on Dundas Street that’s relatively new but getting good write-ups (Now Toronto, blogTO) and great foot traffic.
There are few options on the menu – it’s a ramen house, after all, so that’s what they serve. Kenzo offers wheat noodles with four kinds of broth and three sauces. Yes, there are vegetarian options, but the restaurant is known for its tonkotsu (pork bone) broth and most dishes come with a few slices of pork and a fish cake on top.
On a recent visit, I had the sho-yu ramen. Watching the people across from me, I carefully used my chopsticks to layer the noodles onto the large spoon, dipped it briefly in the soy sauce broth, and dug in.
It wasn’t long before I was slurping up the last of the soup with my spoon, fully satisfied. Yes, the broth is salty, but that’s to be expected when it’s based on soy sauce. The half egg was smoked in, yes, soy sauce, and the yolk was slightly runny. There were two slices of pork that together were the size a playing card. A few slivers of bamboo rounded out the dish.
Here’s what’s changed from those earlier reviews: the service is friendly. Not only is it with a smile, the cashier asked me “so how’s your Monday going?” with a big smile and a sincere listen to the answer while my receipt printed, commiserating over hours worked and daylight savings time.
Finally, I was in the Annex and the line-up at New Generation Sushi was, as usual, way too long. Unlike usual, I was in too much of a rush to wait. So I ventured across the street to Sushi Couture (456 Bloor St. W.). The day’s specials are written in pen and slipped under a plastic laminate that would normally display the drink list – the owners have applied for a liquor license, but haven’t received it yet. Everything on the list, we’re told, was flown in that day – that’s why it’s handwritten.
We choose the sea bream sashimi and four thin slices of incredibly fresh fish quickly arrived. We then had three dishes from the menu: the spicy salmon roll (we paid a dollar extra for “crunch;” panko sprinkled liberally on top); the Couture roll (salmon, scallops, roe, all kissed with a blowtorch); and the sushi dinner entrée. The California rolls in the entrée were cut with such care, not into round slices but into notched wedges; and our waiter carefully described each of the four fish on the plate (on that visit, it was tuna, salmon, butter fish (again, blowtorched), and mackerel.
I’ve only eaten here once and would love to know what you guys think about the place.
Email me: erin.criger@citynews.rogers.com
