Matagali
69 Elm St., Toronto, 416-599-9994. Dinner for two with wine, tax and tip, $75.
Butter chicken is a funny food. At least, it's funny to me because more than any other Indian dish, it inspires great passionate debates. Who has the best butter chicken? Foodie websites and food columns debate this question perennially, and I wonder why they go on about it rather than the more interesting charms of curries and tikkas.
In my view, managing credible butter chicken is like shooting goldfish in a bowl, for how could anyone misstep when great lashings of butter are involved? Butter chicken is chicken tikka (marinated with yogurt and spices) slathered in tomato sauce made luxe with butter and cream. What could be bad?
I was led to Matagali by over-the-top cyber-homage, and those Web-chatters are right: Matagali, despite its rather inauspicious physical surroundings, serves a splendid butter chicken. It is tender and moist, surrounded by a sinful bath of creamy sauce jazzed with sweet spices. Who cares that we're in a dark little basement with vinyl banquettes and unfortunate colours of stucco?
The tandoori chicken (similar to the butter thing before it gets the high-fat benediction) is tender and redolent of garlic and ginger. Prawn Jalfrezie is big shrimps cooked nicely in a thick, tasty sauce full of peppers, mushrooms and onions. A great base of caramelized onions lends sweetness and depth to lamb masala with tomatoes and (not overcooked!) peas.
Even Matagali's sides run a cut above the norm: The dhal is splendidly scented with ginger, and the chana masala (chickpeas stewed with tomatoes and onions) profits from a wonderful coriander undertone. Sweet mango chutney and tangy mango pickle are the ultimate pick-me-ups for a jaded palate. Kashmir pilau is saffron-scented rice studded with a marvellous collection of dried fruits and nuts.
Ignore the Thai distractions on the menu, and bring a sweater, for Matagali's heating system is erratic.
Eggplant
236 King St. E., Toronto, 416-363-8447. Dinner for two with wine, tax and tip, $80.
Restaurants opened by entertainment people are not always of gastronomic interest, but the Eggplant boys got smart and hired a good chef. Eggplant is a production company that sells to TV, advertising and gaming companies. After owners Rocco Gagliese and Dave Conlon bought their King Street East building, they decided to install a cool bar/resto on the ground floor.
There is the usual bar/restaurant confusion, which is not ameliorated by the unfortunate decor: It is so minimalist as to seem not there. We're not sure if the chilly atmosphere is because a) they wanna be cool really badly, b) they didn't know that restaurant decor is supposed to feel warm and welcoming or c) they simply need to turn up the heat.
Fortunately, they're serving some pretty zingy palate pleasers. Chef Chris Stracker's Barbadian roots announce themselves in spicing and inflections that jump things up nicely, as in spicy tuna tartare, hot and sour shrimp with fried banana, and perfectly cooked scallops on fennel with flying fish roe. This guy's cooking deserves attentive eaters.Sprout
15 St. Clair Ave. W., Toronto, 416-929-2541. Dinner for two with tax and tip, $25.
Sprout is the latest midtown Asian spot. It's a cute, little sit-down restaurant selling Vietnamese food. Do they know that my No. 1 all-time, quick meal is pho, Vietnam's magnificent meal in a bowl? If they did, surely they would not be serving such appallingly tasteless pho. The broth has no discernible flavour. Ditto the banal bun (rice vermicelli) plates, one of which features shoe-leather chicken. Even shrimp salad rolls achieve an unusual blandness, and "oh my goodness soup" -- hot and sour soup with shrimp and rice vermicelli -- is equally unremarkable.
Eggstacy
1255 Bay St., Toronto, 416-964-2333. Breakfast for two with tax and tip, $25.
Eggstacy on Church Street has closed, but it lives on in a Bay Street location just north of Bloor. The breakfast diner has been making friends and influencing people with gargantuan breakfasts at friendly prices. But do we really need big, dry pancakes with a flavour-free frittata, greasy home fries and huge slices of toast? Or eggs Benny with un-lemony hollandaise sauce and all those same accompaniments? One feels overwhelmed by quantity and in desperate need of quality.
Let them eat baguettes. Toronto-based Ace Bakery is selling half-baked demi-baguettes for finishing at home. There is no better way to achieve that ultracrisp crust and warm chewy heart than by finishing the baking just before you dine. $13.99 for 12 at Costco. For more information, visit .
In related news, Ace has just hired a new president, Philip Shaw, who ran La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles for 13 years. La Brea is the little bakery that could: Started by the chefs of the Campanile restaurant, it was transformed (by Shaw) from a small local company into America's largest fresh and par-baked artisan bakery. I've tasted the Campanile and La Brea bread, and if this is the future of Ace, there's going to be some wonderful bread in our freezers. If anybody can resolve the apparent contradiction between artisanal baking and large-scale production, these people can.