Munching on Toronto - Lahore Tikka | Little Anthony's | Nava

Whether the food was good or not, I will still say what I need to say about my experience and whether or not my taste buds were satisfied.

This is what it looks like from the outside.

Back in February, two very good friends of mine took me out for dinner at Lahore Tikka. This great place is located on Gerrard Street East and honestly, you would probably just drive by it not knowing that its actually a place to have amazing traditional/modern Pakistani and North Indian food.
When we were there, they seem to be expanding into a bigger space but I kind of liked how the dining environment made me feel like I was actually somewhere in India or Pakistan or just definitely not in Toronto (I don't want to say 'grungy' because that's not the right word to describe it). The photo below is a shot of the hallway to the bathroom and the kitchen. There is a dining area to the left and one to the right. (please excuse my photo blurry-ness. It was taken with an iphone and I was probably shaking - no steady hands).

The hallway with tables.

 We ordered a lot of different dishes and I must say everything was very good. It was pretty authentic and the prices were pretty decent. 

I wish I could remember everything that we ordered.

I definitely recommend this place and I would love to go back again and try other dishes. I really love Indian, Pakistani food.

Last week, I went to Little Anthony's for family dinner. It was great to see my family, but the dining experience was kind of odd and the food was below my expectations. Maybe I had high expectations for it because we read good reviews on them but the service really got to me. Again, a lot of times its not that food is bad, its the service that ruins the balance. The server we had was not very, 'server smart' lets say. While we were waiting for the rest of the party to join us, we received no service really from our server. He didn't ask us if we wanted to start off with some bread, or if we wanted to get some drinks. We had to ask him for bread, and when he brought it, he gave us one dish of olive oil with a few drops of balsamic vinegar to share amongst nine of us. Then, my aunt spilled wine on her dress, and my cousin had to ask the waiter three times for club soda. He came back with the club soda, and started telling us that he didn't want to change the table cloth. huh..? We never asked him to.

Risotto Ai Funghi

Now onto the food. For appetizers, we ordered Carpaccio, Mussels and Calamari. Not bad, but portion wise was pretty small. For the main course, I ordered the Risotto Ai Funghi and needless to say, I was a bit disappointed. The Arborio rice was just too hard for my liking. It reminded me a bit like the time I had really bad risotto somewhere in Yorkville where it tasted like I was eating barley paste. No good. This time wasn't as bad, as the sauce was decent. Just if the rice could have been cooked a little more, it would have been perfect. My cousin ordered the Veal Shank with Shaffron Risotto. Same thing with his risotto, too hard for the liking but the veal was very tender and juicy.

Ossobuco Con Risotto Alla Milanes

 

Last but not least, I would love to share a great classic dish modernized by Nava Restaurant & Bar.
Everyone loves grilled cheese right? Who doesn't? Its like my budget lunch at least once a week. What's so good about the grilled cheese at Nava you ask? Well, they take a classic grilled sandwich and turn it up a notch by adding thin slices of granny apples, mustard, bacon and a different type of cheese, not cheddar. The concoction of these ingredients creates the amazing Supreme Grilled Cheese. Absolutely delicious and fantastic with sweet potoato fries. Its a must have everytime I go to Nava.

So there you have it. Another 3 restaurants to try. Stay tuned for more to come :)