
Fooding took a break during September, half the month we were away on vacation and it just worked out that way the rest of the month. Cases are spiking, new records are being broken, restaurants are open but we still order to our home.
Uncle Ray’s: I saw this one on BlogTO and was immediately enamored with the idea of Nashville hot fried chicken. My brain seemed to have dropped the hot part and focused solely on the fried chicken part. No mind that Uncle Ray’s version was listed as “triple hot” with three different elements adding heat to the chicken. All I heard was fried chicken and pork fat. It was too hot for me. I tried, I really did. I kept going back and nibbling but it was too much. Maybe if the chicken itself had been better? There were bites that were just grease and nothing else. Other times all I got was breading. The chicken had been beaten flat, the ratio of breading to meat to grease was off. The shrimp po’boy had sounded so good, how could we go wrong? The shrimp wasn’t breaded, instead it drowned in mayonnaise. The bun. Oh god, the bun. It was a disaster, it was a cheap hotdog bun. Gimme a crunchy Kaiser-style roll. The standout winner was surprisingly the biscuit with the hot butter honey. It was the right amount of spicy and so soft but with a crunchy exterior. If all biscuits were like this then maybe I would like biscuits. The super-close second place winner was the pecan tart, it was short and didn’t have as much filling as a traditional tart- but in this case it really worked well, it wasn’t overly sweet.
Not a great start to October.
Patria: I can’t remember why this was on our list anymore, but it was finally actually available on order! As opposed to previously when they said they’d be available but weren’t. At least we still had our order choices written down from last time. Now this was a good meal! October had been turned around. The cornish hen was delicious and a bit Thanksgiving-y so that was nice. It even had crouton and peanut stuffing, albeit on top. The shishito peppers were perfect (as one would expect). My only complaint was not enough mushrooms in the mushroom paella which was really more of a rice dish (it was still good, don’t get me wrong). They threw in a bonus seafood appetizer and those were some of the best clams I have ever had, the mussels and shrimps were also really good. I went back for seconds and thirds.
COAST (BlogTO): All of the rules, I threw them out the window. Rather than ordering from a place that had been on the list for a while, I got super excited about a new “ghost kitchen” from the people behind Rock Lobster as well as other renowned seafood people. Heck yes! Smash burgers are currently trending, why not throw some lobster on top? I was a bit skeptical, going into it with low hopes. But it was surprisingly good. Not the best burger I have ever had, but certainly the best surf n turf burger and I would happily eat one again. The chowder was a bit thin, but chowder is always good. The garlic toast on the side, it was really more of a basic toast. I legit had no idea it was supposed to be garlic toast. I had a bite of Brent’s Nashville hot shrimp sandwich, it was good, the spiciness was slow. But in the end, even with the slight Doritos taste to it, it was too spicy for me. The fries were a let down, but that’s what you get when you order fries for delivery. It is going to be a looooooong time before we eat a perfect fry dish again.
Grandma Loves You: (Toronto Life): a relatively new addition, both to the Toronto food scene and to our list, it just so happened that we were walking by on our way home during the lunching hour. Except they didn’t have any time slots until later in the day for pickup. Delivery to the rescue! The sandwiches arrived just after we got home. We had one hot sandwich on a sub bun and one cold sandwich on German rye bread. The hot sandwich with grilled sausage and veggies and house sauce was the clear winner. The ham & cheese was also really good (once the offending tomatoes had been removed). The chocolate croissant, oh boy, I would love to eat these every day. A soft buttery croissant, cut open and filled with Nutella and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Yes please!