Masala Dosa from La Tastebuds

This is a doozy of a dosa. Filled with potatoes, and served with two chutneys and a vegetable soup. #yeg #yegfood #yegfoodie #yegeats

A post shared by Paula E. Kirman (@livingsanctuary) on Aug 25, 2018 at 12:31pm PDT

Vegging Out: Vegetarian Appetizer Sampler Platter at Naanolicious

There is a special at Naanolicious on Thursday evenings that vegetarians will definitely want to check out. The vegetarian appetizer platter, paired with a beer, for $14.95 is a huge portion on a large plate: one samosa, several veggie pakoras, a couple of aloo tikka patties, naan bread with a dipping sauce, and two chutneys. I managed to devour this flavourful feast myself, but if I was less hungry, I also certainly could have shared.

Mushroom Pie at Cafe Blackbird

Cafe Blackbird is located in the Crestwood neighbourhood where Jeffrey's Cafe was located for many years. Cafe Blackbird has kept the wine bar, redone the interior slightly, and totally revamped the menu. The small menu of sandwiches and salads are featured on a blackboard, along with the soup of the day, the savoury pie of the day, and a few other items. A variety of baked goods are in a display case. The menu was developed with help from Culina and the coffee from Iconoclast Coffee, as well as other local businesses. There is still live music, and the place has a neighbourhood charm to it. A sandwich will run you about $9 while a soup and sandwich combo is $14.

I had the featured pie, which was creamy mushroom. It was small and rich, with lots of mushrooms in a flaky pastry. I did not realize from the description on the blackboard that there would be cheese in it - this was a problem for me. It was also served with sweet chutney, which I did not understand flavour-wise in context with the pie. I also found the price to be a little high given the small size of the pie. The best part of the meal, for me, was actually the coffee. It was fresh and aromatic. I would definitely head back here for a coffee in a heartbeat. As for the food, I hope in the future there is more of a selection and that the descriptions are better presented.

Dyna Bites and Paneer Naan

Dyna Bites, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

Another Saturday, another visit to Blues On Whyte, and another supper at Naanolicious.

On this evening I had the opportunity to try an appetizer dish that had not yet crossed my lips: Dyna Bites. Each "bite" was a double decker paneer (pressed cheese) sandwich with mint chutney in the middle, breaded and deep fried.

"Bites" is really a misnomer. Each piece was a good two or three mouthfuls. The pieces got most of their flavour from the chutney and accompanying dipping sauce, while the cheese itself was chewy and rather dry.

I also tried a wedge of the paneer stuffed naan, which had a bit of a creamy texture and did not taste much different than the basic butter naan.