Eating can be hard work

As I sit here typing on my laptop in Bermuda, I am remembering some of the meals that Vivien and I enjoyed in Penang in that last frantic week before we left on our annual pilgrimage. Why frantic? Well, it was because Viv had been away in China for a couple of weeks before that and I was pretty much laid up with a sports injury as well meaning that our fairly usual ritual of tennis, beers and then dinner at some restaurant with 8 or 10 others hadn't happened for a while. So when Viv returned and I made my first foray back onto the court post-lay off, there seemed to be some sort of almost desperate need to catch up. And as we only had a week in between before we left for Bermuda, all those dinners had to be crammed into a very short period of time.

I know, 'had to' does imply some form of compulsion that of course was not the case but when people that you haven't seen for a while ask you how you are, buy you a beer and say those dangerous words 'what are your dinner plans tonight?' .... well it would be rude to do other than agree to whatever was taking place for that night.

But it was relentless.

Curry mee and fried fish belly

Steamboat

Fish restaurant

Korean

Champagne brunch

Japanese homestyle

See what I mean? The steamboat dinner was especially memorable not only for the food but also for the other stuff....

Doesn't show the whisky to finish!

If this wasn't enough, when we arrived in Toronto we went to our favorite steak restaurant for a fix of large chunks of red meat...

I need a rest.

2 Fried Eggs on top, please

I'd watched a Food TV programme on deli's and included was Caplansky's in Toronto, on College Street near Kensington Market, so I had to try it out for myself.  Mind you I decided for some reason to go in the evening rather than daytime but wasn't going to be deterred as apparently their smoked meat hash was the bees knees.

It isn't an imposing building or that neat really either.  Its sort of long and thin with a bar at the back (that I missed until I saw someone else slurping on a beer) and the counter taking up most of one side behind which was a sweaty young guy, not the guy that's on the website, carving up large chunks of meat with aplomb.

It was pretty busy as being a deli its not a place to break the bank as most of the customers appeared young, college types no doubt from one of the universities that dot the city and surrounds.

I ordered chicken soup with matzo balls and the smoked meat hash -- "We do it differently here so we can't really call it corned beef or pastrami although its closest in flavour to corned beef" said the waitress.

The chicken soup was just great and the matzo balls really nice and doughy.  Call them what you will, they're only a different type of dumpling but they taste really nice in that soup I can tell you.  Real comfort food.  Had I been sick, I'd have felt better already.

The hash came after quite a long wait -- "We ran out of one of the ingredients so had to do up a fresh batch" was the reason.

Now I consider myself not quite an expert but definitely a devotee of hash.  I will always eat it if its on a menu so I was looking forward to it coming as it did with a couple of fried eggs on top.

This last I think is the perfect accompaniment to any meal.  If you like the meal, add 2 fried eggs on top and that will elevate it to all new heights.  One word of warning though, it doesn't work that well on top of a chicken curry, but that aside there's precious little that fried eggs won't enhance.

It worked well here though as the hash was yummy.  So yummy that I bought a pound of the smoked meat to take home with me.

Caplansky's Delicatessen
356 College Street
Toronto

Tel: 416 500 3852
http://www.caplanskys.com

Hey!

I like the TV food programme Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives because I like the presenter, Guy Fieri, and the no nonsense way he digs into the food.  Also the places he frequents aren't fancy fine dining by any means, just simple no nonsense fooderies which won't break the bank.  Any time I see a place triple-D frequents, I make a note so I can try it myself.  Hence my visit to Hey Meatball in Toronto a couple of days ago.

The TV programme made it look like the place was big and jammed with people all of who could give 5 minutes on any food items major ingredients.  I can't do this very well.  To me its just yummy or not.  How it gets to that point escapes me in the main so don't expect much in the way of detailed analysis of this ingredient or that technique.  Just yummy or not.  OK?

Its on College Street in the Little Italy district and I did expect it to look slicker than it was.  It actually looks a bit like an old launderette from the 1980's -- pretty bare and white.  What gave it away was the big red Hey sign out front.  I missed the small clapboard sign on the pavement and wandered in.

"Hi, man," screamed out one of the guys from the back.

Notice I didn't say 'the kitchen' because there wasn't one.  Simply an L-shaped counter behind which were a couple of sweaty looking cool dudes, one of whom had called out to me.  No table service.  You order at the counter.

It was also empty.

Mind you it was around 1.45 pm so after the lunch rush but if it was that good you'd expect there to be someone there most if not all of the time.

"What's your name, buddy?"  Now I'm English so reserve comes naturally to me.  This was a shock but I did confess my name was Mark.

"Whaddya want Marky-Mark?"

I hate it when people call me that.  My mum called me Marky when I was in my thirties and it was agony.  This wasn't going well.  But I persevered and asked what was good.

"Meatballs are good."  Well of course they are, or rather have to be.  This is a meatball shop for goodness sake.  If they were rubbish you wouldn't be in business.

I asked for spaghetti and meatballs as that was what Guy Fieri had on DDD along with a side salad and home made soda.  I asked which was nicest.

"They're all nice of course.  Mind you lime is probably my favourite," which rounded out the meal.

I sat myself down and few minutes later Marky-Mark's salad appeared soon followed by the spag + meatballs and soda.

The salad was half a lettuce chopped into 4 parts with blue cheese dressing and bacon bits drizzled over the top and was really nice.  The lime soda was great and the spaghetti and meatballs simply awesome.

It wasn't a big bowl to be sure but it was really hefty so very filling indeed.

I asked the guy about the TV show and he was vague about it.  "That was months ago now.  Yeah, they came in with about 20 guys and pretty much filled the shop.  They hung around for hours too filming all over the place.  Our customers couldn't get in.  The guys seemed OK to talk to."  Not really that informative then!

Mind you he did offer that business was so good they're opening another store out East, presumably near the Beaches in eastern Toronto.

Pretty good for $20!  You go here for the food not the decor!

Hey Meatball
719 College Street
Toronto
Canada

Tel: 416 546 1483
http://www.heymeatball.com