Utopia

You guys should be happy to know I'm going to try to spend less of each entry on writing and critiquing in the future, and focus more on my strengths- drawing! Turns out I love food too much to be a critic, go figure.


586 College Street

I believe in honesty. This is not my first visit to Utopia! Though I’m not a frequent patron of the Little Italy resto, I’ve been a fair share of times. I tend to be pleased with the food, sometimes by a lot, sometimes not so much. I’ve never been disappointed.
To mix things up, my sister and I tried out the famous back patio. I know, I know. How is winter my first patio visit? I was a fool in the summer, that’s how. We head back, and I’m already not sure we made the right choice. Inside the main body of the building is happy lighting, comfortable wood chairs, and beautiful exposed brick. It has a clean bistro feel, and I usually feel very happy inside. This patio is so different! Some of the feel of the interior was reflected in the wall decorations, a long shelf of wood running along one wall, with herbs potted in long tin pans along it. I like that touch. It was the seating that I regretted- like most patios, it had those horrible plastic stacking chairs, and ugly plastic marble-top tables. I have seen beautiful and functional patios. This is not one of them. We sat, and the heating was right on us- very cozy. Throughout our dinner, the heat went on and off, and while we never froze, it did get distracting. I recommend sitting indoors whenever possible!
The servers here are really, really friendly. I sat at the bar a while and chatted with the bartender while waiting for my sister, and felt right at home. After we had ordered, there was a mix up with the special that I had ordered- the chef made something else, thinking the Sunday special was another kind of burrito. We were assured that the mistake was quickly being remedied. Moments later, she came back with a half-pint for each of us on the house- totally unexpected! It was an unnecessarily nice touch. Even more surprising was that it only took five more minutes for out orders to come out. So while there was a mistake to begin with, they made up for it entirely.
The menu at Utopia is extensive, made up of multiple variations on favourites like burgers (lamb, beef and veggie), burritos, quesadillas, sandwiches and salads. There are also appetizers, and a couple entrées. They have a nice beer and wine list as well, including KLB’s raspberry wheat beer, of which I’m very fond, and had with my meal.
We ordered an app, two mains, and a delicious dessert.


Tofu Cream Croquettes – 5.75
Panko crusted tofu & cream cheese, chipotle sauce
Adding a panko crust to something usually makes it a winner for me- I love that crunch! Though perfectly fried, these dumplings were a disappointment, unfortunately. While there was nothing offensive about them, there was nothing good about them, either- Utopia fell into the classic tofu handling pitfall of not having enough flavour. They were incredibly bland. They also had no texture. Here is a food for those with recently ousted wisdom teeth. You don’t have to chew at all! The sauce that came with them added the only flavour they had at all. Now, that sauce was really good! I found it to be like sweet and sour sauce, but much smokier.


Surn’n Turf Burrito (Sunday Special) – 9.99
Cheddar, salsa, lettuce, grilled onions, jalapeño mayonnaise. Coleslaw.
Utopia knows how to fill a plate- I think my eyes may have been bigger than my stomach. The burrito itself is a monster, stuffed and stacked one half on top to the other. It comes with a heaping side of black bean rice, and no shy portion of coleslaw. The coleslaw is the kind I like- vinaigrette instead of cream. What made this coleslaw stand out was the use of sesame oil, making it taste bolder than any ‘slaw I have ever had. I was impressed that the chef’s put so much thought into what is usually an unpopular side. The rice was cooked perfectly, very soft and fluffy, with the beans adding texture, colour, and flavour. I think it could have been bolder, having little flavour outside of the natural bean taste. I added salt.
Years ago, I worked at a burrito joint, and have frequented a few since then. As such, I like to consider myself a casual expert in the art of the inauthentic burrito- Toronto style. This one had it happening in all the right places. The tortilla was crisped perfectly, the light taste of char going wonderfully with steak strips. I didn’t taste the shrimp too strongly, but it was present and added a distinct texture. The steak won this one for me. It was crisp on the outside, tender and juicy inside, not chewy at all. It dominated the combination of flavours, with other things like the jalapeño mayo and onions working to accent it. Altogether the whole thing was more than I could finish.


Baked Chicken Pesto Sandwich – 9.50
Chicken, pesto, asiago cheese, sourdough roll, salsa. Fries.
Since Mary had this one, I can't really write a huge commentary on it. I tried some and it was very flavourful and full of pesto...which is great! Definitely generous.


Crème Brulé - seasonal price
I like a variety of desserts, and crème brulé tops that list. I love the caramelized sugar crunch, to cold dense interior. The crème brulé served at Utopia was a departure from what I have had before. The texture of the cream itself was much lighter than I expected, so much so that I would call it a mousse. It was not smooth loosening itself onto the spoon with a chunky fluffiness that surprised me. The flavour was also very light, delicate. I was expecting a bold and decadent cream, but received a more. The crust was thin, and though it tasted good, I wish there had been more, and that it had been thicker. Topping everything off was a sprinkling of blueberries. They didn’t taste too fresh. That may be expected given the season, but I had hoped that there would be more pop in the fruit. Although this was a good crème brulé, it was not the best that I’ve had.


My amazing friend and sister, Mary <3

The Pomegranate

Many an evening spent biking the college stretch has found me looking into the mysterious glow of The Pomegranate restaurant. It’s not that the blue walls and fine tapestries have scared me from visiting until now. Like more than a couple people I know, I have had the unfortunate problem of trying to call them a visit for lunch- this is a dinner only establishment.
Knowing that, we arrived at 8, well after open, but also well before close.
I knew this place was going to be a five star for atmosphere. The walls are draped with ornate rugs, tassels dangling. Photos and paintings show women and men in traditional Iranian clothes. The place did not lack for colour or lighting. Patterned lamps hung down casting patterns on the cerulean wall, making us feel under water. There were hand-painted tiles inlaid on all the walls. We felt comfortable.
To start we ordered a bottle of Argentinian wine, Trapiche, a malbec reserve. Pomegranate only serves two kinds of meat from what I can tell. Mostly it’s lamb, and one or two dishes have chicken, or are vegetarian. Thus the red choice- and it was a delicious wine which I will be certain to purchase again. Between myself and my two guests, we ordered four dishes.


Maast-o Khiar - $4.25
A blend of English cucumber, walnuts, raisins and rose petals in a rich creamy herbed yogurt.
This appetizer was served with warm Barbary bread- and by warm, I mean HOT! Wrapped in a warm cloth, it tasted incredibly fresh, while crusty on the outside. I firmly believe this was fresh baked. The mast-o khiar was spooned out onto our separate plates. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t taste much of the rose petals, which were actually more like a fine powder on top of the dish. Eaten on top of bread or by itself, the dish was mild, the raisins and walnuts adding the most texture and flavour. It was refreshing, and thus served well as an app, but wasn’t terribly memorable.

All the main dishes were served with a salad of mixed greens and a happy helping of basmati rice. There was also a small bowl of something that reminded me of pico, with mint. My companions dishes were served in metal bowls with the gravy filled right to the edge, but mine came with a proud and large shank of lamb front and center.



Daily Special - Seared Eggplant with Lamb - $14.95
I tried a spoonful of this saucy, savoury dish with some of my basmati rice. Pomegranate knows a thing of two about making a winning sauce. As the Pomegranate was my second blog to review, I made a rookie mistake- I forgot to take my notebook. Finding standard menu items on the Pomegranates website was easy, but I don’t have the details on what was in this stew. It was rich, with thick and mushroomy gravy. The eggplant was not too noticeable, but the charred flavour hung around underneath the bold lamb aromas. For a cold and wet day, it was a great choice.


Aloo Gheysi - $13.95
A stew of bokhara plums and dried apricots in a saffron sauce with boneless chicken pieces
The plums have pits in them. We were warned about this twice by two different servers. I’m a firm believer that every bit of an animal, plant or fruit contains essential flavours, even if it’s just a bit of an addition. Of the three dishes, we all agreed that this was the most flavourful. I love sweet dinners because they’re different from what one usually gets, but my friends both said they aren’t historically fans. All of us loved it. Even though there was a variety of fruit, the chicken and saffron did a lot to keep the dish from being too sweet. Again, Pomegranate showed a skill for sauces. Unlike other saucy middle eastern dishes I’ve tries, this was not too buttery, but full of natural taste.



Morasa Polo - $14.95
Jewelled rice – slivers of Seville orange peel, almond and pistachio with diced carrots and barberries blended in saffron basmati rice served with a braised lamb shank
I am not much of a lamb eater. I’m not opposed to it, but I tend to lean towards vegetarian dishes. So the times I’ve eaten lamb can be counted on one hand. This was...superlative. Can I use that word for a hunk of meat on a big bone? It was great. It tasted strictly of meat. There was no sauce, and the spices were very simple, almost not there. But please, let me describe its tenderness. I had a piece on my fork, and I bit that piece. Half stayed on the fork, just falling away. I don’t know if I’ve ever had something so tender! Beautiful lamb.
The rice that came with my dish was also different from what my friends had with their dishes. This ‘jewelled rice’ was full of chips of candied orange peel, crisp nuts, and carrots. It was as colourful as confetti, and I couldn’t get enough of it. The basmati was so light and fluffy that it didn’t sit heavily like rice usually does.

The desserts were very tempting, and I saw the tables all around us ordering the same thing, but we all agreed that we were too full to venture into desserts - this time.

My guests this evening were my roomate Molly and her man, Pietro.