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With all that said just because you have alot of something doesnt mean its any good. Sometimes the concentration of multiple places works in your favour, but other times it does not push the quality up at all. We have had this discussion regarding Jamaican food. TONS of places in Toronto, I have tried so many of them I have lost count and I can honestly say I have never had an excellent Jamaican cooked food even once. I also give credit where its due and the Jamaican pastry shops in Toronto are very good. Randy's, Allen's, Michidean's and Tinnels are all awesome. I just have no idea why it cant translate to the cooked food.
So all I am saying is dont assume quantity always translates to quantity. Toronto though thankfully has alot of good ethnic foods in other areas and the variety in those cases works to its benefit.
P.S: Safe Travels
Well i'm going to say the same thing to you Ed as I say to Botti - the only community who should be held to account in Toronto is the Jamaican community for bad cooked food. There is NO excuse why it shouldn't have excellent culinary options. There is a very sizable Jamaican population in Toronto. Be honest here, would it be fair to say the Jamaican community in Toronto is possibly the largest or at least second or third largest of any city outside Jamaica? Why can't Jamaicans in Toronto cook? It baffles me.. I do have Jamaican friends in Toronto though so i'm gonna ask them this question when I get back and i'll hit you up with their response because it truly bewilders me... Do they suddenly forget how to cook?
I am glad you followed that Toronto has some great ethnic eats in totality. It has to because yes, the level of ethnic penetration across the board in the city and metro is very high and very recent. We'd have to assume that every large cultural/ethnic group that comes to Toronto are culinary laggards and that just doesn't compute.
Thanks for the safe travels wishes. We absolutely love it here.. There is something about Thailand that just makes one feel alive the instant they arrive unlike any other place in the world and yes - the Thai food is way better than back home
Quote:
Originally Posted by edwardsyzzurphands
No idea Nat, but if you find a place that serves it let me know. I get why Botti has been seeking it out, its an incredibly delicious dish, great mix of sweet and savory without being overpowering. I have found it twice in the US but only ordered it once. Decent attempt, but not what I was looking for.
Toronto doesn't have a large Turkish community. I kind of by chance just found Anatolia when I walked around my nabe when I first moved there and found it. Its a good restaurant though but no, i'm under no illusion I live in a Turkish nabe so I'm not going to be hard on them I enjoy it and glad we have it. I would be hard on Toronto's Jamaican community as I said - it has strong penetration and should have many good options... If its as weak as you claim there may actually be a business opportunity with this lol - if you find this to be the case lord must know that the over 260K Jamaicans in Toronto must feel this way unless they are in a collective denial so the instant something really good pops up there should be a line the entire length of Oakwood avenue to get into the place
Well i'm going to say the same thing to you Ed as I say to Botti - the only community who should be held to account in Toronto is the Jamaican community for bad cooked food. There is NO excuse why it shouldn't have excellent culinary options. There is a very sizable Jamaican population in Toronto. Be honest here, would it be fair to say the Jamaican community in Toronto is possibly the largest or at least second or third largest of any city outside Jamaica? Why can't Jamaicans in Toronto cook? It baffles me.. I do have Jamaican friends in Toronto though so i'm gonna ask them this question when I get back and i'll hit you up with their response because it truly bewilders me...
I am glad you followed that Toronto has some great ethnic eats in totality. It has to because yes, the level of ethnic penetration across the board in the city and metro is very high and very recent.
Thanks for the safe travels wishes. We absolutely love it here.. There is something about Thailand that just makes one feel alive the instant they arrive unlike any other place in the world
Agreed 100%. I'm not blaming whitey for this one. I have told Jamaican restaurant owners to their face in Toronto that their food is mediocre, had a pretty interesting exchange with a few of the guys on EgW that serve that dry under seasoned Jerk Chicken at night. One of the beauties of our culture is that we are super blunt to each other, its one of our charms. lol.
Toronto has the 4th largest Jamaican community after NYC, London and South Florida. All three have way better Jamaican food scenes than Toronto. You can find all types of JA restaurants with extensive menus. Also places that specialize in specific types of cooking like seafood places, white table cloth special occasion places, real jerk places that smoke with pimento wood (which was outlawed for import to Canada up until a few years ago). Even the next tier Jamaican magnets like Hartford, Central Florida and Boston have much more authentic options.
Sorry if I come across as snobby about this, but hey I can throw down in my kitchen and was raised by a mother that owned a Jamaican restaurant and catering company in South Florida. So hey my standards are high as they should be. So please run it by your yardie friends and if they disagree with my view then please ask them for specific recommendations so I can give anywhere I havent tried a fair shot/look.
We all have our happy places, glad you found yours. I would say you have good taste.
Re: Buzzfeed article. Cute read, but I learned about Jamaica....in Jamaica. Kingston/Barbican big up!
I should add that it really depends on the sour cream as well. Not the stiff kind but the runny kind is what i use, and a brand here that doesn't have too strong a taste.
One interesting thing though, is IF creme fraiche is closer to Mexican crema, a, why do Mexican places in Canada and the US use sour cream mostly. Here in Vancouver sour cream and creme fraiche are close in price.
Mexican in Canada isn't stellar. There are a few newer places here in Vancouver that are pretty good. I can only assume over time it will get better.
Sour cream became popular in Tex Mex cooking and kind of caught on. With that said, I dont really eat at places that dont serve Crema, heck I used to always have a bottle of either Crema Mexicana or Crema Salvadorena in my fridge at all times, that and some corn tortillas.
Agreed 100%. I'm not blaming whitey for this one. I have told Jamaican restaurant owners to their face in Toronto that their food is mediocre, had a pretty interesting exchange with a few of the guys on EgW that serve that dry under seasoned Jerk Chicken at night. One of the beauties of our culture is that we are super blunt to each other, its one of our charms. lol.
Toronto has the 4th largest Jamaican community after NYC, London and South Florida. All three have way better Jamaican food scenes than Toronto. You can find all types of JA restaurants with extensive menus. Also places that specialize in specific types of cooking like seafood places, white table cloth special occasion places, real jerk places that smoke with pimento wood (which was outlawed for import to Canada up until a few years ago). Even the next tier Jamaican magnets like Hartford, Central Florida and Boston have much more authentic options.
Sorry if I come across as snobby about this, but hey I can throw down in my kitchen and was raised by a mother that owned a Jamaican restaurant and catering company in South Florida. So hey my standards are high as they should be. So please run it by your yardie friends and if they disagree with my view then please ask them for specific recommendations so I can give anywhere I havent tried a fair shot/look.
We all have our happy places, glad you found yours. I would say you have good taste.
South Florida - that isn't a city its a region lol.. So Toronto has the third largest city concentration of Jamaicans outside of Jamaica.. In the 2006 census there were 256K Jamaicans in the Toronto CMA - I suspect in the 2016 census we are at or around 300K.. No excuse for bad culinary options for such a large community even if pimento wood just recently hit the scene - it should instantly be adapted for cooking in such a large community. I can't believe that everyone in Jamaica that comes to Toronto vs NYC, London (i'll bite south Florida even though it isn't a city) can't cook. Now sure NYC and London have a more developed culinary scene than Toronto but still - I don't get why you can't get a good meal or loads of good meals in the city and why their cooking is so bad it doesn't compare to Hartford or Boston - man I suspect you'd get a lashing if you come up here and say dem tings hahaha.
You don't have to apologize to me for being snobby about this.. As much as I love Jamaicans and the community it isn't my community lol.. All said though, if Toronto's Jamaican community makes a splash for its pastries there is some silver lining to this.... I used to work beside a Jamaican patty place when I was a teenager - the owners used to give us freshly cooked ones all the time - they were awesome!
All said I will ask them and report back with specifics.. I'm honestly curious about this as it seems very odd to me.
South Florida - that isn't a city its a region lol.. So Toronto has the third largest city concentration of Jamaicans outside of Jamaica.. In the 2006 census there were 256K Jamaicans in the Toronto CMA - I suspect in the 2016 census we are at or around 300K.. No excuse for bad culinary options for such a large community even if pimento wood just recently hit the scene - it should instantly be adapted for cooking in such a large community. I can't believe that everyone in Jamaica that comes to Toronto vs NYC, London (i'll bite south Florida even though it isn't a city) can't cook. Now sure NYC and London have a more developed culinary scene than Toronto but still - I don't get why you can't get a good meal or loads of good meals in the city and why their cooking is so bad it doesn't compare to Hartford or Boston - man I suspect you'd get a lashing if you come up here and say dem tings hahaha.
You don't have to apologize to me for being snobby about this.. As much as I love Jamaicans and the community it isn't my community lol.. All said though, if Toronto's Jamaican community makes a splash for its pastries there is some silver lining to this.... I used to work beside a Jamaican patty place when I was a teenager - the owners used to give us freshly cooked ones all the time - they were awesome!
All said I will ask them and report back with specifics.. I'm honestly curious about this as it seems very odd to me.
Find me a good place and I will eat crow. Trust me I've been looking. Also hunt for a Jerk place smoking with Pimento wood as well, heck even Pimento leaves, berries and an alternative fruit wood like Peach or Apple (which many places use because pimento wood is expensive)
Find me a good place and I will eat crow. Trust me I've been looking. Also hunt for a Jerk place smoking with Pimento wood as well, heck even Pimento leaves, berries and an alternative fruit wood like Peach or Apple (which many places use because pimento wood is expensive)
Not that dried out bullsh*t people line up for at Raps, Spence and HP on EgW.
Ok i'll ask around.. I think i'm going to hear a lot of teeth sucking from Mama Delores lol... I can almost hear her now...
Just thinking though that maybe most Jamaicans in Toronto don't have such a 'refined' palate as Sir Edward
just a thought... Seriously though, I do think for such a large community that whatever is lacking in the Jamaican culinary scene in Toronto - one could see this as a massive opportunity given the population.
Well i'm going to say the same thing to you Ed as I say to Botti - the only community who should be held to account in Toronto is the Jamaican community for bad cooked food. There is NO excuse why it shouldn't have excellent culinary options. There is a very sizable Jamaican population in Toronto. Be honest here, would it be fair to say the Jamaican community in Toronto is possibly the largest or at least second or third largest of any city outside Jamaica? Why can't Jamaicans in Toronto cook? It baffles me.. I do have Jamaican friends in Toronto though so i'm gonna ask them this question when I get back and i'll hit you up with their response because it truly bewilders me... Do they suddenly forget how to cook?
There's lots of places you can get good Jamaican food in Toronto but I do find alot of Jamaican places to be rather inconsistent but when you know a place well you will begin to know what time or day to go there etc. Also it's very rare for one place to do everything well. The place that has good curry goat will have very bad stew chicken and vice versa.
There's lots of places you can get good Jamaican food in Toronto but I do find alot of Jamaican places to be rather inconsistent but when you know a place well you will begin to know what time or day to go there etc. Also it's very rare for one place to do everything well. The place that has good curry goat will have very bad stew chicken and vice versa.
Thanks for the info! I must admit that I don't eat Jamaican food that often and when I have its been limited to Mr. Jerk lol.. I definitely am open though so will broaden my Jamaican culinary horizons. As for what you said about restaurants doing some things well but not everthing, I think this is pretty common.. Hakka food is one of my favourite in terms of dining in the city. There is one place that does a Crispy Beef better than anywhere else yet the rest of the menu is pretty average. Its just a matter of experimenting with different dishes and going to the specific restaurant that does a specific dish the best.
Today's star: Toronto ranks 24 among 100 cities for Millennials. Vancouver at 10th, Montreal at 15th. The top three go to Amsterdam, Berlin and Munich.
this is gonna make many pissed: Although many actual Toronto millennials would disagree, the city’s lowest score was for nightlife. Among the rated 100 cities, only Ottawa, Denver, Brugg, Cork (wherever that is), Philly, Boston and Perth ranked lower than Toronto in night life. Berlin and Paris tied for number 1. Montreal scored 9.5, putting it at the 7th position. Vancouver and Toronto each gets 1 point at 92th. LOL
Today's star: Toronto ranks 24 among 100 cities for Millennials. Vancouver at 10th, Montreal at 15th. The top three go to Amsterdam, Berlin and Munich.
this is gonna make many pissed: Although many actual Toronto millennials would disagree, the city’s lowest score was for nightlife. Among the rated 100 cities, only Ottawa, Denver, Brugg, Cork (wherever that is), Philly, Boston and Perth ranked lower than Toronto in night life. Berlin and Paris tied for number 1. Montreal scored 9.5, putting it at the 7th position. Vancouver and Toronto each gets 1 point at 92th. LOL
Oh wonderful - another 'definitive' list that is completely accurate and reflective of what everyone thinks - yippie. Amsterdam number 1.... Madrid number 28.... Kuala Lumpur number 62... NYC number 64..................... Of those 4 cities Amsterdam is the least attractive by FAR imo... Brussels, Helsinki, Zurich, Utrecht and scores of other tame cities in comparison have a better nightlife scene than Bangkok... Gothenburg Sweden better nightlife than Mexico City bwahahah...... nuff said about these stupid subjective lists in my books.
Last edited by fusion2; 04-19-2017 at 05:29 AM..
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