Friday, 28 November 2008

• Gilead Café Review

  Gilead Café
  4 Gilead Place
  Toronto, ON
  647.288.0680
  www.gileadcafe.ca
  8am - 6pm wkdays, 8am - 4pm wkends
  11am - 3pm a la carte menu

  
  Jamie Kennedy's reknown upscale poutine can now be had at his new venture, Gilead Café.  Located near DVP Richmond off-ramp, it is situated in an otherwise unremarkable alley.

  

  I've had JK's decadent poutine once before at the JK Wine Bar, and have fond memories of the crispy fries blanketed with succulent braised lamb and rich gravy. Mmmm ..

  The place is spacious and bright; the open kitchen also functions as the kitchen for catering.  The daily menu is written on a black board -- note that the A La Carte menu (including the poutine) ends at 3pm. 

  

  
  At Gilead Café, the poutine is undoubtly the star attraction.  The day we visited, the daily poutine was a Braised Beef Poutine with Artisan Cheese ($8).  The fries were fried hard and crunchy, keeping their texture and crispness even after ten minutes marinating in gravy at the bottom of bowl. The braised beef was hearty and tender without being stringy, offset with a sprinkle of cilantro.  The cheese, mildly goat-cheesey in flavour by melty rather than crumbly, held its own very well against the meat.  An hour later I could still remember the perfect crispiness if the fries and the richness of the meat and tang of the cheese.  The portion is generous, enough to work as lunch on its own.

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  <click on pic for full-screen poutiney goodness>

  We also tried the Roast Beef Sandwich on Whole Wheat Poppyseed with Peppercress, Red Onion Marmalade, and Blue Cheese Dressing ($9).  Served cold, I could only imagine how amazing this may have tasted with fresh sliced warm roast beef.  The beef itself was tender enough, though otherwise unremarkable.  The peppercress actually stood out more to season the sandwich. 

  The red onion marmalade reminded me of the sauce used in the glazed bbq pork dim sum buns (not the white steamed buns nor the chinese bakery buns, but the ones with strong shallot/red onion flavouring).  Between the two, they gave the sandwich enough flavour to balance out the bread -- which, while slightly bland on its own, was full of fun and delightful pops from the poppyseeds.

  
  Despite the off-the-beaten-track location and non-dinner hours, I will definitely be back (most likely on weekends) for the occasional indulgence.
   
  For further adventures in the world of poutine, BlogTO has also covered Gilead Café, along with Smoke's Poutinerie, in addition to a best-of-TO poutine ranking.

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