We are back with FOOD FRIDAY!
This week’s featured restaurant is…
[custom_box width=”60%” bgcolor=”#D5F2B6″ border_color=”#3F9F29″ text_color=”#3F9F29″ icon_url=”https://www.fionaman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/knife-fork.jpg”]RESTAURANT: Hawker Bar
ADDRESS: 164 Ossington Avenue Toronto, ON M6J 2Z7
CUISINE: Asian
PHONE: (647) 343-4698
WEBSITE: http://www.hawkerbar.com[/custom_box]
My dear friend suggested this restaurant after reading about their speciality, Chili Sambal Stingray, in Toronto Life. Boy, did Hawker Bar not disappointment.
They are a bit out of the way from the downtown core for me, but there is tons of Green P parking on the street…so be prepared to parallel park.
Ever since their feature in Toronto Life, Hawker Bar has generated an increase in traffic. So either arrive early or be prepared to wait for seating as the restaurant is smaller than quaint.
Hawker Bar features Singaporean street food at a modest price with the most expensive dish on their regular menu being $14. My friend and I knew that we would be ordering small dishes to share and asked our waitress on some recommendations. One of which was the Son In Law Eggs. It is a fried soft boil egg with a runny centre and sweet chili jam that is suppose to be eaten in one bite. It was definitely one large bite but a delicious one at that.
Son in Law Eggs
Soft Boiled Then Fried Egg, Chili Jam, Prik Nam Pla
After reading a few reviews on Yelp, I knew we had to order the Singapore Chicken Wings. They are perfectly cooked, crisped, and flavoured. If you like saucy chicken wings, these are the ones to get. I would go back to Hawker Bar again and again just for this dish alone…that is how good it is.
Singapore Chicken Wings
Sweet Chili Soy Sauce
Since we were ordering multiple small dishes, we decided to try the Chicken Hawker Laksa Lemak. I can’t handle too much spice and thought that the coconut milk would offset it…boy was I wrong. But there are certain spicy dishes that are so tasty that you are willing to sacrifice the tongue for and this is one of them. After eating the Laksa, I actually ate some of the residual crispy bits from the Singapore Chicken Wings to cool down my tongue.
Chicken Hawker Laksa Lemak
Spicy Coconut Curry Soup, Rice Noodles, Tofu, Puffs, Snow Peas, Red Pepper, Eggplant, Cilantro
Now for the pièce de résistance…Chili Sambal Stingray. This dish isn’t on Hawker Bar’s regular menu, instead it’s a special dish. My friend actually called the restaurant in advance to make sure the dish was still available. We never ate stingray before, so we didn’t know what to expect. Stingray is such a delicate and moist fish. The bones are translucent where you can easily chew them. Once you pull the meat apart from the bones, it looks like a pile of pulled pork. But the taste and texture is more like scallop. It paired so well with the grilled lime and sambal.
Chili Sambal Stingray
At this point, my friend and I were satisfied and not bursting out of my stomaches, but the waitress convinced us to order dessert. Succumbing to peer pressure, we asked for the dessert menu. To our surprise, there wasn’t one because they only serve one dessert, Banana Fritters. Not knowing what to expect, in come this scoop of ice cream and two green logs. The green logs were fried bananas with the batter naturally coloured by essence of pandan leaves. I’m actually not a fan of red bean ice cream or fried bananas, but the dish worked so perfectly. The batter on the bananas isn’t oily or heavy. It’s very light in texture and balances the sweetness from the ice cream and caramel sauce
Banana Fritters
Deep Fried Bananas Sheathed in Crisp, Bright Green Batter (from the essence of pandan leaves), Drizzled with Caramel Sauce, and Topped with Red Bean Ice Cream
Overall, it was an awesome experience and I really have to thank my friend for the recommendation and being my date. Actually she’s the same friend that went to Trevor Kitchen & Bar with me.
What are some non-conventional dishes have you tried before?
