DesiFest 2011 @ dundas square

So this weekend, i was checking out what was going on, since coming back from NYC last monday, legs get kinda antsy to walk around and wander.  In checking out what was going in and around in Toronto, i found out there was a WINGS AND WHEELS festival going on at Downsview Park. and i was like, AWESOME. downview is so close to me, i mean i dont really care about cars, but its a Wings festival! Who doesnt like wings!

Taiwanese Wings from the BBT place i love on Yonge... need to update it so i can link it!!!! WINGS WINGS WINGS!!!!  

So imagine my disappointment when i went to the website and this is what i saw:

What. The. Hell. 

my face + heart dropped :(

here's the link if you care about stupid aviation and cars

Anyway, so i wandered down to downtown anyway, figured something should be going on (no i didnt, i just was gonna wander), and just my luck! DesiFest 2011 was going down @ Dundas Square!

Guess what. I LOVE FESTIVALS! especially cultural ones. i mean. i LOVE food vendors! and i totally b-lined to find them... which wasnt hard cause like, its a small square.  Unfortunately, there weren't a lot of vendors, i could count them with my hand. 5. and i'm not counting the corn on the cob one.

Mughal Muhal

7071 Airport Road, (905) 678-6666

so the first stand i see, is Mughal Muhal, i see all these people walking around with this giant puffed thing on plate, and i see the pic as Chata Bhutara, and wanted to check it out.  So i ask the guy what's good, and he says the Kathi Kabab is the popular people's choice.  He said its a meat, mostly chicken, and stir fried onions wrapped in this egg dipped and fried... i dunno. thing. i just looked it up. its a Paratha (Indian Flat Bread)..... oh. why did i go through all that trouble when the description is written below...

The Original Chicken Kathi Kabab.  Crunchy layers of maan bread coated with egg and rolled up with spiced chicken, onions and corriander.

This was my wrap. That dipping sauce they gave me, was SO GOOD. i can only guess that it's some sort of chutney? but it was SO tasty. I wish i kept it for my next dish...

Oh yeah, i also got a Mango Lassi from them. $3.50. Man. i love mango lassi. 

I kinda wish i got some of that Gulab Jamun, which is: A warm Indian dessert, made of milk and cheese and served in a light sugar syrup.  I've had them before, and its like a cheese cake ball dipped in syrup... soo good... 

here's some food i didnt eat. 

chicken looked good! but was not meant for me.

So here's the 2nd place i tried, I'm pretty sure i've had this before at the Taste of Lawrence festival last year.  This sign confused me. Until now, that i actually look at it, ohhhhh those are the ingredients in each Murthabak. i thought there were like 30 options.... haha.

Here is the breakdown in live and living colour (that was a shout out to you Aaron Tveit of Catch Me if you Can now on Broadway... who am i talking to..)

Step 1.

Step 2.

Step 3. 

have the dude nearly burn his hand off ever time, flipping the thing. scary watching it go down.

Step 4. eat eat eat. here's mine read to be consumed. I ended up later pouring on some of the coconut chutney they had left out on it. i love the spice that's in all the south asian cooking.

Walked down the the next vendor, White Gold Sweets, and i had 2 more dollars out of my $20.00 that i started the day with, and thought those samosas looked might good for $1.00 each.  I was also curious about all the other stuff i was looking at. OK on top of the samosas are Pakoras, which are like veggie fritters, which i like, and then those cow looking testicles that remind me of chinese deep fried "HAM SUI GOK"s that I LOVE LOVE LOVE. and i dont know why i assumed it would be similar. ... cause it wasnt.

:( did not like it. it was like filled with beans and anise seeds.

Well, here's my plate. the samosas were great!

They also had sweets which i didnt have. I wonder what they are!?

And if i see a dog. i will take a picture of it. So cute!

And that was my experience at DesiFest 2011!  I wish there were more food vendors, cause i basically posted about every one of them (again, except for the Corn on the Cob... cause they're not south asian). I love cultural fests! Bring it on Summer!

Villa Malaysia

So I was having a chat with my coworker yesterday about food, and she was talking about Ethiopian food, (that i've never tried) she said there's no cutlery and you have this pancake that you eat everything with.  Then it got me started on Malaysian food and my love for the roti.


I love the Roti Canai from Banana Leaf and seldom dream of floating away in a parachute of a giant roti... 


So i was like. i had to have it. and looked up the closest Malaysian place from work to try out.  Google located me to Villa Malaysia, which... got 4 stars out of 2 reviews on Urban Spoon so... that's... promising.


I got Chris to go with me, it's, it located in that plaza on East Beaver Creek and Hwy 7 in Richmond Hill.. or if you like specifics: Villa Malaysia 140 York Blvd | Richmond Hill | Ontario | L4B 3J6


It was the day before the blizzard, and it was also like 5:30... so we were the only people there.... it's a ginormous spaces, with private rooms with flatscreen tv's.  I guess they promote it as a lounge as well.


According to their website, they also own another Malaysian restaurant, Restoran Malaysia ‘www.Restoranmalaysia.com’.


It looked kinda trendy, and i'm always skeptical on trendy asian places, cause sometimes the attention goes on the decor than the food... however, i was most impressed with the food, given that, we were the only people in a huge empty restaurant (that wasn't a good first impression), but the food was really good!

Gado Gado    $6

   Beansprout-jicama-cucumber-fried tofu-boiled egg-peanut dressing

I had a roommate from Bali during undergrad, and she would bring back these packages of peanut sauce for gado gado, and she and her bf made it for me once and it was ammmaaazzzing... and i'd been in love ever since, so when i see gado gado on the menu, i order it.  This version was great!  I've never had it "chunky" style, but its the sauce that makes this dish.  The Jicama, not sure if i've had it before, but it reminds me of a cross between a water chestnut and turnip, very crisp and refreshing.  You finish this meal feeling satisfied and guilt-free, which is satisfaction in itself.

Roti Curry Chicken/Beef   $8.5

Two pieces of crisp and soft roti canai

So my whole raison d'etre, for that moment at least, was to satisfy my Roti craving.  I got the Roti Curry, with the 2 pieces of roti canai, and i was not disappointed. I love the Malaysian roti, I also love the Indian curry, but with this roti, there's this sweetness to it that i can just eat on my own, but when i pair it with the spicy curry, there's a flavour circus in my mouth.  I basically mopped up my entire bowl clean with my roti, it was that-good.  I didn't take a picture, but they offered a home made chili sauce that was tangy and packed a hidden punch... which i think was also a pokemon skill.......LOL

Banana Fritters with Coconut Ice Cream   $6

Now, i was satisfactory full when I finished my curry, but the attentive waiter came by and offered a dessert menu, and Chris had been staring at the giant poster on the wall, featuring the deep fried bananas. so why not. Love deep fried bananas, combined with the tropical flavoring of coconut.  When it came... i was kinda... put off by its ..... shall i say, phallic resemblance... but totally amused by its resemblance to also another animal of dark brown skin flaps...

hehe

It was pretty good, the banana was fried through, so it melted in your mouth, and the coating was super chewy, but added to a resistance in texture when combing the ice cream and soft banana together, so it wasn't just all mush.  There were coconut bits in the coconut ice cream, though i thought it could have been more coconutty.

On a side note, there was a tank of fishys that kept starring at us the whole time. they kept following you wherever you went... here's a pic of one smiling at me.  I'll come eat you next time.