Best of Independent Toronto 2007: Food + Drink

Please. Where is Manic Coffee?

Manic Coffee just missed the cut. The cafe category was probably the most competitive. Sorry.

You missed the best chocolate shop in the GTA ... Sitting Around Eating Bon Bons .... sooooo good ... and organic & fair trade ... sweeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Manic missed the cut? please explain the criteria then.

Obviously it's subjective, but I don't think it would have been productive to list every cafe in the city. MANIC is a good cafe but so are all the ones that made the cut. Which one would you remove from our list?

I'd be willing to bet that the photo taken above of the cup of coffee hails from Manic. Interesting that Manic didn't quite make the cut but the photo taken at their shop did.

Actually....I took the photo and it's from Cherry Bomb on Roncesvalles.

Hi there,

I am owner of a Thai restaurant in Mississauga and would like to invite your food editor to come and visit us. Here is the article from Toronto Star about my restaurant.

A Thai-Canadian love match TheStar.com - living - A Thai-Canadian love match
October 10, 2007
Tamsyn Burgmann
Toronto Star

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Thai Cuisine Experts

CUISINE: Thai

LOCATION: 2155-Leanne Blvd., Unit 103, west of Erin Mills Pkwy., Mississauga, 905-919-0063, thaicuisineexperts.com

OWNERS: Naresh Sharma and Celine Bazinet-Sharma. Opened May, 2006

HOURS: Monday to Thursday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday to Saturday: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Sunday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

CREDIT CARDS: MasterCard, Visa, debit

TAKE OUT: Yes

NOISE FACTOR: Soft Thai music

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Anyone who has been lucky enough to find true love knows to never let it go. For Naresh Sharma and Celine Bazinet-Sharma, the sparks flew first at a college in Montreal before bursting into flame in Thailand. Now, the fire burns steady in Mississauga. It cooks a fabulous red curry.

The Canadian owners of Thai Cuisine Experts have built a shrine to their beloved Thailand (they've visited 14 times) out of a compact corner unit.

Soothing melodies floating from speakers are performed by Thai musicians. Anyone can watch Thai chef Jongkol Sringern ? recently hired from a Bangkok hotel ? whip up a meal in the front-end kitchen alongside Bazinet-Sharma.

But while patrons are welcome to sit in for a meal, the food-court like tables and plastic plates knock atmosphere down a notch ? making take-out more favourable and the food, somehow, more flavourful.

ON THE PLATE: It's no surprise that several ingredients, like tender shrimp and delightfully sticky shrimp crackers, are Thai imports. But refreshingly, everything else is hand-selected from a local market and two farms by Bazinet-Sharma. From the vegetarian broth of the hot-and-sour prawn soup ($7.99) to the sweet-and-sour chicken Thai-style ($7.99), it's clear the home-cooked flavours emanate directly from healthful ingredients.

Match rice noodles with Phad Thai or red basil; jasmine rice with red or green curried shrimp, chicken, beef or veggies. Several other stand-out dishes like ginger chicken ($7.99) use only breast meat and thinly sliced ginger root.

The chefs will vary ingredients and spice levels for allergies or taste. No pork is served and everything is halal.

SECOND HELPINGS: Go hot or go home. While most dishes were perfectly fine spiced medium, turning up the heat sends a whirl of sensation from tummy to toe. Don't be deceived by the tame colour of the red curry; spoon the addictive sauce generously over rice, like the lime leaf-spiked Thai cuisine chicken ($7.99) atop a medley of peppers, peas and onions. Who cares if ordering Phad Thai ($8.99 with shrimp) is clich?? Any dish containing the sweet and clingy rice noodles (basil spicy noodles with beef $7.99) is ace.

TAKE A PASS: Be prepared for soupy curries, which would improve if the beef in green curry ($7.99) wasn't so chewy or tasteless. The raw, dilapidated green beans were a sorry addition to the papaya salad ($6.99).

AT YOUR SERVICE: Everyone pitches in to get meals to the table reasonably fast. At lunch, pick up your food from the counter. Take-out curries spill easily.

EXTRAS: Bazinet-Sharma learned to make ice cream while growing up in Quebec. A local farm churns up her own charming recipe, which combines pure cream with fresh lychee, mango, coconut or pistachio ($2.99 each). C'est incroyable!

PRICE RANGE: Appetizers $3.25 to $5.99. Soups and salads $6.99 to $8.99. Entr?es $6.99 to $8.99.

BOTTOM LINE: The owners describe their restaurant as a "five-star" experience, but that's reaching. While hospitality, cleanliness and affordability are all there, Thai Cuisine Experts is judged best as fresh, high-quality take-out prepared with love.

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Stars are awarded for food, service and atmosphere. Reviews are based on two anonymous visits that are paid for by the Star. food@thestar.ca

Regards,

Naresh Sharma,
Owner Thai Cuisine Experts Inc.Mississauga.