Restaurants
Bacchus
If there's one food that Toronto should be known for it's roti. It's a mainstay of summer festivals like Pride Week and is rumoured to be in consideration as a hot dog alternative at the hoped-for new-and-improved concession stands at the SkyDome.
A long-time player on the roti scene, Parkdale based Bacchus is an understated boite that serves up tasty and cheap Guyanese and Barbadian cuisine. The specialty here is the vegetarian rotis, and the flavors are decidedly different that what can be found at spots further east along Queen such as Gandhi's or the Real Jerk.
For the veggie rotis, you get to choose from fillings such as squash, potato, green beans, chick peas and mushrooms. Since each additional veggie costs an extra buck, two items at $5.99 seems to work for me.
I've worked my way through a good portion of the menu. I'd recommend the spinach and squash combo although the curried chick peas are also a good bet. Extra fixin's such as lettuce, tomato and onions can be added on request.
The meat rotis are also worth a look although you won't find anything here that's better than the other top roti players in the city. Samosas, soups, sumptuous sweet potato fries, rice 'n' peas and a selection of desserts are also on the menu.
Bacchus, 1376 Queen St West. 416-532-8191
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That being said, every so often I get a craving so strong for a Bacchus roti that I have to make the trek down to Parkdale to pick one up. Or more -- usually I get one for same day ingestion and a second one for the next day.
And really, where else can you get a roti with melted cheese?!? I don't know whether or not that's considered an "authentic" filler, but I can't say that I really care either -- it's yummy.
Might have to try Ali's in order to compare and contrast. But I suspect I'll still end up at Bacchus.
If you have the nerve to charge $14.50 for a shrimp and cheese roti, you'd better make sure to include more than 3 shrimp inside the damn thing. (Seriously! Is that so unreasonable a request?! I've paid less for Pad Thai with shrimp AND chicken, and they usually include 4-5 shrimp per serving)
I had the same experience with the beef, squash, and spinach roti, which was similarly priced at $13.95. They put in tons of squash and spinach as filler, but the protein was in short supply.
Overall, it's been a serious letdown. When I have a craving for roti, I'll be forking over my hard-earned dollars to the folks at Mother India or Ali's instead.
Not living in Toronto anymore I have craved Bacchus, now...?