Nirvana: Sanctuary at Rowdy College and Bathurst
434 College Street
Phone: 416-927-8885
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A row of greasy spoons and the legendarily loud Sneaky Dee's have, until recently, made the corner of College & Bathurst a haven for the rowdy. Not that I mind really, but sometimes it's nice to have an escape option nearby.
That escape has materialized in the form of Nirvana, a new restaurant/lounge now open in the old Picadilly location across from Sneaky's. A clear re-incarnation of the Red Room (444 Spadina), Nirvana offers up that same eclectically furnished and dimly lit bohemian hideaway, only with a more polished and upscale feel.
The menu also differs in many areas, adding more complex ingredients to the dishes, new appetizers and even oysters from Oyster Boy. Not that they've nixed the very College/Bathurst greasy nachos platter from the menu, but like I said before, it's nice to have options.
Where once we'd have ordered nachos, pizza and fries, we now go for the grilled pita with sour cream and eggplant dip, a pita pizza covered in pesto, olives and artichoke hearts and a plate of garlicky scalloped potatoes (pictured at the top).
The grilled pita is almost more fried than grilled, but other than that, no complaints. We especially dig the crispy potatoes. All make fantastic starters or standalone dishes to share alongside a pitcher.
From the entree list we try out various East-Asian style entrees like glass noodles with tofu, chicken curry, and vermicelli with chicken and spring rolls. All come with a mixed green salad to start with.
The soy-rich glass noodles are paired with piles of stir-fried vegetables and tofu making for a very savoury and filling meal - especially after all those appetizers. The curry is rich and flavourful, though a little too spud-heavy on the potatoes-to-meat ratio.
The only real miss here is the vermicelli dish.
The chicken and spring rolls are good (typical of this Vietnamese dish), but the "vermicelli" are too thick -- more like spaghetti in disguise. Not to mention that beside them sits another salad just like the one we'd just had.
To make up for it, I order a couple pints of Sangria in the hopes that they're as great as the Red Room version.
Thankfully, they're even better.
Comments (12)
Could you share some price information? Is this from the same owners as the Red and Green Rooms? What do you mean when you say items are "good"? Sorry, but this review is as clear as mud.
Walked by this yesterday. If I had any idea the food would look so delectable, I would have walked in. I'm definitely heading over some pesto pita pizza and sangria.
I have ate there 2 days ago - and its fantastic - and prices are reasonable. The curry chicken is great. I am actually adding this restaurant as a reccomended one on my site. http://www.torontomotels.org
DH & Magdalena -- the prices at Nirvana are within the local cheap-eats bracket. If you've been to the Red Room, things are similar, maybe a dollar more per.
Our entrees ranged from $6-$10, appetizers between $4-7!
I finally went here the other day, and it's now my favourite place to eat along College St: cheap, tasty and quick service.
I really like this place. The sangria was one of the better I've had in the city and the food is great considering how cheap it is.
LOVE this place. awesome for brunch too! they don't skimp on the portions, and it's a nice atmosphere. good for people watching, too, the front is open when it's warm!
I spend way, way too much time here. Great food, great prices, friendly staff. I recommend the cold shrimp rolls and the lentil soup. Personally, I also like the vermicelli noodles - even if they are too thick to really be vermicelli.
Sorry this is long, but sometimes you just have to unload. I really can't comment on the food, but I can speak to some intangible other aspects based on one experience yesterday. Three of us went into the restaurant at quarter to four for some coffee and cake. We were impressed by the decor, an eclectic mix of a large old-word cafe and homey decor and furnishings. It was charming enough that we were willing to excuse the dead cockroach on the table.
A waiter came by to ask if we wanted drinks, so we ordered two cappuccinos and an earl grey tea. After about ten minutes, he came back with two cappuccinos and a lemon grass-green tea and took our order (three cakes). After he left we saw that the cappuccino was served in small cups with no saucer or spoons. So much for adding sugar. Also, they use really subprime coffee beans to make their espresso. Just really nasty Rubusta junk.
So then began the waiting game while our coffees went cold. After twenty five minutes I asked the waiter if our cakes were ever coming. With a big dumb smile he said, "Yes they are!"
Five minutes later, I asked a waitress for our bill - no more time to wait.
And magically a minute or two later, our waiter appeared with the cakes, saying, "we would like to offer you free drinks." So we accepted because, what the hell. And waited another ten minutes for two more bad cappuccinos (this time served with spoons) and some (free!) hot water for the tea bag. Of course the cakes were gone by the time the coffee arrived. Apparently it's too much to ask for coffee and cake to be served together.
Finally when we did get the bill (for 3 cakes, two cappuccinos, and one tea) we noticed that the cakes were $1 more each than they had been on the menu. We brought it to the attention of a waitress who fixed it but implied that it was somehow our fault because the price goes up after 4:00. Sweetheart, we really don't care when or if the price goes up at a certain time of day. We just want to be charged the price on the menus we were given. Oh, and a simple "sorry about that" would be nice.
All in all, it was a waste of an hour. Oh yeah, the cake was mediocre typical baked-off-premises stuff, not terrible but not remotely interesting either. The only added effort to slicing and plating it was to squirt some tasteless chocolatey sauce on the plates - yeah, that took all of 30 minutes! And the staff never apologised once. We won't go back and certainly cannot recommend it either.
Cheap drinks and cheap food ($4 for a hummus/cucumber sandwich + salad + potatoes, can't beat it). The lentil soup really stands alone as truly delicious. Food here is more tasty than gourmet, but that's what you're paying for of course!
Service is a little inconsistent but acceptable. The temperature inside can get chilly during the winter. The washrooms downstairs have taken a real turn for the worse; they consistently smell awful as of late.
The ambiance, a select handful of really good staff, and pretty decent food at a pretty damn good price keep me coming back again and again.
Waiter looked like Waldo and was just as prone to disappearing for long stretches of time. Insultingly bad service.
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