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| - The Ossington strip has become quite the popular destination for foodies. With crowd-pleasers such as Rock Lobster Food, The Saint and Yours Truly, Delux can be easily missed.
It doesn't have an eye-catching sign and is rather low-key. The restaurant looks pedestrian but it belies an understanding of food that goes beyond its unassuming appearance.
Those in the know frequent Delux for the Pressed Cubano Sandwich, a duo of cider cured pork shoulder, ham, Gruyère, grainy mustard, cornichons, and red onion wedged between two immaculate, crunchy, slices of bread. One couldn't ask for a more divine ham and cheese sandwich!
Having started with such a home-run dish, they continued to wow with their White Bean Cassoulet with a trio of proteins (duck confit, pork belly and Toulousse sausage). This was a rich dish that probably shouldn't be consumed on a daily basis as the salty duck confit would surely max you out on your daily sodium intake and while the Cannellini beans soaked up a lot of flavour, I couldn't help but wish they were a tad softer than presented.
The Steak Frites topped with herbed marrow butter saw an evenly-cooked-throughout medium rare Wellington County with a uniformly-charred border that rivals the neatness of a crustless afternoon tea sandwich. The fries are smooth even if a bit on the softer side which goes well with the creamy smoked paprika aioli.
To finish off the evening we opted for the baked-to-order Buttermilk Donuts rolled in cinnamon sugar served with a yin yang duo of vanilla-packed Chantilly and dulce de leche. Part of the fun is licking your fingers from all the dulce de leche that you've smeared all over yourself from trying to get it to cling to these warm balls of delight!
If you haven't had a chance to check out Delux, there's no better time than now as they celebrate their five-year anniversary with a discounted menu - appetizers for $10, entrées for $20 and desserts for $5 until the end of the month. The one caveat is that the drinks are a tad pricey, but there are plenty of cheap watering holes in the area for an after party or two post-dinner. I'm already rallying up the troupes as an alternative to Winterlicious for round two!
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