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| - I was always curious about the "Goof", its burnt out sign and its offerings. After an amazing walk in the Beaches neighbourhood Monday, September 21, I finally decided to try it. It was around 4:15 pm and, sure enough, as dinner time was approaching, local families were coming in for an early meal.
In Toronto, there are two schools of diners: the Greek and the Chinese.The Garden Gate is a true diner of the latter persuasion.All the diner classics such as all-day breakfast, hamburgers, sandwiches and steaks are offered. Absent? Italian-style pasta dishes and souvlaki. However, half the menu offers Chinese-Canadian cuisine. Now, too many people confuse this with Chinese cuisine. Chinese-Canadian cuisine has been developed over more than a century to cater to an anglo-saxon clientele, at a time when mass Chinese immigration had not started. It became a cuisine of its own, and is usually offered outside of traditional Chinatowns.
I was debating ordering a chicken chop suey with steamed rice when I looked at the "entrees" section and there I saw it. Liver steak. Glorious beef liver steak with onions and bacon and gravy and home fries. As I was ordering, the waitress told me it came with soup (chicken barley) or tomato juice, and dessert (rice pudding). All for 8.95! For 1.99 I could also add a side salad.
And here I am eating a delicious homemade chicken barley soup, not too salty but well seasoned and flavourful. The salad was romaine lettuce with onions, cucumbers, tomatoes and was quite refreshing. The liver steak was a really good portion, well cooked, not dry and came with slightly sauteed onions in abundance and tasty home fried potatoes. I suggest you order the bacon crisp or well done. While tasty, it was a tad on the limp side.
Rice pudding, to my surprise was not the creamy concoction served in Greek diners and elsewhere. It was very eggy, with a slight crust on top and had a more cake-like consistency, a bit reminiscent of a bread pudding. Taste wise and look wise, I suddenly had a flashback: my grandmother made rice pudding this exact same way and served milk or cream on the side to pour on the dessert, as is the custom at The Garden Gate. Delicious! The final damage was around 12 dollars.
If you are in the Beaches and crave some diner food or authentic Canadian-Chinese cuisine (perhaps before or after a flick at the Fix Cinema across the street), this is definitely a great choice and I will go back.
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