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| - This one just squeezed into one of my rare 5 star favorites like squeezing lemon or oranges into juice. On it's own, it's healthy and good to eat. Maybe bitter or sour but add a bit of honey or sugar, it's excellent and quenches your thirst.
Pinky's is just like that. There were elements that put this cute and quirky place into flavour.
1) Location. I love that it's just off a commercial ribbon strip in downtown Toronto. It is unassuming and not even a notice that it is a restaurant or even Vietnamese, let alone more accurately Cambodian.
2) Unpretentious. You don't get that fancy overly done "Hey come look at me and check me out" BIG restaurant vibe. They don't showboat like American food chains tend to do.
3) Local Community vibe. This is so important for me when I want to dine out somewhere. I'm tired of processed, made from a freezer and fried foods. Restaurants tend to try to go the cheap way with food and wow you with their presence, not the flavours.
4) Food that is created and thought through enough that it can be easily replicated for consistency but also the flavours and presentations come through with every bite and every dish created from their kitchen. If I ordered one dish, and then the same another day, it would be at least similar and if not the same. (or you would hope depending on who's making it.). This is important. Wouldn't you think?
5) Staffing. They're the front line of business. They talk to the consumer and start off on placing the restaurant on the right path for the consumer to enjoy his/her/their meal and experience.
6) Recommendation by Dinah and Barry Koo. Two local chefs / caterers / food consultants / Gourmet food connoisseurs and authors in the Toronto area who I would agree as being one of the early creators of what is today's craze; "Asian Fusion Amuse-bouche". I know I have written about Dinah and vlogged about her in a few of my past reviews and videos. I do have to give her credit for me loving the food the way that I do. She recommended this as one of my go to's to try on my most recent visit to Toronto and I am so very pleased that we came and tried it out.
7) Vibe: This place is bohemian, urban, cool, chic and a reminder of what I remember about living in the downtown area / College /Kensington /Chinatown / Dundas / Queen / Spadina area. Back in the 80's I lived on Major street and Brunswick and these areas were my local haunts when I worked in lived here. I still feel like I have this connection after so many years. It must be the sentimentality of being old...er.
Oh Kay... now lets talk about our experience of dining here.
I had come with a work colleague from overseas Asia and wanted him to try out some of Toronto's unique culinary vibe in this area.
Consider this. I was staying up in Mississauga and Brampton and you Yelpers kinda know what food is like up there..... yahhsss. You know right? As much as you'd like to say it's great, when you consider the food options to the big city, there is no comparison.
We come downtown after work and park and walk a few blocks to get to this place on a Tuesday night. The street isn't really that busy @ 6pm for parking but decided we wanted to walk a bit anyways. Get a feeling for the area again like a haptic memory sensation preview before the meal. Turn the corner walk 50 paces to the first house on the right and there it is. In all it's unassuming glory. Nary a sign of what exists inside.
We didn't get to eat everything and instead ordered what was familiar to me and what I saw from other Yelpers pics.
Tiger's Milk Ceviche. Really? The name itself had my mind going overboard with exotic mammary thoughts. It was actually a ceviche with scallops, clams, tuna, avocado and coconut milk and some tom yum flavouring. Oh yes. definately order this dish. A must. I wanted to order more.
Another MUST have is the Marrow Beef. Imagine butter beef done up like sushi rolls presented on a big bone as a plate. Yes. If I could. I'd have a bone err ummm yeah. for this dish. I could eat five orders of these and walk out fattened, saturated and satisfied like a drunk zombie stumbling out of a bar past midnight.
The Papaya (mango) salad was my reluctant surprise. The grilled squid was the coup de grâce that topped it all off for us. I initially ordered it because I wanted something fresh and bold and crispy.
After weeks of eating subpar franchised food and feeling sick from it all.
I needed a bit of zestiness. In this dish. I got all of what I wanted and more. We just kept munching away to each other in partially stuffed giggles of delight over the squid and the sauce and the fruit.
In all the dishes there was a bit of heat from the chilies that garnished the tops, of which I would try to steal as much as I could for myself.
There is so much more to write about this place but you'll have to go and experience it yourself. The couple next to us were raving each dish as much as we did!
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