Is it just us, or are you noticing a (slow but steady) rise in Southeast Asian restaurants here in our fair city? Always a culinary scene that likes to go fast and strong with regional styles (Italian in 2011 – and always, actually – followed by Japanese izakayas and ramen spots in 2012 and subsequently Mexican and Spanish tapas in 2013), we’re placing our money down on the varied cuisines of India, Malaysia, Indonesia et. al. in the coming months…
Soos opened up on Ossington a short while back, bringing us Malaysian street food with Toronto flair. Not too long after, we had Bindia open down on Market Street with some haute Indian eats. Sabai Sabai Thai, of course, has been around for a little while now at Church and Dundas, while Saffron Spice Kitchen at Queen and Spadina is bringing more Indian deliciousness in grab-and-go format. Over on St. Clair West we’ve had the delight of trying the newly opened Pukka (read our review here), and up near Downsview we’ve Kawilihan offering up some Filipino flavours. We’re still awaiting the opening of Pai – the joint venture between the folks behind Sabai Sabai and Gusto 101 – and we’ve also heard from some folks over at Commune Design that we can expect an Indonesian style tapas restaurant that’ll seat about 50 hungry hounds opening soon near Yonge and Eglinton.
So, is this a bubbling under trend we’re about to see explode in 2014? We’re certainly hoping so. Southeast Asian cuisine is naturally varied (a dozen or so countries could comprise the culinary stylings), and at least it’s not pizza, burgers, ramen, tacos or izakaya fare. Not that we’ve a problem with those trends… it’s just that we’re getting a bit of a culinary wanderlust that’s inciting us to break outside our “oh-there’s-another-one” restaurant trek in lieu of stalwart options. (A recent trip to Babur reminded us why we love the richly-spiced offerings of Indian eateries.)
Only time will tell if we’re able to get some more creative and crafty concoctions coming down the pipeline, but we’ve our fingers crossed for an out-of-left-field surge in Southeast Asian restaurants in 2014. As goes the city, so shall we go. Let’s just hope the next gloriously gourmet shift happens soon, and happens to be in line with our prediction…