Mississauga tagged posts

If you don’t know about Bistro Narra, you should. It is a gem of a restaurant in the Churchill Meadows community of Mississauga. Olive it because the chef’s classic European training shines through in the consistently delicious food. Olive it because I can enjoy this lovely dining experience at very reasonable prices. Owned and operated by Austrian-trained chef Franz Hochholdinger and his wife, Esther, it opened in December 2010 as a sister restaurant to the Apricot Tree Café.  I have been lucky enough to dine at Bistro Narra on several occasions recently.

The Chicken Crêpe (available at both restaurants) has long been a favourite of mine. Plump morsels of juicy chicken breasts, mushrooms, tender zucchini, and sweet peas in an exquisite cream sauce (subtly laced with tarragon) are wrapped up in a dainty crêpe and served with a mixed greens salad. Perfectly portioned and pleasingly priced at $11.00 at brunch.

My father said that his Norwegian Crêpe was excellent. Smoked Norwegian salmon, bocconcini cheese, purple onion and roasted peppers are wrapped in a crêpe and blanketed with a rosé dill sauce. $12 at brunch.

Our friend enjoyed the Narra Breakfast which was an elegantly plated healthy breakfast of delicious Gravad Lax (dill-cured salmon), poached eggs, citrus dressed spinach salad with strawberries, feta and almonds and toast at $8.50.

On another occasion, when I dug my fork into the two poached eggs that were perched atop peameal bacon and  English muffin halves, their sunny yokes spilled out happily over my plate and ran into the homemade Béarnaise sauce in a delicious embrace. The al dente asparagus and house frites were the perfect vehicle to deliver the yummy sauce to my lips. At $8.50 I would have to say the Narra Benedict is the one of the most delightful versions of Eggs Benedict in my little corner of the world.  Oh, and there was fresh fruit on the plate.

My son swooned when he ate his plate of flat iron steak cooked to perfection, bright green asparagus, homemade Hollandaise sauce and house frites all for the incredible price of $12 (sadly, it’s no longer on the menu). I love to see my son swoon.

Even the regular coffee comes to the table with a bit of a creamy head on it – a small detail that is enough to keep a coffee lovin’ gal coming back for more. A couple of my friends decided Bistro Narra was the perfect spot to commit to a monthly girlfriends’ brunch date. Bravo Chefs Franz and Esther Hochholdinger!

www.bistronarra.com

Bistro Narra is the sister restaurant of the Apricot Tree (opened in 1993).  The Apricot Tree is a casual café that serves European pastries, as well as delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner. Most people who have dined at the Apricot Tree quickly become loyal customers, including me!

Check their website for details on giveaways and special offers throughout the year, in celebration of its 20^th anniversary.

www.apricottreecafe.com

While Chris Hadfield (Canadian astronaut now circling the earth on the International Space Station) was dining amongst the stars on a breakfast of orange juice, Cornflakes and coffee, my Dad and I were enjoying a yummy breakfast down here on planet Earth at Bobby’s Hideaway in Streetsville, Ontario.

If you know Streetsville, you probably already know that Bobby’s Hideaway is famous for breakfast. But what olive the most about Bobby’s is their delicious House Vinaigrette – a perfectly balanced, well-blended dressing with a taste that leaves you wanting more, more, more! I must have more! It is divine on their Analyse This Greek Salad (a pleasing twist on the traditional Greek salad consisting of the usual fixings along with shredded carrot on top of mixed baby greens). Olive it on their Bob Cobb Salad – a satisfying salad of flavorfully marinated char-grilled chicken breast, perfectly ripe avocado, egg, Blue cheese and crumbled bacon adorning fresh salad greens.

Olive it so much that I decided I would try to recreate the recipe at home. I googled recipe after recipe to see if I could get any hints. I even feigned food allergies to try to trick the waitresses at Bobby’s into giving up the secret recipe but their lips were sealed and alas, the recipe remains secret.

Thankfully, Bobby’s sells their delicious House Vinaigrette in take-home bottles at $5 per bottle. There aren’t any labels on the bottle, no ingredients lists either (to keep it secret) but you need to know that it must be refrigerated quickly, even before opening, so get it right home and into the fridge. Make up a batch of Olive’s Salade Maison, throw in some kalamata olives and crumbled Bulgarian feta cheese, dress it with Bobby’s House Vinaigrette and you will have my version of Bobby’s Analyse This Greek Salad on your own table.

All Bobby’s sauces are homemade and well-crafted. Bobby’s serves quality all-day breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s home-style comfort food in a casual setting.

I predict that if you live in Mississauga and love Arabic food, you will be eating a lot more of it starting in 2013. How do I know this? Because the fabulous Lebanese grocery store chain from Montreal, Marché Adonis, is coming to Ontario. And rest assured, you are going to olive it! Long a favourite of our family in Montreal, Adonis has 5 stores in Montreal and this spring (in partnership with Metro Inc.) will be opening one in Ontario. And guess where the first Adonis will be opened? You guessed it – right here in Mississauga, in the newly renovated store that was occupied by Metro, at 1240 Eglinton Avenue West. The grand opening is currently scheduled for April 17, 2013.

Why do olive Adonis so much? Close your eyes and let me describe to you a typical visit to the Adonis that we frequent in Ville St. Laurent. The first thing that hits you when you walk in the door is the intoxicatingly sweet fragrance of perfectly ripe mangoes…a feast for your nose. Take a moment to breathe it in and let it refresh your soul and tease you with a little taste of the feast to come.

Next the visual feast. Scan your eyes over the neat stacks of fresh produce to the pastry counter that showcases a bounty of oriental pastries (such as baklava, namoura, knefeh, maamoul, karabige, ghoraybe, katayef),

as well as European-style cakes, petits fours, French croissants, ice cream and sorbet.

Swoon over the pretty bottles of freshly squeezed juice (orange, mango, avocado, etc.) and the delicate sweet or savory crepes.

Now prepare yourself for the actual feast. You are standing in front of the long grill counter where you are offered a huge array of prepared Lebanese dishes, ready for you to eat in store or take home. Choose from shawarma, charcoal grilled kebabs, stuffed pita sandwiches, stuffed vine leaves, stuffed cabbage rolls, rice with lentils and fried onions, and roasted cauliflower to name a few. Pick up freshly prepared salads such as fattouche and tabouli. Try something from the large selection of Lebanese savory pastries. Don’t forget the hummus and baba ghanoush.

On our latest visit to the Ville St. Laurent store, we feasted on perfectly cooked vegetable marrow (stuffed with a mélange of very lightly seasoned tender ground beef and rice, dressed in a delicate tomato sauce).  And for dessert, a heavenly, light and luscious store-made fresh mango mousse. The healthy choices abound and the quality is superb, surpassing any hot table offerings currently offered in local grocery stores.

Adonis is a full service grocery store, offering a wide range of Mediterranean products. It is so popular in Montreal that Ricardo Larrivée featured the store in an episode of his TV cooking show, Ricardo and Friends. My husband and I have been longing for an Adonis to come to Ontario for years and are so happy that the first Adonis in Ontario will be right here in Mississauga. Move over Scarborough, Mississauga just went up a big notch on the ethnic food scale.

Adonis Market – Mississauga
1240 Eglinton Avenue West,
Mississauga, Ontario L5V 1N3
Telephone: 905 363 0707

Check out their website for a visual feast. www.adonisproducts.com