Dukem

For our monthly special 'cultural' dinner, we chose Ethiopian food this month.  I looked through some blog reviews and comments, and decided to try Dukem on Danforth.  The restaurant was small with only 7 tables and we really weren't sure if it was an authentic restaurant. 

We didn't know what to order, so the safest way to go was to opt for a combination dish to try a wider variety.  We chose the Tibs Combinations with Vegetables served with beef.  The quantity of the dish didn't look filling to us at first, but we were very fulled with some of the wraps leftover at the end.  It was a nice and different experience because no utensils were used at all throughout the meal. In our opinion, the meat and the vegetables were overall not too special even though it was cooked in an Ethiopian way. 

We ended with a Traditional Ethopian Coffee Ceremony as well since it is one of the special ceremonies in an Ehtopian restaurant.  For $10, we were provided popcorn and apporximately 6 small cups of coffee.  Both of us drink coffee on a reguarly basis, but are not experts of coffees.  We were not able to taste the difference of it.

Overall, it will be a long while until I will have another Ethopian meal because once is enough for the experience.  However, the food was great at Dukem, a rating of 6/10 will be provided due to my personal opinions in Ethiopian food.

Paese Ristorante

Before the TFC vs. LA Galaxy last week, I had dinner at Paese Ristorante on King Street W because I wanted to use the wagjag $25 for $50 food and drinks deal before the voucher expires this month.  We got there around 6pm and the restaurant was still pretty quite.  The atmosphere was quite relaxed and chilled.  We were lucky that we got there early because it was completely full around 6:30.

We decided to share our dishes as we usually do, starting with an Antipasto, the Grilled Octopus ($14).  It was served with potato salad, grilled escarole, mint, lemon, and chili oil.  We were surprised because the portion was tiny, there were only two slices of potatoes and four pieces of octopus.  It tasted really soft and more like fish than octopus, but it was quite different from the way I used to eat octopus.  This is different in a good way :)

For our main dishes, we ordered a pizza and a pasta.  The Prosciutto Bianca ($17) was the pizza we opted for, it was served with prosciutto cotto, arugula, fior di latte and tomato.  The pizza was actually served with prosciutto cotto which is a cooked ham instead of a smokey ham, which we had in mind when we ordered.

The pasta that we ordered was the Veal and Spinach Ravioli ($20).  The ravioli was stuffed wtih veal, pork, and Parmigiano-Reggiano, sage and butter sauce.  The portion was just right but the ravioli was a bit too thick.  It wasn't as tasty as thought to be.

Overall, the meal was satisfying.  Nothing too extraordinary, nor disappointing, so a rating of 7/10 will be given to Paese Ristorante.