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Toronto Underground Market
- Price Range:
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$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Private Lot
16 reviews for Toronto Underground Market
16 reviews in English
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Review from EatingoutT O.
Toronto, ON
4/24/2012 5 photos
Had a great first experience at April TUM. We had:
Satays grilled to order @babiandco. Tender and flavour-packed. Vermicelli could've used more chicken, but delicious.
Pillowy almond donut @doughtoronto by Rachelle. Perfect amount of sweetness and nuttiness. Fritters are nice and crisp.
Premium beef sliders that melt in your mouth @WestSideBeefCo. Accompanied by onion jam, cheese, and refreshing pickle (hand-pickled, of course).
Cannelles @snackeryTO that rival Nadege. Serving them warm was a great idea.
Mama Nashi's trio of samosas were well stuffed in flakiest pastry. Huge fans, left us wanting a dozen more.
@theslowroom's bacon/chorizo sloppy joes were a fiery sandwich with a great lingering heat.
Cornbread grilled cheese @ComidaDelPueblo had interesting sweet and heat combo but could've used more cheese.
@ESEsuavecito's Torta Ahogada (pulled pork sammie) left us largely unsatisfied. Sauce on top reminiscent of sweet thai chili sauce.
Pork belly bao @baossTO. Our cut of pork belly had too much fat, but the cilantro was a nice refreshing touch.
@RockLobsterFood's mini lobster rolls. Warm buttery buns, but could've used more lobster! -
Review from Dixie Q.
Toronto, ON
5/6/2012 1 Check-in Here
I was very pleased to have attended the Street Food Block Party hosted by Toronto Underground Market and FoodTruckEats. The admission was $20, double the admission of past TUM (exclusive) events.
It was excellent use of space in the Evergreen Brickworks' Pavillions. Some of the vendors came in with their food trucks, while others set up tables.
Because it fell on May 5th, most vendors had a 5 (read cinco) de Mayo / Mexican themed menu. Let's see, I had fish tacos from Buster's Sea Cove, pork tamal (tamal ladies & gentlemen is the correct word; there is no need to add an e to the end) from Stonesoup, a pulled pork sandwich from FIdel gastro's and jalapeno cornbread grilled cheese from Comida del Pueblo. I also tasted nutty flavoured beer from a micro-brewerie, which I just forgot =( Most everything fell in the $5 range, except Buster's Sea Cove's fare.
The line-ups were ridiculous! They snarled around more and more people. One vendor had a long line-up that extended from the outside of roofed section to where they were inside.
By far, my favourite was the jalapeno cornbread grilled cheese! My least favourite was the pulled pork sandwich. -
Review from Emily H.
4/9/2012
Yum yum in my tum tum at the April 2011 TUM! Fantastic initiative and beautiful venue (Evergreen Brickworks)! We summarized the 3 types of people who frequent TUM:
1. Asians
2. "Hip"/hipster young folks
3. Older, white "artsy" folks
My friend and I arrived at Broadview station just past 6pm to catch the every-30-minute-shuttle to Brickworks. We must have JUST missed it because we pretty much waited 29 minutes. Warning: this is a tiny shuttle bus, and we were the last two to be let on actually and were standing (rebelzzz). The bus ride itself was less than 5 minutes. ADVICE #1: Split a cab from Broadview station!
TUM 101: $10 cover charge. $5 drinks (wine, beer, tequila). Vendor dishes at about $5 each. Lines EVERYWHERE - shuttle bus line, entrance line (we waited at least 20 minutes to get in), and vendor lines (35 minute wait for grilled cheese). Which brings me to... ADVICE #2: Grab a little bit to eat before you show up! Because you will be waiting in line after line and it'll take at least four different dishes to really fill up an empty stomach. That could literally take you all night.
Food items:
- Samosas: good deal for $5, you get 3 samosas, we tried one each of chicken, beef, and vegan. They look a little different from your average samosas - not as bulgy, but crunchier skin. They had no line and took care of your hunger momentarily.
- Bacon/Chorizo Sloppy Joe: $5. Not impressive. Flavour didn't scream out BACON or CHORIZO and was shadowed by the hot sauce.
- Ontario Water Buffalo Empanada & Jalapeno Cornbread Grilled Cheese: $4 and $5, respectively. Worth the 35 minute wait. The buffalo was so tender and accompanied by a fantastic green (pasley?) dip. Cornbread grilled cheese was a fun blend of sweet and savoury. The soft familiar texture of the cornbread with warm cheese was definitely comforting.
- Pork satay: three tiny skewers for $5 but infinitely delicious!
- Lobster Rolls: $5 for two rolls. They were the busiest vendor all night, hands down. Luckily I had friends in this line because I would not have waited in this 1hr + lineup if left on my own. They get points the cute little buns soaked in butter, but the lobster mix was not impressive. Faint flavour, gets overpowered by the butter buns. Not worth the wait IMO.
I needed to take stars off this review because it just doesn't seem right that a pre-ticketed event still has ridiculous line ups left-right-centre. How do asian night markets run so much more efficiently without a ticketing system and with less volunteers? Let's learn from the original food-stand peeps, please. The shuttle could also run a little more frequently (let's learn from IKEA here). When I left the place at around 9:30pm, the poor folks were standing/sitting in the chilling darkness waiting for a shuttle that was nowhere in sight. We split a cab to Broadview station which was about $10 - a considerably smarter option.
Interesting experience, but considering input vs. return, I would not revisit for a while. -
Review from Barbara S.
Toronto, ON
3/6/2012
A friend told me about TUM a month or so ago and bought us tickets immediately. we managed to secure 6 tickets in all and a smiley group took the shuttle bus up to the Brickworks for the March 2012 event. we were all smiles and the vibe on the shuttle was great.
we arrived shortly after it opened and it was already packed inside. one of my friends went straight to las carnita (i think that's the name) as he has attended their events before but after a 30 minute wait the line had barely moved a few feet so he came back to find us, huddled around one of the very few space heaters in the venue (which incidentally has doors, all of which were open...). he said there were about 200 people ahead of him.
being a detective i walked over to where LC was based and i discovered a table full of whatever they were serving (tacos i think) and one person putting them together. everyone else was standing around the back and talking. one other person was slowly taking money. maybe it's hip to have a lineup, i'm not sure, but i was completely disillusioned when i saw the BEAST walk away with 3 tacos in his hands (he wasn't in the lineup but behind the table)
we went to several booths and the food was decent, not great. the butter chicken smother waffles would have been great because a) it was was warm b) the lineup was non-existent (they had gone for refills and i think no one knew they had come back yet) but it was too spicy without being flavourful.
the congee was delcious but not warm enough.
i tried the greek spanokopita (my spelling is off) and i had never had it with dill before - and i loved it - but there was too much crust for the amount of filling.
we didn't try any of the alcohol (well, i didn't, i'm on a break) and it made me smile to see people carrying wine in plastic mugs, wearing gloves.
the students' italian fare was my favourite there, mainly because it was steaming hot. we ordered a couple of each of their offering (sweet potato gnocchi, regular gnocchi and rice balls (again, i know there is a technical name but as much as i love food, my memory sucks) and six forks dug in hungrily, partly because it was warm but also because it was very tasty.
now it may sound like i didn't enjoy the event - to the contrary - all of us had an amazing time (although we almost lost jenny due to frost bit) - but we cut our visit short as we were afraid of losing fingers and toes. i would go back to the next one in a second but i will plan for a warm weather event.
if you are planning on driving, arrive late - we got there shortly after opening and there were zero parking spots, but when we left a couple of hours later there were a lot of spaces. there was a shuttle from near broadview station which i recommend highly.
so yes, GO but go for the atmosphere, the being part of a fun group - i took pictures of all kinds of strangers' foods and they stopped to pose for me with big smiles! we were all freezing together! -
Review from Yvonne T.
3/7/2012
By some weird stroke of misfortune I had bought tickets three times for TUM (Toronto Underground Market) in 2011, and all three times I ended up having scheduling conflicts and had to give them away. So one of my New Year's Resolutions was to make sure I would finally get to a TUM event in 2012. At least this year I can say I pulled through on my resolutions? :p
Since their inaugural event in September, TUM has hosted 4 sold-out events at the Evergreen Brick Works. When it comes to snagging tickets to any TUM event, time is of the essence! The only misfortune I experienced this time was the extreme cold weather that left me feeling (or rather not able to feel) numb. My fingers and toes lost sensation by the end of the night, but my taste buds were still kicking!
We arrived 15 minutes prior to opening time, and there was already a lineup of eager eaters waiting to be first in line to whatever vendor they deemed worthy.
The highlights of the evening for me were:
Jalapeño Grilled Cheese Sandwich from Comida del Pueblo. You have opened my eyes to a new level of grilled cheese enlightenment! The cornbread is om nom nom good! And I am always a fan of guac and sour cream as garnish. Although bringing a food posse is always a good idea so that you can sample all that TUM has to offer - this was one item I wish I didn't have to share!
Ringing in at 3/$10 (Chicken, Pork Belly and Lobster), I couldn't resist stopping by Baoss. The term bao is Chinese for bun. I didn't mind the wait as long as it meant I could get a hot and steamy bao to warm me up. My favourite of the 3 was the lobster bao served with wasabi sauce. The actual bao was also very soft and thin - the way a good steamed bun should be. Some of Toronto's dim sum restaurants should hire the masterminds at Baoss to teach their dim sum chefs how its done!
Besides the cleverness of offering hot apple cider, FeasTO also served up their trio of dumplings. This would consist of 2 styles of pork dumpling: a pork + kimchi dumpling (served with a side of kimchi salad), and a pork + cabbage dumpling (served in a savoury broth). And of course, the flavour that initially drew me - the foie gras dumpling with cherry jus. Alas it wasn't my favourite; the crown definitely goes to the pork + cabbage dumpling. They were all crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Their 2-line system was not immediately apparent (a separate line to buy your ticket and a separate line to pick up your food), but those already in line were kind enough to clue you in.
The Rissoles, a creamy pork ragout "spring roll" with homemade garlic chili sauce over at Babi & Co. threw all my preconceived notions of what a spring roll is supposed to be out the window. Theirs looked like a banana fritter, tasted like fried rice cake, and was in one word - mouthwatering. They were also offering pork satay skewers with pickled cucumber and Bubur, an Indonesian congee with marinated pork belly and sweet soy reduction. Looks like I'll have to brush up on my Indonesian cuisine repertoire. If Babi & Co. is any indication, something tells me I'd like it!
On the sweeter side of things, I must mention the Cinnamon Ghost Crunch doughnut over at Dough Toronto. The surprise ingredient - ginger? My only regret is that I did not have this doughnut when I was sipping on my hot apple cider. That would have been a match made in heaven!
There were about 30 some odd vendors to feast on, and (un)forunately God only gave (wo)man one stomach, so you have to pick your poison. I usually will not try a vendor more than once (unless it blew my socks off), and I aim for different proteins and try to steer away from eating too many carb-laden items to weigh me down.
If you haven't been to a TUM event yet, you can see a list of 2012 dates here. For those of you who got to attend, what were the highlights from this weekend's event? -
Review from Kyle G.
Markham, ON
3/5/2012
Was contemplating whether to rate TUM a 2 or 3 stars, but given that they held their post in frosty -10 condition, a 3 stars should suffice their effort.
Surprising, the location is conveniently located right off the highway and there's sufficient parking, but mind you it is pay parking so it would be wise to carpool if you can.
The market was pretty well organized; lots of heat lamps, park benches, and well spaced out vendors. Only thing was they could've form an entrance line inside the building instead of having ppl line up outside the building when it's super cold and windy.
I tried the pork sandwich, grilled sandwich, and pork bun, carrot cake pudding(?). The Grill sandwich was mad disappointing; nothing else was surprisingly good, after the drive, $15 entrance, and the 1 hour wait at least. But maybe the freezing temperature ruined the event for me so I'll probably give TUM another try when it's warmer.
If you're not willing to line up for 30+ min and part with $30+ to try out vendor food, then this place is not for you. But if you like food events and enjoy the gathering then TUM is A-OK. -
Review from Pouneh R.
Toronto, ON
3/5/2012
My first time was TUM's March 11th event and even tough it was freezing cold, close to -15, I enjoyed every single minute of it. The crowd was good, vibe was amazing, good music, AMAZING food, wine+beer +tequila just made it perfect. The whole market was very well organized. There were line ups for some vendors but all great things worth the wait. Location worked perfect for me as I drive and it was close to my house, but I'm not sure how people without a car can get there since its not TTCable.
I guess the cold should have been the biggest issue for everyone rating it, but I dont think they expected it at all especially for a warm winter like this years.
Overall I loved it, I'd like to go to such a market every week in summer. Perhaps they could improve the events by having live bands playing too. -
Review from Yuriko F.
Toronto, ON
3/6/2012
Maybe it was the freezing cold. Maybe it was the waiting for the (insufficient for the number of people waiting, and geez that driver was a ding dong) shuttle bus.
Maybe it was my feeling that there's room for improvement with event logistics and management for an event that's clearly exponentially overgrown its coordination base.
Or maybe it was how meh I felt about the food. Sure, it was decently tasty. Some of the food just suffered from the temp (some foods could have been given a 2nd chance at a warmer serving temp). But in general, I wasn't particularly impressed.
One thing of note: MAN CAKE CUPCAKE from SASSY LAMB - peanut butter bite size cupcakes with bacon. *That* made me smile.
Would consider coming back if:
- it were warmer
- event logistics were a bit smoother
- there was better vendor info prior to the event - I'd kinda like to know what I'm buying a ticket to
But it's still relatively early in its inception, so who knows where this can go... :) -
Review from David D.
Markham, ON
11/30/2011
The third and last instalment of the successful Toronto Underground Market (TUM) of 2011 took place at the Everest Brickworks. TUM is described as a social food market, as opposed to a food festival, allowing the Toronto community to have the opportunity to sample culinary talents from budding entrepreneurs. Most of the vendors do not have own restaurants or food trucks, but it is a chance for them to showcase their products, providing ravenous Toronto foodies with professional quality and delicious food made from their very own kitchen. It is a completely unique and new experience here in Toronto. If you missed this one, don't fret! The next one will be in February, 2012, so get your clickers ready before all the tickets are sold out.
When the doors opened at 6:00pm, there was a ravenous rush towards one particular vendor. I followed suit. It turned it to be La Carnita, selling their Voltron Fish Tacos and Mexican Chorizo. It wasn't before long that the rush of people formulated into a 30-45 mins line wait. Selling at ($4) a dish, the chorizo was my favourite of the two, with a combination of savoury meat, sweet mango sauce, with an added crunch. This was probably the most anticipated vendor of the event.
Shinaki-Co Perogies - I love my perogies. There was a selection of the classic, poutine, or nacho style. I tried the poutine style; came with 3 perogies ($5), braised beef brisket, gravy, and blocks of cheddar cheese. Perogies were hot and delicious with the gravy and beef brisket, but I was disappointed in the blocks of unmelted cheese.
Elle Cuisine - One of my favourite vendors at this event. They offer comfort food that tastes great. I tried the Roast Tomato & Garlic Soup w/ Goat Cheese and Basil & Balsamic Reduc ($4). It had a nice balance of acidity from the tomato, creaminess from the goat cheese, and depth with the garlic and basalmic. Great for a cold evening. They even gave away dark chocolate brownies for free, which were simply delectable.
Element - Asian-fusion type vendor. I tried the Lobster-Yaki (really, who could have resisted that), and the bacon chocolate banana spring roll (I don't know what intrigued me to it, but I was curious). The lobster-yaki was just as I imagined, delicious! The only disappointment was that it came in just 2 pieces for $5. The spring roll on the other hand was...interesting to put it simply. The sweetness from the chocolate syrup and bananas overpowered the entire spring roll. I couldn't taste the bacon.
Comida Del Pueblo - Another popular vendor at the event, with most people ordering the Jalapeno Cornbread Grilled Cheese. I was too full at the time to try, but I made note that I will next time.
The Lunch Room - Disappointed that they didn't sell macarons, like how they did from the last TUM. But nevertheless, their selections were captivating ranging from: Smores, Creme Brulee, Crepe, Macaroons, Short Cakes, and Butter Tarts.
Aside from all the indoor activity, this event also offered vendors at the Chimney Court. Craig Ovenstone fired up pizzas from the under the stone chimney, Cedar-flavoured marshmallows, Big Smoke Coffee, West Side Beef sold steaming hot chilli by the campfire.
Will definitely be back for the next one!Listed in: 30-Day Yelp Challenge:…
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Review from Precilla C.
Scarborough, ON
12/1/2011 20 photos
I attended both the October and November instalments of TUM. The public obviously have great enthusiasm for this event, because the tickets always sell out in a day! Both times, I had a lot of fun and stuffed my face with a lot of food!
Some stand outs that I've sampled:
La Carnita (super super long lines!!!)
Voltron fish taco- sauce and vegetables worked well with the deep fried fish and it was a really satisfying bite.
Mexican chorizo- with chicharrónes and topped with a mango salsa. I loved the brightness of that sweet mango salsa, which paired surprisingly well with the meat.
La Comida del Pueblo (another long line)
Jalapeño cornbread grilled cheese was, hands down, my favourite item of the entire event for both times! The crumbly, buttery cornbread was heavenly with the melted cheese, sour cream and guacamole- a perfect combination of sweet and savoury. It was simply fantastic!
Banana beignets and fried habanero cream- nothing short of amazing! The beignets, hot off the fryers, were oozing with sweet, custardy goodness! Perfect for such a cold night!
Panqueque de Manzana- with green apple atole and chorizo toffee. This "pancake" dessert was also excellent, and that smokey chorizo toffee added an interesting dimension (I initially thought it was bacon). All in all, I really enjoyed the sweet and savoury combination.
West Side Beef Co.
Mini beef po' boys- these were adorable! I really liked the bright and bold flavours, though I wished I could've sat down and enjoyed it properly.
Fidel Gastro (serving Cuban sandwiches)
Havana Club- featuring cayenne and beer pulled-pork with Virginia ham, caramelized onions, havarti and chilli aioli. The sandwiches were iron grilled to order, which slowed the line considerably. But I didn't mind, because the aroma from the grill was just tantalizing! The pulled pork was tender and the combination of the caramelized onion, cheese, and aioli packed a punch of flavours. I wished that the sandwich was heated through, but it was nevertheless delicious!
Tita Flips
Turon- aka banana spring rolls! These were so addictive! I wanted a whole basketful of them!
Morsel
Pumpkin whoopie pie- it was fantastic! The pumpkin flavour really came through, and the whoopie pie was moist and lovely with the creamy filling.
Les Trois Macarons
I tried lemon meringue, maple bacon, and salted caramel brittle. All three were excellent, but my favuorite was the lemon meringue. And I don't normally even like lemon desserts!
Tuxedos and T-shirts
Sticky toffee pudding- a definite winner! It was yummy, comforting, and made me really happy! I absolutely loved the toffee sauce, and the sponge cake was extremely moist. The portion was also very reasonable for $3 and I really regretted not buying an extra piece and bringing it home. In fact, I was still thinking about it on the drive home.
All in all, I had a wonderful time at both installments. My only complaints are the long long lines and the cold weather (But nothing we can do about that). Even though each individual item didn't cost much, altogether, it really adds up and I ended up spending a lot of money! That said, I had a great time a -
Review from Lauren M.
The Toronto Underground Market definitely has 5 star potential. The first event was a huge success - however, there was room for improvement and I'm sure they will nail it after a few more months.
We arrived early; 10 minutes before they opened the doors. I believe this really was key to having a good time. By 7:30pm there were long queues for nearly every stall and people were waiting 30 mins to get at most of the popular items. Early on in the evening was fab though as we didn't have to wait.
There were 25 food stalls. I think they needed a bit more variety. There were probably too many "dessert" stalls in the mix. Lots of sandwiches too.
Stuff I tried:
My absolute FAVOURITE dish - by far - was the grilled cheese sandwich on jalepeno cornbread with cheddar, refried beans and guacamole on top from the "Comida del Pueblo" stall. SO GOOD! ($5)
Big Smoke Coffee Co had $3 pork belly sandwiches. Self serve toppings with a good variety.
Chorizo Taco from La Carnita - blah, really? I dunno...I feel like this place is overhyped. Yes, the taco was tasty. But it was a rip off, seriously. $4 for 1 tiny taco? Not sure this was worth the obscenely long wait.
BBQ Jerk Coco Sandwich - this was the first one we tried, I thought it was quite nice. Cannot remember the vendor name. $5 (worth it).
MacarOONs (yes, the coconut kind) by the Lunch Room. We were given 4 huge macaroons for $3. Bargain and really delicious.
I thought some of the food stalls were overcharging, but others were really well priced.
The vendors should work on having a combination of pre-made/ready items and ones made fresh, that way they can move the lines along faster. I'd like to see a bit more food variety, but overall this was a killer first event and really well executed. -
Review from Jen C.
9/25/2011 3 photos
Toronto's interest in food and food events seems to have reached a fever-pitch; food trucks, food fundraisers, and the proliferation of farmer's markets in every mall parking lot give a good indication of this. Latest on the scene is the Toronto Underground Market. Self-described as a "social food market," cooks, both new entrepreneurs and seasoned chefs alike, can show off their culinary skills to ravenous crowds.
Though TUM touts itself as "not a food festival," it wasn't unlike a food festival either. Vendors lined the walls of one of the large spaces at The Evergreen Brickworks and people shuffled around from station to station trying to eat all they can. Perpetually long lines streamed from the tables of La Carnita (tacos) and Comida Del Pueblo with cornbread grilled-cheeses (what's with the grilled-cheese fascination!?).
Stuff I ate:
- The fried bacon & egg dumplings were really interesting, if expensive at $3 per dumpling. There was a still molten egg yolk at its centre and pretty tasty.
- The odd but decent smoked salmon ice cream sandwich was one of those food gambles you just had to take. Luckily, I wasn't scarred for life.
- Adventurefood Co. had a "fight" between a frikandeller sandwich and a Coco bun sandwich. I had the frikandeller and thought it was pretty good. The sliced meatball was very flavourful.
- Snagged the last fish 'n' chips and a black and tan (blood pudding and mushrooms) sandwich from The Beech Tree. Thought the fish 'n' chips was pretty boring, but liked the blood sausage on its own.
- Big Smoke Coffee Co. had my favourite of the night - coffee rubbed pork belly sandwiches. Great taste on the meat and fantastic toppings.
- Chef Guy Rawlings had some kombucha available, so that was interesting to have finally tried after hearing about it all over the place. Also tried the peach & lavander (crumble), which was good enough to prompt my sister to buy a jar of lavender peach.
- I tried the Scotch egg from Hackney Fine Foods, but have determined that I don't like cold ground meat around a cold hard-boiled egg.
- Katrina's had these lovely macarons that I bought too many of.
- The ever-popular La Carnita was on the grounds and was offering a Mexican chorizo taco and Taco de lengua. The beef tongue taco was really good.
- The Lunch Room had various sweets. I had some decent almond financiers, but the goat cheese clafouti was too cold and hard.
- Popover Girl had a large selection of sweet & savoury popovers. The onion one I tried smelled so good and the filling was a lightly spicy guacamole.
- Tita Fl!ps has samples of their spring rolls (crispy, good, but spring rolls), garlic peanuts (hard and crunchy kind!), and ukoy, a shrimp fritter (a little oily, needed more shrimp, but tasty).
- On the way out, I spied a salted caramel bars from Wheelie Sweet. Not bad, but too full to appreciate.
There was more food to be had, I was done. Overall, I wish the focus was less on eating a meal per vendor and more on tasting. It seemed like vendors were worried about people being "full" and provided bread-based sandwiches galore. I could have done with smaller portions for less money. I had also imagined more vendors selling things to take home. Though there were quite a few who did this, it felt like only 50% where I had thought it would be closer to the majority. Props to the organizers and volunteers for a job well-done. It was good fun to see what people were dreaming up and putting on our plates.
Had to limit this to 5000 characters, so this is the short 'n' sweet version Full blab is on the blog, with a beeeeellion photos. -
Review from Jason K.
3/4/2012
- dont want to burst any bubbles. but maybe i should.
- paying $10 (in advance tickets) or $15 at the door is pricey for food that was free at the food truck festival.
- i'll be honest, the food was good, but nothing really stood out as being "i need to stalk the vendors". street food is big hype at the moment because of all those tv shows, and i'm a proponent for small businesses being successful.
- the venue being outdoor but covered is not the smartest thing to host during winter. i heard one girl had frostbite on her fingers (that's dedication...) and the free shuttle from broadview wasn't frequent enough (lot of folks gave up at took cabs) -
Review from Jenn W.
3/4/2012
Probably it was unwise to host an outdoors event in March. Not entirely sure what is so underground about this market; it's basically a place to eat food truck style food in Toronto (after paying admission). Most of the vendors with the longer lines were serving their interpretations of Angelino/Mexicano street food.
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Review from Its M.
Toronto, ON
9/25/2011
The chorizo bahn mi was right at the top of our top 5! The bread was actually a shoe pastry (used for eclairs) that worked amazingly well. We also tried their chocolate tamales and they were exceptional!! We weren't going to wait in their line up for grilled cheese so I can't comment.
Pork Belly and their coffee both in my top 5. Pork sandwich could have included some crisp pork rind for that extra crunch but it was delicious and complete when compared to the other vendors. The coffee tasted great and amazingly smooth!
The Lemon Marscapone and the Salted Caramel Macarons were insane, out of the 6 or 8 flavours we tried. The big downside was how inconsistent the meringues were from flavour to flavour. The Vanilla Bean had a great taste but it was too hard to enjoy. I shared feedback to the vendor as she wanted to know my top choice, so I mentioned this inconsistency, and the woman told me all batches come out different. She would give my feedback to Katrina who makes them. I was then disappointed about the known inconsistency but more so with the fact that Katrina wasn't even at the event!
La Carnita was lined up and I have already eaten them twice in the past so we skipped that line. I am sure they would have been in my top 5 but they are certainly far from novice!
1. Bahn Mi
2. Chocolate Tamale
3. Pork Belly
4. Coffee
5. Macaron
(6. Rillette / Sauerkraut - it was just not my thing but it was well done!)
Beyond those top treats, there were terrible items not worth mentioning and there were some near-hits. Some foods I suspect were great at home but weren't exectuted properly given the limitations of the environment.
My near-hits...
Had the scotch egg been served room temperature instead of cold, more flavours would have come through and it possibly would have rated in my top 5 bumping the macaron. The seasoned potato chips could have rated had they not been so inconsistent from chip to chip - some had seasoning while some lacked and others were just plain soggy rather than crisped. The Popovers were a great idea, poorly executed. We bought 3 figuring that each would be so unique but instead we found that the base was the same for all with a bit of bacon or feta sprinkled on top. As well, they were not warmed all the way through. I am not sure there is a way to serve awesome popovers, except right out of the oven!! And the flavours should have been incorporated throughout the dough!
Unless I forgot something, there was nothing else worth mentioning out of our samplings. We tried maybe 7 or 8 additional items. -
Review from Allie D.
Toronto, ON
10/24/2011
After my first Underground Food Market experience at Brickworks, I'm hooked. The vibe was awesome with tons of young people, great music, good beer/wine and some tasty food. From mini pumpkin whoopie pies ($2 a piece and totally worth it) to big bowls of delicious Ramen noodles ($5? a bowl), the value was great and without spending more than $20 bucks I left satiated and with a 1/2 lb of delicious Big Smoke coffee Co beans.
One suggestion I have to vendors for next time, is keep your portions smallish and cheap. That way everyone can try a little bit of everything without filling up on one or two savory's and one or two desserts.
Word on the street is that the next one will be in the distillery district. Get there if you can.
