Matahari Grill
Where? Matahari Grill (Baldwin Village, Toronto, Canada) Map
When? Friday June 28, 2019
Who? Me
Food Style? Malaysian
It's a hot summer's day in Toronto and I've stupidly walked 12km around downtown in the pursuit of fictional monsters on my phone. I'm starving. Just to the east of Chinatown is Matahari Grill, a casual, quiet spot for Malaysian fare. The Malaysian council at work (all three of us) are interested in how good it is because there's a lack of good Malaysian flavours in the city, so I've volunteered to try it and will report back next week.
The staples are all here: Nasi lemak, char kuay teow, beef rendang, but I've chosen a nyonya favourite: curry chicken with potatoes. If it's good, I'll stay for dessert, otherwise I'll find some ice cream downtown.
Mains
Matahari curry chicken: nyonya-inspired curry chicken with potatoes
The curry smells appetising and has some great heat to it. I can detect the galangal and ginger, but I think it needs to be more lemak - it's missing the richness that nyonya cooking is so well known for. I do wish that they used the chicken thighs, breast meat dries out too quickly, and I wish there were more potatoes to soak up that delicious gravy. It doesn't transport me back home to my mother's kitchen but it's about halfway there.
I ended up coming back here, just to give them a second chance (because we really are that desperate for Malaysian food) and the second time was even more disappointing than the first, and I vowed to never come back. Not too difficult - a few months ago, we walked past looking for some ice cream and discovered that they had zap lap - closed down. Nothing of value was lost.
Posted by Jeremy at 6:20pm on Thursday January 2, 2020 :: 0 comments :: 