Southern Accent
http://www.southernaccent.com/
595 Markham St
Toronto, ON
Summerlicious is an annual festival in Toronto (or bi-annual, if you count Winterlicious) where a large number of restaurants develop "prix-fixe" multi-course menus. I chose a few of the $25 dinner options with different dining partners.
As a total New Orleans freak, Southern Accent was especially exciting for me. Cajun/Creole/New Orleans food in an old Victorian house with piles of Mardi Gras decorations (tacky? somewhat, but the sheer numbers of them makes for a great atmosphere), scarves and curtains swathing areas throughout the many rooms, and the occasional wandering psychic. Yes, please.
Our meal started with an "amuse bouche" (making this the only '4-course' $25 menu I encountered) of hummus & fresh bread. Tasty but not too New Orleanian, except that both my boyfriend and I got a bowl of gumbo with it as our appetizers. The broth was dark and spicy, the sausage bits were tasty. . . except I had a problem identifying anything else in it. (Was it vegetables? Meat?). Hm. I enjoyed it with trepidation.
The drinks were also a lot of fun - we both got non-alcoholic Southern classics: fresh lemonade and handmade iced tea ("sweet tea", of course!). I would have got another glass. . . if the refills were free. The only drawback to handmade, I suppose.
Main courses were a beautiful blackened chicken for me, and jambalaya for him. My chicken came with a garlic beurre sauce that contrasted perfectly with the somewhat spicy chicken (even though the coldness of it was a bit shocking), super whipped mashed potatoes, and a strange vegetable dish: bok choy with BBQ sauce. I had never eaten bok choy outside of a 'dish', and BBQ sauce seemed a strange option - but it was good! He enjoyed his jambalaya, but the two shrimp on it seemed a bit stingy.
My chunk of strawberry rhubarb pie - with a giant dollop of fresh cream - was to die for (though I didn't see it on their regular menu). His "fresh sorbet of the day" was pineapple, and also quite tasty - if also a much smaller portion than that pie! Ah well. I chose correctly.
The staff was extremely laidback, but also very knowledgeable and easily rhymed off answers - in detail - to my multiple questions (such as: what's a hushpuppy ?).
I would definitely go back to Southern Accent - and maybe catch the psychic this time!
In the Neighbourhood: Southern Accent is in Mirvish Village, so drop by Honest Ed's, or hit up the many little shops nearby.
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