March 2010 : Southern Accent

At the table: Nad B, Nad R, Vijai, Tanya, Shara (me)

This month was my pick. I found Southern Accent, a Cajun restaurant, on http://www.toronto.com/. We were oh-so-happy that Tanya could join us from Ottawa!

After showing up over an hour late, we were greeted warmly with smiles - like arriving fashionably late to a dinner party! Parking is at the back of the restaurant with a quick walk through a short, narrow alley to the front door on Markham Street (somewhere around Bloor & Bathurst in Toronto close to Honest Ed's).

The restaurant itself is actually a converted house - warm, cozy, comfy. The decor is fantastic - lights and quirky lampshades, coloured light. Canopies, scarves, knick knacks galore, old books, wonderful art and all kinds of dangly things. If you reserve in advance, a fortune teller is on-site to tell you what your future holds (at a cost of $30 for 15 mins.). The washroom was tiny but oh-so indulgent (can`t speak for the guys washroom). Love the vanity!

So onto the food! Great selection of Louisiana classics on their a la carte menu, but also a great prix-fixe menu - a 3-course meal for $25! We ordered a mish mash of appetizers to could sample and share: blackened shrimp with pineapple dipping sauce, fried calamari atop a rich garlicy cream sauce, organic greens and avocado bruschetta. All was awesome, but the shrimp was memorable - in a blackened, crispy herb crust; aside from getting black stuff stuck in our teeth, it was fantastic!

4 out of 5 of us had the jambalaya which Nad R accurately compared to pilau (Trinidadian rice dish) and calaloo (Trinidadian spinach & okra soup). But it was good. I would have liked to see more shrimp in the jambalaya (you get 2 shrimp almost like a garnish). The only restaurant I've had jambalaya at before is Jack Astors and I prefer their's to Southern Accent's. Tanya's hubby also makes a good, but spicy one!

I had the pavlova (hardened meringue) for dessert only because I had no idea what it was. It was extremely sweet - like cooked marshmallows. I got a couple nibbles off of the other girls' pecan pie which was good, but not warm as I would have liked it. Vijai's creme brulee was good, but again, not warm as I would have liked it. Tanya had the pineapple sorbet - I think that would have been a satisfying choice for me.

Overall, the food was good. Our server was ok. The atmosphere was great. The drinks were expensive - $10 for a 3 oz bourbon sour that went down way too fast (because it was yummy). Nad R got her caesar just the way she wanted it, even though we could literally see our server's brain start to hurt when she described the chemistry of her perfect drink (and it doesn't come garnished with any "pickled items" -  she's been spoiled by the Shoeless Joe's caesar!).

Overall, what I liked best, aside from the charm, was that we were there for over 3 hours and only got the bill when we asked for it. We never at any point felt rushed and they kept the coffee coming at no extra charge..... hospitality with a cherry on top!