11.02.2009

Halloweening Cajun styles

In our costumes ready for Halloween - a bunch of friends went to Southern Accent for a Halloween feast. We booked their 'boo' room which was a private 10 person room with a coat check and had paintings of ghosts around it. Our informative and tolerant server dressed as a tree was great and helpful with suggestions, and served up all our demands.

The restaurants is in Mirvish Village in an old Victorian house. The decor is reminiscent of Mardi Gras in New Orleans with sparkly beads, coloured lights, candles, and pillows. There is also a tarot card reader who will give you her predictions and according to a friend - she was scary accurate that evening!
The food is a mix of soulful Creole and Cajun dishes. Some of us had the delicious prix fixed menu that was a great value of $25. Even before some of our friends arrived- I had spotted the cajun poutine which of course I jumped at and tried... It was a good poutine with some cajun kick. Yummy!!
Our faithful tree server recommended that his ideal order would be to start with: blackened chicken livers- they are tender with a good amount of spice served with a lemoned butter, then pickled okra - a typical African vegetable; then for his mains blackened lamb chops which comes with a creole style mustard with a side of Jambalaya which is a tomato based rice dish with spices and served with seafood or chicken and sausage.
I was inspired to try a few dishes and I had the hearty meat gumbo as a starter- which was very comforting and tasted like chunky beef stew. I liked it a lot.
Then I had their mushroom gnudi which was on their prix fixed menu- I loved gnudi and for reference: Gnudi is a Tuscan dish- similar to raviolli filling ( ricotta, pecorino toscano, and sometimes spinach) and is so called because it is devoid of it's pasta clothing- hence, "nude". I enjoyed these delicate pillows of goodness served with a mushroom cream sauce. This was a really good dish! My friend Tash had the Jambalaya which was a heavier dish - even though my gnudi dish was in a cream sauce. The rice and tomato from the Jambalaya seemed sticky and thus made it a heavier dish to eat. The andouille saussage and seafood were cooked well and went well with the dish however I have to admit that the Jambalaya was a bit bland and thus disappointing. I thought that Southern cooking loved their spice!! My friend Ela had the blackened chicken and although it was cooked dried - it had this velvety cream sauce for dipping that went very well with the chicken. It was served with cinnamon and garlic mashed potato which was a pleasant pairing for the chicken. My friends also tried the oysters which they remarked could have been fresher. The home made pecan pie with whipped cream was the best choice for dessert and tied it all together at the end. All in all - the restaurant had great character and charm but the food was lacking the spice from the south!
** 1/2
Southern Accent - 595 Markham Street, south of bloor
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