Parts and Labour

Put the team of the Social, Oddfellows and Castor Design together and out comes Parts and Labour.  Uber trendy with a splash of punk rocker rawness all don

e with an urban artsy feel.  Cylindrical light fixtures and bright coloured pot lights hang from the ceilings with an abundance of car parts as in windshields and mirrors throughout the 5000 square foot space which is bustling with energy.  This is a great addition to the mix of restos in Parkdale from Cowbell, the Local Kitchen and Mitzi's Sister making this a strip as a destination for culninary delights and fun times.  This Friday, P & L is full of parkdale hipster types with their scarves around their necks, thick black glasses and checkered shirts, and ladies with fun t-shirts and stilettos on, it's definitely kicking tonight. 

There are 2 seating times available for dinner -7 or 9 and we are on the late shift.  When we arrive, a bit early, we are seated at the end of one of the many communal tables towards the wall.  This gives us a bit of an advantage of additional space for our elbows as one of our sides isn't right next to our neighbors.  As the late night diners arrive, the tables become packed from either end and then they fill the gaps.  Our dining neighbors are 2 young males, one with tattoos and lip and eyebrow rings and a software engineer nerdy type.  We need to make a decision to be friendly or completely ignore and focus on our conversation and manage so our very close elbow touching neighbors cannot eavesdrop.  It's too difficult to compete with the loud music so we embrace our situation and make comments and share tid bits of what we each ordered while strategizing on how to best get to the bathroom.  Our waitress seemed to maneuver quite well around the packed tables and is brisk but as it gets busier as the night goes on, it harder to get her attention as she's managing a lot of diners.  
My best friend ordered my meal for me trying to figure out what I would love on the carnivorious menu and she hit it home.  My appetizer is the roasted bone marrow presented on the actual bone, with white bean puree and crostinis on a herb salad.  The marrow is rich and creamy and you need to scoop it out of the bones with a spoon.  For the presentation, I would recommend ordering it and taste wise- it was delicious!
My bestie had the winter frisee salad which came seasoned with a lot of whole peppercorns scattered throughout.  She said it was one of the spicier salads she's had in her lifetime as she kept biting into them. The pepperiness stuck with her throughout her night.  I personally think it made the salad pack more of a punch and gave it more of an interesting kick versus a standard salad you would get.

For mains,  Shauna had the butternut squash ravioli with roasted pumpkin seeds on top of it.  It was a bit richer and saltier than we expected and creamier which served to filling her up.  For my main, I was definitely on the meat train with her ordering me the 12 Oz pork chop bone in, with a layered potato and bacon napoleon-like block that was so delicious and also oozed with cheese flavour along side some greens and apple cider sauce perfectly plated on a butcher's wood board.  The pork was cooked medium and was a bit dry and it was a huge entree.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish the meat but did manage to finish the potato layered cake!  
We were so stuffed but as it was my birthday - a tart lemon bar was presented with a candle.  I love anything savoury or tart so it was a good way to end my meal! 
After dinner, we stayed to drink, people watch and party as it felt like the night was just beginning.  Lots of folks were around to take in the punk show downstairs in the performance space - the Shop.  What a fun night and look forward to checking out other menu options here plus they have Karaoke on the first Wednesday of every month!

**** stars

Parts and Labour
1566 Queen Street West (East of Sorauren Avenue)
(416) 588-7750
www.partsandlabour.ca