Amy's Food Adventures

For our Dining Date Night several weeks ago, Min and I decided on Mildred’s Temple Kitchen. Although I haven’t heard too much about them, I recall glancing through reviews and saw the interiors of this restaurant. As I expected, Mildred’s Temple Kitchen is indeed very contemporary-looking with extremely high ceilings, white chairs, and an open kitchen. I’m not going to lie; a big part of my reason for coming here was the ambiance, haha. MTK is somewhat out-of-the-way since it’s located in Liberty Village, but their Mediterranean-inspired menu seemed interesting enough.

The first appetizer we order was the Grilled Calamari Marinated in Thai yellow curry with scallions, garlic chips & lime ($12). I found the texture quite ideal as it wasn’t too chewy, and it was nicely covered with the Thai yellow curry. The curry gave the dish a nice flavour and spiciness, although nothing too intense as I found the curry actually quite subtle. I wish the pieces were cut smaller so that eating them would be easier, but that’s just me ;)

We also shared the Shrimp & Crab Cakes; crunchy cakes with jicama, kafir and fresh cilantro, served atop a chili-lime emulsion ($15). These little guys were nothing short of crunchy, with a filling that made me happy – I’m not a fan of uber mushy crab cakes. The shrimp was probably more for the texture since its taste wasn’t distinguishable. The tangy and refreshing chili-lime emulsion was a pleasant accompany for the cakes. I do have to mention that this appetizer was rather small for $15, so that was slightly disappointing.

My main was the MTK Burger consisting of tomato relish & crispy tobacco onions with frites ($18). Look at the height of this burger; the mountain of fried onions was incredible, haha. Eating this monstrous burger (by monstrous I’m referring to the height, not the width) was not a simple task! Putting the height aside, the bun was very hard, which means if you don’t have healthy teeth (heh), then that might be a problem. Despite this burger being “famous around the world”, it was a little dry and the toppings weren’t creative. I couldn’t see how this would cost $18 since it wasn’t extraordinary or anything, but again, that’s just me. My favourite part of this burger was definitely the crispy tobacco onions although it wasn’t necessary to provide so many ;)

Min opted for the Curried Cauliflower with quinoa, caramelized onion & spinach ($18). This dish came piping hot and Min did find it tasty. There was an array of spices and flavours which made it quite unique. She found the texture with the curry really nice since they stewed it for a long time.

To end the evening, we had Mildred’s Famous Profiteroles – Lindt milk chocolate ice cream drizzled with chocolate & caramel sauce ($9). In the menu it says that this is known throughout the land; well, if that’s the case, then it better live up to that title. Presentation wise, the plating was lovely. When I had my first bite, the inevitable happened – the profiterole was dry and hard. It got me questioning the freshness of it, because I expected it to be much softer. When the waitress came to check up on us, I let her know. She said not to worry since they’re freshly baked everyday, and are intentionally baked that way to withstand the ice cream. I understand that, but the texture of these profiteroles was still unforgivable in my opinion as the textural contrast between the two was too big. The ice cream and sauces were nice complements, but overall, this dessert fell short for me.

Min and I both found the service to be satisfactory, but the food could’ve been better. I heard Mildred’s Temple Kitchen is a popular brunch spot on weekends, so perhaps their brunch is more outstanding. We had $21.90 deducted off the bill (30%) because of Dining Date Night; gotta take advantage of discounts even if we’re not a couple you know ;D

Address

85 Hanna Ave
Toronto, ON M6K 3S3