Foodnotes

April 1, 2024 admin

We’re settled into the new year now. Are you still looking back on any great meals of 2023? Looking forward to checking out some new shop or cafe in the neighbourhood before you get much deeper into 2024? Please share your favourite Sandy Hill food experiences with image22@rogers.com

Bamm’s Snack Shack
74 Coburg St.

**Heart-shaped doughnuts awaiting pickup from Bamm’s Snack Shack on Valentine’s Day.**

Bamm’s excellent doughnuts are normally only available on Thursdays and Fridays, but in honour of Valentine’s Day, the family-run restaurant put everything else aside on a Wednesday last month and went all out to make some romantic dreams come true. They were doing a roaring business in heart-shaped doughnuts when I dropped by late on the morning of the 14th. All the pink and red confections were sold out, and more were in the works. I settled for a less festive-looking, but very good apple fritter and went away happy.

Café Tehran
470 Rideau St.

**Cafe Tehran’s eggplant-based appetizers are delicious, and substantial enough to make a main dish for vegetarians.**

Our family recently enjoyed a meal at Cafe Tehran, which is really more of a restaurant than a cafe. We started with the olive walnut “salad” – yum. My husband and son loved their lamb kebabs and stew. For vegetarians, they have two delicious eggplant dishes in the starters menu. I really like the version with the egg on top (Mirzaghasemi) – it’s substantial enough for a main meal. They don’t have gluten-free bread, so I added a side order of their crispy saffron-infused rice dish (tahdig) – gorgeous. The meat dishes also include tahdig along with the rice on the side. Prices are reasonable, and the serving staff are warm and friendly and happy to share cultural-historical tidbits about the food. Highly recommended. Sharon O’Sullivan

Chelia
103 Mann Ave.

**Pizza couverte, an Algerian pastry filled with tomatoes and onion, at Chelia on Mann Ave.**

The store once called Purely Dates has expanded its space, as well as its stock, so that it now has a solid selection of Algerian groceries, including fresh produce and merguez sausages. We have lucked into excellent green beans on recent visits, and admired fresh artichokes and little white turnips. There is fresh fish on Thursdays for those who’ve ordered ahead of time. If you’re looking for a treat, there’s an espresso machine, a good selection of honey-saturated North African-style sweets, and a showcase of beautiful pastries from Montreal. You will also often find pizza couverte, a savoury Algerian snack with layers of flaky pastry and a filling of tomato and onion.

FlashFood at Loblaws
363 Rideau St.

Expanding on their popular (and newsworthy) line of discounted items (50% off? 30%? Who can keep up?), Loblaws has recently installed a row of refrigerators and freezers by the windows near the customer service desk to market discounted perishable items that are about to reach their best-before date. The idea is to download the FlashFood app, which will inform you of bargains coming up at your local grocery store. You can make your purchases through the app, then pick them up from these refrigerators. My limited research suggests that the app is popular, but still a little buggy. If you’ve tried this approach to grocery bargain hunting, please let us know. It would be great to hear your impressions!