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arts and culture
Jurisfoodence: Grand Electric
DAN MOWAT-ROSE and
LUKE JOHNSTON
Staff Writers
MID-SEMESTER DOLDRUMS? Spice
it up. Grand
Electric, the
largely abandoned hipster
stronghold of
2011 is past the
line-up insanity of its infancy,
yet remains an
excellent setting to gorge on
tacos.
staff are a bit much in the cold light of day. I
usually come here for dinner, seeing the
same vibe during the day is somewhat jarring. I assume this vibe works for you 24/7?
Dan:
Ty p i c a l
Toronto scenester
decor - tattooed
staff and customer
base, and no uniforms = no idea
which attractive
person walking
around is actually your server.
Plenty of taxidermy and kitsch;
grimy rap blasting on the stereo;
this is pretty much
exactly what I
think Luke thinks
my scene is.
mains, my pork taco was very good. It was
very fresh, very solid, but standard fare.
Lunch went a bit weird after that, in a good
way. I didn’t know what to expect out of the
Scrapple, and I still don’t really know what
happened. For the enlightenment of our
kind readers, scrapple, or pon haus – a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dish, is a tasty
fried treat comprised of minced pork, flour,
and cornmeal. Sounds bland/gross, but laid
atop a sweet apple-based sauce, and topped
with chunks of fresh avocado, all barely contained by a tortilla, this dish really blew my
mind. It was seriously unlike anything I’ve
had before.
Luke: My fried fish taco was also very
good. I really got the sense that I was eating
fresh caught fish here, or at least neverfrozen. The toppings weren’t spectacular,
however. Like you, I was blown away by
my second taco. The chicken tinga was so
out-of-this-world that I’m reaching into the
wayback machine for an adjective. In the
words of Will Ferrell as James Lipton (readers under 25 should youtube immediately),
it was scrumtrulescent! I’m not sure exactly
what was in that sauce, but it was excellent
and the homestyle-pickled veg added a wonderful zing. Arriba!?
Venue: Grand
Electric
133 0 Que en
Street West (1
Block West of
Osgoode’s ParkLuke: I notice you
dale Legal Serdidn’t deny that
vices Clinic!)
this is your scene!
Cuisine: Tacos,
I think we can
generally speakboth agree that the
ing
HUGE bourbon
Food: Tacos
selection and long
$3.6 per, 3 each
Dan: This column may have just transcended
list of bottled beer
Lu ke: Fried
the realm of reason. Just saying. My last
IT APPEARS THAT GRAND ELECTRIC IS, IN
(priced from $4 to
Fish, Chicken
taco was the cauFACT, LICENSED.
Tinga, Carne
lif lower. Let me
Asada (beef)
preface this by
Dan: Pork Tinga, Scrapple, Fried Cauli- $40) is a major attraction.
saying that I love
flower
cauliflower. I had
The Food:
Shared: Pig-Face Fries $4 (actually made out
‘called dibs’ (with
Luke: We definitely started
of pig face meat)
zero objection
on a high note with the
LLBO Licensed? Yup. Great Beer Menu.
from my esteemed
pig-face fries. No omniHuge selection of bourbons too, with daily
co - cont ributor)
vore’s dilemma here. I was
$4 shot specials. Órale.?
when we decided
definitely wondering what
to order one of
The Pick:
was coming next - cow ass
every taco availLuke: We’re going to one of my favourite nachos? Seriously though,
able (easily feedMexican spots, located in the heart of Park- those “fries” were delicious.
ing 2 for just over
dale. You see, Dan, you’re blowing this west There is a hint of maple
$20). I felt comside/east side thing way out of proportion!
syrup in there and just the
pelled to eat a
right amount of kosher salt.
Dan: You are hilarious. Constant hipster
vegetable dish, if
I also loved the dipping
bashing and you chose Grand Electric? Love
only to offset the
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