Flipping out over Dolly’s homemade grub
Dolly’s Mojito Bar & Panciteria (out of 4) 1285 Bloor St. W. (at Lansdowne
Ave.), 416-551-0355, dollysmojito.com Chef: Dave Sidhu
Hours: Tuesday to Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m.; Friday, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.; Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Reservations: Yes Wheelchair access: No Price: Dinner for two with mojitos, tax and tip: $55
Dave Sidhu knows how to sell the sizzle. Literally. Pork belly sputters on a castiron plate at his newest restaurant, trailing chili smoke as it passes. One sniff and we order it, too ($14).
Sidhu has proven the success of his alcohol-meets-ethnic food eight times over with Playa Cabana and Co.
Now, he showcases the Filipino cooking of his mother, Dolores (a.k.a. Dolly), at Dolly’s Mojito Bar & Panciteria in Bloordale. (His mother comes from Leyte, Philippines. Sidhu’s father is Sikh).
It is a fun restaurant built on homemade noodles (pancit in Tagalog) and lubricated by sugar cane juice.
The vibe Like fellow second-generation Filipino restaurants Lamesa and Lasa, Dolly’s wants to attract a wide audience.
“At the beginning, people were walking out because there weren’t enough recognizable menu items. We now use Canadian terms,” Sidhu says.
The room is dark, narrow and energetic, the former Whippoorwill made over as a funky diner with a ghetto blaster motif and graffiti mural by Filipino artist Bryan Espiritu. Ice sloshes in cocktail shakers. Drake plays while groups of diners laugh over pitchers of mojitos.
Later in the evening comes the whir- ring of the sugar cane mill to keep up with demand.
There’s the rum Fresh sugar cane juice — and its distilled version, rum — form the basis of Dolly’s cocktails.
Mojitos come four ways, all in ’70s glassware with a sugar cane garnish worth stripping.
The Cubano ($7) has the expected muddled mint and sweet white rum; the Filipino ($9) includes pineapple juice; while the Mestizo ($8) has a subtle touch of coconut.
The Hinebra ($9), made with gin instead of rum, is the best of the lot.
Not everyone wants to be boisterous. You can get Mexican Coke in bottles ($4.50) and terrifically tart juice ($5.50) made from calamansi limes native to the Philippines.
Raw diet Calamansi juice plus sugar cane vinegar turn chopped tuna kinilaw ($12) into something resembling ceviche, if ceviche were made with pickled jackfruit and ginger. It is eminently scoopable onto crisp shrimp chips.
Most of Dolly’s items are made inhouse, such as Chinese-style sio pao steamed buns ($8) of juicy ground pork dipped in seasoned vinegar.
Like the fried wings ($7) coated in dehydrated lemongrass, they raise the bar for bars.
Then there is the fried Spam ($9), a legacy of American occupation. Forget Monty Python. Crisp and soft and presented in a can, this is Spam to like.
Rich noodles But as the name suggests, noodles are the star here.
Take the wonderfully rich pancit ginataang ($12) of spiralized butternut squash in spinach-green coconut sauce heaped with soft kale and crunchy fried egg noodles or the comfort of pancit bihon ($12) with annatto-yellow shrimp.
Not everything works. Whereas the ginataang skews sweet, squid ink noodles ($12) are salty. Very salty.
And desserts such as crepes ($7) and plantain spring rolls ($8) aren’t worth recommending. Still, Sidhu sees a bright future. “Filipino food has a lot of potential. In a few more years, it won’t be a niche,” he says. apataki@thestar.ca, @amypataki