Land of Oz

Samosa Speakeasy

I was visiting Toronto this past weekend and ran into a rather odd place to buy food. In a office park area there was what looked similar to a strip mall for offices. It looked that about three-quarter of the places were abandoned and those that were left were on hard times.

Some of the folks who work at a nearby office told me about this place to get good cheap samosas. For those who don't know, samosas are a type of Indian dumpling stuffed with meat or potatoes and peas and little spicy. They are usually deep-fried and served as an appetizer. You go up to the door. The place had a small sign, but nothing you'd ordinarily notice. I guess they often go there to order up a few bucks worth of samosas and naan for office lunches.

Anyway, you walk through a glass outside door and inside there's another wooden door with a small sign that says ring the outside doorbell. There are a couple of handwritten signs on the wall that say Vegi Samosas 4/$1 and mutton samosas 3/$1. There is also a bread ad but it doesn't mention price. So I stepped out, rang the bell and waited. Pretty soon some Indian guy dressed in whites with a hairnet answered the door. I told him 4 veggies and 3 meat and handed him $2. He closed the door and in a few more minutes handed out two paper bags full of samosas. While some people have said this is the equivalent of crack house for food, I couldn't help but think of Al Capone and the speakeasies of days gone by.

Unfortunately the samosas I got this time were a bit cold, but still tasty, especially when I got them home and warmed them up. I guess most of the time they are served hot and fresh.

Labels: food