 |
| Antejito |
A long time ago, I used to live on Lake Erie in
Wainfleet, Ontario. I loved this house – it was breezy, surrounded by trees and
water and I always had the very best naps outside on the deck. Our neighbours
were the Echlin’s, Kevin and Kyla, and after years of being out of touch, I was
lucky enough to reconnect with them a few months ago while visiting their
restaurant The Smokin’ Buddha in
Port Colborne, Ontario.
 |
| Avocotta dip |
Located in the old train station, the Smokin’ Buddha has
a warm, cozy vibe, with super friendly service and an impressive menu. What
started out as a small stall at the Port Colborne Farmer’s Market (in which he
used to sell the very best homemade mango salsa I have ever had!) in 2005,
blossomed into a successful restaurant that officially opened on October
5th, 2007. The menu and set up of the restaurant are largely
inspired by his time in Japan, with the addition of other colourful, bright and
unique dishes from all over.
When I visited a few months back, my good friend Sarah
and I decided to try a few different items. We of course, however, started with
some beer... but not just any beer. Kevin partnered up with Great Lakes Brewery
in Etobicoke and created the Smokin’ Buddha lager. This lager is the perfect
balance to the varied and often spicy offerings available on the menu.
 |
| Bulgogi bowl |
For our appetizers, we started with the Avocotta Dip – an
avocado and cottage cheese guacamole hybrid. The dip was creamy and light
and despite not being a particularly huge fan of cottage cheese, it worked well
with both the chips and the antejitos. Antejitos are one of my favorite
appetizers and this place does them better than anywhere else. For those of you
who have never tried them, they typically include a mix of beans, corn,
peppers, cheese and spices in a flour tortilla which gets rolled, then baked
and then cut into bite size pieces. Where the Buddha’s are best however, is in
the fact that they coat the outside of the tortilla in a spicy dry rub, before
quickly frying it and then serving it. Perfection!
 |
| Yam-A-Rito |
 |
| Lavender Crème Brulée |
For our mains, Sarah ordered to Yam-A-Rito and I ordered
the Bulgogi Bowl, two of the Buddha’s staple items. The Yam-A-Rito is a
delicious sweet potato tortilla, with salsa, cheese and a bit of heat. It was
sweet, savoury and very filling! My Bulgogi bowl was filled with tender sesame,
ginger, garlic and soy sauce marinated beef, cucumber cut into matchsticks and
shredded carrots on top of warm rice. The dish had the perfect balance of
saltiness and flavor, and I have since been trying to replicate it at home!
As if all of that food wasn’t enough, we decided to order
dessert. 3 words = Lavender. Crème. Brulée. It was heavenly. Light, sweet but not too sweet, with just a subtle hint of lavender. It was the absolute perfect ending to our meal
and further proved why The Smokin’ Buddha is doing as well as it has been. Did
I mention that they were featured on You
Gotta Eat Here? Well they were, and you do!
