SPiN

In case you missed The Londoner's recent post, here's the latest and greatest in themed bars: ping pong.

London's Ping hit the scene with a splash late summer last year and I was surprised to find that Toronto had its very own ping pong bar! SPiN opened late in 2011 as the Toronto installment of SPiNGalactic - there's three other North American locations. [Their website boasts plans for SPiN on the Moon in 2022!]

The walls are adorned with a gorgeous array of artwork from local artists - all original and all available for purchase.

As if the atmosphere and ping pong wasn't enough, their menu completely blew me away. The group I was with ordered a small array of appetizers and sandwiches and I struggled with the urge to order way more than I could possibly ever eat.

The 5 Step Fries were amazing. Potato wedges gone hulk. They were thick, skin-on, crispy-on-the-outside-fluffy-on-the-inside deliciousness. So far from healthy and best eaten hot or warm - I splurged for the last wedge at the end of the night and ended up with all of the grease that had pooled in the bottom of the dish. Ick. Their take on a simple grilled cheese was refreshing! A sharp mix of Swiss, Monterey and Cheddar cheeses along with fresh tomato slices, crispy pork belly and sprouts. These were sliced for sharing, devoured, and a back-up tray was quickly ordered.

I love creative remakes of simple, basic dishes. SPiN's "Chips and Dip" was just that: warm deep-friend tortilla chips [no pretense of healthiness in this joint!] with three dips. One was a basic tzatzki, another was a sweet tomato salsa, and the last was [as far as I could tell] yam or sweet potato with caradamom. All delicious, but none of them held a candle to the dip that came along with the grilled cheese.

Looks like ketchup, tastes like heaven. I schmeared this sauce on everything. baked tortillas, potato wedges, grilled cheese... all got healthy dunks in this sinfully sweet sauce. A magic blend of tomato paste and honey that I can't for the life of me understand why it was so delicious. I would never have thought to combine the two but I suppose, in the end, that's what ketchup is! Tomato paste and sugar and vinegar, right? My not-so-seasoned tastebuds loved the sweet hit of honey in this sauce. I'll definitely be trying to make my own version of this sometime soon.

The veggie chips were a brilliant palate cleanser, and definitely helped me to mentally offset the obvious grease-factor in the wedges and chips. Long, thin slices of heirloom carrots and coloured beets were crisp and surprisingly flavourful. I too-often find that raw veggies in restaurants are bland and either dried out or way too watery. These were neither! This is the first time I've seen raw veggies presented in such a creative and eye-catching manner. It almost made the $8 price tag worth it.

We had a birthday in our little group, but forgot about it until the bitter end and had missed our dessert-ordering window! This happened instead. Cheese dip beats cake any day of the week, anyway.

I'll definitely be grabbing some girlfriends and heading back into the city for a proper night at SPiN! Just too much fun.

They book up fast, and are usually slammed on weekends and Thursday/Friday evenings, so make a reservation! 461 King Street West [don't be fooled by the enormous Firkin on King Street proudly proclaiming itself as 461. Sneak around the side of the building, through the little iron gateways and you'll see the glow of ping pong not too far down!] 416.599.7746

The Moose

If you're in Vancouver looking for a place to grab some delicious food and a pint, I'll admit that the options can be overwhelming. There's an abundance of great food in the city and a thriving craft beer industry, to boot. I won't claim to have tried more than a few of the local joints around here, but C and I did stumble onto a real gem while we were out for a walk.

This is the first thing we saw when we turned onto this block - I very nearly stopped in my tracks to stare at it. An entire menu priced at $5.95? Twenty-five cent wing night? One dollar sliders? Is this a trap?

We made our way inside and were seated at a rustic wooden table already occupied by another couple in hockey jerseys. "On game nights we double-seat our six-top tables," the host explained. I didn't mind in the least - I was too busy taking in the decor. It was cozy without being cramped and full of interesting things to look at in every direction. An entire wall of stacked home audio equipment? Why not! Enormous antlers above the bar? Of course!

The menus are made from old vinyl album covers, each one different. I wasn't expecting much in the way of creative food, but one glance at the menu told me I was dead wrong.

I ordered the Moose Burger; a beef burger with crispy pancetta and sharp cheddar cheese. Obviously I was expecting the bare bones with a price tag of $5.95, but our friendly waitress asked me whether I'd prefer fries, soup, or a Caesar salad for my side. I picked the naughty option and was glad I did, because the french fries were amazing. C went for a blackened chicken sandwich and was raving about it. I've never been a fan of blackened chicken but I had to agree - it was bursting with flavour. We left with full tummies and mostly-full bank accounts.

The most baffling thing to me about this $5.95 menu was that on our outings on later days, I noticed not one or two but three more hole-in-the-wall joints with the same claim - in one block! Turns out it's a bit of a trend here in Vancouver, and one I can get behind fully! If only Toronto would follow suit.

The Moose is one of those uncommon places that just feels like you're surrounded by friends, even when you're 3,000 miles away from home.

Give it a try if you're in the area. The Moose 724 Nelson Street 604-633-1002

If this one's not to your liking, head around the corner to The Factory, another $5.95 menu joint, or down a block to The Famous Warehouse, a $4.95 menu!