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The Ghali Kitchen (4 Greenwood Ave. at Queen St. E., Toronto 416-466-5140)

Fear not the F-word dreaded by many…fusion. I can’t tell you how many times I have eaten my parents’ Asian-inspired pasta dishes. Think: Ragu infused with soy sauce. For lack of a better term, fusion can sometimes go awfully right. I’ve experienced this at One of a Kind Pasta (746 Queen St. W., Toronto) and their version of Italo-Chine. Now The Ghali Kitchen tries its hand at the Italian-Jamaican combination.

On a bitterly-winded November night, Sarah and I prattled on from west to east on the Queen streetcar. As I gazed out the window at the completely sardined-in streetcar heading west, I knew full well that had I gone home after work, I would be one stinky fish. I was already happy. Off we got at Greenwood, with Sarah having narrowly escaped getting smooshed by a blindly driven car.

We lingered outside expectantly and peered into the tiny joint. When we finally went in, a wall of garlic and proprietor George Ghali greeted us. His suggestions: a Jerk Chicken sandwich and Akee & Saltfish Rasta Pasta. Dancehall tunes warmed us up as we sat by the window-side counter and listened to the cackle of the stove.

The Food:
Along with caramelised onions and roasted red pepper, the unexpectedly mild jerk chicken was sandwiched between good home-baked focaccia and topped with tomato sauce. Though flavourful and perfectly pressed in a panini grill, I thought it could have used some more jerk. The Akee & Saltfish Rasta Pasta was a more adventurous taste combination of rigatoni in a garlicky curry-tomato sauce, veg, Akee fruit and just the right amount of Saltfish to add both flavour and texture. Totally warming stuff on this wintry night and like it says on the menu, ‘Down On the The Lower East Side Making Love To Your Tummy’.

Charlene K. Lau