Hawker — Restaurant in Toronto

I used to come here before the pandemic when it was a take out eatery. The food was exceptional and I could tell the chef was highly skilled, probably professionally trained, and they had more to offer than what we were seeing at such a low-key joint. My husband had an aversion to curry dishes from a food poisoning event 15 years ago and he was able to re-start eating South Asian cuisine after coming here. Also, he does not share the same vegetarian lifestyle as me, but this is the one of the few vegetarian restaurants that he will ask to return to. During the pandemic, we made our way here and we were sad to see it closed down.

On Thursday, I was looking at options in Kensington Market and was so pleased to see this place opened again. I was even more pleased to see that it has turned into a sit-down restaurant. The prix fixe menu is a great idea to allow the small kitchen crew to focus on a small number of high quality dishes, allow patrons to sample a selection of flavors, and allow patrons to experience an entire vegan dining experience.

No, this place is not LCBO licensed (?for now). I would not deduct any star ratings if a small business chooses not to serve alcohol. There are plenty of bars around if you would prefer an alcoholic beverage before or after your meal. I don't believe that a fine meal necessitates an alcoholic beverage as our culture often dictates - this is something that maybe we can get used to once in a while. I did order the chaga tea and I'm pretty sure it's a home-made recipe brewed in-house. It was delicious.

The ambience. This restaurant is very small and quaint. I'm pleased that the owners are deciding to re-invent themselves and I like the new ambience. Just imagine going to your best friend's condo and they are trying their best to provide you with a great dining experience. The kitchen is open concept (similar to Shook Restaurant), so imagine that they are working feverishly in the kitchen while you are enjoying their cooking. Try not to bother them since they are also hosting their other friends in parallel. I would describe the ambience as Kensington-meets-candle light dinner. I can also succinctly describe it as fine-dining dishes , without the pretention.

The flavours. I loved it - lots of Asian and South Asian flavours, which is a nice change from other vegetarian prix fixe menus in Toronto, which tend to focus more on western flavours. I had the green beans to start (don't forget to dip the beans in the nut butter smear), dal (the poured raita sauce, mmmm), and forest floor (love the nut mixture). My husband had the oyster mushrooms (no surprise since he loved the oyster mushrooms on their pre-pandemic menu), soba noodles (spicy, but yum!), and chocolate avocado (decadent!). I loved every dish we ordered. The flavors and presentation are high end and the dishes would fit in any finer dining establishments that charge $75+ for their prix fixe menu. For this reason, I found the price to be affordable and in fact, if Toronto Life gets wind of this place, the price might have to go up for the "foodie" crowd. I was worried with the appetizers that the portions were going to be small, but the chef has portioned all three dishes appropriately (i.e. smaller app plates, heartier entree dishes, and individual dessert servings). My husband and I were full by the end of our meals. The thing about vegan dishes, you have to ensure the entire meal is nutritionally packed with protein and fats to ensure that you aren't loading up just on carbs - I feel the chef did this very well, ensuring nutritionally balanced plates among the three dishes (regardless of which options you chose).

For a vegan dining experience, I highly recommend, even if you are not vegan. Please support this place as there are not many vegan places like this around (I would maybe liken this place a bit like Awai on Bloor West, which is now closed). Other places in Toronto that offer vegan prix fixe menus are more western influenced and their price points are...

Update: My partner and I were so excited at the promise of TVX’s evolution to Hawker. Went here for our wedding anniversary in Spring 2022 and left feeling really disappointed. The depth of flavour paled in comparison to the dishes offered as TVX. Hawker seems to pushing the fancy service vibe (and prices), but didnt exchange dishes between courses that made no sense to serve on the remnants of the prior course. Toronto has an incredible vegan culinary scene and I am hoping the next time we visit this restaurant things have improved.

Prior 5-star TVX review: My partner and I braved the February chill to wander through Kenzo one late Sat afternoon in the pursuit of sustenance. Full disclosure, we were hunting for fish tacos, and thought that our favourite location was closed (turns out it had just moved....). So we decided to see if The Vegan Extremist pop-up was still around. Not realizing the location had had a bit of a reno, re-branding, and new menu, it wasn't until food was in our mouths that we realized TVX = The Vegan Extremist.

The menu is displayed in what I will describe as a 'french menu style' in that there is an item name and a few words to describe what is in the item, but otherwise, it is a bit of a hail mary when it comes to selecting what you want to order. We picked the Panang Curry and the Bharta Curry, an order of the oyster mushrooms, an order of rice, and a paratha. Food was ready in

This vegan restaurant is not only serving delicious foods, it's serving an entirely new experience. The food had dense layers of spice, distinct aromas, and innovative plating.

We ordered: Summer (papadam, chickpea ferment, cherry tomatoes) | $13 Savory and sweet aromatic spices were generously sprinkled on the juicy roasted cherry tomatoes. The tomatoes were placed on top of papadam (deep fried Indian lentil/bean flour) chips that were so thin and crunchy. Underneath the tomatoes was a gentle spread of chickpea ferment (a little like hummus but less creamy) that softened the overall texture.

Bushfire (eggplant, rosemary smoke, roti) | $15 What a dream. The eggplant curry was served on top of smoking rosemary that has such an intense yet calming herbal smell. The curry itself was quite light, a bit bitter, and slightly woody-tasting (due to the burnt herbal sprinkles on top). The overall taste was so earthy it was so different from the heavier curries I’ve tasted. The Roti was so, so fluffy. The taste was slightly umami from the generous sprinkles of parley on top.

Starry Night (biryani, smoked poblano, lavender oil) | $15 The rice was topped with little ruffle drops of sour cream and an earthy cream (which I could not identity). The biryani rice flavors were rich in spices. We loved the bits of sweet raisin and other softer seeds embedded. Couldn’t really taste the lavender oil tho.

Reap/Sow (dal, pomegranate, raita, roti) | $14 One of my favorite dishes! The curry itself tastes so earthy it was almost intense (rich of the natural taste of grains, seeds, and roots). There was little seasoning to the curry but the crunchy pomegranates bits on top were so refreshing and sour raita sauce set a bold contrast to the minimally flavored dal.

Starry Night Pt 2 (ube, pandan, rose) | $9 The white pandan mousse droplets had an intense coconut and vanilla flavor. The mousse just melted in my mouth as soon as I placed it on my tongue. The ube droplets were a lot more dense (like a sweet mashed potatoes) and creamy. It was interesting to taste the different kinds of sweetness. Each bite of the fleur de sel instantly enhanced the diversity of sweet flavors and added such a nice crunch to the mousse. The little flower bits enriched the smooth...