Luminato 1000 Tastes of Toronto.

WRITTEN and EATEN by Jerry He

The Luminato festival was hugely advertised these days. It's a 10 day long "creative arts festival," but my roommates and I were only able to check out 2 events. We didn't want to just let a huge crazy event slide through our fingers so we decided to take lunch at the *1,000 Tastes of Toronto*. The organizers blocked off a section of Queen's Quay (street), where maybe 100 restaurants offered a taste of their fare for just $5. I only ate 3 dishes here, but could have easily eaten 3 more.

From Picture: Combo dish from Dhaba with chicken, samosa, cheap salad, chick peas and long grain rice. The first thing I ate after taking this photo was the chick peas. All I have to say is: if you like cumin, you'll LOVE these chickpeas. The skin is still intact, but the centre tasted just like the sauce that surrounded it. Samosa and salad were alright. Tasted like stuff you can buy at the local Safeway or Sobeys. Rice was pretty good - a good, lightly seasoned staple. However, the chicken was the deal breaker. It was dry and burnt in several places, and Couldn't Have Tasted Better! There was a mild curry flavour, but mostly it was a nicely charred drumstick. I couldn't pick out exactly what made this piece Indian, but it perfectly complemented the other parts of the dish. Portion size was decent, and I found it right beside the East entrance. Lineup only took 5-7 minutes, not long enough for a complaint.

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Jerry He is a Guest Star/ Guest Writer for Good Food Toronto. He is a student from UBC (Vancouver), who is enjoying both working and having fun in Toronto. He loves food.