Just Opened
Zagol
Ossington and Bloor is rapidly becoming the city’s top destination for Ethiopian cuisine. The latest restaurant to open offers style in addition to the traditional hands-on fare By Cameron Tulk
Image credit: Jessica Darmanin
Opening an Ethiopian restaurant on a strip known for Ethiopian restaurants has its disadvantages. Competition can be fierce (especially when you’re just a few doors down from the neighbourhood favourite, Lalibela), but the owners of newcomer Zagol, Senait Getachew and Aster Amare, believe they have an ace up their sleeve: style. Noting that ambience is sometimes lacking in other Ethiopian restaurants, the pair have taken special care with the look of their Bloor and Ossington digs. A renovation has produced a spacious room with a clean, modern feel: grey walls decorated with small black and white photographs of Ethiopian artists, white tablecloths, red upholstered chairs and dark wood floors. Notably, there is no television to distract from the conversation or the food. To judge from the decor alone, Zagol could pass for a College Street trattoria—a boon to a neighbourhood just starting down the road to gentrification.
When it comes to food, Getachew and Amare aim to keep it simple. The menu is standard Ethiopian fare: vegetables and meats that are either stewed, sautéed or left raw. Portions are ample and affordable. A vegetable sampler ($12) serves up a bit of everything: some mehsir wat (red lentils), gomen (collard greens), alicha (yellow peas), fesolia (green bean with carrots and potato) and a green salad, all on a bed of injera—the cutlery-replacing bread that is used to scoop the food. Ethiopian coffee ($11 per pot) completes the experience, but order in advance as the beans are roasted and ground for every pot. It takes a while to get to the table, but it is always fresh.
Zagol, 875 Bloor St. W. (at Ossington), 416-530-1234.
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I have sampled many Ethiopian restaurants along the Bloor strip (and a few along Queen), and I must say that Zagol stands out as my first choice. The Beef and Lamb dishes are full of flavour with a nice hit of spice, and you can’t go wrong with any vegetarian dishes. My only regret is that I didn’t have time to wait for their freshly roasted coffee (takes about a half hour so if you do want it, order it at the beginning of the meal)…
April 7, 2009 | by Titus