Mildred's Temple Kitchen (Winterlicious)

Unexpected lunch dates are the best, especially on those mundane days where I fully anticipated working in front of the computer all day for 8 hours straight. Then suddenly, out of the blue, my friend texted me asking me if I'm free for lunch. That in itself is nothing out of the ordinary but get this, my friend was willing to come all the way down (up?) to Liberty Village and have lunch with me here, in Liberty Village. This is amazing because this is rare, guys. RARE. And this is not because I have no friends (man I certainly hope that's not the case) but it's all about location, location, LOCATION.

Despite being a terrific neighbourhood (I often associate Liberty Village to a lovely and serene campus) and a very up-and-coming area with tons of condo development, a lot of people think Liberty Village is "out of the of way" and  "too far". You know, just because it's not the downtown core, nor the financial district, nor Ossington, nor King/Queen & Spadina...you get what I'm saying. Meh, I guess it's kinda true. After all, none of my friends work in Liberty Village! So anyway, deprived of a regular lunch buddy, I jumped at the chance yesterday when my friend offered to drop by for lunch :)

I decided we should hit up Mildred's Temple Kitchen (Twitter: @mildredstemple, Facebook: Mildred's Temple Kitchen) for their Winterlicious lunch (Twitter: @LiciousTO, Facebook: Winter/Summerlicious). I'm gonna admit it right now; what really caught my eye on Mildred's Temple Kitchen's Winterlicious menu was their sticky toffee pudding. I'm a huge sucker for those things.

I was a few minutes early for my reservation so I lounged at the waiting area by the bar. So roomy and comfortable there.

A large and gorgeous space with floor-to-ceiling windows allows a good amount of natural light into the restaurant. The decor at Mildred's Temple Kitchen is contemporary, simple and very modern.

I took this picture after the lunch rush. 

  I ordered a Caesar, obviously. I was craving one ever since the night before (my friend can attest to this). Mildred's Temple Kitchen's Caesar comes with celery shavings on top, and conveniently, a pair of chopsticks on the side .

Bungalow Island Caesar ($9.95)

 Vodka, clamato juice & signature rim

APPETIZER

Italian Bread Soup

Rich chicken broth infused with roasted garlic & winter herbs with shaved pecorino & crunchy croutons

Baked Ontario Goat Cheese 

Drizzled with extra virgin olive oil & Mildred’s harvest honey with salted onion crisps 

MAIN

Fish & Chips

Beau’s beer-battered halibut served with house-made tartar sauce, frites, a side of winter slaw & grilled lemon 

Pulled Pork Sammy

Smoked Berkshire pork, rubbed with Mildred’s secret spice blend, slow cooked on the Big Green Egg with ancho chili, garlic & onion, served with frites

DESSERT

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Warm scrumptious cake smothered in a rich, boozy toffee sauce & whipped cream on top 

It was hard, real hard, getting back to work after such a great lunch, a great Winterlicious lunch for only $20. Awesome value! Frankly, I enjoyed this Winterlicious lunch at Mildred's Temple Kitchen a lot more than a dinner I had there a year ago. All our courses yesterday were executed well and not at all sloppy. My friend really liked his Italian bread soup (the thinly shaved pecorino was a very nice touch) and he thought the sticky toffee pudding was "delightful". I would have to agree with him, the STP was indeed delightful; a small dollop of cream on top of a luscious piece of warm cake, all married together with rich toffee sauce. This STP was excellent. I should also mention that our server was friendly, funny and outgoing.

Thanks to my friend, this out-of-the-blue, un-planned Winterlicious lunch at Mildred's Temple Kitchen really made my day yesterday.