Doomie’s : Toronto, Canada

Name: Doomie’s
Address: 1263 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M6K 1L5, Canada
Website: Website
Wifi: No
Tender: Debit, Credit, Cash
Neighbourhood: Parkdale
Type: Vegetarian/Vegan

Doomie’s is a vegan restaurant located in Toronto’s Parkdale neighborhood, just east of Dufferin.

The interior has a rock star vibe with a little bit of attitude which reflects their stance on their menu and veganism in general. Unlike most vegan restaurants Doomie’s aims to showcase that there’s more to vegan than just salad and coconut acai bowl. This is seen throughout their menu as well as in their interior with “NO SALADS” sign that hangs just above the bar.

 

 

Make your way to the back and down the stairs and you’ll find Doomie’s Selfie room, which is covered in comics by U.K artist Vegan Sidekick depicting vegan views in serious, yet humorous way.

I’m excited to get started because truthfully it’s nice to see a vegan menu that doesn’t involve lettuce and quinoa. We start with the “South In Yer Mouth”, $15 CDN + tax. A roll is stuffed full with BBQ Pork, Mac n Cheese, pickles, and served with a side a fries. It’s good. In fact, it’s pretty amazing. Truthfully had you served this to me outside of a vegan restaurant I wouldn’t be able to tell that it was vegan. The BBQ pork is well seasoned and flavorful and the pickles add a nice crunchy texture. The fries are also cooked perfectly, crispy on the outside and soft and pillowy on the inside.

Completely amazed at the taste and texture of the BBQ pork I ask what it’s made of. While they can’t divulge exact recipes I’m told that all “meat” items on the menu are made from either soy, wheat, mushrooms, or varying combinations of the three. Whatever it is it’s good. Damn good.

Next we try the “Nachos Nachos Nachos”, $12 CDN + tax. Fried tortilla chips are topped with asada, beans, queso, crema, jalapenos, olives, tomatoes, and onion. The ingredients go well together and the flavors again are spot on. In fact, they taste like delicious nachos that I would get at any typical non-vegan sports bar. I find this is only true though when you eat all the ingredients together though. Out of curiosity I sampled the “cheese” and “meat” individually and when eaten alone you definitely taste the difference between vegan and non-vegan cheese and meat. This is pretty much irrelevant though because really, nobody eats nacho ingredients individually. It tastes good and that’s all that matters.

 

The last of the savory dishes, and most anticipated, is their legendary vegan Big Mac, $16 CDN + tax. A vegan take on McDonald’s most famous burger, when it arrives it is definitely much bigger and meatier than the original, despite having no actual meat in it. While the texture of the patties definitely differs than that of meat (because it’s not meat, so obviously) the flavors are what I would expect from the beloved fast-food classic. I’m pretty sure Ronald McDonald himself would be tempted to deflect. A word of warning though Doomie’s version is much larger and much more stacked than the fast-food chain version, which makes for a pretty messy meal. Make sure you have plenty of napkins, or better yet wet naps, on hand before eating this.

Lastly, we finish off with dessert a vegan Crème Brûlée, $8 CDN + tax. A creamy vanilla custard (made with soy) is topped with a hard crack top caramelized sugar. With the absence of egg yolks and cream it’s definitely a lot less rich and not as creamy as a non-vegan crème brûlée.  The best comparison to describe this is that it tasted like a crème brûlée that had been made with egg whites instead of egg yolks, even though no eggs were actually used. Still, the flavors are nice and you can never really go wrong with caramelized sugar.

In addition to Crème Brûlée the dessert menu is also filled with indulgent options like deep fried oreos and glazed pumkin doughnut holes which are calling my name to try next time.

Overall I really enjoyed my experience at Doomie’s. It was nice to see to see a place that breaks the stereotypical vegan norms of spinach topped with tempeh. While I myself am not a vegan I have always considered myself to be an equal opportunity eater. That is someone that will eat anything regardless of whether it has meat or is vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, gluten-free, raw, or whatever else dietary considerations exist. There’s only one thing that matters to an equal opportunity eater and that’s how something tastes, and Doomie’s accomplishes just that –  good taste.

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored, however the meal/items were complimentary. All opinions expressed are my own. All menu offerings and prices are accurate as of time of posting. Please refer to restaurant/shop for most up to date information.

*All images are copyrighted Allons.Y Styling & Photography. Please do not use or re-post without written consent and provide credit where applicable