Both or either. Pide (pronounced pea-deh) is delicious food. I lunched with a friend at the Danforth’s Mr. Pide today and learned a couple of things. First, the yogurt drink called ayran didn’t appeal to either of us. I’m sure it’s healthy but neither of us liked the taste. We did better with fruit juices and Turkish tea.
We ordered two pides… spinach and feta for one choice and an assorted with meat, sausage and chicken for the second. Lamb was standard on the assorted but I asked for ground beef as a substitute. Fact is, ground meat, lamb or beef, doesn’t work for me on a pide. The crumbles fall off the crust too easily. Spinach with feta was the better choice. Delicious.
Here’s the thing… Mr. Pide on the Danforth had some nice qualities. The attractive young lady who served us was polite and helpful. The whole front of the restaurant opens out to the street, adding atmosphere. (No air conditioning today, but ceiling fans were going. Warm, but acceptable, I’d say.) We received creamy garlic sauce at Mr. Pide that I don’t recall getting at Pizza Pide. And yet, I’ve got to give a slight edge to Pizza Pide on Gerrard. The pide is equally tasty and Pizza Pide offers more choices of toppings. I like their presentation on the plate much better, too. The Gerrard place has less atmosphere, I suppose, but it’s bright and cool.
While on the Danforth, we looked for a Turkish grocery store I’d heard about.
I think I missed the one I wanted (Burak) and instead went into a long, narrow Turkish market store. It was just a few doors west of Donlands on the north side.
It’s absolutely crammed with Middle Eastern foods in cans, jars, bottles and bags. Many shelves of Turkish Delight candy. I bought a big bag of loose black tea for $4.99. Danica seemed to think it was a good price and loves the stuff as much as I did when I had some with lunch at Mr. Pide.