Today we discovered pide

Photo credit: Danica Andersen
We had heard of a delicious Turkish food called pide [pronounced pea-deh] and Danica remembered that one of the best sources was nearby. Pizza Pide is at the corner of Gerrard East and Pape Avenue, near Gerrard Square. It was lunchtime and the restaurant was doing a brisk business, churning out more than 20 different kinds of a sort of Turkish pizza. Wonderful!

We could easily have been satisfied with one shared pide, they are that filling, but we wanted to try at least two kinds…. feta cheese (on the left) and pepperoni and mozzarella. Each pide is formed into a boat shaped crust. The pointy ends of the boat shape were cut off and placed under the parts you can see in the photo, so there was a lot more to eat than shows. The crust is amazingly good.
All pides come with the parsley-tomato-onion-peppers trimmings you see in the middle. The can is a cherry drink we shared but we could have chosen a yogurt drink or fizzy Turkish fruit drink. Standard pops are available too, but you can get them anywhere.
Pides are baked in a pizza oven and served piping hot, cut up into easy to handle squares. We both liked the feta cheese kind best. Next time we’ll try an assorted…or one with chicken slices… or the vegetarian… or one of the ground beef…
The bustling blocks around Gerrard Square are in an interesting phase. A Starbucks has appeared, which tells of the coming gentrification, but there are still lots of rough around the edges businesses that have been there for decades. There is at least one independent coffee house, a newish Scottish pub and a little strip mall pho restaurant. Discover it on a walk one sunny day.
Lunch for two with the shared drink came to $21 with taxes and we came home with enough leftovers to have for dinner. Pides reheat beautifully in the oven!