I love Ital food, so when Vegan I Thali popped up on my Instagram feed, I knew I had to go. Very easy to find just east of the Main subway station, you can't miss it in summer since it's for a fresh smoothie hut out front.
Walking in, you're greater by lots of bulk foods, oats, roasted barley, spices like ground sage, green coffee beans and packages of injera.
There's no seating and no patio, since this is primarily a takeout joint, but that's probably best anyways in these times.
As for what's on the menu, they have a good selection of starters, soups and salads. Apparently they're known for their corn soup, but I forgot to order some. There's also a menu for "casual eats," which just looks like fast food items such as chickpea nuggets and fries with mushroom gravy.
What I ordered was a Make-Your-Own Them I, where you pick 4 items for about $20. For my first visit, I decided on Rasta Pasta, Saucy BBQ soya, Ital Stew, and Eggplant Delight.
Out of all items, the Rasta Pasta and Eggplant was decent but memorable, the BBQ soya was goods but very salty for my palate, they also threw in some jerk soya which was also good, but again, a tad too salty. The Ital Stew though, that was heavenly. I could just eat a bowl of that everyday. It was hearty, dull of flavour and so buttery. Would get that again in a heartbeat.
That said, I'll definitely be back to try this another combo, maybe grab extra Ital Stew on the side $6, and some frozen vegan patties (12 for $30, or 12 gluten free for $50), oh and soup of course and maybe also a smoothie...
FYI if you feel like Ethiopian, you can also order the Injera Thali, where you get Meser Wat (red lentils, garlic and onions), Ye Kik Wat (split peas & turmeric), and Gomen (kale, chili and ginger). read more