REVIEW: Supermarket

Supermarket (268 Augusta Ave.)
Claim-to-fame: Tapas style Asian fusion

I was dragging E to look for the Alchemy Bakery (Oxford and Augusta, I heard they make good bread) somewhere in Kensington Market, and we found it but it was already closed. Wandering back up Augusta, we traveled a short distance before we hit Supermarket! It was a bit of a coincidence, because it was just recommended to me earlier in the day to be a decent place with sort of a share plate-style meal. So we entered.

It was dark inside. We were seated immediately, passing the smoking room, which has a floor-to-ceiling view of the streets of Kensington Market (at least during the day), and a DJ booth. The seating areas were sectioned off by some tables near the front, and two sections of booths. The first section had black and white photos ("Beef Terminal", something I can't remember and a "ferris wheel") on the walls, and the second had more colourful ones that I couldn't really see. The back of the room was a partially partitioned room that seemed to enclose a dance floor (the place turns into a lounge/club on weekends). The "kitchen" was right beside the bar and in full view of the rest of the place. The interesting thing was that the shelves over the bar held a very eclectic assortment of beer, rice, Japanese drinks (Pocari Sweat, anyone?)...

The service was friendly and the food was quick (sweet potato chips with chipotle and sea salt, crispy calamari, baby greens with a miso vinagrette, and chicken and shrimp mild pad thai). Calamari and pad thai ...mm mmmm good! The chips were alright, but a plate for $3.50 makes me expect something a little extra. The salad was just that, mixed baby greens and nothin' else! It was missing something (anything!). The bill came out to something of the tune of $34-ish.

Somewhere to visit again, once in a while. (But it won't replace JunJun!)