Jack of all tastes

>> Spice Safar is a café, a store,
a lounge and last-minute video store

by MARK SLUTSKY

After several visits, I’m still not sure what Spice Safar is. I’m not sure whether to really call it a restaurant or a café or what, so I’ll just say that the, uh, business, has two locations, one up by Jean-Talon Market and the other down on McGill street in Old Montreal. I visited the Old Montreal location a few times and each time it felt like the kind of place you visit in a dream and only vaguely remember.

Located in a stately old building (the same as Holder, which is across the hall), it’s a small space divided into two tiny and hyper-designed rooms. The first, as you enter, is like a miniature boutique, selling books, bags, shirts, DVDs and stuff. (The DVDs are completely random; though everything else in the space seems relatively chic, the disc selection includes items like an Austin Powers set.)

Sit down at a video terminal and you can use the touch-screen to select short movies from around the world. Or just sidle up to the counter, about three feet, away where you can order your food and coffee. It’s like they tried to fit seven different types of businesses into one tiny space. That’s not really a criticism; I mean, hey, why not? Saves space, that’s for sure, and if you’re the type of urban consumer who wants to get your tote bag, coffee, salad, Austin Powers: Goldmember DVD and short-film needs taken care of in one stop, Spice Safar might be for you.

As far as comestibles go, they run the range from coffee to fresh-baked (with organic flour) goods to sandwiches, salads and satays. The coffee is their own organic roast and it’s quite nice; an allongé I had was a rich and satisfying brew.

The food is colourful and made with fresh ingredients and generally appetizing. I liked both the square pizzas I tried ($3.95 each). One was made with chicken, yellow bell peppers, feta and zucchini; though a friend found the crust a little dry, it suited me just fine. The veggie pizza was fully loaded, heavy on the olives and artichokes.

It was a lot like the veggie sandwich, actually (sandwiches cost around $5–$6, $9.95 for a combo with salad), which was also piled high with vegetables and cheese. Not particularly satisfying if you’re a carnivore, but nothing to sneeze at if you’re not. The two chicken sandwiches I tried were tasty, but despite their varying ingredients, didn’t seem that different. One was made with apricot and another with a green curry sauce, and though they were both satisfying, the flavours didn’t really shine.

The salads worked well alongside their sandwich companions. A zesty orzo pasta salad was deemed to be the best of the bunch, though the feta, zucchini and mint number held its own as well. We tried a bocconcini salad, with the cheese on a bed of marinated red peppers; one of my dining companions got to the cheese first, but the peppers did the job. I also enjoyed the tabbouleh, made with quinoa as well as the usual suspects (parsley, tomato etc).

With all the emphasis on the bakery side of the business, we had to try some of their leavened offerings. Always a sucker for pumpernickel bread, I sampled some and found the flavour there but the texture, which was dry, a little lacking. The sandwiches themselves were made with either a soft whole-grain or a tomato and herb foccacia-type deal, which I enjoyed.

And of course, the desserts. We sampled a selection of three (at $2.95 each). The best by far was the chocolate-pecan-caramel brownie. It was soft and chewy and the crunchy caramel bits were delightful. They also adorned the brioche I tried, which seemed a tiny bit stale, but not as dry as the pain aux trois chocolats, which was a little too much pain and not enough chocolat.