It might seem a bit counterintuitive to find one of the Toronto’s only restaurants serving home-cooked First Nations fare in the city’s famed Gerrard India Bazaar neighbourhood. However, Tina Mark-Ottereyes, manager of Tea-N-Bannock, promises it’s worth the trip to the east end. “People love our food,” says Tina. “Some people are hesitant and they don’t know what to expect…but once they try something they like it.”
Despite Toronto’s vibrant multicultural culinary scene, it’s still rare to find a restaurant that specializes Aboriginal food. According to Tina, the offerings at Tea-N-Bannock are about as authentic as it gets in downtown Toronto. Even the New York Times has taken notice—the paper mentioned the restaurant in a 2012 article about dining on the electric strip of restaurants along Gerrard Street East.
The menu rotates with the seasons, says Tina. Year-round staples include roasted elk, hearty hominy stew and lightly smoked fish (your choice of salmon, white fish, northern pike or walleye). Dishes are accompanied by bannock, a traditional First Nations bread that is served up baked or fried.
One of the best things about the menu at Tea-N-Bannock is the affordability, says Tina, adding that it’s a low-risk way to sample a cuisine that’s foreign to many city dwellers. A lunch for one will typically run about $10. An entrée at dinner rarely exceeds $20, with one exception: the buffalo rib eye steak—served with bannock, wild rice, sautéed potatoes and coleslaw—is the priciest item on the menu at $29.
