Southern Accent located at 839 College St in Toronto

May 11, 2017:  In May of this year, I was once again invited to Southern Accent for a private dinner to taste their featured items and help them promote their vegan specials and new breakfast take-out option.  My apologies for such a late post!

Southern Accent holds a special place in my foodie heart because it was actually the very first restaurant that personally invited me out for a private tasting.  I remembered the day fondly and that visit was definitely blogged about in detail on this blog.  (That blog post is here if you would like to read it.)  Time flies and that visit was actually four years ago in 2013!

I was definitely very grateful and excited once more to step into Southern Accent with a friend to enjoy their tasting.  They have since moved to a new location on College and Ossington now (no longer at the Markham Street location at Bathurst where they were previously).  I had arrived to the restaurant early and waited for Grace to arrive.

Southern Accent logo

Once she had arrived, we entered the restaurant and I was again reminded of the old decor.  They had set up and decorated the entire restaurant to resemble a Mardi Gras theme and looked extremely similar to the old location.  What a great job they did!  Our server that night turned out to be the same female server who served me four years ago as well!  We actually recognized each other as well! 🙂  What a pleasure it was to be served by Wendy again.

We were seated in the dining room under a small canopy two-seater next to the wall.  There was a really nice ambience to the room and so cozy.

Mardi Gras theme inside the restaurant all year long

Lamp on the table

Just like last time, we were treated to a variety of pre-selected featured Cajun and Creole dishes from the kitchen.  One of the things I loved about the tasting last time (and this time) was that the kitchen took extra care to select items from their menu for us to try in sample sizes.  This allowed us to have the opportunity to sample more items on their menu and not have to have too much left-over food.  I loved this approach to having a tasting dinner and actually wish more restaurants did it this way too (although I know that when it comes to photographing the dishes, having the full dish is also a benefit too).

Menu for 2017

Specials menu

Veggielicious menu

First of all, we were treated to three sample cocktail drinks on their menu.  These small-sized portions helped us to taste each cocktail.  We were served the Hurricane, Gaitor Bait, and Cajun Caesar.  I liked each of them!  They were so smooth and didn’t taste like there was much alcohol content in them at all; a fair warning if you plan on drinking these. 😉

Super cute cocktail glasses!

Gaitor Bait
-Malibu, Irish Cream, Curacao, Melon Liqueur, Pineapple, Orange Juice
Hurricane
-3 rums, fresh lemon, tropical juice punch
Cajun Caesar
-Jalapeño Infused Vodka, signature lime garlic hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Cajun spiced rim, garnished with pickled okra, Andouille bite, olive

The appetizers started off with N’awlins Gumbo and Cornbread.  The N’awlins Gumbo was very good as well as the Cornbread!

N’awlins Gumbo and Cornbread

Cajun Fried Calamari
-ginger remoulade, blackened tomato coulis

Next up, we tried a platter of their infamous Cajun Fried Calamari which had ginger remoulade and blackened tomato coulis.  Wendy commented that it was the “best calamari in the city” (I remember she said this last time too) and I remembered enjoying it.  The taste and texture was definitely memorable and if I was served this calamari out of the blue, I would recognize it as from Southern Accent’s right away; its look and taste are just very distinguishable.  As to the claim of it being the “best” in the city — well, you’ll just have to try that for yourself to judge. 😛

I inhaled the platter of calamari pretty much; it was that good.  Also, Grace couldn’t eat any seafood so that plate was all mine. 😛

As part of their vegan specials, we tried their Avocado Bruschetta.  This was a dish of tomatoes and avocado served with garlic oil toasts.  This was a very refreshing appetizer.

Avocado Bruschetta
-tomatoes and avocado served with garlic oil toasts

The Tofu Ceviche was also a vegan dish.  This was a dish of extra firm tofu, lime, cilantro, jalapeno, avocado, and served with corn chips.  I found that the Tofu Ceviche definitely had the ceviche taste part down.  I had never had vegan ceviche before and this was a creative take on it.

Tofu Ceviche
-extra firm tofu, lime, cilantro, jalapeno, avocado, served with corn chips

Holding the Tofu Ceviche on a corn chip

We enjoyed the mains next.  The St. Louis Street BBQ Ribs were pork side ribs marinated with honey soya rosemary and oven-baked with bourbon BBQ sauce.  Oh, man.  These were absolutely delicious!!  The St. Louis Street BBQ ribs were not only beautifully marinated with lots of flavour but also they were so incredibly tender and fell off the bone!  I love ribs that fall off the bone!  They are the best.  I literally licked and finished off this rib with nothing to spare.  It was so delicious!! 😀

St. Louis Street BBQ Ribs
-pork side ribs marinated with honey soya rosemary, oven-baked with bourbon BBQ sauce

We were served the Dauphine Street Cracker Catfish Fingers with a jalapeño tartar sauce.  This was a very good catfish and tasty jalapeno tartar sauce. 🙂

Dauphine Street Cracker Catfish Fingers
-jalapeño tartar sauce

The last of our mains included the French Quarter Blackened & Grilled Lamb Chop.  It had an apricot ginger mint glaze and garlic mashed potatoes.  This lamb chop was also very good and the mashed potatoes up to my liking.

French Quarter Blackened & Grilled Lamb Chop
-apricot ginger mint glaze, garlic mashed potatoes

Our tasting finished off with a medley of dessert samples on a platter.  This included Nawlins Bread Pudding, Butter Tart, and Sweet Potato Praline Brownie.

Nawlins Bread Pudding, Pecan Pie, and Chocolate Cake samples

The Nawlins Bread Pudding was made with apples, raisins, with a buttery bourbon sauce.  This was just what I remembered from last time’s visit.  It was a dense bread pudding that was good.

Nawlins Bread Pudding
-apples, raisins, buttery bourbon sauce

The Butter Tart was good and wasn’t too sweet.

Butter Tart

The Sweet Potato Praline Brownie was gluten-free (as far as I remembered) and topped with praline icing and roasted pecans and served with a fresh delicious whipped cream.  That whipped cream was so good!

Sweet Potato Praline Brownie
-topped with praline icing and roasted pecans

Before we left for the evening, Wendy gifted me with a scone from their breakfast selections.  She wanted me to mention that they have opened up their morning hours to include a take-out for breakfast scones and small bites for those rushing off to work.  I tasted the scone the next day and it was a very good and buttery one.

Scone

Thank you so much again, Southern Accent, for having me back for a second time to taste the items from your menu.  I actually returned again to Southern Accent the following month in June for the grand opening of their Club 1806 for $1 appetizers.  You can read that blog post here.

I have to say that if Southern Accent weren’t so far away from me (and west of the downtown core), I would enjoy visiting them more often.  Wishing this delicious Cajun and Creole restaurant continued good luck and business! ❤

A further look into their dining room decor

I love how when I walked in, it was like I was transported into another place

Painting and fireplace between the two restrooms

Super festive bar

I recognized this man from the previous restaurant…

Half price off appetizers 4-6 p.m. and 3-course Veggielicious menu

Southern Accent located on College and Ossington

FTC Disclaimer: Although Southern Accent reached out and invited me to a complimentary tasting menu to review their restaurant, the opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of the restaurant.