culture
Spice City Toronto: Come for the Rotis, Stay for the Ice Cream
Seriously, Ali's Roti makes some incredible ice cream.
Photo by Sarah Efron.
After a meal at Ali’s Roti, your stomach will be so heavy you’ll be tempted to skip out on dessert. That would be a mistake. The Trinidadian restaurant has some of the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted.
Ali’s is Parkdale’s original roti shop on a strip that is practically a roti district today. Apologies to Roti Lady and Bacchus, but Ali’s is by far the best of the bunch. Trini-style dalpuri roti is dusted with spicy split peas and stuffed with hefty, flavourful goat, chicken, or beef. Ali’s also lays claim to being the first restaurant in Canada to sell doubles, a delicious street snack of chickpea curry slathered between two pieces of hot fried dough.
Regulars have been coming here since the restaurant opened up in 1976, and it’s not uncommon for people to tell owner Shiraz “Ali” Aligour that they came there as children. The ice cream is certainly memorable.
Read the rest at Spice City Toronto.
Spice City Toronto explores Toronto’s great hole-in-the-wall restaurants and strip-mall joints serving food from all corners of the world.