MENU SPOTLIGHT – SIDEDOOR
Canada’s capital is full of dining and drinking experiences from local eateries and unique breweries to award-winning restaurants and year-round farmers’ markets such as ByWard Market. In this culinary metropolis, it’s no surprise that SIDEDOOR, a restaurant offering eclectic, globe-spinning fare inspired by the street food of Southeast Asia, has been a favourite of the city since opening its doors in 2011. The menu takes patrons on a journey through typical food stalls of Vietnam and Thailand, all possible from the comfort of their homes. SIDEDOOR offers a specific takeout menu that showcases their bold and diverse dishes including tacos, salads, dumplings and curries.
How to Order and What to Order:
You can find SIDEDOOR on the popular food delivery app UberEats and you can also order online through their site-specific platform. With this, the restaurant often controls order availability depending on the busiest times of day, however, a quick call to the outlet will allow you to order verbally and pick up seamlessly.
The menu is divided into tacos, appetizers, mains, sides and desserts, with curated dinners for two or four. The most popular dishes are the tacos which come in orders of three pieces with your choice of pork carnitas, Bajan fish, stewed shitake & black bean, crispy duck, sticky beef or a dozen assorted tacos. Expect each flavour combination to be unique, not just a simple protein swap, such as five-spice, hoisin and cucumber with the crispy duck or soy, Thai chilli and cilantro with the sticky beef.
The Green Papaya Salad is a fresh and bright dish with incredible texture from the crunchy cashews and crispy taro. The team is careful to preserve the integrity of the salad by packaging these items separately for quick assembly at home.
Though all of SIDEDOOR’s menu is intended to be a family-style dining experience, the Shrimp Green Curry with seasonal vegetables is truly the perfect entrée for splitting amongst friends, especially spooned over rice for a warming, delicious meal – and it keeps very well for next-day leftovers.
It is also highly recommended to save room for dessert and order the doughnuts which have been a staple on the menu since opening. The warm doughnuts come in three flavours: dark chocolate, white chocolate & cranberry and cinnamon sugar. These fluffy and not at all greasy treats are made to order and also come by the dozen.
Whatever your takeout order is from SIDEDOOR, you can’t go wrong. The chefs use seasonal products, regional fish sauces, OceanWise seafood and vivid spices. For adventurous groups or couples, you can order the pre-set “chefs creation meals” which come with jasmine rice and, of course, the mouth-watering doughnuts. For your next takeout order, be sure to try SIDEDOOR for a flavourful journey of the palate.
