FFWD Weekly
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Food by Beth Weisberg The reason most people don't experience cravings for Portuguese food as opposed to, say, pizza, is that it's still relatively unknown around these parts. But visiting Mimo, a modest dining room at the back of a shopping mall on International Avenue, may lead to cravings for things you don't even know how to pronounce, like camarao ao alho. As it was, my friend was craving animal proteins. Typical of Portuguese cuisine, Mimo’s menu is dominated by pork and seafood, but there’s also barbecued chicken, grilled quails and steak dishes ($9.95 to $11.25). Choosing an appetizer meant whittling down some appealing choices: homemade sausage ($5.95), Portuguese style mussels ($8.95), or clams à la Bulhao Pato ($8.95) – named for a Portuguese poet, roughly equivalent to clams à la Margaret Atwood. Both the mussels and the clams are $8.95, one of the few times in history where the poet earns more than the butcher. We settled on the garlic shrimp. The name’s simple, but misleading – these aren’t what you expect, unless you’re expecting deliciously meaty prawns coated with a peppery sauce. We ordered house, which is medium-hot, and as much as I like spice, any more heat would have made the shrimp a spice dipstick, overwhelming their flavour and the notes of garlic. The shrimp are served with shells and heads intact, so if you are squeamish, head elsewhere on the menu. And if you are a vegetarian, just head elsewhere. There’s not much to choose from other than salad ($2.50). Otherwise, there’s the caldo verde (kale soup, $2.75), a small cupful of thickened broth with shreds of green and slices of smokey garlic sausage. Pleasant, a good size for an appetizer, but no vegetarian’s dream. Bacalhau (salt cod) is a Portuguese national favourite, with hundreds of variations on the preparation. Mimo offers three (all $14.95). The first is bacalhau cosido. The waitress's favourite, it is soaked in several changes of water to remove the salt, then poached. The second option, bacalhau assado, is grilled. The third, bacalhau a narcisa, is served with lots of onions. I ordered the poached, which arrived on a platter featuring two generous pieces of fish, three medium boiled potatoes, a couple carrots and a good handful of broccoli. The vegetables are unseasoned, and the only garnish is a boiled egg and a half-dozen olives. Flasks of olive oil and vinegar are brought to the table for seasoning the fish. The fish wasn’t as salty as I’d been led to believe, but if you have a friend who habitually salts everything before tasting, this could give them just the whack on the palate they need to quit. As it was, the cod is nicely balanced with the plain vegetables, especially when the fish is bathed in the particularly delicious olive oil provided. Half the platter was packed up for a trip home, satisfying my next day cravings for plain food. My friend, a big eater, had no leftovers. His order of bife a Madeira ($11.95) consisted of two thin rounds of beef smothered in a flavourful, velvety sauce with crispy-fried potato rounds ringing the platter. It's representative of the food at Mimo: simple flavours, hearty portions. Dessert would have been nice. Besides ice cream and fruit salad, Mimo does three types of puddings: caramel flan, orange and passion fruit ($2.75 to $3.25). But after bread, a starter and our main dishes, we were too full to consider dessert or even one of their cafés especial, like the house secret Portuguese coffee ($5.25). Mimo (203, 4904 - 17 Ave. S.E., phone 235-3377) has a separate lounge (karaoke on Sundays!), a soccer team (see their Web site at http://www.tolerances.com/mimo/), and a newly renovated dining room. Due to customer input, smoking in the restaurant was reintroduced recently, so be sure to sit as close to the mural as possible if you are anti-smoke. The service is informative and friendly, and I just haven't been able to get those camarao ao alho (garlic shrimp) out of my mind. We'll be back.

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