Top 5 Hole in the Wall Restaurants in Mississauga
Published April 15, 2015 at 4:14 pm
Some of the best and most popular restaurants started as a hole-in-the-wall which is defined as “a small place (such as a bar or restaurant) that is not fancy or expensive, and is often out-of-the-way” and there are many examples of this in Mississauga and around the world.
Operating a small space is a cost effective way for restaurants (especially start-ups) and if the food is good, the “cool” factor and fans will follow. A full-service restaurant and the overhead costs associated to prettying it up, doesn’t necessarily equate to good food. So pop in the next time you see what appears to be a dodgy little resto tucked away behind a strip mall, you could quite possibly be surprised at what you find.
Here are the top 5 hole-in-the-wall restaurants in Mississauga:
The people of the Philippines had been doing nose to tail cooking way before it was a trend in North America. One very popular dish in the Philippines is deep fried pork knuckles (or trotters), which have been marinated in garlic-flavoured vinegar – crispy pata. It is typically served with a soy-vinegar dip and eaten with rice. There’s nothing like the tenderness of the meat and crispiness of the skin of a freshly deep fried pig knuckle that makes my mouth water at the sight of it. Kusina Food Express specializes in freshly made-to-order crispy pata – most take their meals to go but if you can’t wait to eat it and if you’re lucky to snag one of the six seats in the place, you can chow down watching the 5 & 10 traffic.
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4 – Saucy Kytchen
Located just east of Port Credit on Lakeshore in an even lonelier plaza is Saucy Kychen. I say lonely because if you do not have Google Maps to tell you exactly where to turn you will miss it especially since this place doesn’t actually have any outdoor signage. They serve veal, chicken, pork, steak, meatball, Italian sausage, eggplant and veggie sandwiches. The sandwiches are gigantic, especially their veal sandwich and the best part is that the size doesn’t take away from the flavour. The veal is so delicious that you just can’t help but want more. This place has seating for about 10 people and it gets busy for lunch.
3 – Freddy’s Kitchen
Located just south of 5 & 10 along Hurontario St. is a Caribbean gem called Freddy’s Kitchen. The address is 2515 Hurontario St. but the actual store front faces King St. They have some of the best Caribbean dishes around including oxtail and their incredibly flavourful jerk chicken. Freddy’s Kitchen is Jamaican cuisine that honours the melting pot of various cultures that have influenced the island over the years in their dishes. They also have dishes from the sea including red snapper and lobster prepared in a variety of ways.
This place has been around for 51 years! If you blink, you’ll miss it because it’s not even on a major road. Even though the address says Dundas, it’s actually off a side street. This place is a hole-in-the-wall with mismatched seats and tables, but one thing is for sure — they know how to cook good fish and chips and have been doing it since the plaza opened over 50 years ago. Just to put this in perspective, this place was built before Mississauga became a city and before Hazel McCallion became the mayor of Mississauga.
1 – Holy Smokez
Located in an unassuming strip plaza on Dundas between Tomken and Dixie is a unique sandwich shop called Holy Smokez BBQ Sandwiches. It’s unique because we really haven’t seen much Southern BBQ style joints in Mississauga. First off, this place smells great, so when you first walk in your hunger level increases five notches. The pulled pork sandwich topped with coleslaw is absolutely delicious. Pulled pork sandwiches are all too often doused with BBQ sauce, however thankfully at Holy Smokez the pork takes the spotlight and isn’t drowned in sauce. There is not much of sitting area in the place so you might be eating in the car or on a curbside.
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