Toast, how we love thee...
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| Tuna Melt |
Today was our first experience at Toast. We liked Field Guide, have heard great things
about Handsome Biscuit and figured this had to be another endeavor in food
excellence. Located in a spacious,
new-old (read: hip, renovated) building at the corner of Colonial Avenue &
24th Street. We were greeted by a very
pleasant guy I recognized from Field Guide.
We grabbed a booth by the window to get ready for what would be one of
the best lunches we have had. The server
was extremely helpful with the menu and any questions we had (we ask a lot if
you remember).
I debated between three savory toasts, the Tuna Melt, the
Eggy Weg and the Egg Salad. After the
three starving parties at our table agreed to split the Tuna Melt as an
'extra', I settled on the Egg Salad with lime chili oil and kimchi, based on
that being the more unique of the two egg toasts, according to the server. Our third musketeer ordered the Texas Pig
with peppers, micro greens, pickled onions and sour cream, which she thoroughly
enjoyed. She was slightly nervous about
the Tuna Melt (she does not like tomatoes) but we convinced her to give it a
whirl and she could not believe how much it tasted like bolognese. We thought the same - this is a winner. The egg salad was creamy, not too heavy and
with the lime chili oil and kimchi had some texture. I find egg salad needs something extra to
balance the softness of the eggs and mayo.
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| Egg Salad |
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| Texas Pig |
All of that led us to dessert, the main attraction. In reality, we had looked at dessert first
and Laine and I could have lived in just that BUT to give a fair review, we
wanted to eat a 'real' lunch first. The
server recommended the churro which sounds really good but we had our hearts
set on the Tres Leches and the PNUT. The
Tres Leches is 'lighter' if a dessert of bread, condensed milk and butter can
be called light. We went 'all the way'
with the PNUT by adding the recommended malted chocolate ice cream. This dynamic combo consists of peanut
butter, homemade jam, ice cream and chocolate chips on top of the waffleloafle
bread, a Toast specialty for their sweet toasts. This was out of sight and put us over the
edge. We had all had one and a half
regular toasts and split the two desserts so I would say we can give a
well-rounded review...Toast is wicked good and we will be back, soon. As Laine mentioned, this would be a good spot
for post-ODU football game dining.
_Alex
The premise is that each dish is served on top of a piece of
Toast, hence the name. The thought of this brought haunting images of chipped beef on
toast to mind, but after checking out their Facebook page, I decided to give it a try. Toast is just across the railroad tracks on
Colonial Ave, close to Handsome Biscuit. It’s nice to see businesses exploring options
and succeeding in Park Place. They have their own parking lot (bonus) and a
cute outside dining area. The outside dining is right next to the street and
the parking lot, making it a little less appealing. Since our lunch coincided
with a torrential downpour, we opted to dine in. There is counter seating overlooking the
outdoor eating area, about 15-20 seats around the bar and several booths. It
has a solid urban vibe with exposed brick and minimalistic décor. I like the
look of the open kitchen with the large brick archway.
The menu is very interesting, with a lot of variety and very
reasonable pricing. They have eggs, chicken, tuna, pork, beef, bacon and
vegetarian selections. There is a bar, so mixed drinks and brews are available.
Since we had to return to our jobs working for the man, I tried their in house
Ginger Beer. It was awesome; very crisp tasting and sweet like a Sprite, but
with the added zing of ginger.
The portions are hearty. As a first timer, you might think
that the entrées will be “less than” a sandwich, but you would be wrong. They
are “greater than” the average sandwich! The delicious bread is at least one
inch thick, with a hearty crust. It is, of course, toasted. Next, your choices are piled high on top. It can only be
eaten with a fork and knife. I liked that they provide an oversized serrated
knife. This lets you cut all the way through the toast without destroying your
dish.
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| PNut |
All of our choices were stellar. The Tuna Melt is very
unique. The server warned us that it tastes more like Lasagna than a Tuna Melt.
Say what?! He was right and I am still not sure how that can happen! When it
was all said and done, my heart belonged to the PNut. It sets the new standard
for dessert decadence. We will be back.
_Laine
Toast Norfolk
2406 Colonial Ave
Norfolk, VA 23517
Food-5
Service-5
Beverage -5
Restrooms-NA
Ambiance-3