The Cedar Cottage Irregulars

 Cocktail Correspondent: Weldon Gardner Hunter

I've been waiting for weeks to try out The Madras Diaries (1097 Kingsway, Vancouver). A colleague at work has been telling me about the proliferation of dosa places on Vancouver's oldest road and I needed to visit this new spot because I often teach the compare/contrast essay pattern by presenting the example of these South Indian eateries: which has the best deals? The best ambience? The best SkySports cricket package? It's a fierce but friendly battle.

I passed it on the Number 19 one day and admired its Comic Sans Signage:

Comic Sans by Night

I was also excited when I saw the drinks list:

Since June has become Blackcurrant Beverage month for me, I had another reason to visit. Kulukki Sarbath is a South Indian summer drink, usually consisting of lemon juice, basil seeds, green chili, sugar and water. Sometimes ginger is added. 

I was going to meet my friend K at the restaurant at 8, and I got off work at 6. I spent the time in between visiting Fiorino's (there will be a post soon about that), then walking the streets of Cedar Cottage before the appointed time...

Cedar Cottage is a neighbourhood where you meet see famous Vancouver musician and writer Michael Turner blazing down the laneways in a beige linen suit. It's a neighbourhood full of whimsy, and I suggest this should be the neighbourhood flag:

A kind of myrtle berry bluish purple and yellow. Cedar Cottage is full of angles and gentle curves (look at Kingsway). 15th Avenue does a pincer movement and threatens to merge with 16th. Around here, Knight Street dekes like Connor McDavid and becomes Clark Drive. And the area is well-protected by its genius loci - a Corgi who side-eyes interlopers:

Zoom in for maximum disapproval

My friend appeared fashionably yet reasonably late, (she had to shower after Squash), but I had already put the feedbag on and ordered a Mutton Puff. It's a flaky pastry, like a pot pie, stuffed with mutton. Very delicious. They should sell these on the sundappled streets of Cedar Cottage: in fact, it was on the $7 "Street Food" items, so it was. Almost everything happens on a street. 

We ordered a bunch of dishes: I remember Chicken 65, Gobi Manchurian, Egg Bonda, two more Mutton Puffs. There was something with potatoes. We feasted on Appies. 

Drink time: the Blackcurrant Kulukki Sarbath:

A festival of flavours. Minty, with the berry blast Blackcurrant gives you: it has notes of raspberry jam, grapes, and cherry. I freaking love it. The basil seeds and chilies boost the piquancy. Since it was a hot day, and I had been walking the irregular streets of Cedar Cottage, this was a boon.

My problem is with the straw. I know that, weirdly, straws have become weaponized: Trump has railed against the new non-plastic straws, people use them as a symbol of environmentalism gone mad. Pish posh. But a paper straw that gets soggy with several sips is not ideal. A stainless steel straw could have made this better because I was savoring slowly. A compostable, plant-based straw. By the time I got to the end, the straw was ineffective and I had to abandon it. It couldn't deliver the sweet liquid without the sensation of soddenness. There were drops left at the bottom. Tears were shed.

Per Aspera Ad Astra. The experience, overall, was a delight. The Madras Diaries was a great place to eat, drink, argue, and people watch. The servers were friendly and earnest. It feels like a neighbourhood gem. I felt like Bilbo Baggins, after successfully passing the resident Corgi without desolation.

My companion and I went for a walk after and enjoyed the asymmetry of the neighbourhood and the night. Like a splintered straw.