Golden Spoons Review: Gabriel’s Grill

CNS Editor | 23/05/2016

(CNS Foodie): Let’s switch gears here and go to a food truck for a quick and easy lunch. Today we chose to check out Gabriel’s Grill, currently parked on Dorcy Drive across from the Honda dealership. The owners are currently waiting for approvals from Planning to move into the building that is located on that property and have already painted it black and bright yellow, the colours in Gabriel’s logo.

Once approved, they will have a standard restaurant and bar. I’m not certain where the food truck will move to at that point, but hopefully they will keep it running because the food was fresh, tasty and easy on the wallet.

Lunch is served between 11 am and 2 pm and dinner goes from 6 pm – 11pm. For lunch they have several different types of Sliders to choose from – Tuscan beef with olives, feta and fresh salsa, strawberry jam and goat cheese beef sliders with bacon, portobello mushroom sliders with mozzarella, tomato & pesto, jerk chicken with pineapple cilantro slaw and rum glazed BBQ beef sliders.

They all sounded enticing, but we only had so many mouths to feed so we went with the jerk chicken, Tuscan beef and portobello sliders (all come with 3 sliders for $6). The slider buns were soft and freshly baked and just by looking at the size of them and what they contained, we knew we were getting a good deal — they were quite big for a “slider”.

The beef was well seasoned and did not require any alterations or condiments, the feta & tomato/olive salsa was ideal. The portobello sliders were grilled and marinated just enough without becoming saturated or tough. The only drawback was the menu indicated it was topped with mozzarella cheese and they came with the typical shredded cheddar/jack combo you usually see in quesadillas. They were still very flavorful, but we would have liked them even better had they put mozzarella on them.

The pineapple coleslaw (shredded pineapple with cabbage in a vinegar/mayonnaise binding) on the jerk chicken sliders was the perfect partner to balance the spicy-ness of the chicken, which was tender and juicy.

We tried some of Gabriel’s “World Famous Parmesan Tomato Garlic Wings” ($10 for 10 wings). These wings were not overly fried, had just the right amount of crisp to the skin, and had parmesan crumbled on top. Everyone thought they were appetizing but they were smothered in sweet chili sauce, so we’re not so sure what made them “World Famous”.

They have a few daily specials as well, so we opted for the grilled mahi with chef’s special rice and side salad. The mahi mahi was scrumptious and nicely grilled and went well with the rice, which seemed to be made with a beef stock. Whatever they used, it was quite palatable and everyone enjoyed it.

The side salad was a bit lacking, in that it was mainly thinly sliced cucumber, a tomato wedge, carrot sticks and a bit of iceberg lettuce, all lovely, had it come with a dressing. There was a sprinkle of shredded cheese on it but all it really needed was light dressing.

That special was $13.50 and if one person ordered that for lunch, they probably would have a bit left over for small supper or meal for a child.

If we had more people to feed, we would have tried everything, but I highly suggest making your way to Gabriel’s to try them out. They also had a lobster mac n cheese and jerk shrimp nachos on their menu.

The staff are very friendly and work fast in such a small space. There is no gratuity added to your order so make sure you add that in. They certainly deserve it.

Most patrons get their food to go, however they do have a few picnic tables set up with umbrellas if you wanted to eat there. Depending on what time you arrive and how much you are ordering, food can take between 10-20 minutes to prepare.