"Tee Te Te" by Charlyn W

Thanks to somebody’s wonderful organizational skills, the other night we finally were able to get a crowd together and have a belated birthday dinner for myself at Oddfellows in the Ossington/Queen neighborhood on Queen West. It’s been a fairly difficult year all around, and we want to take every chance to have a celebration when we can.

Oddfellows, a relatively new restaurant out near Queen and Shaw is a place I’ve been meaning to go for a while now, and it seems like it’s become Toronto’s go-to birthday party spot.

(I took a few photos on my iPhone, but they didn’t turn out so great in the low light).

Despite being a little drafty, the small restaurant was a great spot for a get-together: the food was like slightly fancy comfort food, served in tabletop pressure cookers and home-dinner style plates. I had their juicy Pork Belly as an appetizer, and was jealous of the table’s many selections of “Buffaloaf.” Because the space is so small, it felt more like eating at a friend’s house with a great record collection (ie someone who loves krautrock), and immediately instigated a party atmosphere.

If you go to CastorDesign.ca, you can see the designs that appear inside Oddfellows, including the massive “Invisible Chandelier” above the bar, “Table 2″ (I sat at the end in the photo), the “not a” Droog Light, Antler Headphones, and of course, the Recycled Tube Light that runs the length of the communal table.

So if you’re thinking about planning a birthday outing to Oddfellows, I recommend booking well in advance: they only do 2 seatings a night at 7 & 9, and I’ve been warned to not book at 9 because large parties often go long (guilty!) and so if there’s no room, you’ll have to stand around near the bar or go wait somewhere else on Queen.

I wouldn’t say it’s become my favourite restaurant in the city (mine’s still the Black Hoof), but I wouldn’t hesitate to go back… especially on PIROGI NIGHT!

Update: Got to find a reason to rent the Oddfellows/Castor Winnebago!