Long before the tough recession hit Toronto, Embassy restaurant already provided the bail-out for budget-conscious foodies whenever they have a severe samosa craving. The solution? Vegetarian samosas sold at the bargain price of 5 for $1. Meat samosas are also available, 2 for $1. However, this is one of those rare occasions where preference is for the vegetarian alternative. Has hell frozen over?

If hell has indeed frozen over, then India may be its epicenter. 31% of Indians are vegetarian, so Indian cuisine is trusted with the distinction of making tasty, delicious vegetarian food. The popularity of these samosas are not solely driven by price alone. Bad food sold cheaply is still bad food, and would never become popular. Thankfully, these vegetarian samosas are actually little bite-size of heaven.

Indian Sweets

You can choose to step into Embassy’s formal dining area, or visit its retail shop instead. The shop features a large variety of Indian sweets and snacks. Admittedly, I haven’t acquired the acumen for Indian desserts yet. But like the majority of Embassy’s patrons, my reason for coming here is to get my hands on those samosas.

Long line-ups, reminiscent of the bread-lines during the great depression, are not unusual. You won’t stick out like a sore thumb even if you’re not Indian, as these samosas have garnered a diverse following. Ordering is not achieved by specifying how many samosas you want, but how many dollars worth you need. Cultural differences, I suppose. And don’t worry about specifying the vegetarian option; it’s automatically assumed.

Waiting in the back of the line, you might get worried seeing orders of 20, 30 samosas snatched up by each customer. As the samosa count dwindles down, you’re haunted with the thoughts with the supply running out when its you’re turn. Those concerns are quelled when another batch come out the kitchen to quickly replenish the supply. They must have a warehouse of samosas back there, waiting to be re-heated.

Samosas - Oily Goodness

Did I just utter the taboo word: “re-heated”? Isn’t that blasphemy in this day and age of the fresh seeking foodie? Well, stop that snooty thinking. This isn’t sashimi, and you don’t need vegetarian samosa fillings crawling out still kicking like they were live lobsters witness their own demise. Haven’t you heard that some food get better with time? I’m sure lovers of cold pizza slices would agree with me. How about that plate of perfect fried rice made from day-old leftover rice?

My order of 20 samosas rest inside a brown paper bag beside the cashier, waiting for me to pay for them. The oily goodness already penetrating the paper bag, reminding me that I’ll have to do another round of P90x after this. As I pick up my oily bag of samosas, I quickly scoff one down, while it’s still warm. For the next day or two, I’ll be munching these with relative frequency, until they are gone, until I re-join the line-up for more samosas.

More Images