Ah Tapas. Is there any single more over-heated trend on Toronto's dining landscape than the small plate? It attracts more buzz than molecular gastronomy and I think I understand the rationale behind it: most restos make their biggest profits on the booze and small plates can highlight a kitchen's creativity, allow people to keep eating while they drink, and share a whole bunch of flavour without tying themselves to one dish. Makes sense. Much like their penchant for fascist dictators, the Spanish were way ahead of the curve on this one.

Though it's easy to be cynical when even the humble tubesteak is falling victim to this rampant tapas-try there's still much to love about the ability to indulge culinary ADHD and enjoy a little bit of everything your tastebuds crave.

There's something undeniably romantic about a crepe. Though I can't quite put my finger on it, it may have something to do with its inherent Frenchness, or the fact that I've gone on so many dates that involved a crepe and a long walk/talk that the humble paper-thin Gallic pancake will forever be associated with that giddy excitement of nascent affection.

Whether or not that's the case for everyone you can probably agree that even a substandard, rubbery crepe can almost be forgiven if it's slathered with creamy chocolate-hazelnut spread and stuffed with bananas and strawberries or busting at the seams with black forest ham and gruyere cheese.

Crepes are an awesome portable food that reminds the eater that it's always rewarding to think outside the sandwich. And now with new street vending regulations in effect, it'd be nice to see a crepe stand pop up on a corner somewhere seducing folks with the scent of butter and the hiss of the crepe pan.

Now there's perfect breakfast food (eggs benny or any thing from the late, great kitchen at Mimi's at Bathurst & Queen) and there's perfect dinner food (a huge porterhouse at the Tulip or maybe some omakase courtesy Kaji-san) but is there a better breakfast/dinner food than Pizza? Luckily Toronto's got it's fair share of slice-serving establishments to provide the serious foodie and the spirit-soaked post-club crowd with enough fine examples of that Neapolitan pie to almost quench this cities nearly obscene hunger.

Ah it's that time of year again when the only thing sprouting up outta muddy, half-frozen ground is crosses...and whether or not you partake in such Lenten entertainment, the fact remains Good Friday is Christmas Eve for your local chip shop.

Toronto has a fine selection of piscine purveyors; enough for any woody marionette boy to long for a real mouth to tuck into some fantastic fish and chips with no strings attached.

El Gordo is certainly not about ambience. There's plenty here to suspect that its previous incarnation was a Kensington market butcher shop (increasing the suspicion is the fact that the proprietors at Segovia Meats next door run the joint). Harsh light fluorescing off a vast rank of identical glass display cases and men in pristine white coats behind every counter. Combine all that with a conspicuous absence of any seating and it means you're takin' home or eating on the hoof.

This place's disguise isn't very convincing until you realise that El Gordo isn't a bakery disguised a butcher shop; one look at the sheer preponderance of empanadas scrawled wall-to-wall on whiteboard menus like some mystical equation and you realise this place is actually a science lab disguised as a bakery! And from the array of flavours they've managed to stuff into their empanadas, I'd say they were mad scientists.

Read the full review of El Gordo Fine Foods in our Restaurants section.

So empanadas eh? I can eat a couple. Especially if they're from Jumbo Empanadas in Kensington market.

Unlike the picture above, this particular frigid afternoon it's hard to tell whether the steam on the windows is from the steady stream of hungry mensches waiting to be served or the steady turnover (heh, see what I just did there) of warm pockets arriving fresh from the oven. One thing's for sure: the winter's absence of patio space makes it impossible to get a table in this humble eatery. Good thing this is street food, jackson. And despite how packed it gets with a loose queue threatening to riot at any moment, they never manage to test the patience of the staff who always serves with a wry, flirty smile. And could there be a better way to keep your hands warm on a cold January day? Okay, don't answer that...

Check out the full Jumbo Empanadas review in our Restaurants section.