Gushi Food serves Japanese snack boxes and their locally famous fried chicken. They built their reputation at local events and via their container ship at Market 707 .

This second location at St. Patrick's Market near Queen and McCaul is a bit hidden but easily accessible to local office workers, tourists and passerby.

The walk-in special ($5.50) is a homemade veggie curry made with caramelized onion, sweet potato, eggplant, and zucchini, topped with some green onions and pickled daikon. The curry is thick and a little sweet, and the pickled daikon adds just the right amount of crunch.

The gushi chicken ($10) comes on a bed of healthy purple rice (a cross between black and white rice with the same antioxidant levels as blueberries), house made garlic aioli, citrus vinaigrette, pickled onions, green onions, and nanami pepper. The garlic aioli is more like a heap of potent mayo, and I hope the level of mayonnaise on this dish isn't a comment on North American tastes.

If you love takoyaki (octopus balls - $7) the ones they make here are really good, prepared in an authentic takoyaki machine. They're served on a bed of rice with Japanese mayo, teriyaki sauce, green onion, bonito flakes, and pickled ginger.

All the meals come served in boxes with rice or salad. $4.50 gets you an upgrade to a large size which means two extra pieces of protein.

Photos by Hector Vasquez