#FoodPornFriday - The Leaf is back, sort of, and better than ever.

Back in August, I posted a sad #FoodPornFriday post about one of my favourite local restaurants closing: The Leaf Grill. Well, it ends up that that was rather fortuitous as The Leaf is back, in a new form and better than ever.

At 5240 Tecumseh Rd East, the previous location of the Leaf Grill (previously the Maple Leaf Tavern) you can now find Factory House. This is a much more modern looking and feeling remake of The Leaf. It's the same owners and same head cook but the place itself is improved in many ways. Much of this is the look and feel of the place. The atmosphere is much better. the place no longer feels like a dive bar turned restaurant. It feels like it's own place with a mechanical, factory theme.

The menu also went through a big revamp. At least most of it did. Our first trip there I was very pleased to see that they still had Butter Chicken on the menu. Like the restaurant itself, it's an improved version of the old dish. The chicken now comes in a great looking copper bowl. The naan now comes on the plate and the spices in the dish have been kicked up a notch while not becoming too spicy. 

The Butter Checking form The Leaf

Really this new Butter Chicken matches the evolution of the restaurant well. Back with The Maple Leaf Tavern, this dish didn't even exist. You didn't go to The Maple Leaf to get fancy foreign food, you went for one of the best Clubhouses in the city and maybe some Molson Canadian.  With The Leaf, you suddenly had this amazing dish. Something new that proved that you weren't at the old Maple Leaf. Now with the Factory House, you still have Butter Chicken, the same dish, almost. It looks better, it's presented better and it tastes just a bit better. That's what Factory House is to me. It's just a better version of The Leaf. That's a very good thing.