Table Tennis with Gourmet Style: SPiN Toronto

What’s more fun than playing ping-pong with your friends? Playing ping-pong while drinking well-crafted cocktails? How about this…playing ping-pong with your friends, while sipping plush cocktails and indulging on gourmet, locally sourced dishes. These are the ingenious extravagances of what SPiN Toronto, the ping-pong nightclub, has to offer.

SPiN Toronto has launched their spring 2014 menu, and it is sure to impress the haughtiest of diners. With a selection of familiar dishes, the revamped menu consists of comfort food elevated and refined to the likes of any chic restaurants along King West. Best of all, SPiN’s new Head Chef Nicole McLellan is committed to an ethical and sustainable practice of using local organic produce, meats, cheeses, and Ocean Wise-approved fish, wherever possible in all of her dishes.

: Meatball Hoagie

: Hey Shorty – english muffin, braised beef, and napa cabbage

Can’t-miss dishes include the audacious Fish Board – a trio of prepared fish including smoked whole sardines; the humble southern hospitality – Fried Green Tomatoes; the playfully titled Run DMCaesar – a unique version of Caesar salad with collared greens and a perfectly cooked scotch egg; and the centrepiece of the menu – Fried Chicken & Waffles. With so many restaurants churning out their versions of fried chicken and waffles these days, the one at SPiN is not only a palate winner but a visual stunner – tender buttermilk chicken pieces, soft and crispy cornbread waffles, interlaced with juicy pickled watermelon slices – a spectacle worth ordering.

: Fried Green Tomatoes

: Fish Board

: Run DMCaesar

: Chicken & Waffles

In addition to the use of local and organic ingredients, the kitchen also spins up its own house-made sauces, breads, and ice creams. You can certainly taste the freshness and appreciate the arduous attention to details presented in each of the dishes.

Housemade Macarons – cherry, root beer, and vanilla flavours

What is a game of ping-pong without the help of some liquid encouragement? The cocktail list at SPiN is loaded with fun concoctions from its two well-stocked bars. Much like SPiN’s food, the same meticulous attention is paid to their cocktails, which are mixed with few but effective ingredients. My favourite was the Los Blancos, a simple refreshing tequila cocktail flavoured with vanilla and pineapple, where each component is a star. A solid selection of draught beer and wine is also available.

: Loaded Pistol – SPiN’s version of an Old Fashioned

: Lioness – rum, watermelon juice, and rosemary

: Los Blancos – tequila, vanilla, and pineapple juice

With almost all dishes priced under $20, the food here is great value for their shareable portions. Of course, you are also booking for table time at SPiN. Working off a scrumptious meal, an addictive game of ping-pong is a must. Boasting 12 ping-pong tables, a lounge, and a private party room in this 12,000 sq. ft. basement arena, birthday and private parties are a natural fit at SPiN. Renting the tables for a night is sufficient for a novice like myself, but membership and tournaments are also available for the serious table tennis players.

: Fully stocked bar at SPiN

With an environmentally-conscious menu consisting of sustainable ingredients, and an unorthodox space to chill and have fun, what more reasons do you need to challenge your friends to a game of ping-pong at SPiN?

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