ACR Hot Roti & Doubles

Excellent doubles, and I especially like the saheena, which is like an open face double, but with a ton of spinach or taro leaves in the fried bara batter itself, then topped with the channa chickpea paste and your preferred amount of green chutney/​pepper — I love them extra hot!
The doubles, saheena, etc. are assembled to order from pre cooked ‘Bara’ or fried bread, then wrapped and microwaved, but absolutely delicious!
Zero ambiance, take out only, always lined up, but absolutely delicious and dirt cheap!
Go! Buy a bunch, trust me! Enjoy!

the best doubles in Toronto!!! They have just the right amount of sweet and spicy with the mango chutney, chick pea mix and pepper sauce. I’m getting hungry just typing about it!!!

Only other place as good is Lena’s but they moved to Brampton — so Hello ACR! Ha!
Seriously, the food here is outstanding.

The soul always needs a good feeding of chicken curry roti and doubles.
This place didn’t do it for me.
Growing up in the Scarborough area, my friends always RAVED about this place, even to this day. Now coming here years down the line … God, it wasn’t worth it.
I see the good reviews on here and even word of mouth recommendations. But it just didn’t do it for me.
The roti was okay, but I’ve had better. I had always been told amazing things about their doubles. But I just wasn’t feeling it either. The flavour for both … Just wasn’t at that max point. I told myself maybe I had expected a little too much from the hype. Honestly, it just wasn’t that great.
I’ve just had better.

Absolutely delicious doubles… only complaint — ate them all… gotta go back to buy more! :-D

Based on the reviews, and with a craving for roti, I gave this place a try last week. Bad decision. I ordered some doubles with 2 roti’s, chicken and duck. Found the doubles sooooo oily and the chicken roti wasn’t so great. My girlfriend said her duck roti was okay. I only ate half of my roti.
Fast forward a few hours — I was in the washroom all night suffering from severe cramps and one of the worst stomach aches I’ve had in my life. My girlfriend was fine, so I was wondering what the heck I ate. The next day, she ate the other half of my chicken roti. You guessed it… that same night she had the same «crappy» experience that I did.
This was my first ACR experience and will be my last. I will NEVER, ever, ever evvvvvvvvarrrrrrr go to this place again.

I tried the double. It was okay, there wasn’t enough filling (i’m comparing it to Mona’s Roti place). I also has the cassava dessert which I enjoyed. I would go back for the cassava dessert but probably not the double– they are better at Mona’s Roti.

Tings taste nice ya know!!! Used to be a pure trini place but I think it is now an indian joint. I see different staff. Prices and doubles are still nice though. I would like to see some more pepper up in this place. Not a an of the roti or the poularie.
Just the doubles!!!

Absolutely the BEST doubles outside of Trinidad. Very tasty. Service can be hit or miss, but the doubles are always the best! I go here everytime I hit Toronto. Delicious!

Been coming here since I was a kid, love it. Doubles are awesome.
although careful when you order mild & spicy doubles in the same order… when you get them, the wrong info will be written on them…(Spicy will be written as Mild)
BUT APART FROM THAT, LOVE THIS PLACE.

Good! Cheap!

Gotta say I noticed this place for years and until recently had the opportunity to try it out. 54 bus tends to give you such opportunities. So i figured i’d try out their Doubles since i had been on the lookout for them for the last 10 or so years to no avail. Spent many a wayward days hanging out in a Roti shop back in the 90s and up to now had not found too many places serving doubles. So i figured i’d run in and grab a couple so i wouldn’t miss my bus.
To my surprise it had to be the tastiest Double i’ve ever had, The shell was nice and fluffy and the filling was bouncing with flavour.
Sooo… i decided to go back and investigate some more and got myself one of them chicken roti. And Wow. Been a long time since i’ve had a fresh made Dal-​pouri shell. Just that melted in your mouth. The curry was just as tasty and just right.
Even though it’s way out of my way, looks like they found themselves a returning customer.
Wish they had some form of seating. So if your looking to dine in your out of luck other than a counter.
They look like they have some pretty interesting specials on the weekends. Gonna have to go back and check them out!

I need to confess.
I never have a Double in my life until last week at ACR Hot Roti & Doubles.
So this review is based on my first experience. It is really authentic? I don’t really know but all I know that they are so affordable ($ 1.25) and I love curry and spicy food… and I just LOVE it! And Chick Pea… I don’t know why now I have craving for chick pea all the time? I think a certain Unilocaler and his SO converted me.
Curry Chicken Roti ($ 5.95) on the other hand was meh… The curry chicken filling though is tender. yes it is that nice brown meat. The roti itself is a little doughy and more curry sauces are needed.
Next time I just want to order 3 or 4 Doubles and stuff myself and I would be so happy!

It’s been YEARS since my original Doubles experience and I have lost my photographic memory of that experience, plus it was my final university years in ‘loo. I had no idea WHY I had my first Trinidad food experience in a German community, I guess I didn’t do much thinking back then.
Anyways, I am here to see it again and either I had something in a different format back then or my memory is FUCKED up. The Doubles appearance looks a little different and I orginally thought that one of the items in the food display was the Doubles but nope, it had to be prepped from the inside kitchen fresh & hot.
Any Chick Pea purees are A-​OK with me and Doubles is no different. I love that the mixture not only had a MASH of it but also some WHOLE Chick Peas which made a better texture contrast since the flat bread isn’t crispy but it had a nice CHEW to it.
I also got some Dessert, I asked but all that I can hear from the uncaring young lady is *** Casava Cake. I needed it to end my previous meal so I can start my after-​snack of Doubles. I saw the patrons before ask for the SIDE sections of the cake and I was wondering why.
TIP: ASK for the side sections of the Casava Cake because Casava Cake is soft and spongy except for the CRUNCHY borders that make it so much more better!

Hear me out: I travelled all the way to Scarborough for authentic Trinidadian street snacks and I’d do it again in an instant. Doubles are a handheld delight made with two fried flat breads and rammed with curried chickpeas. I ordered mine ($ 1.25 each) spicy and just thinking about them makes me want to set the alarm for 8am and head out for their 9am (!) opening. Who craves doubles at 9am? Someone must, because ACR is open daily at that ungodly breakfast hour.
I also sampled eggplant biganee for the dirt cheap price of $ 1.25 and a potato pie ($ 1.25). Truth be told nothing here is labelled and lots of it looks sameish, but you can safely press your luck and order any of it and be satisfied. They also had roti in chicken, goat, shrimp, duck (??) or potato and channa varieties that ranged in price from $ 4 – 6.
It’s a takeaway spot that’s constantly humming so keep the line moving by taking your food to go and getting out of the way. The #54 Lawrence bus stops right out front; otherwise take the LRT to Lawrence East.

Once I saw Kat F. talking about doubles, I knew come hell or high water, I had to be at this UYE. The only place I’ve had doubles is Trinidad itself and I’m always taught that nothing is as good as «back home». I had to see if my parents were right or if my fellow Unilocalers were on to something. When I got home and told my parents where I went, I learned that my mother used to frequent this place a lot when my aunt used to live in the area.
Pholouri: If you try to look up pholourie (POE-​LORRY) online, you may not find it. That’s because Trinis have many different ways of spelling it. I know it as pholourie. It’s basically fried balls made with split peas. It’s usually eaten with «pepper sauce» thrown over it so that it can soak up the sauce when eating. They were okay, but tasted different. I didn’t think you could REALLY mess up pholouri until I took it home. My mom took one bit, said, «oh», and ripped it open to show me that there were raw parts in it. If you bite into pholourie and it’s white in the middle, that’s NOT good. That put a damper on it. It was decently priced (8 for $ 1). The hot sauce though was the best part and definitely a reminder of Trinidad’s best.
Roti: I didn’t eat my roti in the store. I bought it and saved it for home. I don’t know if this made a difference but the roti was really good. It wasn’t too thin and held the curry to the last bite. It was thick curry, not runny and the chicken wasn’t dry at all.
Doubles: It was an okay substitute. It wasn’t the best as it couldn’t compare to doubles in Trinidad. I asked for «slight pepper» and didn’t taste any. I was disappointed since most doubles with «slight pepper» have my eyes watering.
Peanut Punch: This was my favourite drink growing up and still is. It’s easily described as a peanut butter milkshake. Of course when I saw it, I got excited. It was short lived though. Ugh! It didn’t taste like any peanut punch I know; I’m hoping because it was warm but I don’t feel like taking another sip from that taste.
Kurma: Another dessert staple with many names. It’s fried dough covered in sugar. I ate these alot as a child, always thinking I would eventually chip a tooth as they are HARD. They tasted the same as the bags I have at home so I couldn’t complain about that.
Cassava Pone: My mom used to make this when I was younger. I used to call it pudding cake because it was cut like a cake but was soft like pudding. It’s main ingredients are usually coconut, milk and butter with added spices and veggies (like cassava or pumpkin). I realize that everyone makes it differently. However, this one was spot on. It was springy and light; a little sweeter than I’m used to but delicious.
Atmosphere: I think the shop is cute. The female owner who wanted to adopt Adeel was so sweet. She reminded me of my aunts back home, talking and giving out food. As usual, hanging out with Unilocalers is fun and laughs. It was worth the trek to Scarborough just for that.
As much as I love my fellow Unilocalers, I’ll have to keep my og saying that doubles only taste great back home. Man, counting down the days to real doubles in Trinidad.

There isn’t much to say that Adeel O hasn’t already said. Delicious and cheap East Indian inspired West Indian food served by super friendly ladies in a classic hole in the wall shop.
ACR is only 5 minutes from Lawrence East SRT station, so it’s surprisingly easy to get to given that it’s in Scarborough. Note that they have no seating, but I was happy to eat at the counter and watch the steady stream of happy patrons come in and out.
Start with the Pholourie ($ 1 for 8), which are little dough balls served with a spicy, peppery dipping sauce. Next go for the Doubles ($ 1.25). These are like little sandwiches made of deep fried bread served with spicy, wonderfully flavoured chickpea curry, like Caribbean style Chana Masala. The doubles aren’t huge so you’ll want to get a couple or order some other items.
The Goat Roti ($ 5.95) was also good, but not as impressive as the other things I ate. While the flavour of the curry was excellent, there was way too much roti bread and I found I had to tear a bunch of it off. The goat meat could have been a little more tender. If you’re in the area this is a good roti option, but I wouldn’t go out of your way for it.
The Caribbean style desserts were done well, but they aren’t really my style. I just don’t dig dessert that’s composed mainly of grease, milk, and sugar.
The kick-​ass doubles and awesome atmosphere make ACR Roti worth the trip to Scarborough.

To be honest I am a bit conflicted on this place and this is why…
The good:
The Pholouri (8 for $ 1) was awesome and the hot sauce it comes with was delicious.
I have never tried doubles and loved my first experience here
The staff was super nice and Adeel was able to score tons of free appetizers (sadly I don’t know any of those items’ names)
The bad:
–It’s super small with no seating
— Roti was the main reason why I wanted to try this place and I was disappointed with the taste. I found the curry in my chicken roti a bit too dry and I didn’t like the texture of their roti skin (I like them a little thinner).
— Although the location is right near Kennedy East RT it was SUPER FAR for me… so as a default I would probably never venture this far to go here again.
The verdict:
It was ok… my roti preference is just that, a preference and everything else I tried was delicious so I think 3 stars is fair.

Here’s the scoop — The Original «Doubles Man» from Marabella, Trinidad, isn’t a man at all. She’s a calm, sweet lady who is certainly «the man» when it comes to fantastic doubles, and thin roti wrapped around chicken, goat and beef curries.
ACR (or officially, ACR 786) Hot Roti & Doubles is an inconspicuous little take-​out joint in a row of easily ignored stores, but all the time the «UYE: Trouble in Roti-​land» Unilocalers were there, we saw a consistent flow of customers. The owner of this twenty year old eatery explained the story behind the mysterious name (ACR = combo of her+her husband’s initials, 786 = numerical equivalent of a religious phrase normally used before starting a task (
)). I guess in being genuinely inquisitive about the place, we curried favor with the boss lady and when heading out, got some doubles and Pholouri on the house: D.
Alright, on to the good stuff…
We got a truckload of food: First up — appetizers from the display case: Pholouri (8 for $ 1) — fried savory dough balls (think Honey Cruller Tim Bits) served with a very flavorful hot dipping chutney. Great to share. Kat F. got an Eggplant Pie (eggplant filling in a friend bun — $ 1.25), Kachori — a «brown paper bag opacity destroying» (it’s greasy) fried bread with a spicy chick-​pea filling.
And then there were the famous «Doubles»: deep-​friend flat bread with a scoop of chick pea curry (aka Channa) and ‘doubled up’ like a taco… at least that’s my justification of why it’s called a Double: P Good stuff. It’s $ 1.25 and sized for a snack, so if this is your meal, get (at least) two.
Next up, Roti!!! For me, this was the star attraction. The roti here was thinner (compared to Mother India) and the spice in the curry had a far richer flavor with a gradually dissipating heat. I had the chicken curry roti ($ 5.95) and was very, very happy with it. If I had to pick an issue, it would be that the roti’s «wrap» was way too large but that’s easy to fix with a quick tear of the part that doesn’t serve as the edible curry pouch. Others had the goat and beef rotis and those entrees have made my «Life in Toronto» bucket list along with another rare item on the menu: Duck Roti!
Dessert: Visible from the display case, if you’ve still got room, I’d recommend the Barfi (thin slabs of reduced milk fats+sugar). The jalebi was as good as it could be when it’s not piping hot, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it. Kurma, another confection in little plastic bags, tasted like ginger bread with a sugary glaze. Great snack with coffee/​tea.
Décor-​wise, ACR is no date spot — a unique hodge-​podge of different cultural and religious artifacts; plenty of plastic flowers, posters of Trinidad, a wall-​clock with «The Original ‘Doubles Man’ of Marabella» and a «ACR 786» engraved within a heart, a framed poster of The Prophet’s Last Sermon, a stainless steel eat-​in counter that runs the length of the small shop with a mirror on top to watch yourself pigging out while the boom box blares out Bollywood hits. Oh, and look outside — the big mound and minaret of the local mosque! Gotta love it!
Go here — it might be far for some, but it’s a small price to pay for the fantastic goodness served up at ACR 786!

So there I was. Leaving the Top Food Supermarket across the street from ACR and feeling a bit peckish. Thankfully as I was walking to the bus stop, the word DOUBLES on the sign in their window just seemed to jump out at me like some sort of heavenly omen.
Emboldened by the apparent emphasis on doubles being in this tiny store, I walked in and ordered two at $ 1.25 each. As soon as I got them, I thanked the man behind the counter and walked out to begin snacking. The filling had good curry flavour with a decent spicy kick to it (could stand to be a bit spicier but that’s just personal preference talking). I would have rated this higher if I were to just judge it on the filling but the bara just wasn’t cutting it for me.
The first negative thing I noticed after the initial bite was how lukewarm the entire thing was. The second was how the bread was slightly soggy and wasn’t really doing anything for me taste or texturewise. An immediate thought of how awesome it would be to be able to order a big bowl of the filling to eat with a spoon popped up into my head.
These certainly weren’t bad doubles. Maybe I just came at a bad time. Maybe they’d been sitting for awhile since the last time they made a fresh batch. Who knows! I’ll give it a couple more tries whenever I’m in the area before I come to any conclusions. I certainly wolfed them down easily enough…