East Texas Red was in town last night, so we went down the road to The Albatross for dinner. I’ve passed the place a squillion times without ever going in, but I had heard it was a popular neighbourhood joint with a friendly atmosphere and good food, including a selection of Polish food. It’s located on the south side of Lakeshore Blvd in the area still sometimes known as “New Toronto”.

I’ve been shedding some pounds lately, and doing pretty good with that, so eating out has been a rarity, but it’s not every day East Texas Red swings into town on the Wabash Cannonball so an exception was in order.

The Albatross has a warm pub atmosphere, with a bar, a couple large booths and a few smaller tables. The whole place is fully decorated for Hallowe’en right now. The menu is a mix of pub food and Polish entrees, and as well they have dinner specials. I had one of the specials, meat loaf with roast potatoes and vegetables. It was the biggest dinner I’ve had in a couple weeks and was very tasty. Prices were moderate. The waitress was friendly. I’ll be back.

By the way, do you know the story of the Wabash Cannonball? The way I heard it, it’s a hobo song about a train built by Paul Bunyan’s brother Cal S. Bunyon. Cal built the biggest and fastest train ever seen in America. It was 1000 coaches long, and so fast that one day it hit a little bump and took off into the sky, and right on into outer space, where it still orbits the earth. It’s said that hobos, the traveling nation, all know the sound of the whistle from the Wabash Cannonball. When they hear that whistle, they know it’s time to board the big train that will take them to a better place (The Big Rock Candy Mountain)