The place looks like a small house (it probably was) which always have the family in it...they always have this cute kid playing around while the grandfather is sitting down watching the simpsons or something, u really are in someone's house...and they're very friendly. I always get the shrimp pad thai and mango salad, cause its like no where else...and the egg plant is dope too...and definitely get iced Thai coffee. the window seat is excellent as u see peeps pass by kensington. heavily recommended. near the annex or bloor and spadina, there's a small joint called noodle house that has a menu with like 5 different types of foods, and had good times there...
sushi island at little italy is awesome, they have various all u can eat AND the food is actually good, awesome white fish sushi pizza...
island foods on dufferin and king (parkdale i guess) has the wickedest west indian food, their chicken patties stuffed to the max with channa, man its deadly, i always get it spicy
lots of cool stuff on ossington, and a wicked tea place at queen west, south of trinity bellwoods park on walnut ave (neon green store can't miss it), get the walnut ave tea, never had tea that resembles irish cream or amaretto www.tealish.com
definitely check out the rom right now, they have an intense buddhist gallery with breathtaking artifacts...plenty of different strains of buddhist art depictions from the 14th century and later...like life sized statues...and beyond life sized...and shit like wallpaintings that were probably the most simple things in monestaries but for us to see is out of this world. i took a course on the exhibit, it is damn impressive. many other forms of dopeness there too www.rom.ca they are currently working on a south asian gallery (represent reprsent!) that will be out next year, can't bloody wait!
music-wise, go to www.eye.net and check out concert listings (refreshed every thursday). learning more and more about toronto all the time and i've lived here all my life.
if you're at little india on gerrard, go to the tika house, godamn cheap and good! the naans man, the naans, u can watch them make them right there.
Directly next door to Babel check out Rua Vang a.k.a. Golden Turtle for excellent Pho .. very recommended.. get their pho soup and you will be a happy man . get some spring rolls too
Big up to ASER for showing me the light on that one!
did this recently close down? or was it the other viet. place that closed down on ossington? i thought something was missing last week when i passed by
ps: anyone know about good stuff near the keele and dundas/junction area? in terms of anything...may be making that my residence in the near future, getting a feel for the place. i can tell u this, it takes 3 hours to walk from there to kensington taking dundas st west, and its an enjoyable walk
Fresh has to be one of the crappiest restaurants I've eaten at in Toronto. Despite my best efforts I've been there at least three lousy times. It's a chain, it's menu is corporate and brainless--salad bowels anyone?--and even though it portrays itself as healthy and holistic, it's food has no regard for seasonality, context, and taste. Maybe if you're a vegetarian you feel obliged to like this stuff, but outside of the gazillions of attractive women dressed in yoga clothes who eat there, I think it's a exceedingly lame.
I don't think Live on Dupont is worth the trip, but at least they are thinking about the food they serve and it's clear that tremendous care goes into its production. They have a sensitivity to ingredients that I would expect from a joint that at least initially served only raw food. I respect their effort even if I find it overpriced and consistently underwhelming. It's a gazillion times better than Fresh.
There is so much interesting food in this city! Don't waste a meal at Fresh.
I think I tried Live on Dupont last time I was in town and found it a little lackluster. But that was one experience, and (I think) they hadn't been open that long. Any other places you recommend? On past visits I've thought of Fresh as a decent lunch spot, but I'm always open to better suggestions.
Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I may check this thread one more time early in the morning and then we're going to hit the road. Wish I were spending more than a long weekend up there so I could try out every spot suggested here, but I'll be back again in September,
ps: anyone know about good stuff near the keele and dundas/junction area? in terms of anything...may be making that my residence in the near future, getting a feel for the place. i can tell u this, it takes 3 hours to walk from there to kensington taking dundas st west, and its an enjoyable walk
This is pretty close to where I live. Pandamonium at keele and dundas is a nice record book cd store. Traxx records just opened up across the street so you can grab 12"s without going downtown. Dankins Books (sp?) is at clendenan and dundas, world's messiest book store but he's a very nice guy and is very reasonable and somehow knows where everything is. Theres a few nice restaurants around here. This area is still developing but is getting much nicer by the month.
Maybe if you're a vegetarian you feel obliged to like this stuff, but outside of the gazillions of attractive women dressed in yoga clothes who eat there, I think it's a exceedingly lame.
lies, you love lululemon, don't front.
Well, I'll let dan be the bad cop with Fresh. I don't have anything nice to say either so I'll just keep quiet on this one. Generally speaking, if you see cheap bauhaus knockoff furniture + blazing downtempo + lots of upwardly mobile 20 somethings, then I would suggest you not eat there (cough cough spring rolls).
veg options close to Kensington/Chinatown.
Mother's Dumprings - not all veggie, but the bak choy, mushroom & tofu dumprings are really really real.
Cafe 668 - white people love this, it's close to you. I assume you're white. Match made in heaven? I kid.........it's a decent place though, maybe not as great as everybody makes it out to be. Good value and honest food (comes first), which happens to be vegetarian (comes second).
Anh Dao - another Vietnamese gem, best by far amongst Chinatown strip.
Your girl might want to check out Magic Pony. It's a cute store.
Yes I have to get together w/ a few of you for food again.
and to make it music related, I am thinking of going to this just for John Holt.
island foods on dufferin and king (parkdale i guess) has the wickedest west indian food, their chicken patties stuffed to the max with channa, man its deadly, i always get it spicy
oh. whoa. Not saying they are sh*t, but there are places 100x times better. Just up the road on Queen is Ali's which kicks Island Foods' ass. Sunrise on Yonge South of Wellesley and Ritz on Yonge just North of College are also amazing. Tipper's on Keele is good and it's a hike, but for Jamaican veg, there's Strictly Ital at 1720 Eglinton W, one light East of Dufrerin.
Also someone mentioned Gandhi for rotis, if you are in Parkdale, Mother India is the same owners and you can get their rotis there too. They are on the North side of Queen, just East of Landsdowne. Ali's, that I mentioned above, is on the same side, just East of there - Ali's has really good mango and coconut ice cream.
if you are in Parkdale, Mother India is the same owners and you can get their rotis there too. They are on the North side of Queen, just East of Landsdowne.
hey folks... only been in toronto since last november, but i love this place (and gandhi's)... ate there last night (veg korma on rice)...
this is a long shot here, but anybody know of an affordable decent sushi place in town? i'm not buying that sushi island, sushi on bloor, new generation BS!!! should i move back to the coast?
dollar pizza, what??? getting sick of pizza's that have been sitting around for hours and then reheated making some sort of a cardboard special. anything fresh(er)?
no pun intended (my girlfriend actually works there in the kitchen [a job is a job, but she's quitting today!!!] and while the food is consistent, the vibe and eats are pretty run of the mill). "the formula"...
also looking for some good chinese spots (markham? richmond hill?). had a delicious veg dim sum at graceful on kennedy at steeles the other week (anybody rate this place???). was super hung over though. had fun bombing around the pacific mall and accompanying grocery stores afterwards...
barb's roti in mississauga (on lakeshore, a bit west of dixie) is boss and there's a spot in oakville that blew my mind (can't recall the name)...
viet on ossignton (golden turtle? is pretty good) any other spots to peep for pho???
what about korean (bloor biz)??? haven't really explored them...
always looking for a good, healthy (sometimes), and cheap (under $20, $10-15 preferable) meal...
lates... *co-sign on the cinematheque. seen some great flicks since i've been here ("the wolfpen principle", "kes", "skip tracer"...). really like the atmosphere...
this is a long shot here, but anybody know of an affordable decent sushi place in town? i'm not buying that sushi island, sushi on bloor, new generation BS!!! should i move back to the coast?
Maybe give the spot right next door to For your eyes only on King. Toshi Sushi
barb's roti in mississauga (on lakeshore, a bit west of dixie) is boss and there's a spot in oakville that blew my mind (can't recall the name)...
Oakville? Kori's maybe??? It's pretty good.
what about korean (bloor biz)??? haven't really explored them...
Aser will say that there is no good Korean or Chinese spots downtown. But I love the place on the corner of Bloor & Clinton. Bookchan soon dubu!!!
Oh and cosign on mother's dumpling!!! Thx Aser for putting me onto that spot!
As for roti downtown. Nobody love Bacchus on Queen? Pretty good!
Not to deviate, but you Toronto folk need to come to Montreal soon. I've been bugging Aser via IM to come down in August. We should make it a soulstrut event!
this is a long shot here, but anybody know of an affordable decent sushi place in town? i'm not buying that sushi island, sushi on bloor, new generation BS!!! should i move back to the coast?
People rate these places because they serve big portions w/ cheap prices, that's it. It's just bad sushi period. However, the key to sushi is quality ingredients, and those don't come cheap. Here are the best ones in the city.
Sushi Kaji - Kaji-san's my idol, the highest title. Lakeshore, Etobicoke.
Hashimoto - not strictly sushi, they serve kaiseki cuisine. One of my most interesting meals in Toronto, pay to play in full effect. Dixie & 401, Mississauga.
Japango - affordable reg menu, but it gets interesting if you do the omakase ($65-70). Dundas & Bay
Hiro - the longest serving member, I wouldn't bother going unless you are willing to spend some coin. The set menus are MEH (for the whiteys), the omakase is top notch. I had some bangin aji (horse mackerel) and Iwashi (sardine) nigiri there on Tuesday. King & Jarvis.
Omi - One of the few instances where a non japanese is kingin it in the sushi scene. Church & Alexander.
Zen - I haven't been but supposedly real good. Deep Scarborough strip mall.
Mikado - again, kinda tucked away, a great gem of a spot.
Hama - one of the very few affordable sushi spots that I can heartily recommend. $15 sashimi lunch set is a great value that doesn't skimp on freshness. Market village/Pac mall.
Le Cafe Michi - Kaji-san had a former hand in the operation, but has recently sold his share. I have not been back since his departure. Shepherd and Vic Park.
Solo Sushi-Ya - ok this is all the way up in Newmarket, but it's the best bang for buck omakase out there. $45 for top notch seasonal ingredients, I LOVE this place. Jyo Gao treats me well and loves to talk. 291 Davis Dr.
For affordable Japanese food, I usually stick w/ cooked dishes. For that I head to places like Ematei (Queen & St Patrick), Tokyo Kitchen (Yonge & Charles E), Okonomi House (Yonge & Charles W), Kenzo Ramen (Yonge & Steeles) and Miyabi (Richmond Hill).
dollar pizza, what??? getting sick of pizza's that have been sitting around for hours and then reheated making some sort of a cardboard special. anything fresh(er)?
Toronto is not a good pizza town, actually most if not all cities aren't. The only exceptions are New York, Chicago (if you like deep dish) and smaller towns in New England for some reason. The most consistent of what we have here is Terroni. Get the mozzarella di bufala pie
also looking for some good chinese spots (markham? richmond hill?). had a delicious veg dim sum at graceful on kennedy at steeles the other week (anybody rate this place???). was super hung over though. had fun bombing around the pacific mall and accompanying grocery stores afterwards...
where do I begin? I think a phone call to answer that question would be much easier than typing it all out. Graceful Veg is one of my favourite places in the city.
viet on ossignton (golden turtle? is pretty good) any other spots to peep for pho???
Que Ling - Love the banh cuon and Bun Bo Hue here. I try to hit this every few weeks. Gerrard & Broadview.
Ann Dao - as mentioned above.
what about korean (bloor biz)??? haven't really explored them...
A lot of the new immigrants live around the Yonge area between Shepherd and Clark (Thornhill). Lots of interesting restaurants, plus the great Galleria Supermarket. But for the Bloor strip.....
Sejong - they use charcoal for their bbq.
Il Bun Ji - I think they make the best chap chae in the city, also one of the few places w/ Yook Hwe (korean beef tartare).
I'm surprised no one mentioned that The Ex are playing in town tonight (Saturday). Or maybe someone did and I missed it. Either way, if there's a better live act in the world, I haven't seen them.
aser, everybody... oh man, so much to digest here... anybody ever wanna go on a lil' dinner mission in or outside of the city, hit me up on the PM... i'd dig to hit a good northern chinese place for noodles and dumplings...
Comments
hear hear!
http://www.food.ca/restaurants_and_food_...ai_cuisine.html
The place looks like a small house (it probably was) which always have the family in it...they always have this cute kid playing around while the grandfather is sitting down watching the simpsons or something, u really are in someone's house...and they're very friendly. I always get the shrimp pad thai and mango salad, cause its like no where else...and the egg plant is dope too...and definitely get iced Thai coffee. the window seat is excellent as u see peeps pass by kensington. heavily recommended. near the annex or bloor and spadina, there's a small joint called noodle house that has a menu with like 5 different types of foods, and had good times there...
sushi island at little italy is awesome, they have various all u can eat AND the food is actually good, awesome white fish sushi pizza...
island foods on dufferin and king (parkdale i guess) has the wickedest west indian food, their chicken patties stuffed to the max with channa, man its deadly, i always get it spicy
lots of cool stuff on ossington, and a wicked tea place at queen west, south of trinity bellwoods park on walnut ave (neon green store can't miss it), get the walnut ave tea, never had tea that resembles irish cream or amaretto www.tealish.com
definitely check out the rom right now, they have an intense buddhist gallery with breathtaking artifacts...plenty of different strains of buddhist art depictions from the 14th century and later...like life sized statues...and beyond life sized...and shit like wallpaintings that were probably the most simple things in monestaries but for us to see is out of this world. i took a course on the exhibit, it is damn impressive. many other forms of dopeness there too www.rom.ca they are currently working on a south asian gallery (represent reprsent!) that will be out next year, can't bloody wait!
music-wise, go to www.eye.net and check out concert listings (refreshed every thursday). learning more and more about toronto all the time and i've lived here all my life.
if you're at little india on gerrard, go to the tika house, godamn cheap and good! the naans man, the naans, u can watch them make them right there.
did this recently close down? or was it the other viet. place that closed down on ossington? i thought something was missing last week when i passed by
I think I tried Live on Dupont last time I was in town and found it a little lackluster. But that was one experience, and (I think) they hadn't been open that long. Any other places you recommend? On past visits I've thought of Fresh as a decent lunch spot, but I'm always open to better suggestions.
This is pretty close to where I live. Pandamonium at keele and dundas is a nice record book cd store. Traxx records just opened up across the street so you can grab 12"s without going downtown. Dankins Books (sp?) is at clendenan and dundas, world's messiest book store but he's a very nice guy and is very reasonable and somehow knows where everything is. Theres a few nice restaurants around here. This area is still developing but is getting much nicer by the month.
lies, you love lululemon, don't front.
Well, I'll let dan be the bad cop with Fresh. I don't have anything nice to say either so I'll just keep quiet on this one. Generally speaking, if you see cheap bauhaus knockoff furniture + blazing downtempo + lots of upwardly mobile 20 somethings, then I would suggest you not eat there (cough cough spring rolls).
veg options close to Kensington/Chinatown.
Mother's Dumprings - not all veggie, but the bak choy, mushroom & tofu dumprings are really really real.
Cafe 668 - white people love this, it's close to you. I assume you're white. Match made in heaven? I kid.........it's a decent place though, maybe not as great as everybody makes it out to be. Good value and honest food (comes first), which happens to be vegetarian (comes second).
Anh Dao - another Vietnamese gem, best by far amongst Chinatown strip.
Your girl might want to check out Magic Pony. It's a cute store.
Yes I have to get together w/ a few of you for food again.
and to make it music related, I am thinking of going to this just for John Holt.
oh. whoa. Not saying they are sh*t, but there are places 100x times better. Just up the road on Queen is Ali's which kicks Island Foods' ass. Sunrise on Yonge South of Wellesley and Ritz on Yonge just North of College are also amazing. Tipper's on Keele is good and it's a hike, but for Jamaican veg, there's Strictly Ital at 1720 Eglinton W, one light East of Dufrerin.
Also someone mentioned Gandhi for rotis, if you are in Parkdale, Mother India is the same owners and you can get their rotis there too. They are on the North side of Queen, just East of Landsdowne. Ali's, that I mentioned above, is on the same side, just East of there - Ali's has really good mango and coconut ice cream.
hey folks...
only been in toronto since last november, but i love this place (and gandhi's)...
ate there last night (veg korma on rice)...
this is a long shot here, but anybody know of an affordable decent sushi place in town? i'm not buying that sushi island, sushi on bloor, new generation BS!!! should i move back to the coast?
dollar pizza, what??? getting sick of pizza's that have been sitting around for hours and then reheated making some sort of a cardboard special. anything fresh(er)?
no pun intended (my girlfriend actually works there in the kitchen [a job is a job, but she's quitting today!!!] and while the food is consistent, the vibe and eats are pretty run of the mill). "the formula"...
also looking for some good chinese spots (markham? richmond hill?). had a delicious veg dim sum at graceful on kennedy at steeles the other week (anybody rate this place???). was super hung over though. had fun bombing around the pacific mall and accompanying grocery stores afterwards...
barb's roti in mississauga (on lakeshore, a bit west of dixie) is boss and there's a spot in oakville that blew my mind (can't recall the name)...
viet on ossignton (golden turtle? is pretty good) any other spots to peep for pho???
what about korean (bloor biz)??? haven't really explored them...
always looking for a good, healthy (sometimes), and cheap (under $20, $10-15 preferable) meal...
lates...
*co-sign on the cinematheque. seen some great flicks since i've been here ("the wolfpen principle", "kes", "skip tracer"...). really like the atmosphere...
Maybe give the spot right next door to For your eyes only on King. Toshi Sushi
Oakville? Kori's maybe??? It's pretty good.
Aser will say that there is no good Korean or Chinese spots downtown. But I love the place on the corner of Bloor & Clinton. Bookchan soon dubu!!!
Oh and cosign on mother's dumpling!!!
Thx Aser for putting me onto that spot!
As for roti downtown. Nobody love Bacchus on Queen? Pretty good!
People rate these places because they serve big portions w/ cheap prices, that's it. It's just bad sushi period. However, the key to sushi is quality ingredients, and those don't come cheap. Here are the best ones in the city.
Sushi Kaji - Kaji-san's my idol, the highest title. Lakeshore, Etobicoke.
Hashimoto - not strictly sushi, they serve kaiseki cuisine. One of my most interesting meals in Toronto, pay to play in full effect. Dixie & 401, Mississauga.
Japango - affordable reg menu, but it gets interesting if you do the omakase ($65-70). Dundas & Bay
Hiro - the longest serving member, I wouldn't bother going unless you are willing to spend some coin. The set menus are MEH (for the whiteys), the omakase is top notch. I had some bangin aji (horse mackerel) and Iwashi (sardine) nigiri there on Tuesday. King & Jarvis.
Omi - One of the few instances where a non japanese is kingin it in the sushi scene. Church & Alexander.
Zen - I haven't been but supposedly real good. Deep Scarborough strip mall.
Mikado - again, kinda tucked away, a great gem of a spot.
Hama - one of the very few affordable sushi spots that I can heartily recommend. $15 sashimi lunch set is a great value that doesn't skimp on freshness. Market village/Pac mall.
Le Cafe Michi - Kaji-san had a former hand in the operation, but has recently sold his share. I have not been back since his departure. Shepherd and Vic Park.
Solo Sushi-Ya - ok this is all the way up in Newmarket, but it's the best bang for buck omakase out there. $45 for top notch seasonal ingredients, I LOVE this place. Jyo Gao treats me well and loves to talk. 291 Davis Dr.
For affordable Japanese food, I usually stick w/ cooked dishes. For that I head to places like Ematei (Queen & St Patrick), Tokyo Kitchen (Yonge & Charles E), Okonomi House (Yonge & Charles W), Kenzo Ramen (Yonge & Steeles) and Miyabi (Richmond Hill).
Toronto is not a good pizza town, actually most if not all cities aren't. The only exceptions are New York, Chicago (if you like deep dish) and smaller towns in New England for some reason. The most consistent of what we have here is Terroni. Get the mozzarella di bufala pie
where do I begin? I think a phone call to answer that question would be much easier than typing it all out. Graceful Veg is one of my favourite places in the city.
Que Ling - Love the banh cuon and Bun Bo Hue here. I try to hit this every few weeks. Gerrard & Broadview.
Ann Dao - as mentioned above.
A lot of the new immigrants live around the Yonge area between Shepherd and Clark (Thornhill). Lots of interesting restaurants, plus the great Galleria Supermarket. But for the Bloor strip.....
Sejong - they use charcoal for their bbq.
Il Bun Ji - I think they make the best chap chae in the city, also one of the few places w/ Yook Hwe (korean beef tartare).
Korean Fried Chicken - Get the chicken w/ the sauce, sweet and spicy.
HAHA.. Naw, he just always reminds me there are some great spots out there in the boonies.
We should go hit up my spot ASAP... I'm jonesin' mannnn!!!
Dudes...
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although, when it comes to food in this city, Aser does know all.
So true...
Favourite Chinese spot right now is Kom Jug, on spadina just south of college.
DUDE...
Kom Jug Yuen!!! Thats been my spot for yearsssss.
When Serious & I had the store, we'd make runs up there almost ever damn day.
What a great way to spend 5 bucks!!!
anybody ever wanna go on a lil' dinner mission in or outside of the city, hit me up on the PM...
i'd dig to hit a good northern chinese place for noodles and dumplings...