Food in Toronto
Aug 18th, 2003, 11:26 AM
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Food in Toronto
Hi all,
We're going to Toronto for four days this weekend and, after checking it out on the web, I am really impressed with all the types of food you can find there! Talk about international cuisine!
This isn't international, but I would love to find a great pastrami on rye (like you find at Katz' Deli in New York). I've had this craving for some time, and figure that, with the variety of restaurants in Toronto, there must be a good pastrami sandwich somewhere. (I also plan to try some Greek, Thai, French, and whatever else I can fit in without eating 10 meals per day!)
Thanks to anyone who can help me in my quest!
We're going to Toronto for four days this weekend and, after checking it out on the web, I am really impressed with all the types of food you can find there! Talk about international cuisine!
This isn't international, but I would love to find a great pastrami on rye (like you find at Katz' Deli in New York). I've had this craving for some time, and figure that, with the variety of restaurants in Toronto, there must be a good pastrami sandwich somewhere. (I also plan to try some Greek, Thai, French, and whatever else I can fit in without eating 10 meals per day!)
Thanks to anyone who can help me in my quest!
Aug 18th, 2003, 12:29 PM
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Toronto is not as good as Montreal for smoked meat sandwiches but Yitz's and Shopsys are fairly good. Bathurst Street north of Bloor in Toronto is like an elongated Georgetown in Brooklyn. Over 15 k's of continuous Jewish stuff included of course Smoked Meat delis.
Aug 18th, 2003, 01:31 PM
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Hi Gina,
You might want to try the following message board:
http://chowhound.com/canada/boards/toronto/toronto.html
I find the people on it have an amazing beadth of knowledge concerning restaurants in Toronto.
As the previous poster noted, Bathurst St from Eglinton Ave. north to Steeles Ave. is home to all things Jewish including delis.
Hope that helps,
Ali1
You might want to try the following message board:
http://chowhound.com/canada/boards/toronto/toronto.html
I find the people on it have an amazing beadth of knowledge concerning restaurants in Toronto.
As the previous poster noted, Bathurst St from Eglinton Ave. north to Steeles Ave. is home to all things Jewish including delis.
Hope that helps,
Ali1
Aug 18th, 2003, 01:43 PM
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Where are you staying?
In the Entertainment District, Shopsy's, between the Princess of Wales and Royal Alexandra theatres. Or on the south side of King Street West, between John and Peter St / Blue Jays Way. (it changes its name)there's an obvious deli with pickles in the window.
Or, turn your back to this place (literally, just turn around) and walk north on Widmer, along the east side of the Holiday Inn, to the Corned Beef House, one black north at Widmer and Adelaide Street West.
If you are further east, try the Shopsy's branch at 33 Yonge Street, at the corner of Front Street.
Or, if you find yourself in an underground food court tied to an office building, well, Druxy's makes an excellent smoked meat sandwich, and there are lots of Druxy branches.
Cheapest, and still good? Peel Pub, north side of King Street West, almost next door to the Shopsy's in the same block.
BAK
BAK
In the Entertainment District, Shopsy's, between the Princess of Wales and Royal Alexandra theatres. Or on the south side of King Street West, between John and Peter St / Blue Jays Way. (it changes its name)there's an obvious deli with pickles in the window.
Or, turn your back to this place (literally, just turn around) and walk north on Widmer, along the east side of the Holiday Inn, to the Corned Beef House, one black north at Widmer and Adelaide Street West.
If you are further east, try the Shopsy's branch at 33 Yonge Street, at the corner of Front Street.
Or, if you find yourself in an underground food court tied to an office building, well, Druxy's makes an excellent smoked meat sandwich, and there are lots of Druxy branches.
Cheapest, and still good? Peel Pub, north side of King Street West, almost next door to the Shopsy's in the same block.
BAK
BAK
Aug 18th, 2003, 05:22 PM
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Thanks, GaryA, Ali1 and BAK for your quick responses. I'm really looking forward to sampling some of the food of Toronto, since the extent of "international" type of food in my small town is limited to one Mexican and one Italian restaurant.
Brian, I've read many of your posts and want to thank you for sharing your vast knowledge of Toronto. It has really helped in the planning of our long weekend.
We're staying at Bond Place so we'll be close to many of the places mentioned.
Again, thanks all!
Brian, I've read many of your posts and want to thank you for sharing your vast knowledge of Toronto. It has really helped in the planning of our long weekend.
We're staying at Bond Place so we'll be close to many of the places mentioned.
Again, thanks all!
Aug 18th, 2003, 07:16 PM
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Well, we all forgot the Pickle Barrel.
leave the hotel and walk one block west to Yonge Street. ou'll be at the edge of a paved park.
Cross Yonge Street, and walk north two blocks. The Pickle Barrel will be on your left. Go in and order a sandwich.
For Greek:
Leave the hotel, walk to Yonge Street at Dundas (this same paved park) and take the northbound subway to Bloor Station. Change to the estbound Bloor-Danforth subway, and get off a couple of stops later, at Chester. Walk to Danforth (quarter of a block) and takeyour pick of a dozen or more Greek restaurants. Pick one that is crowded. If it has lots of empty seats, that's because regulars know it is not any good, so stay away.
Sunday breakfast -- have Dim Sum at Bright PEarl. Dim Sum is a collection of small dishes. There's a chart, lit, etc. on the table to tell you want everything is. If you have extra people with you, so much the better, because you get to try more things.LEave thehotel, walk to Yonge and Dundas, and then walk west on Dundas to Spadina, about eight-ten blocks. At Spadina (extra wide street) turn roight-north and walk acouple of blocks to St. Andrews. Bright Pearl is bright yellow in color. I had 30 guests there for Dim Sum a few weeks ago, and all enjoyed it. South Africans, Brits, Americans from New Orleans, Houston, Richmond, New York...
For a really good treat, with a medium-high price tag and high quality food, leave the hotel, walk to Yonge, north two blocks to Elm, turn left-west and walk to ORO, almost at the end of the block. Continental meets French meets Italian meets trendy. A favorite of my gourmet friend Charles, who is in hugging terms with Emerial and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. Expect $150-200 for two, with wine.
Mid-priced easy Italian. Il Fornello, which is on Elm Street too, before you get to ORO. "Hard" Italian requires you to go to Little Italy.
Incidentally, there's nothing to see east of your hotel along Dundas, so don't even go look.
For breakfast Saturday, leave the hotel, walk to Yonge, left-south all the way to King Street, then left again along King Street until almost Jarvis. You'll be at the back of the St. Lawrence Market. Walk through the park beside the market, and go into the south market building (there are two) and get a veal sandwich or a back bacon on a bun sandwich, and take it outdoors and eat it on the balcony along the side of the market building. This may be Buskerfest Weekend, too, but I'm not sure.
leave the hotel and walk one block west to Yonge Street. ou'll be at the edge of a paved park.
Cross Yonge Street, and walk north two blocks. The Pickle Barrel will be on your left. Go in and order a sandwich.
For Greek:
Leave the hotel, walk to Yonge Street at Dundas (this same paved park) and take the northbound subway to Bloor Station. Change to the estbound Bloor-Danforth subway, and get off a couple of stops later, at Chester. Walk to Danforth (quarter of a block) and takeyour pick of a dozen or more Greek restaurants. Pick one that is crowded. If it has lots of empty seats, that's because regulars know it is not any good, so stay away.
Sunday breakfast -- have Dim Sum at Bright PEarl. Dim Sum is a collection of small dishes. There's a chart, lit, etc. on the table to tell you want everything is. If you have extra people with you, so much the better, because you get to try more things.LEave thehotel, walk to Yonge and Dundas, and then walk west on Dundas to Spadina, about eight-ten blocks. At Spadina (extra wide street) turn roight-north and walk acouple of blocks to St. Andrews. Bright Pearl is bright yellow in color. I had 30 guests there for Dim Sum a few weeks ago, and all enjoyed it. South Africans, Brits, Americans from New Orleans, Houston, Richmond, New York...
For a really good treat, with a medium-high price tag and high quality food, leave the hotel, walk to Yonge, north two blocks to Elm, turn left-west and walk to ORO, almost at the end of the block. Continental meets French meets Italian meets trendy. A favorite of my gourmet friend Charles, who is in hugging terms with Emerial and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. Expect $150-200 for two, with wine.
Mid-priced easy Italian. Il Fornello, which is on Elm Street too, before you get to ORO. "Hard" Italian requires you to go to Little Italy.
Incidentally, there's nothing to see east of your hotel along Dundas, so don't even go look.
For breakfast Saturday, leave the hotel, walk to Yonge, left-south all the way to King Street, then left again along King Street until almost Jarvis. You'll be at the back of the St. Lawrence Market. Walk through the park beside the market, and go into the south market building (there are two) and get a veal sandwich or a back bacon on a bun sandwich, and take it outdoors and eat it on the balcony along the side of the market building. This may be Buskerfest Weekend, too, but I'm not sure.
Aug 19th, 2003, 06:21 AM
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Gina:
There is also "Reuban's" (sp) on King (across the street from the Holiday Inn). Its owned by the same people who own "Schwartz's" (sp) in Montreal. Similar menu & atmoshpere as Schwartz's but a lot less crowded. In my opinion its much better than the others listed (but also a little more expensive).
Z
There is also "Reuban's" (sp) on King (across the street from the Holiday Inn). Its owned by the same people who own "Schwartz's" (sp) in Montreal. Similar menu & atmoshpere as Schwartz's but a lot less crowded. In my opinion its much better than the others listed (but also a little more expensive).
Z
Aug 19th, 2003, 07:40 AM
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BAK mentioned the Danforth. One place we go to on Danforth is Ouzeri. I love Al's feta lamb and their vegetarian moussaka (with chickpeas) is terrific. Their frappe (iced coffee) is great as well. But there are loads of restaurants up there so it's a great restaurant destination. Another good area for restaurants is Little Italy, along College Street. I'm taking a long weekend (to celebrate my birthday) and we had lunch yesterday at Bar Italia, a favourite of ours. That strip of College is another restaurant row. We then wandered over to Kensington Market and picked up fantastic empanadas at a little place there. They do have tables, but we did take-out to have them later in the evening (after all, we had just had lunch!). Also checked out some Latin American stores and found my favourite caramel sauce - cajeta - from Mexico. Now I don't need to hoard the cajeta I brought back from Mexico in March!
Another cool area is the new Distillery district. It's historic - the site of the former Gooderham & Worts distillery - so cobblestones, etc., but there's also a microbrewery there and several restaurants. Not sure what's on there this weekend, but there's a website you can check.
Have fun! After spending so much time out of town this summer (travelling for my job), I'm really enjoying my mini-vacation in my own city. Today we're going to Bonjour Brioche for brunch (another good place on Queen Street East).
Another cool area is the new Distillery district. It's historic - the site of the former Gooderham & Worts distillery - so cobblestones, etc., but there's also a microbrewery there and several restaurants. Not sure what's on there this weekend, but there's a website you can check.
Have fun! After spending so much time out of town this summer (travelling for my job), I'm really enjoying my mini-vacation in my own city. Today we're going to Bonjour Brioche for brunch (another good place on Queen Street East).
Aug 19th, 2003, 08:38 AM
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Wow! So many ideas and so little time!
I really appreciate everyone's input. I now have such a long list of places to see, things to do, and food to taste that I'll have to do another trip to fit it all in!
SusanInToronto, Bonjour Brioche was also suggested by a friend. We'll for sure give it a try.
Thanks again, everyone, for the outstanding recommendations. I'm getting hungry just reading them!
I really appreciate everyone's input. I now have such a long list of places to see, things to do, and food to taste that I'll have to do another trip to fit it all in!
SusanInToronto, Bonjour Brioche was also suggested by a friend. We'll for sure give it a try.
Thanks again, everyone, for the outstanding recommendations. I'm getting hungry just reading them!
Aug 19th, 2003, 12:04 PM
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Gina, if you do go to Bonjour Brioche, I'd recommend the French toast. It's unlike any other French toast I've ever had. It's about 3 - 4 inches thick and is a layering of bread, rather than a single piece. The top is crispy and delicious. It reminds me of a bread pudding rather than French toast, and I think it's baked in a pan, so you get a piece of it. It's amazing. I hadn't been there for quite a while, even though it's in my neighbourhood - it's always packed on weekends, which is usually when I would be able to go there. It was a real treat today.
