Toronto Trip Report

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Apr 28th, 2000 | 07:15 AM

Brian in Atlanta

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Toronto Trip Report

My wife and I recently spent a long weekend in Toronto. I used to travel to Toronto on business, so this was our 4th or 5th trip, but the first one in 2 years. Toronto’s still great – very urban, very friendly, very affordable (thanks to the exchange rate), and we always have a great time. This trip was no exception. (I must insert a thank you to Brian Kilgore, the Toronto expert on this site, for going to the trouble to track us down at our hotel to provide restaurant recommendations. It was much appreciated.) We left 70 degrees and sunny in Atlanta on Thursday afternoon and landed in a wind and rainstorm and 40 degrees in Toronto that night. It was late and we wanted to head straight for the hotel, so we took a cab rather than the excellent Downtown Express bus. The cab system is a tad strange, it’s a fixed rate from the airport, but there is no official rate, so you negotiate a price with the driver. So, after waiting in the taxi queue, if I don’t like the fare offered, do I go to the next one or get in the back of the queue? I’m all for the free market system, but an official rate would make things easier. I reserved an excellent rate at the Toronto Hilton – C$166 for a king bed on the executive floor (free breakfast, cocktails). This was at least C$100 less than I was used to paying, and when we arrived I discovered why. The entire lobby was under renovation, but the desk clerk assured me that all the room renovations had already been completed. Funny, we always thought the rooms were in great shape. Turns out they didn’t renovate to renew the rooms, but to completely change the design. They’ve gone with a modern, hip look, and while it might be “cool”, I found it somewhat cold and awkward. The traditional desk has been replaced with a striking pear-shaped “tableau” that takes up 3 times the space, the bathroom has a fantastic new mirror but a bulky oval sink that shrinks the bathroom, the very long dresser inexplicably only has 2 drawers when it has room for 6, and the bed and sheets are so hard that I contemplated sleeping on the floor. I still like staying there. The location is unbeatable (in the center of town with a subway stop right just across the street) and the executive lounge has a complimentary serve-yourself bar with appetizers in the afternoon and a great 32nd floor view (looking north). I will, however, have to reevaluate my allegiance once renovations are over and rates undoubtedly head up. We slept in the next morning, but were out the door by 10:00 and decided to head out Queen Street West to do some clothes shopping. It was overcast and promising to rain, so we took our umbrellas and long raincoats. We clearly stood out – NO ONE in Toronto EVER wears a long coat, no matter how cold or wet it is. This was Good Friday, and people in Toronto take this holiday seriously. Most everything is closed all day. The good thing about the holiday was that the 2 of us could buy and travel on just one day pass (C$7) on any of the trams, buses or the subway. This is a great deal for 2, but even better if you have a family – it’s good for up to 4 kids too. This deal is available holidays and Sundays. Public transit is great. In the central area, you use the subway to go North/South and trams to go East/West. Both are clean, efficient and safe. As little was open, my wife made mental notes of all the shops on QSW she wanted to return to, and we stopped in a European-type coffeeshop at QSW and Spadina called Lettieri. Toronto is crawling with these places – all serving coffee, pastries, snacks and some (like Lettieri) serve pannini, pizza, and even grappa. And the quality is far superior to the stuff they peddle at Starbucks. We had a huge fresh squeezed carrot juice, a cappuccino and a wonderful freshly-baked cinnamon roll – all for about C$7. We need places like this in Atlanta. Even our planned lunch place was closed, so we went to where we had planned for Saturday’s lunch: Hello Toast. It was a couple miles out Queen Street East (on the other side of downtown), but just a quick ride on the tram. We found this place on www.toronto.com (the best web site for restaurant info and objective reviews). It’s a funky neighborhood place (no tourists here) and looked like a good place for a casual lunch. Most Toronto restaurants change their lunch menus to brunch on weekends and holidays and I’m not a huge brunch fan. But it was still pretty good (I had quiche) and I was able to have a beer (a stale New Amsterdam lager traded in for a fresher Labatt Blue). Brunch with 2 drinks was C$37 with tip. After lunch, we quickly consulted our TTC map and routed ourselves to the Yorkville area where we would be having dinner later. This is the “chic” and “pricey” area of town and I was soon glad that it was a holiday and my wife couldn’t get into some of those stores. It started to drizzle, so we jumped into a mostly empty, somewhat fancy restaurant/wine bar to sample some Ontario reds. The first one poured smelled slightly of vinegar, so we asked the barkeep to smell it, she agreed that it was off and said she’d try the “new” bottle. Well, the new bottle was simply another already open bottle positioned behind the first open bottle. I noticed that all the wines-by-the-glass bottles were simply sitting open. The second tasting wasn’t much better, so our sampling of Ontario was possibly unfairly tainted by sloppy bar maintenance. At the bar we met a couple from Orlando who were so upset about all the stores being closed that they decided the only thing they could do was drink all day in this sort-of-sad bar. This depressing story and the oxidized wine encouraged us to head out into the mist. As we were leaving, the couple was sharing lemon drop shots with the bartender. We spent some more time walking around, headed back to the hotel to shower, dress up a bit, and hit the executive lounge for a few complimentary cocktails and that great view of the city as the sun went down. Then we jumped on the subway for the quick ride back up to Yorkville to visit the Hyatt’s rooftop bar which has been mentioned on this site. Very cozy, great service and great drinks (the tonic for my gin served in its own separate little pitcher so I can mix the drink to my liking). Almonds and olives in little trays go well with the drinks. I’ll gladly pay C$8 a drink for the quality of the drink alone – at most places your gin is assaulted with one of those multi-drink sprayers – you get a mix of tonic and water or coke or whatever was last to come out of the tube. I wanted to head over to the Four Seasons across the street, but it was raining hard now and we were growing hungry, so we headed up the street to dinner. The more we walked, the harder it rained (our travel umbrellas, however, did an excellent job keeping us dry from the waist up). Finally we reached Cantine, one of www.toronto.com’s top 10 of 1999. It was mostly empty while a couple of other restaurants down the street were packed (uh oh). We almost left fearing a mostly empty restaurant could only mean one thing, but ended up having a wonderful meal. It’s a great looking restaurant: a front sitting area with big comfy chairs, a bar in the middle, and tables running the length of the restaurant. Service was extremely friendly (Canadian’s must be the most outgoing and friendly people on Earth) and the food fantastic. My veal chop was almost an inch think, perfectly cooked (rare) and wonderfully seasoned. Served over some sort of a garlic potato pie. Washed down with a somewhat pricey French red (hey, it’s just Canadian money!). Absolutely delicious. My only beef was the electronic cash register on top of the bar blaring it’s “chchz, chchz, chch, chch, chchchchchzzzzzz” every few minutes throughout the restaurant. Those things are aesthetically ruinous. Stopped for desert and bottled water (a hopeless attempt to flush out the garlic) at a coffee shop nearby. Hopped on the subway and were home in 15 minutes. I can’t imagine anyone feeling unsafe on Toronto Transit at any time of the night. Next morning headed to Lettieri for fresh squeezed juice and a scone and hit the shops on QSW. There are lots of great independently owned clothing stores (mostly for women) in the area, and of course, a Gap. Can’t escape them. After shopping, we headed to the Esplanade Bier Markt for lunch. We also heard of this place on www.toronto.com and wanted to try some Belgian beers and mussels as a primer for our upcoming trip to Belgium. The Bier Markt fits in a strip of large, corporate-type and somewhat touristy restaurants on The Esplanade (the street that doesn’t really exist – try to find it on Mapquest) just south of Front Street, slightly east of center. It was mostly empty for lunch and the service, while almost uncomfortably friendly, was extremely inattentive (had to chase him down a couple of times). But the beer selection was good (and fresh, thank goodness) and the mussels were plump and delicious (you can get them a dozen different ways – I choose curry w/coconut milk and leeks). I imagine that it’d be more fun and lively at night. Hopped on the train and headed north to Bloor Street W – lots of shops and little restaurants and, of course, lots of coffee shops. There are also lots of homeless. And not just on Bloor Street. Just about every street we walked on in the central area had a significant homeless population. And these aren’t like most of the “homeless” we have in Atlanta – people who actually have a place to stay but still beg for money – these people clearly make their homes on the street. Many were sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk in the rain as we passed by. Most will ask for money as you pass, but none were aggressive. First-time visitors should be prepared, though, to see a greater number of homeless than they will in New York, Chicago or Atlanta. Toronto’s situation is more akin to San Francisco’s. We also walked out College Street and Dundas and ended up in Chinatown. Our best discovery of the afternoon was a great little neighborhood just north of the Chinatown area of Dundas with narrow streets and an amazing number of markets, second hand clothing shops and the occasional bar/restaurants (key for restroom breaks). And this Saturday afternoon, it seemed that the entire population of the city had decided that this was the place to be. It was positively buzzing with activity and had a great urban village feel. Headed home, cleaned up, visited the executive lounge, and jumped on a streetcar heading out King Street West for dinner. Wanted to stop by a bar called The Mockingbird, but they were closed for a private party. Luckily, on this rather dark section of KSW, there was a New Amsterdam brewhouse across the street. We had a few pints (fresh) and watched the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs on TV with the mostly male crowd (learned how to say “Go Leafs” in Canadian). Headed across the street to Innocenti – a beautiful, but alas, mostly empty Mediterranean/Italian restaurant. We again had second thoughts, but the review was so good and it worked out the night before (for some reason I never put together that most of the city was watching the Leafs) so we went in. We were warmly welcomed and seated at a very good table beneath the huge tree that grows in the middle of the dining room. Wonderful starters (5-root soup for me, tuna tartar for my wife), fantastic pastas, a very good California Merlot and even desert. And when the bill comes (C$120), you simply remind yourself that you really only have to pay 70%. I highly recommend this restaurant. The next day (Sunday) we checked our bags with the hotel and walked up University, able to use our sunglasses for the first time. University doesn’t really have much on it, but it’s a beautiful boulevard – I wish Atlanta had streetscapes like this. Circled back on College (where we encountered our only possibly dangerous homeless individual), turned right on Yonge and walked down to Shopsy’s deli on Yonge and Front. After all the rich dinners, I really wanted just a sandwich. And while Shopsy’s is not usually the kind of place I like (pretty touristy – famous people pictures on the wall, calls itself “world famous”, etc.), I love it. They have a nice patio on Front Street, the service is friendlier than you’d expect in a place like this (those crazy Canadians, don’t they know that you can’t be a good deli without rude waiters?), and the food is reasonably priced and reasonably sized (no stupid Carnegie portions here). For C$7 I had a very good hot pastrami and swiss on fresh rye with a side of coleslaw. And the best thing was that I could actually eat it all – what a novel idea. Headed to the airport and encountered a new, and much nicer, departure terminal. Hit the duty free (liquor was about half price!), passed quickly through U.S. customs (nice touch, can just hop off the plane in Atlanta) and said goodbye to Canada (until our first trip to Montreal in September). Took off in sunny Toronto and landed 2 hours later in rainy Atlanta. Go figure.

Apr 28th, 2000 | 08:55 AM

Brian

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Brian, I enjoyed reading your trip report - I live in Toronto and it's always fun to hear what people say about the city, especially when it's so positive! A couple of comments. I have never found that the cabs from the airport are negotiable. Any that I've taken have a fare sheet, and the fare depends on what area of the city you're heading to. (But I'll try that negotiation thing next time!) I'm glad you liked Hello Toast. It's my 'neighbourhood restaurant' and we go there for dinner all the time. Another place a few blocks west of Hello Toast is Bonjour Brioche (sounds like a theme, doesn't it?) Bonjour Brioche is a French bakery/cafe with wonderful baguettes and pastries, plus the most amazing french toast - unfortunately it's usually so crowded on weekend mornings that it's impossible to get a table there. I'm glad you had fun. You're right - Toronto is a great city.

Apr 29th, 2000 | 10:36 AM

Lynn

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Also enjoyed reading your post. We were in TO for our first trip last September...and stayed at the Hilton, too. The front lobby was under renovations THEN!! I'm sorry to hear it's not done yet. It was a slight annoyance, especially the noise, but overall we enjoyed staying there and found it convenient to EVERY place we went. The greatest thing about the Hilton, too, is that it is connected to the underground city and you can virtually get to a lot of places "underground" when the weather is bad. We are headed back to TO in July, and even though we enjoyed the Hilton, we are going to try the Marriott at Eaton Center for something different before heading off for a few days in Ottawa.

May 5th, 2000 | 01:23 PM

Elizabeth

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Hi Brian - great trip report! You covered more territory than a native Torontonian! We need more trip reports on the Canadian site - you've inspired me to do one for our recent trip to Tofino. Will try to get to it this weekend. Glad you had such a great trip. Elizabeth

Nov 28th, 2000 | 12:58 PM

topper

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up for Jennifer

Dec 11th, 2000 | 01:00 PM

Stacey

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Brian- Glad you enjoyed TO so much! The only thing you might have missed (aside from the Leaf's game) is a meal at Fiasco's on Bloor Street in the village, and a beer at the Madison (the Maddy) near the Spadina station. Quick question: have you ever been to Niagara-on-the-Lake when travelling to TO? From your post, it seems that you're quite a wine-lover. Would highly recommend a trip to this quaint town in the fall (October's my favourite). We stay at the Pillar & Post Inn (the BEST!), take day trips out to the wineries, and see a play or two. Makes for a GREAT short trip. Also, if you like Canada so much, what about Quebec City? It is an AMAZING place to spend a few days. Lastly, thanks for the reminders about some of the places in TO I'd forgotten about...I'll have to make sure I get out more over the holidays! Cheers.

Dec 28th, 2000 | 01:06 PM

Alex

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Brian, Thank you for the very entertaining and very thorough trip report. I am currently "researching" Toronto, as I'm planning my first visit there for late June 2001. Reading your report really helped, and made me really look forward to visting this fine city!

Toronto Trip Report

Toronto Trip Report

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