When we spent a few days in Toronto last September, we were staying in Koreatown and enjoyed a lot of great meals. I am the first person to jump on TripAdvisor and check out all of the nearby eats. And we found a really interesting and diverse collection of places to eat in Toronto, which I would love to share with you right now.
Playa Cabana Barrio Coreano
On the first night in Toronto, we were tired but in need of a good feed, so I jumped on my trusty TripAdvisor (actually my most used app when travelling for restaurant recommendations) and hit ‘nearby’ and found what Google calls this “inventive outpost dishing up Mexican-Korean eats from kalbi beef tacos to calamari with kimchi.” Pretty accurate. It was a lovely place. We hadn’t reserved but we managed to grab a seat on high bar stools by the window as we were pretty early (that’s timezone-hopping for you!) and we enjoyed a mix of the specials and the menu items. The fish tacos were a favourite for me. Totally recommend.
642 Bloor St. W., Toronto, ON
Eva’s Original Chimneys
On the walk up to Playa Cabana Barrio Coreano, we walked past a window filled with rotisserie pastries and we knew we had to take a closer look on the way back. Upon closer inspection, we found that they were traditional Hungarian chimneys – crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. They then fill the cones like an ice cream with ridiculous toppings and people spend a lot of time Instagramming them – @ogchimneys has almost 25k followers. We tend to share treats like this in order to have time to – especially on the way back from a big meal (!), so after some discussion over what to opt for from their incredible menu, we just went with salted caramel and brownie toppers – with extra salted caramel. Choice overload. Just go – and make sure you take a pic and tag me in it!
454 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON
Insomnia
Who doesn’t love a good Sunday brunch? After arriving in Toronto on the Saturday and smashing through the above food (yes, this is all happening in 24hrs), we went for a Sunday morning run and then made our way over to Insomnia, further up Bloor Street West from the other couple of places. I had pre-booked, having done a bit of research and realised that this was a very popular place, so I recommend that you do that too. We opted for the eggs benedict (which comes with all of that on the side by the way (Canada is a bit like the US in that respect – big portions with lots of extras). The place really lives up to its name too as it is not only known for amazing brunches, it also boasts late-night eats, nightly DJs and 50 martinis.
563 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON
St Lawrence Market
Everywhere I go, I’m always looking for something to rival the food market in Barcelona. St Lawrence almost go there, but I didn’t get as excited, if I’m honest. But don’t get me wrong, it’s a really cool place and boasts over 100 vendors with global eats and artisan produce. We enjoyed the coffee place and this local bacon roll situation above. We also spotted locals popping in for English fish and chips for their lunch breaks. We popped in here after having a very active day running and biking around the city, so we actually enjoyed this sandwich and then headed down to the waterfront for lunch. Worth a visit.
93 Front St E, Toronto, ON
(image via yellowpages.ca because it was dark and cosy on the night we went and I was too jetlagged and hungry to take good pictures… #truth)
Pizzeria Libretto
Rob is a huge fan of pizza (I mean, who isn’t to be frank…) and we live on a small island (with one killer pizza spot by the way), so I always have to have quick google to find a description like this: “wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizzas with classic & unusual toppings served in a sleek, busy space.” << SOLD! We went to the Ossington branch, which is the original one (as I write, they are currently under renovation). We loved the vibe in the place- dark and cosy – ideal for a quick comfort meal before crashing back at our airbnb. The pizza was amazing, the service was great and the selection of Italian wines was on point. Oh, and definitely try the arancini to start – worth it.
221 Ossington Ave, Toronto, ON
Just a couple of extras…
A couple more shout-outs to Amsterdam Brewhouse on the lake front for a good simple lunch with a view, plus a mention must go to Mascot Brewery for drinks. It was a cool place to hang out – on a rooftop on the city with some local craft cider and twinkly lights.
And, finally we hit up Caplansky’s at the airport. It has a Jewish deli vibe that we only fit in a reuben in the airport… We have never been so happy to see a place when we were gutted that we hadn’t managed to make it to the place. You should definitely save room and time for that when you fly out! Thank me later.
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