Travel Guide : Toronto

[tarboy_85]

Does anyone know any cool trendy places to eat when im in T.O pref downtown? I have a feeling Tristan might kno some!

 

[Nader]

I'm not sure if it's trendy or hip, but Japango on 122 Elizabeth St is my favourite japanese restaurant to go to It's small and simple, but you cannot go there and tell me you didn't like the food

Bruce is a good sushi master!


If you want flashy/trendy, go to Lobby which is on bloor st near the ROM on the other side of the street.

 

[tarboy_85]

any others....?

 

[highcontrast]

Flow is nice and there's always celebrities at Sassafraz. Both in Yorkville.

 

[Nader]

i just looked at the sassafraz website, and they have a section dedicated to celeb sightsseeings.. what LOSERS, ugh. plz tell me i am not the only person who gets turned off by stuff like this

 

[tristan]

Ew yorkville can be the armpit of Toronto sometimes. Go to Thuet, it's really good. The Drake Hotel is good on weekdays go later like at 10 to eat. The social which is beside 69 vintage is really good too, there's a really hot bartender there named Julien. Both the Drake and the Social are between Duffering and Dovercourt on Queen.

Irie is a really cool upscale Jamaican joint, Terroni is a *wicked* Italian place, San does really good korean food, and Habitat is amazing too. That's all Queen Street, West of Bathurst.

Hitch youself up to College and Bathurst and you'll find Honey Kaffe Eat Boutique, they do wicked French affair, also check out Paeez which is across the street and a little west of Honey for some drinks. Make sure you go on a Saturday to Paeez, tell the DJ that Tristan says hi. Don't forget to go to Susur, and if you're out really late and starving, than 7 west at charles and yonge is awsome too.

Ummmmmm I know there are alot of other restaurants that I go to, but I go to these ones the most often.

Hope that helped!

 

[Lyra]

Toronto's the king of trendy 'hot spots' full of an older crowd. However, if you want style and a more hip group hit Supermarket in Kensington wed/sat, Mod club on sat and Andy's pool hall.

 

[Lyra]

Overall favorite restaurants are Sister Saigon and Ginger, both on Younge near bloor

 

[*AndoraStar*]

Oh I could give you a whole list.. what are you looking for exactly??

WISH is awesome..

 

[thras]

In no order of preference:

Lobby - Avenue/Bloor (decent food, great drinks, gorgeous people, highly recommended)
Panorama - Bay/Bloor (top floor patio of Manulife Centre, best Toronto skyline, good crowd, highly recommended)
Li'ly - College/Bathurst (haven't eaten here, but heard good food, great atmosphere, great drinks, great people, highly recommended)
Sassafraz - Bay/Cumberland (never been, and don't intend to, but Toronto's biggest celebrity hangout, if that's your thing)
7 West - Yonge/Charles (great food, great staff, very cool atmosphere, and best of all 24/7!)

As a side note, the best Chinese food in the city is:

New Ho King - College/Spadina (open till 4am on weekends, and have Singapore noodles, Shanghai noodles, General Tso chicken, and spring rolls to die for - it will be the last Chinese place you'll ever eat...it's probably one of the most popular after-club places to eat)

The absolute best Japanese, in terms of quality for price, is:

Sushi Inn - Bay/Cumberland (great service, *incredible* sushi - try the salmon sushi pizza, spider roll, dragon roll, and Hotate set - go on a weekend, and you're more than likely to run into a Maple Leaf or two!)

 

[Fade to Black]

No disrespect meant to anyone who is a fan of the restaurant, but IMHO Susur is the most overrated and gimmicky restaurant I've ever been to in my life. Anyone familiar with traditional Chinese cuisine can attest to this...last time I went there and ordered the tasting menu I was actually served braised fatty pork with preserved vegetable, which is basically a very ordinary chinese dish, and the several times i've been there and tried several versions of the tasting menu it's been basically the same thing: typical chinese dishes perhaps masked with a western touch here or there, and all of a sudden it's "high end fusion cuisine"

Sushi Kaji used to be very good, the best Japanese food I've ever had in Toronto, but I went a few months ago and the quality has dropped severely. Needless to say I ain't goin again, especially after eating at Sushi Shota here in Hong Kong which trumps any Japanese dining experience I've ever had outside of Japan.

Oh and a word of advice to visitors: You might hear about "Hiro Sushi" being a very trendy and innovative Japanese restaurant, but skip it; the service is snobby and the food is very average.

Come to think of it I can't say I've been too impressed with the overall quality of high-profile restaurants in Toronto! Whenever I'm there I just eat at the Chinese restaurants up in Richmond Hill/Markham. Yamato in Yorkville has decent Teppanyaki, I go there sometimes.

 

[tristan]

I totally concur on the quality of the food at susur, as well as alot of the other Fusion type restaurants. Especially at Rain, I very much dislike that place. But I mean if you're looking for hip and of the moment Susur is definately a consideration. Best bets right now in my opinion: The social, Habitat, Terroni, The Drake Hotel, and Thuet.

 

[star]

Oh I could give you a whole list.. what are you looking for exactly??

WISH is awesome..

ive never heard of this place, can you tell me about it?

 

[Assembler]

i just looked at the sassafraz website, and they have a section dedicated to celeb sightsseeings.. what LOSERS, ugh. plz tell me i am not the only person who gets turned off by stuff like this

You're not the only one. There's a reason sassafraz is one of the ONLY place that markets itself as a celeb hangout... because for the most part Torontonians (or maybe it's a Canadian thing) are turned off by that, or just not interested. Or in my case, suspicious that they're using that as a reason to inflate their prices.

 

[*AndoraStar*]

Li'ly - College/Bathurst (haven't eaten here, but heard good food, great atmosphere, great drinks, great people, highly recommended)

I'm there all the time..

 

[Assembler]

New Ho King - College/Spadina (open till 4am on weekends, and have Singapore noodles, Shanghai noodles, General Tso chicken, and spring rolls to die for - it will be the last Chinese place you'll ever eat...it's probably one of the most popular after-club places to eat)

I LOVE New Ho King. They're on my speed dial. Haha. I just went there to eat last week, and they're the usual after Dance Cave eating spot (either that or Cora's Pizza).

There are a lot of sushi places on bloor just west of spadina. I like New Generation sushi, their crunch roll in particular. Sushi on Bloor is good too. But I don't know how really good quality the stuff is. It's fresh, it's a good price, that seems good enough for me.

 

[lola belle]

Bistro 999 is a classic. It's like being in Paris. Only, um, in Toronto. And this technically isn't a 'hangout,' nor in Toronto but if you can get a member to take you, the dining room in Magna Golf Club in Aroura (Aroura sucks, I can't believe they stuck this place there) is AMAZING. It's honestly some of the best food you'll ever have and the staff and facilities are impeccable. North 44 is great too, the views are amazing.

 

[tristan]

mmm good calls Lola. Those are definately yummy places to eat. But not so much hip as super upscale. Delicious none the less.

 

[ellonasty]

Burrito Boyz.

 

[auddie]

The Four Seasons hotel has two restaurants: Truffles, the expensive one, and Studio Cafe (I think that's what it's called...), the less expensive one. They're both v. good, but go to Studio -- it shares a kitchen with Truffles so you get the same quality of food but at a better price. Also, the atmosphere is nicer and more casual (aka not snobby).