Toronto?

[flyingsit]

My husband and I are going to Toronto next weekend and have never been there. We're staying near Union Station (won't have a car, but love to walk, and public transport is fine). We've made no plans for things to do, places to eat, etc. so suggestions are welcome!

 

[gk_891]

If you're sticking around the core of downtown, try places like Pai Northern Thai Kitchen, Taste of China Seafood Restaurant, and Seven Lives Tacos Y Mariscos (the last place is super tiny and is mostly geared for take out). If you want to venture out a bit further outside of the downtown core, head to Eglinton West (Little Jamaica) for places like Rap's, Hot Pot, or Judy's Island Grill. There are two other good Caribbean places in Greektown on the Danforth called Simone's (Jamaican) and Indira's Caribbean Spot (Guyanese) although google says that Indira's has closed down which makes me sad.

 

[fan]

What types of food do you like? I have a bunch of recos.

Also, do you like museums? Shopping?

Where are you coming from?

 

[gk_891]

What types of food do you like? I have a bunch of recos.

Also, do you like museums? Shopping?

Where are you coming from?

Oh right, museums and shopping! I forgot about those.

OP, if you want good shopping recommendations, definitely try the Eaton Centre which isn't that far away from Union Station. Queen Street also has a lot of nice stores.

There's also the Royal Ontario Museum which is pretty nice as well as the Ripley's Aquarium of Canada.

 

[Erin]

One thing that has always been on my to-do list in Toronto, but I have yet to do is go to a comedy show at Second City. It's walking distance from Union Station. My brother and sister-in-law went and said it was great.

I always love going to see live theater in Toronto - there are three or four theatres with Broadway shows, all within walking distance and mirvish.com would have what is playing for all of them.

I haven't been to the Aquarium, but my friend who travels a lot highly recommends it. I was meh on the CN Tower personally. I finally went because I'd been to Toronto 10 or 11 times without doing the CN Tower and figured I should finally do it but it wasn't anything special and I felt like it was overpriced.

If you are into fine dining and don't mind spending a lot on a fancy meal, Canoe is probably the most upscale restaurant I've been to in Toronto. It's on the 60th floor so has a great view of Lake Ontario.

For more casual meals - I had a fun meal at the Sultan's Tent & Café, a Moroccan restaurant with belly dancers. Amsterdam Brewhouse is right on the water - they had good food and drinks. I also liked the Loose Moose and Beerbistro.

 

[flyingsit]

We love walking/exploring fun neighborhoods. Not excited about shopping. Interesting museums and sights are good -- we'll most likely go to the Aquarium because I love aquariums in general.

As for food, we don't have a lot of really good Asian food here in Denver and I miss that. Besides that, pretty open but probably don't want anything super-upscale on this trip.

 

[Jenny]

If you are interested in Asian food, you are in luck Pretty much every regional and ethnic Asian cuisine is well-represented in the city thanks to a huge immigrant population, ranging from tiny family-run restaurants serving up comfort foods from home to hipster bistros serving authentic and fusion versions, to the very upscale. And, in many restaurants you will likely find at least a dash of Asian influence on the menu, along with a hundred other cuisines.

From Union Station, you won't have to walk far for choice. Toronto Life magazine covers food and restaurants in the city extensively, and you can search their website here. Your hotel concierge should also be able to make good recommendations too. Try also chatting with waiters - they are often a good source of what's new and good, and not crazy expensive.

 

[StasiyaGalustyanLove]

One thing that has always been on my to-do list in Toronto, but I have yet to do is go to a comedy show at Second City. It's walking distance from Union Station. My brother and sister-in-law went and said it was great.

I always love going to see live theater in Toronto - there are three or four theatres with Broadway shows, all within walking distance and mirvish.com would have what is playing for all of them.

I haven't been to the Aquarium, but my friend who travels a lot highly recommends it. I was meh on the CN Tower personally. I finally went because I'd been to Toronto 10 or 11 times without doing the CN Tower and figured I should finally do it but it wasn't anything special and I felt like it was overpriced.

If you are into fine dining and don't mind spending a lot on a fancy meal, Canoe is probably the most upscale restaurant I've been to in Toronto. It's on the 60th floor so has a great view of Lake Ontario.

For more casual meals - I had a fun meal at the Sultan's Tent & Café, a Moroccan restaurant with belly dancers. Amsterdam Brewhouse is right on the water - they had good food and drinks. I also liked the Loose Moose and Beerbistro.

Yes, I agree with what you say about the CN Tower! My wife made me visit it just like she made us do the Space Needle when we were in Seattle, and they both made me feel queasy. Too crowded and not worth it!

Next time I am in Toronto I will take your advice and try the restaurant with belly dancing. It sounds exotic! There is also an ice cream shop in Toronto that I like called Bang Bang. I also recommend the Black Hoof which is perfect for skating because the way some of the gals wear their boots and tights it looks like a hoof. My wife pointed that out to me while we were watching the Nationals in San Jose and it really made me laugh!

 

[Vagabond]

@flyingsit Assuming it's warm enough, the Downtown Discovery Walk should be right up your alley. It goes through a series of green spaces and affords ample opportunity to wander off into the adjacent areas.

Kensington Market and St. Lawrence Market on opposite sides of downtown, are as different as two markets can be.

The main museums are the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Royal Ontario Museum.

For lunch, you might want to try one of the dim sum places in Chinatown and/or the Greek places in the Danforth area (best reached by the subway).

Dress warm.

 

[fan]

great chinese
www.wahsing.ca/

Great thai -
www.sukhothaifood.ca/wellington/

http://www.khaosanroad.ca

all walkable from union

 

[fan]

The ROM has the dior exhibit on now - supposed to be great.https://www.rom.on.ca/en/dior

tiny and lovely - http://www.textilemuseum.ca/home

 

[chewy]

The Dior exhibit is good I just went. Also try the Bata shoe museum which I haven't been to in a few years though.

AGO is good for an insight onto Canadian Art. They have quite a few Borduas as well, for a Quebec Automatiste perspective. It's not far from Kensington market which I'd recommend, take a walk down Spadina.

On Queen Street there is a good Burger's Priest (local chain). Go for the fries.

You have to go look at the Bercy fountain. It's shut off for the winter but is still cute and St.Lawrence neighbourhood is probably close to where you are staying.

 

[quartz]

The Gooderham and Worts Distillery District is lovely. You can spend money in all the artsy fartsy shops or just walk about and enjoy the prettiness of the area for free.
I love Kensington Market, but it’s not upscale at all, very shabby and vintagey and lowbrow, with some great hole in the wall places to eat.

ETA....and another vote for the ROM - I always check out the rock and mineral exhibit first.

 

[binbinwinwin]

I would highly recommend @fan 's suggestion of Sukhothai, it's walking distance from Union. If you can get a window seat you can get a view of the recently renovated Berczy Park which isn't quite as beautiful during the winter but a nice park nonetheless. You can call ahead to get a reservation here. They have a huge mural on a building and a great fountain there with dogs statues but they have been taken down for now so that they don't get damaged during the winter. Still a nice walk after a hearty meal though.

West of Berczy Park is the St.Lawrence Market which isn't upper scale by any means, but a nice cozy market where you can buy delicious sandwiches, lobster rolls, fresh fruit and more. North of here is the St. James Park and Cathedral which is absolutely beautiful to walk through, sometimes the church has a free organ concert in the afternoons, not sure if it's still on right now.

Now east of Berczy Park is more upscale because it's the Financial District and there is the Brookfield Place if you love looking at cool architecture. Brookfield Place is also home to the Hockey Hall of Fame, I've never been there myself but I think tourists might like it since we're so hockey crazy.

For a lot of good Asian eats they don't take reservations (a lot of really good restaurants along Dundas by the Toronto Eaton Centre are like this) and you might have to line up in the cold so plan ahead for that if you really want to try some places. You can also check out blogto.com as you can sort restaurants by area and check out local events happening in the city.

 

[gk_891]

We love walking/exploring fun neighborhoods. Not excited about shopping. Interesting museums and sights are good -- we'll most likely go to the Aquarium because I love aquariums in general.

As for food, we don't have a lot of really good Asian food here in Denver and I miss that. Besides that, pretty open but probably don't want anything super-upscale on this trip.

I personally love going to the 'bad' neighbourhoods in Toronto. I actually find the people there to be extremely friendly and there are a to of hidden gems in terms of restaurants that don't have much going for them in terms of ambiance but serve amazing food.

 

[fan]

I personally love going to the 'bad' neighbourhoods in Toronto. I actually find the people there to be extremely friendly and there are a to of hidden gems in terms of restaurants that don't have much going for them in terms of ambiance but serve amazing food.

We don’t really have “bad” neighbourhoods - I feel comfortable walking everywhere at night

 

[Japanfan]

There are two other good Caribbean places in Greektown on the Danforth called Simone's (Jamaican) and Indira's Caribbean Spot (Guyanese) although google says that Indira's has closed down which makes me sad.

I used to love Greektown when I lived in Toronto. But I went there for Greek food, not Caribbean. It was as close as you can get to Greek food in Greece.

 

[gk_891]

We don’t really have “bad” neighbourhoods - I feel comfortable walking everywhere at night

Same here. That's why I put 'bad' in quotation marks. I don't think they're bad at all in spite of some people saying so.

 

[gk_891]

I used to love Greektown when I lived in Toronto. But I went there for Greek food, not Caribbean. It was as close as you can get to Greek food in Greece.

I never go out for Greek food since I have a generous neighbour who is Greek. But wandering through Greektown once, I fell upon both Simone's and Indira's and enjoyed my meals there. It was a pleasant surprise.

 

[Vagabond]

I remember going out with one of my cousins to hear jazz in what he described as "the worst neighborhood in Toronto." It looked to me like an above-average neighborhood in Los Angeles!

 

[gk_891]

I remember going out with one of my cousins to hear jazz in what he described as "the worst neighborhood in Toronto." It looked to me like an above-average neighborhood in Los Angeles!

Not surprised. I once heard of some guys from Compton, California who went to Jane and Finch in North York and they laughed about how 'scary' it supposedly was. Apparently people were afraid of them!

 

[fan]

African palace on bloor has great Ethiopian (subway ride from union - get off a ossington)

 

[Japanfan]

I've heard that the Art Gallery of Ontario is worth a visit in Toronto, though I've never been myself.

 

[mackiecat]

There is a cool light festival at the http://www.thedistillerydistrict.com/ There are also plenty of good restaurant in the area.

 

[Peaches LaTour]

I certainly hope your experience in Toronto is better than mine was. I will never go there again.

 

[fan]

I certainly hope your experience in Toronto is better than mine was. I will never go there again.

Tell us more

 

[flyingsit]

Thanks everyone!