A must go-to restaurant!

How does a restaurant with no advertising and no sign at the front, always have a waiting line!? Well Khao San Road is one of the very few that can pull it off. It clearly makes the list of best restaurants in the GTA!

Located in the downtown core, Khao San Road is a Thai restaurant attracting food aficionados by the dozens.  Word of mouth is their only form of advertising, and from the length of the line extending outside the restaurant, it’s clear that that’s the only form of advertising they need.

Friends always ask about advice on the top 10 restaurants in Toronto, and Khao San Road is one that makes it on the list every time. For a first timer, the excitement when you walk through the door can be compared to walking through the doors of Disney World. Appetizers tickle your taste buds, and leave you salivating for the main entrée. Speaking of entrée’s, the assortment will cater to all sorts of tastes from vegetarian food to foods that make you feel like a carnivore. Don’t even get me started on the dessert menu!

The next time you are in downtown, and feel like treating your deserving stomach to some great food, keep Khao San Road in mind, and I guarantee you that it will definitely make your list of the best restaurants in the GTA.

Do you have any suggestions on a must go-to restaurant?

The top 3 food trucks in Toronto!

On any busy street in Toronto, it’s hard not to spot a food truck. With so much variety to choose from and quite a hungry stomach to feed, which are the best food trucks in Toronto to leave you craving for more?

The typical stereotype for all food trucks is greasy hot dogs and fries, but you’ll be surprised to know that none of those vendors have made the top five! In fact, there has been a boom of gourmet trucks over the past year! Yes that’s right; gourmet food trucks are now the best food trucks in the GTA! Serving anywhere from lobster rolls, to shrimp tacos, meatballs, southern barbecue, and even frosties made from sugar cane juice!

Buster’s Sea Cove is the first in question. Their fresh variety of seafood tucked into a taco or roll is simply a taste-bud boggling treat. Although slightly pricey, they have no problem drawing in long lines.

 Do you enjoy waiting half an hour in line, and then another ten minutes for your food to be ready, well then you've definitely stopped in front of the right food truck! Hogtown Smoke has your serving of the juiciest southern barbecue delicacies you can find!

Quirky food names are just one of the reasons El Gastronomo Vagabundo has made our list. Largely offering tacos, their award winning menu has made them the go-to food trucks for catering to the film-industry, and concerts.

The most fun restaurants in Toronto!

Now when you think of fun restaurants, Caffe Demetre may not always be the first one that comes to mind. Most will argue that it`s just an ice cream parlour, and not actual dining. Well I do consider it a restaurant because of the dine-in environment.

Caffe Demetre has always been a fun place for me to visit whether I`m in Mississauga or Toronto. First of all, who can resist so many delicious flavours of ice cream? I know I can’t. I'm quite indecisive when it comes to ordering food, and Demetre is always making my decision harder! Banana splits, chocolate waffles, vanilla sundae’s, and a ton of other choices are more than welcome to me. In fact, as I am writing this blog post, I am salivating slightly, longing just a scoop to send my taste buds straight to heaven. At the end of the day, I've never regretted any visit to Caffe Demetre because whatever I order is always amazing! The friends and family I visit with when I'm there are always the cherry on top.

Well that makes my number 1 of the unique restaurants in Toronto. What restaurant makes your list?

What is the best buffet in Toronto?

Now I do enjoy buffets quite a lot because I can place my indecisive ordering habits to the side, and have whatever I want, in whatever quantity I want! Mandarin, Spring Rolls, and Tandoori Flame are the first three that come to mind. Can you guys tell me which restaurant do you consider the best buffet in Toronto?

I'm always up for a great buffet whether it be lunch or dinner. If it’s a breakfast buffet, then please do count me in for that as well! I have yet to explore many parts on Toronto, and feel that I have missed out on many great places to eat. Due to my indecisive nature when ordering food, I tend to choose buffets over traditional order-a-few-dishes restaurants. However, going to the same places over, and over again is starting to get boring, and my taste buds, along with my mind have agreed that I need to find new buffets in Toronto.

This weekend I’ll have the time to go to one, and I wanted to know which one is the best buffet in Toronto?

Top new restaurants in Toronto!

1308. What’s that number you ask? Oh that’s just how many restaurants opened up in Toronto last year alone! Triple of the number that opened in 2011, and 2010. We are undoubtedly in a massive restaurant boom, and not only is this trend good for the economy, it’s also great for our stomachs! Narrowing down from 1308 to the top 10 was no easy task, but Toronto Life took on that challenge, and has come up with their list of best dine in restaurants in Toronto!

 

This year, SHŌTŌ, an exciting restaurant opened by New York super star chef, David Chang, has taken home the gold medal! Ramen food has become increasingly popular over the years, and David is at the Toronto forefront of this new craze! 10-course exotic meals are prepared for the lucky 22 people that get to have a seat in the restaurant, after dishing out $150 just for the entrance fee, and another $80 to bring along a partner. Can you imagine spending $230 even before you get served!? Well clearly 22 people every night feel it’s well worth it, so maybe we should too.

Would you go to such an expensive restaurant just to enjoy one night?

How to spot good cheap food in Toronto?

It’s a Thursday afternoon and you just finished your statistics midterm exam. You’re walking along the streets, starving for some good but cheap food in Toronto. At this point, you’re debating if you want some

1.     Delicious street meat like a nice hot Italian sausage from one of the many stalls stationed around the corners

2.     Or maybe some sort of fast food from one of the fast food mall strips

3.     Or stores along the streets

You look around and you’re determined to purchase some delicious cheap food in Toronto but you don’t know how to determine the good from the bad. What do you do?

Well, here are a few tips to spot the good cheap food in Toronto from the bad cheap food in Toronto. The following are a few criteria and little hints that will tell you that it’s a spot that serves good cheap food in Toronto:

·       The place is busy! – Line ups are a give away

·       The variety of topping it offers! (Applies to mainly hotdog/sausage stands)

·       The freshness of the toppings it offers! (If it looks old, it probably is old. Again, only applies to mainly hotdog/sausage stands)

·       The friendliness of the seller! (If they are happy and friendly, it’s probably because they are making good business.)

·       The portion versus pricing! It’s not cheap if it cost you $5 for a small hotdog! Even if its good!

These are some of the main points I’ve gather through experience at university on “how to spot good cheap food in Toronto”. How do you go about spotting good cheap food in Toronto when are on the hunt for some delicious cheap food?

iitAIAS, gann05 (2011). Retrieved from: <http://iitaias.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/hot-dog-stand-toronto/ >

Best Japanese restaurant in Toronto

My first time eating sushi in one of the best Japanese restaurant in Toronto

My first experience eating sushi was with my friend Marilyn at one of the best Japanese restaurant in Toronto. Or so I thought at the time.

She asked me if I had ever been to sushi before. I was a bit embarrassed to say no, so I told her I have been quite a few times actually.

I knew I was in trouble if this continued, and boy was I right. She then asked me what my favourite roll was. Favourite roll? I asked. Calmly putting up a poker face, I stared at the menu and then told her I loved the spicy salmon roll! She chuckled a bit and said “me too!”

In my head, I figured that you could never really go wrong with salmon. And then she asked me: “So where else have you been for sushi? What’s the best Japanese restaurant in Toronto to go to for sushi?” I was doomed, I mumbled. Surely I’ve never been to one so this was the end of the road for me I thought when all of a sudden, the waitress slipped and dropped a bunch of dishes on the way to serve us. I fled to the scene with haste and helped the waitress and asked if she was ok and then slowly walked back to our table, hoping that she would forget about that question.

We then proceeded our evening dinner and it was one of the most delicious sushi experience I’ve ever had at one of the best Japanese restaurant in Toronto, or so I thought up until the next sushi experience.

At the end of the day, we were in walking towards my car when she looked at me and giggled and then asked me: “that was your first time eating sushi wasn’t it?” Slowly, I tried to kept my cool and asked her how’d she know? And laughed it off…

How do you think she found out?

The Best time to go to Food Festivals in Toronto

The best time to attend Food Festivals in Toronto is obviously in the summer. Well, there is just a whole lot more to do.  I am sure most of you prefer to stuff your face all you want without having a thick Canada Goose Jacket getting your way. Not to mention the weather, when it’s really warm you can enjoy strolling around the boardwalks in Toronto especially during events like President’s choice 1000 tastes of  Toronto that are held at the Harbour Front on Lakeshore. If you haven't been there yet, it is alot of fun and a great chance to try all the foods from President's Choice. You must buy food tickets, so don't forget to line up. Also, look out for its parking, since events are always held at popular places I would suggest taking public transportation, it is much easier and less costly than most green P parking. 

Yes it all sound's obvious, but trust me every year I attend one of these festivals people always end up forgetting at least one thing.

President’s Choice 1000 Tastes of Toronto(2012) 1

Be prepared; check the weather before food festivals that run a little later in the summer season like the Taste of the Danforth. For a few years in a row now, I have found myself caught in the rain eating my grilled calamari uncomfortably. Always separate your group to purchase food from multiple lines before feasting- otherwise you will be wasting your time. Last tip bring some wet naps and drinks, you will thank me later.

What tips do you have for us food festival goers?

1.      President’s Choice 1000 Tastes of Toronto (2012). Retrieved from: http://festivals.westjet.com/festival/images/274/presidents-choice-1000-tastes-toronto

Cheap food in Toronto

What is the difference in fine dining restaurant and cheap food in Toronto? What defines cheap food?

So I have a friend that has never really had any real experience with fine dining restaurants before. He’s always wondered what it’s like to be in one, and how different is it to the daily street meat, or fast foods, or basically the cheap food in Toronto that students usually visit more than fine dining restaurants.

One night, we were both drinking on my balcony and he asked me if the taste buds of cheap food in Toronto were comparable to that of fine dining restaurants? I quickly replied no, and chuckled and said that fine dining food offers quality food that cheap food places in Toronto doesn’t. Then we got into a very intricate debate, comparing many places that serve cheap food in Toronto that were delicious versus the well-known fine dining stores that I’ve been to like Sassafraz.

The main debate of the argument was that, what defines “cheap food”? Was it the quality of the food that was served? Or was it the type of food that was served? Or was it the poor environment the food was served in? Or was it the cheap prices that the stores serving cheap food in Toronto offered?

Honestly, we spent well over almost 2 hours worth arguing about it and then I decided to write this blog to ask you readers for your opinion!

What do you think differs fine dining restaurants from cheap food found in Toronto? And what do you think defines cheap food in Toronto?

1.     Toronto Life Staff (2013). Retrieved from:

< http://www.torontolife.com/daily-dish/restaurants-dish/2013/01/23/toronto-cheap-eats/>