Marcie S. wrote: >Someone wrote: >Someone wrote: >: > >: >We will be attending a conference in Toronto in the middle of August. The >: >conference is at the Ramada Hotel on Chestnut Street. Recommendations on >: >restaurants in the area would be helpful. > > >: Try the Honest Ed selection (multiple restautants) 3 blocks down, in the >: theatre district: steaks, italian etc, . Too bad you are not going to Montreal >: or Quebec city,...I could really give you great addresses. There are truly >: authentic chineese places in T.O.--just make sure you are prepared to rely on >: the waiter, 'cause the menus are NOT translated: just a few blocks west of >: where you will be staying. > >Honest Ed's is a tourist trap and avoid at all costs. There is a great >Chinatown in Toronto and most of the hotels have concierges that will >find you what you want without any problem. I recall a great Japanese >place in Yorkville section of Toronto and there were other good >restaurants in that neighborhood. > >MVS Hey! My Great Aunt Zoe used to take me to Honest Ed's when I was a wee lad - it's a GREAT place to go if you want roast beef, smashed potatoes and canned peas. The decor is not to be believed: every inch of space is covered by some knickknack or signed photograph of a 1950's has-been bad actor or forgotten singer. However, if you want *good* food you're going to the right place, despite the misguided comment about Montreal or Quebec City having better restaurants (maybe for crepes or smoked meat or bagels or feve au lard or poutine....) There are zillions of excellent ethnic places in Toronto, many of which are within an easy walk of Chestnut St. A 5 minute walk would take you to the Spadina Garden for Szechuan (try their "dumplings in hot oil" - steamed dumplings in a very spicy peanut sauce), or the Hunan Garden for Hunan, or the New Treasure for dim sum (all on Dundas between Bay and University). Also on Dundas skip the Chieng Mai for Thai (try the very busy and snotty Young Thailand at Gerrard and Jarvis instead, or Bangkok Garden on Elm near Bay instead). Also skip the Indian restaurant on this strip in favour of the nearby Babur, further west on Dundas at St. Patrick. They serve a fabulous lunch buffet for $6.99 - if you're lucky they'll be serving chicken korma or their unbelievably delicious eggplant the day you go, in which case don't plan on doing much jogging later in the afternoon. The place in Yorkville mentioned in a previous response might be Zero Restaurant, a nice place to eat but not overly close to your hotel. Better might be the funky Sushi Bistro on Queen just west of University, for sushi and small plates of interesting cooked foods, or try Masa on Richmond, or Yamase on King, for more traditional (and expensive) Japanese food (try a vito roll - kim chee and hamachi). I always like to recommend the Savunth on Parliament south of Wellesley for delicious Sri Lankan food at rock-bottom prices (even though it's not really near your hotel). The tables and chairs look like they found them at Sally Ann, but where else can you get a big plate of rice, raita, chutney, 6 (six!) small bowls of curry and a papadam for $4? Their masala dosai is also nice, and be sure to try the kottu rotti - it's sort of like fried rice but instead of rice they use little ripped up bits of chapati. /Phil
Toronto, Canada
Restaurants in Toronto, Canada
Phil K. wrote: >Marcie S. wrote: >>Someone wrote: >>Someone wrote: >>: > >>: >We will be attending a conference in Toronto in the middle of August. The >>: >conference is at the Ramada Hotel on Chestnut Street. Recommendations on >>: >restaurants in the area would be helpful. >> >> >>: Try the Honest Ed selection (multiple restautants) 3 blocks down, in the >>: theatre district: steaks, italian etc, . Too bad you are not going to Montreal >>: or Quebec city,...I could really give you great addresses. There are truly >>: authentic chineese places in T.O.--just make sure you are prepared to rely on >>: the waiter, 'cause the menus are NOT translated: just a few blocks west of >>: where you will be staying. >> >>Honest Ed's is a tourist trap and avoid at all costs. There is a great >>Chinatown in Toronto and most of the hotels have concierges that will >>find you what you want without any problem. I recall a great Japanese >>place in Yorkville section of Toronto and there were other good >>restaurants in that neighborhood. >> >>MVS >Hey! My Great Aunt Zoe used to take me to Honest Ed's when I was a >wee lad - it's a GREAT place to go if you want roast beef, smashed >potatoes and canned peas. The decor is not to be believed: every >inch of space is covered by some knickknack or signed photograph of >a 1950's has-been bad actor or forgotten singer. >However, if you want *good* food you're going to the right place, despite >the misguided comment about Montreal or Quebec City having better >restaurants (maybe for crepes or smoked meat or bagels or feve au >lard or poutine....) There are zillions of excellent ethnic places >in Toronto, many of which are within an easy walk of Chestnut St. >A 5 minute walk would take you to the Spadina Garden for Szechuan >(try their "dumplings in hot oil" - steamed dumplings in a very >spicy peanut sauce), or the Hunan Garden for Hunan, or the New >Treasure for dim sum (all on Dundas between Bay and University). >Also on Dundas skip the Chieng Mai for Thai (try the very busy and >snotty Young Thailand at Gerrard and Jarvis instead, or Bangkok >Garden on Elm near Bay instead). Also skip the Indian restaurant >on this strip in favour of the nearby Babur, further west on Dundas >at St. Patrick. They serve a fabulous lunch buffet for $6.99 - if >you're lucky they'll be serving chicken korma or their unbelievably >delicious eggplant the day you go, in which case don't plan on doing >much jogging later in the afternoon. The notion that Toronto has "execellent" ethnic resturants is really laughable to anybody who has eaten much in the big leagues, i. e. New York, San Francisco, etc. Chinese in Toronto is particularly disappointing given the number of Chinese. There are some good ones, but nothing really extraordinary, like say, House of Nanking in San Francisco. Most of the pretty good ones I've found are North of the 401 where the newer immigrants live. Grand Yatt, which is probably the best, I think has opened a branch somewhere in town. Young Thai, however, is excellent and not at all snotty. Bangkong Garden has great decor and OK food but is obscenely expensive. The only not-to-miss ethnic restaurant I've been to in Toronto is Cuisine of India, located a block north of the North York subway stop. It's only 20 minutes from Yonge/Bloor and well worth the trip. It's their tandoori dishes which are really spectacular. Marc Green