To eat or not to eat? Dear beloved foodies, look no further than a GO transit ticket to find delicious treasures from across the world. Toronto, a city filled with hipsters, hype beasts and ripped jeans. Not that different from Cambridge but with better food.
Let me, someone with no qualifications other than the fact that I eat a lot, tell you about the inexpensive cultural food Toronto has to offer you so you can prove to your friends you’re worldly.
Arisu Korean BBQ & Sushi
Our first stop is Koreatown, birthplace (not really) of the current craze of K-pop. We will be politely entering the Korean barbecue restaurant of Arisu at 584 Bloor St W. (Hit them up. Tell them I sent you. No benefit included.)
Outside the restaurant (I forgot to snap a picture so here is Google’s)
This is the first Korean restaurant I ever went to and I keep going back because the service is great, the food is great, it comes at a reasonable price, and most importantly, the interior of the restaurant makes for great Instagram pictures. The interior has a theme of dark wood and reds throughout it giving it a dim, comfortable feeling to it.
Interior of the restaurant. (Arisu.ca)
Now on to the food, the reason we’re all here. Arisu’s barbecue is what they are famous for. I recommend going with a group of people so you can take full advantage of the barbecue deals.
My friends and I always order the LA galbi. On top of barbecue, we also get tteok-bokki and bibimbap. An individual’s bill can range from $15-25 depending on how much you want to eat and what deals you get.
Ajisen Ramen
Moving across the ocean (Spadina) to Chinatown for Japanese ramen (ironic). Ajisen Ramen has multiple chains across the world, for all the investment enthusiasts out there, you can even buy stocks for their company!
This particular chain is the one at 332 Spadina Ave in Chinatown. You’ll know you’re there when you see this cute yet intimidating statue of a girl holding a bowl of ramen.
The restaurant is quite small and narrow, but the service is always willing to cater to your needs. It is also adorned with all sorts of paintings, posters, and decorations, giving the space a lively feeling.
Yelp (interior of the restaurant)
The number of ramen dishes they have is endless and most of them are customizable. I usually go for a spicy seafood ramen and my friends go for spicy beef ramens. You can also order barbecue chicken as a side dish or bubble tea as a beverage. They provide tea and water for free. The price of a bowl of a ramen is $10-$13.
Ding Dong Pastries & Cafe
Located just across the street from Ajisen Ramen, Ding Dong is a fan favourite Chinese bakery. Countless University of Toronto students have told me this is their bakery of choice and it’s easy to understand why.
Ding Dong Pastries is a simple bakery that offers classic Chinese pastries for a low price. The interior is warmly lit and lined with bins of fresh buns and treats. The bakery is often filled with interesting seniors who comment on your fashion choices.
The bakery is known for its red bean buns that come 2 for $1. Coming from a person who is not a red bean paste fan (blasphemous, I know) the bun is actually delicious and feels like the perfect comfort food. The buns are warm, moist, and slightly sweet.
The bakery is also highly regarded for its taro pastries and sesame balls. All pastries are around $1.
Sneaky Dee’s
Sneaky Dee’s is the trendy restaurant for everyone—from hip university students to hipless senior citizens. It is a breakfast and Mexican place at 431 College St. Head’s up; they don’t split bills!
The inside of the restaurant is fit for a Western saloon standoff with a hint of Latin American culture. The walls are dark wood and covered in eclectic posters.
My friend and I ordered lunch specials; I ordered an enchiladas combo and she ordered a brunch quesadillas combo. Each item was around $10. The food was warm and well seasoned. There was a good combination of food and the portion sizes were just right. Different type of enchiladas could go in one combo, so I got one veggie and one fish. The spice level could also be customized.
Livelihood Café
Livelihood Café is a coffee shop located in Kensington Market at 254 Augusta Ave.
It is a Middle Eastern themed café owned and run by two Syrian refugees who make killer Turkish coffee. As part of the Livelihood Project, an organization that helps new immigrants, the business pledges to hire new immigrants to teach them employable skills and build their resumes. The project was originally intended to give newly-immigrated Syrian women a chance to use their cooking skills to engage the community.
The café is popular among university students and is regularly filled with people studying. It has a bright, well-lit interior that is great to relax or study in. There is soft music playing in the background and the subtle smell of peppermint in the air.
The café offers all the items a regular café would, including coffee, lattes, and espressos. On top of that, it offers Middle Eastern beverages such as Turkish coffee and Syrian tea. My friend got a café mocha and I got a Syrian tea. The Syrian tea was a refreshing herbal tea with walnuts in it.
(Also a great place to study cultural history!)
This was a short list of restaurants my friends and I went to during a day in Toronto.
There are so many more I didn’t get a chance to visit or mention. For example, Tsujiri is a matcha flavoured dessert restaurant to satisfy your sweet tooth, Lahore Tikka House is a Pakistani restaurant on Gerrard St. where you will ascend into heaven with its spices, and Seven Lives Fish Tacos will make you forget that “fish are friends, not food.”
I recommend everyone go on a day-long food excursion across Toronto, if not to find yourselves but to realize you don’t eat to live, you live to eat.
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