Well, 2008 has come and gone, and with the change of year went Brett’s hopes that my anticipated Toronto blog post would somehow make an appearance before the start of the New Year. Regardless, it’s here now… only a month after our visit! Better late than never, I guess.
As Brett mentioned in his Toronto photo post, during the first week of December we were both able to take some time off of work and went to Toronto to spend some time with our friend Rita and enjoy a small escape from our day-to-day routine.
Having visited Toronto last year on our road-trip for over 10 days, we new before arriving that there were a few places we definitely wanted to revisit – and, no surprise here, they were all restaurants. We found while in Toronto last year that the city has some truly amazing restaurants – and this time, we were determined to visit all of our favorites, and also try some new ones. Behold, a list of recommended restaurants if ever you find yourself in the Toronto area:
Crêpes à GoGo: Our absolute favorite place for a daily indulgence. We visited a few times while in the city because the food is deeeelicious and the atmosphere is fantastic – it is owned by a French woman who is incredibly kind and welcoming, along with her all-woman French staff. Additionally, there were many French patrons coming and going, often greeting the owner and her staff. My usual order was brie, honey, and egg crepe (my mouth is watering as I think about the taste), while Brett regularly ordered the maple syrup and strawberries crepe. If you ever visit Toronto and want an undeniably good treat, please get thee to Crêpes à GoGo at least once.
Asian Legend: We had two fantastic meals at this Asian restaurant while we were visiting on the road-trip, but for some reason both Brett and I agreed that the meal we had this time around was not quite as good as we expected. Perhaps it was because we forgot what we ordered the first (and second) time and therefore couldn’t remember what we enjoyed. We still had a great meal, though, and what makes the restaurant great (similarly to Crêpes à GoGo) is that the restaurant attracts people of its ethnicity – most of the customers in Asia Legend were Asian. To me, that’s always a good sign that the food is somewhat authentic.
Smoke’s Poutinierie: This restaurant is included on my list not because Brett and I loved the food, but more because the food is an experience in and of itself. Poutine is basically a dish of French fries and cheese curds, seasoned, and soaked in gravy. We (naturally) had the vegetarian version at Smoke’s, which involves the same ingredients, but replaces beef gravy with vegetarian gravy. I have to say that, while we didn’t totally love this dish, we were quite intrigued by it, and did manage to eat quite a respectable portion of our serving. I think that I personally didn’t enjoy the gravy, and that is what threw the whole dish off for me – I can deduce this by the fact that French fries and cheese curds together can, under no circumstances, result in an adverse reaction from myself and other inner gluttons alike.
Burrito Boyz: Immediately after our Poutine experience, we went literally downstairs to this hideaway burrito joint just below street level. Although we were no longer what you could call hungry, we decided to order a small vegetarian burrito because Rita ensured us that it was the best burrito in town – and she was certainly right. The burrito was toasted, full, spicy, and no doubt delicious. We could easily see why many residents satisfy late night cravings at Burrito Boyz.
Terroni: Brett and I had tried to have dinner at this restaurant while we were in Toronto on the road trip, but upon arrival at the restaurant we were told that the wait was over an hour long and no reservations or names were taken. This time around was a bit different. After attending the One of a Kind Show (more on that in a bit), Rita, Brett and I met Marc, at Terroni’s for dinner. While all of the dishes we saw at tables around us looked mouthwatering, Brett and I decided to order simple dishes – a margherita pizza and spaghetti with marinara sauce, because as Brett says if an Italian restaurant cannot make the simplest of Italian dishes, then the restaurant should probably not be serving food. I can honestly say that regardless of whether the dishes themselves were “simple” in nature, they were certainly NOT lacking in flavor and deliciousness. Both Brett and I were so unsatisfied by this meal that we had on our last night in Toronto, that we visited a different location for lunch as our final meal the next day! Our experience in this popular and trendy (but not pretentious) restaurant was well worth the year-long wait we endured to have the Terroni experience.
In addition to totally gorging ourselves on wonderful food, we actually did manage to see other parts of the city as well! We spent some time wandering around the many shopping on King Street, and we had a really wonderful dinner with some family on my mom’s side of the family who I had not seen in years – two of whom are going to be at our wedding in May. We also spent a number of hours at One of a Kind Show (mentioned above), which is an incredibly vast and varied art show featuring thousands of Canadian sellers. There were all sorts of goodies for sale here – everything from herb seeds, to fur hats, to intricate sculptures, and more. Oh, and because it’s somewhat obvious that Brett and I like food (A LOT), it may come as no surprise to you that we had a blast in the food area of the show – we were able to sample all sorts of delicious and unique foods. I took a liking to some wine jams and Balsamic Fig Tapenade (which I delightfully bought), while Brett excitedly bought a concoction called “Hurricane Mash” – a hot sauce that is not for the faint of hearts (or throats). We had a really great time and made some very worthwhile purchases.
Needless to say, we had a really enjoyable time in Toronto. It was so great to see Rita, and it was so nice of her to let us stay in her apartment again. It was also great to spend time with David and Mary so that they could meet Brett before the wedding, and also meet other members of my extended family at the same time. I hope we will get to go back to Toronto again sometime soon, if for nothing else than the great friends and delicious food!
