Good Eats at Yonge/College

[msprnt]

A friend and I are going to catch up near her place at Yonge and College/Carlton. I haven't eaten downtown in a long while, so I'm excited to try some of the places I've been reading about. What's good within a 10-15 minute drive or even a quick walk?

We could go for inexpensive/expensive ... ethnic foods .. anything! We're pretty open-minded and will likely try most foods! Preferably somewhere that has good food, not too loud, but casual enough to share pictures at the table (i.e. they won't push you out the door). Are there any places like that? (If not, we could always just go back to her apartment).

Cheers to spring finally arriving!

[msprnt]

so thanks for all recommendations ... we went to Pi-Thom's which is a quick walk from yonge/college .... it's on a side street off of yonge, but u can see it from yonge ... it wasn't particularly busy, but it was more than half full when we got there at 7:30ish ...

not the prettiest of places, but the atmosphere is casual and doesn't try to be anything it's not .... i found that there was a table who seemed to be regulars since they were happily chatting away with the chef/owner?? over desserts/coffee ... which was pretty neat i thought ... and a couple who seemed to be from out of town since they had a map! ... i guess the word about this place is out

anyhow, we split everything and got the dinner prix fixe at $25 for 5 courses with a drink (i got a iced thai coffee, but forgot my refill)! chicken cold roll, pumpkin soup, mango salad, duck curry (u can pick any main except for fish from the menu), and the deep fried pineapple with mango ice cream ... as well as the free app of 3 spring rolls and thai basil lamb...

what stood out was the pumpkin soup ... not quite like butternut squash soup, but similar .. had a bit of kick to it ... not sure what it was ... maybe nutmeg, but it was tasty and sufficiently hot.....the duck curry was also good ... tender duck breast and lots of yummy red curry ... (i took the curry to go after we finished!..hahaha)...the rest of the dinner was fine, but nothing stood out .... the thai basil lamb was pretty spicy and a bit tough for my liking ... but still lots of flavour ... we were stuffed at the end...

we thought it was a good dinner and were plenty full after ... and there was indeed no rush to get out ... nice place!... i'd go again .... everything on the menu was under 12.95 except for the fish which was 15.95 ... and in which case u get a whole fish! ... didn't see anyone order it though ....

[atomeyes]

Our favourite Indian restaurant in the city is Kathmandu Kathmandu on 500 Yonge St (On the east side).
Its pretty non-descript from the outside.
Its lunch buffet has more limited food options, but all of them are incredibly yummy.
the food isn't dripping with ghee, so you don't feel ill after eating there (a huge plus for Indian).
for dinner, their options are also quite delicious.
also, the owners are incredibly nice.

Otherwise, I suggest walking south for 5 minutes and going to Salad King on Gould and Yonge. not a fan of the atmosphere, but you quickly forget it once you get the tastiest and most affordable thai food in TOronto.

[food face]

I second Kathmandu lunch buffet.

[msprnt]

thanks for the recs guys! ... i'm going to send this post to her to see what she thinks... she did mention something about Pi-Tom and how there's this coupon for a free app if it's your first visit .... how they know it's your first visit, i have no idea!

keep em coming!

[vorpal]

I've never been to Pi-Tom, but Sasi Thai is located at Jarvis and Gerrard, and Sasi is probably the best Thai chef in Toronto. Her other restaurant, Mengrai Thai, is one of my absolute favourites.

[davidde]

And I really like Sushi Sky, on Yonge, west side, north of College.

[canadianbeaver]

They had huge sushi and really good selection, but i found their rice doesn't stay together properly.

[vorpal]

Maybe I went on an off day, but my one visit to Sushi Sky was very poor. Good prices, but bland, unappealing, and poorly prepared food. I'd rather walk the extra two blocks to go visit Tokyo Grill.

[camp1980]

Vorpal - I completely agree with your assessment of Sushi Sky, not really sure what everyone sees in the place.
I haven't tried out Tokyo Grill yet but have heard good things from many people. My go to place is Koyko Sushi, which is basically across the road from Sushi Sky, sadly they are renovating right now.

[davidde]

There's a good shawarma place on the east side of Yonge, between College and Wellesely.

[Googs]

(Here I go again.) On the south side of Carlton about a half a block east of Yonge there's a lovely little Japanese restaurant called Daio. It fitts your description perfectly. There are about 5 booths there as well which seat four. They've never thought twice about seating just hubby & I at one of them which I find very polite of them.

-----
Daio Japanese Restaurant
45 Carlton St, Toronto, ON M5B2H9, CA

[chocabot]

and next door is Peach Garden for vietnamese... Cheap, tasty and close by

[orangewasabi]

what would you recommend ordering at Peach Garden?

[chocabot]

The Peach Garden chain is famous for their "broken rice" rice dishes. (I believe the restaurant's vietnamese name speaks to it.)
I like their vermicelli rice bowls with grilled meat and bean curd wrapped shrimp. My bf family like the fried pork chop with rice dish and one of my friends really enjoys the pho ga (chicken pho).
I recently tried the newish Chinatown location and it was very good too.

[orangewasabi]

awesome thank you! I've been meaning to check it out and now I have a lot more motivation.

[pâté chinois]

Pi-Tom, a thai resto, is just a few streets north from Yonge/College. It is on the east side of Yonge. Nice atmosphere, very good food, and affordable.

http://www.pi-tom.com/

[orangewasabi]

second Pi-Tom, they're so hospitable there, it's a great place to visit with a friend

[canadianbeaver]

I really love Sushi Garden at Yonge and Wellesley, just one store West of Yonge on Wellesley. They would certainly let you share pictures, the food is really nice and they are very inexpensive. You could go to Fran's on College, too. Or there are a variety of other falafel and Asian restaurants all up Yonge. Pretty much just walk about three blocks North on Yonge, and you've got a ton of stuff.

[toveggiegirl]

Just say no to Fran's.

[canadianbeaver]

Well, it's okay if you want somewhere casual where you can talk and stay as long as you like, and only order something that's $5 or less. I think the atmosphere is proper for what they were asking for; it's not like they asked for a romantic, delicious meal or something.

[toveggiegirl]

The atmosphere is fine, I just find that most of the food is terrible there. On the plus side, the op could probably look through all the photos while waiting for the food. ;) I agree with you recommendations for Asian and Middle Eastern food. Way better in the area.

[Edith S]

The Ginger just north of Gerrard might work. Cheap Asian/Vietnamese food in a kooky environment.

[LTL]

Due to their large turnaround, however, I don't think they would be so accommodating about sharing pictures at the table and sitting for a while to catch up.

If you head a bit north to Bay/Charles, 7 West is a good option. They have three levels. I find the lower the level, the lower the noise level.