Vacation recommendations for Toronto, please

[aekbooth]

Hi. My family (2 kids, 12 and 6) will be visiting Toronto soon. We love to eat good food but are on somewhat of a budget. Also, we have a soy allergy, three of us won't eat seafood, and one cannot eat very spicy food while another craves it. So it is fun planning dinner at home let alone away. Things we all agree on are pizza, Spanish chorizo, kielbasa, and dessert! We love Thai, especially Northern Thai but need assurances that there are no soy products used. It's surprising that even some Mexican (although not authentic) has soy sauce! We want to stay away from chains and prefer to try things we can't get at home. Kids' menus are NOT a requirement. My kids preferred the Food and Wine Festival (not the wine, of course) at Epcot over Magic Kingdom in Disney World.

That said, I found the following restaurants that might be interesting. I would love some input and some other suggestions. I know we will only be there for 5 days but it will be nice to have options depending on mood and location. We will be staying at Bond Place hotel and will probably do the ROM or AGO, OSC, Royal Botanical Gardens, Fort York, the Islands. THANKS!!

Casa Barcelona
Cafe Polonez
Prague Deli
Saving Grace
Sunrise Grill
Karines
Boom Breakfast
MoRoCo
Sliced
La Bomboche Patisserie

Oh, and what is pizza in Dufferin Park like? It sounds intriguing.

[crawfish]

Terroni is my son's favorite restaurant. We go to the one on Queen St. W.
We had a great time at Guu Izokaya. An izokaya is like a Korean tavern, they serve small appetiser-size dishes and drinks. It's packed but we went right at 5 when it opened and were seated right away. The staff are very friendly and everybody is yelling in Korean - it's a real circus and we had a lot of fun. Food's great, too!
Little India is also a lot of fun, it's not Toronto's best Indian food anymore but it's a great neighbourhood to stroll. My son isn't a huge fan of Indian but he loves the bread. Udupi Palace has good dhosas.
Kensington Market and the surrounding Chinatown is fun to explore with lots of great takeout food options for every taste. Burritos, falafels, doubles, empanadas, bahn mi. Eat and wander.
Caplansky's is another favorite. I'm not a smoked meat fan but their scrambled eggs are the best and very good fried chicken.
St. Lawrence Market is great on Saturdays when the farmer's market is going. Peameal bacon (aka Canadian bacon) on a bun is a local specialty. There are good fish sandwiches on the south wall of the south market. And the veal and/or grilled eggplant sandwiches in the basement are popular.
When are you coming? There are great music and food festivals around the city all summer.

[TorontoJo]

Just to clarify, an izakaya is Japanese, not Korean. And they are yelling in Japanese. :)

But yes, Guu would be lots of fun for a family if they are a bit adventurous and don't mind the wait (go early!).

[aekbooth]

Guu Izakaya sounds like fun. Just have to check and see if they have any soy-free dishes.

Little India and Chinatown are on our list to explore.

Kensington Market sounds like fun. My husband likes bahn mi, the kids burritos and I like empanadas. Win-Win. But what are doubles?

Unfortunately, we will not be in town on a weekend. We will be there during the week during Luminato. We are hoping to see The Encampment and maybe doing a picnic dinner there.

[KAYLO]

Luminato? See you at RObert LePage's SPades perhaps....and highly recommend Gilead Cafe, nearby, before or after.

[Nevy]

Welcome to Toronto!

Sounds like you have a lot of good places for the kids to go. From my cousin's experience, I can recommend a few places that are close to several key tourist places. She had 2 kids recently come to Toronto (7 and 9). Though they didn't have the soy allergy like yours, they did have their food preferences and the family was cost conscious.

Near Casa Loma castle (just west on St.Clair), their kids LOVE the Stockyards. It's a smoke house that serves great crispy chicken. Their kids ate it up and all the sides as well. They requested going back twice on the trip.

As for thai food, I really love Khao San Road. The flavours are phenomenal. I've heard mixed reviews lately about the service but the food quality is still great and the prices are incredibly reasonable. It's fairly close you to you. It's between the subway stations St. Andrews and Osgoode. It's one of my favourite places for Thai.

Another restaurant that my cousin's family liked a lot is Terroni. It has a strict no adaption policy but their family loved it for the pizza and pasta variety. It's affordable and if you go early enough, it has no wait. They went twice on their trip (once for lunch and once for dinner). Their kids ate the salad and pizzas with no hesitation. They went to the one on Adelaide and that should be within walking distance to your hotel (just south).

[aekbooth]

Thanks, Nevy. I'll have to check out the Stockyards menu when their website comes back up. Khao San Road looks good but I didn't see my favorites of Nam Kao Tod or Tom Yum Kai. Terroni might be another good choice. I'll add them to my list.

[Nevy]

There's also new restaurant that has a Canadian spin. It's called Bannock. My cousin didn't ended up going there but I've been there for lunch. It's another affordable option that has some really good options. They have some really good options that would appeal to kids. Their pot pie is tasty. The poutine isn't the city best but it's a decent rendition that would make most kids happy. I liked the Bannock Bannock (smoked salmon, cream cheese, onion) and the white fish and shrimp cakes was good as well. It's another option. It should be within walking distance to your hotel.

I just remembered another option that your kids might like. It's called Come and Get It. It's a pop up restaurant that serves great poutine and sandwiches at a good value. Chipotle Beef Short Rib Poutine is possibly the best thing from that place! It's so yummy. The Granny Smith chicken Caesar sandwich is pretty amazing as well. The best thing is the price. $7-$9!!

There's a lot of other options but they're of various cuisines that your family might not be familiar with. Just let me know if you have other questions and I'd be happy to help offer suggestions.

[KAYLO]

Paramount --the lebanese bakery and diner around the corner on Yonge St. Fabulous baked goods, interesting baked-in-house faltbread/pizza thingies with an Arabic name, plus plenty of salad choices. Cheap. Noisy. Fun. Send the kids to the counter to look at the pastries before ordering.

[aekbooth]

This looks perfect. Lots to choose from, some new tastes but nothing to scare anyone away, and right around the corner! Thanks.

[LexiFirefly]

Come and get it use vegetable oil which usually contains soy, at least here in Canada. I'd reccomend calling ahead to everywhere to make sure they use pure canola, sunflower or peanut oil. I also have a soy allergy and haven't been able to eat at a lot of places due to that.

[aekbooth]

Thanks for the heads up. Soy lecithin and soybean oil are okay for my daughter. It's soybeans, soy protein and soy flour we have to be careful with. She has only ever reacted once to soy milk. But the allergy doctor tested her and combined with her other allergies, felt that she needed to be a bit careful with soy and carry an epipen. We haven't used it in 2 years of having it. That's a shame that your soy allergy is so much worse. It makes it incredibly hard, I'm sure.

[Full tummy]

May I ask where you live? It might help people with making recommendations.

[aekbooth]

Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Lots of fresh vegetables and plain food. Think white. Buttered noodles, roast chicken, potatoes. Heavy baked goods. Whoopie pies. Chain restaurants. Definitely NOT a culinary hotspot. We also want to stay away from the standard burger joint (unless it is special) or chicken nuggets or hot dog kind of places.