Must eats. Toronto in four days.

[ndavid81]

Gonna be in toronto for four days. I'd like to experience the best food of toronto. I'm very adventurous and love trying new things. Any tips would be much appreciated.

[sugearl]

If you're ever in Stouffville and don't feel like going too farl, both Fishbone Bistro and Lemon Bistro serves up stellar food. Fishbone is right on Main St. Stouffville, while Lemon Bistro is on Main St. Markham, which is about a 10-15 minute drive, depending on traffic.

They probably won't have the "wow" factor that the downtown restaurants do, but if you don't want to trek far for a solid meal, they'll more than do the job.

[fifthglen]

If you are visiting St. Lawrence Market I would definitely recommend 2 restaurants near by: Spring Rolls and The Sultan's Tent. Spring Rolls http://www.springrolls.ca/home.php has a great Asian menu that I go to whenever I am in the area. The Sultan's Tent on Front Street is authentic Moroccan restaurant with a 4 course meal, that does nor rush you through your meal, and twice a day has live belly dancing with interactive elements. They have creme bruleee that is great. A must visit!

[Nevy]

I respectfully disagree with Spring Rolls. Though it's not the worst restaurant in the area, it is often a heavy goopy brown sauced inauthentic variation of the real thing. They heavily rely on soy sauce and corn starch to get their 'flavour'.

Sultan's Tent is an interesting restaurant. I've had mixed service so it's 'your mileage may vary'. type of restaurant for experience. The food is more consistent so it's not a necessarily a bad place ... last time I went, they screwed up our order 3 times (out of 5 orders) and we waited nearly 40 minutes for them to get everything right. Food quality wasn't bad but the service made us vow never to return.

If you're going to SLM, I highly recommend Buster's Sea Cove. It's no frills but it's fantastic in terms of fresh seafood done well. I think the grilled halibut is my favourite but I've also had great squid (grilled and fried), and lobster bisque. It's not a destination spot but my spot to go if I'm in SLM area. Also there's a pretty decent place for Gelato in SLM area. It's called G for Gelato. I had a latte and a few scoops and it always satisfy my sugary fix.

[magic]

What?!

Ignore the Spring Rolls rec.

Any CHer will tell you the Spring Rolls chain worse than awful. I almost want to say "How dare you".

Sultan's Tent I've never been to but have not heard inspiring things. I gather it's for groups and tourists. But again, I've never been.

I recommend Holy Chuck Burgers, Banh Mi Boys, Cafe Polonez, Ravisoups, and Fish Store.

Closer to Stoufville I love Ding Tai Fung.

[janel]

I will chime in and say please do not go to Spring Rolls and Sultan's Tent if you're looking for good, authentic food.

[Davwud]

Get thee to St. Lawrence Market. Recently tagged "Worlds best food market" by Nat. Geo.

Try the Peameal on a kaiser from Carousel.

There are lots of other great little nibbles for walking and eating as well as plenty of full on meal options.

Also, if you're a mustard person, make sure you check out Kozlik's upstairs, south market. Some pretty awesome stuff there.

Tu - Sat only.
http://www.stlawrencemarket.com/

DT

[Luvtooeat]

Great crepe place downstairs once your at St Lawrence Mkt
Excellent cheese samples upstairs
Mkt is closed Sun

[justsayn]

Where are you visiting from?

[ndavid81]

DC

[autopi]

will you have a car? a lot of toronto's strengths turn out to be far out in the suburbs.

[ndavid81]

I'll be between stouffville and downtown. Relying on public transportation.
But may have access to a car when I'm in stouffville.

[autopi]

well if you have a car, then i would search out the posts from charles yu about chinese options in the richmond hill/markham area. apparently they are great. another poster, nab, has recently posted about pakistani options out in the burbs:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/613131

downtown, i'm partial to the woodlot, and soma is an upscale chocolatier that, in addition to great chocolates, does very nice hot chocolate (including a bicerin) and gelato. they have an outpost on king st w, which is conveniently close to alimento, toronto's answer to NYC's eataly. alimento has a fabulous little bakery counter, w/a good assortment of italian pastries and cookies, which are both delicious and surprisingly affordable. there are a couple trendy japanese options -- guu izakaya seems to be a board favorite (i thought it was decent, but not blown away), and there are some ramen options, including the brand new kinton ramen. dunno how accessible ramen or izakayas are in DC. enoteca sociale is an upscale italian spot w/an extensive wine program. not particularly adventurous, but i think very well executed.

i haven't been to many of the higher end restaurants in toronto, largely b/c my impression is that they offer poor value, at least if you're comparing to the US. my sense is that the upper end here is both less innovative and more expensive. perhaps others with more experience w/high end dining in toronto will weigh in here.

[ndavid81]

Thanks for the input. Will definitely try the downtown options. Love japanese!

[Charles Yu]

I would throw in a meal at Sushi Kaji as well, which IMO is the best Japanese restaurant east of the Rockies ( NYC restaurants excluded )!

[KAYLO]

Totally agree on Kaji. Must book in advance. For ethnic eateries, DC is already pretty strong.... hmmm....THe Cheese Boutique in Etobicoke has no DC equivalent to my knowledge, especially as poster will likely have access to a car and a ktichen in Stouffville. Pick up some ramps, morels, a chunk of Vento D'estate ("summer wind" sheep's milk cheese) and make hosts an incredible omelette? A uniquely Toronto gastronomic Saturday might start with a pea meal bacon sandwich lunch at southern side of St. Lawrence market, then across Front to the north side to see what is local, stroll to the Distillery for Soma chocolates and a cup of joe at Balzacs, maybe a few galleries or a matinee at Soulpepper, and finish with blackboard dinner of Ontario's local produce simply prepared at Jamie Kennedy's GIlead Cafe a few blocks north. (again, must book)

[Tweety2004]

just wondering if sushi kaji is still worth to try if i'm from hong kong. i'll be in toronto for a few days visiting relatives next month. thanks.

[Charles Yu]

Using your 'Hong Kong Japanese' as reference. IMO, Kaji's food is like a cross between the contemporary 'Nobu/Zuma' and the traditional Kaiseki 'Inagiku'. If 'Wagyu Kaiseki Den' is a Michelin 1*, then Kaji should be at least that as well since the food is as good if not better.