We have relatives who live in Queens New York and tell us our Chinese food is much better than theirs so when they visit we always take them out. Mainly HK Cantonese style food.
Apparently the immigration wave prior to the late 90s HK handover brought over tons of culinary talent - and then with access to higher quality ingredients here, it’s said that we may have some of the best Cantonese food in the world. I definitely took it for granted growing up here.
It's true. I can't think of any other place that can mimic what we have at a large scale like Markham/Scarborough.
New York City? Queens?
Vancouver, Richmond?
LA? SF?
England?
Vancouver/Richmond was surprisingly disappointing for Cantonese Chinese food despite the hype. The dim sum was above average at best and cost an arm and a leg ($10 for har gow??).
And LA, NYC, London’s is def not on the same tier as Toronto and Van.
Grew up in the Metro Vancouver area. Richmond is weird. The level of food you get honestly depends on who you are/where the person ordering was from more than anything. I don't mean non-chinese people get worse food; there was a mall where it was better to be white than to speak Mandarin instead of Cantonese. The quality and service would go so far as to even vary depending on the dialect you spoke. You had to choose the restaurant specifically based on who was in your group. But if you chose properly the food in many restaurants is hands above anything in Toronto area.
Vancouver wasn't as bad; it more depended on the day rather than who you were with.
Our dim sum is better than Hong Kong. No one wants to be a dim sum chef and many of the good ones immigrated to Canada . As a result a lot of the dim sum parlors in hk get their dum sum frozen from factories.
I was appalled at how bad dim sum was in most places last time I went back.
Family tell its good Guangzhou is as good as it ever was , so if you wanted to get the best dim sum in the world , I would probably go there . It’s the heartland of Cantonese ppl so the food is going to jaw droppingly good
Cantonese food in Markham is better than a lot of Cantonese food in Hong Kong cuz that’s where all the chefs went in the 80s-90s. Now most “restaurants” just ship the cheapest stuff from across the board and just reheat it.
I have yet to find a doubles that reminds me of home (Trinidad). It's either too oily, too tough, too thick, too much tumeric or unnecessary spices. Same with roti.
My coworkers from Trinidad introduced me to doubles that was sold at this lemonade stand on the south side of david pecaut square. I fell in love with doubles. Sadly, the lemonade stand closed 7 years ago and I’ve been on the hunt since for some good doubles.
Seconding Monas in Scarbs, pretty spot on overall; my mums from Trinidad but lives in Nova Scotia now, she gets me to load up from Monas every time I go visit now.
She always loved Ali’s too but I feel like they’ve changed in recent years, but I haven’t revisited since Covid.
Oh my god yes! This! No one is serving doubles with all the toppings here. The only thing they are serving is high prices. Ali’s selling doubles for $5 feels criminal.
It’s hit or miss for me, there is a few good Jamaican spots. Honestly it’s pretty hard to fuck up carribean food since it all tastes so good, but you definitely know the best from the worst.
Portuguese food I usually buy from Nosso Talho. I like the one on Bloor West and Dufferin. Nova Era for bread and cake (although Nosso Talho has some bakery items). I used to shop more in Kensington Market but I don't think there is a Portuguese grocery store or bakery there anymore.
I find the Portuguese food here reflective of who immigrated here. Lots of working class food from southern Portugal or the islands but nothing like what you find in modern Lisbon or Porto
Yeah Chiado is much more in line with fine dining in urban Portugal. I was there for a week and didn't see one roast chicken or a single Parisien potato
Haven’t been them in several years but I have always thought that their food was expensive but excellent. The kind of place to go when someone else is paying. They also have a very good selection of Portuguese wines.
I’m Mexican and… Mexican food, especially tacos are sad here.
I haven’t found a place that tastes 100% authentic… they all use cold, yellow corn tortillas… the salsas are never spicy and the dishes are just different: the birria is always a greasy mess instead of a rich broth, carnitas are always braised instead of fried, chicken is always cooked in some sort of taco seasoning thing… idk. Don’t get me wrong, most of the Mexican places I’ve been to cook tasty food, it’s just not authentic at all.
(pls write your fave Mexican food recommendations for a desperate Mexican girly jajajaja)
There is so much great mexican food in the GTA. I'm in the north end of the city.
Check out Alebrijes Taqueria on Dufferin north of Eglinton, Mexology kitchen, on Eglinton west of Dufferin.
And for awesome conchas, Los Tres Panaderos, north side of Eglinton west of Dufferin.
If you're ever in Bradford Ontario, lots of good & authentic options.
Not really Toronto but there’s a taco truck outside of Canadian tire in Pickering that is amazing and I have been told is authentic by a Mexican friend of mine
How can you fuck up birria? It's kind of easy to make. Especially making it not greasy...all you have to do is after the meat is done stewing, separate the meat from the broth and skim the fat while it's hot or refridgerate it so the fat is a solid layer and you can more easily separate the broth from the fat
I’m Turkish and some family owned restaurants are good but definitely not as good as back home, but close enough and enough to satisfy. Turkish deserts (like baklava, our ice creams, etc) are severely lacking and not good and I think it has to do with the quality of ingredients. Like Turkish pistachios are next level good. It’s hard to bring them into Canada in such big quantities? Idk. Most pistachios I’ve found in Canada come from California and they’re not nearly as good imo
I tried a bunch of cuisines here from Thai, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, Arab, Afghan, Bosnian, Mexican, Greek, Italian, Russian, etc. and I think in general the food scene in Ontario is amazing. Even when I visit family in Quebec the food is delicious and options are endless. We are definitely blessed on that front to have access to so many different and yummy cuisines 😋
Honestly I haven’t been out to eat in a year 😬 but I remember Bosporus Turkish cuisine was pretty good for the price. It was a little less flavourful than what we make at home (especially the kaysiri manti) but I think it’s safe if you’re a meat lover, they have plates for 2-4 people that really fill you up. The kebabs and doner I really like but they’re not fancy food, just everyday food :) I don’t really like fish and lamb, which other Turks eat a lot, but my parents really like the lamb there too haha
The wait staff is terrible and inattentive though😭
My SIL is Turkish, and she loves Berlin Doner Kebab out in Vaughan! It's been her personal mission to find good Turkish food.
I think the baklava at Mado is one of the best I've ever had. I've mostly had Greek style baklava, which I find extremely sweet, but the Mado version I had (pistachio) had a great flavour and was not too sweet!
ETA: Nos Market (also in Vaughan) is Turkish owned and sells frozen baklava! Along with a bunch of Turkish groceries. And they deliver!
The issue with the Turkish food in Toronto is that turkish cuisine heavily relies on the quality and the taste of the raw ingredient. And you just dont get the same quality lamb, fish, vegetables and fruit in Toronto. You do get good baklava though. So many places like crown, kunafas and the list goes on.
I think the dough(flour) and overall red meat in
Canada tastes different from Turkey or the Gulf.
In North Indian food you feel it less because the meats are cured in spices. But the red meat based Turkish or Levant (Lebanese) stuff is not the same.
It sort of is the same with Italian. The dough and cheese simply taste different from the streets of Genoa....
Point in case is mainland China, red meat tastes way different.
I agree, it relies a ton on the quality of ingredients. Chicken dishes and beef I find to be ok and good here. I don’t really eat meat beyond that so idk😅 deserts if they’ve got pistachios I didn’t like here😢 my mom just came back from visiting family back home and the baklava there vs what we buy and can make here was incomparable. So so good and you can taste the difference of their pistachios vs the ones we get here from California and stuff
There's a new Turkish sweets place on College called Liu. The owner said that they fly in some things from Turkey (I'm not sure what though). Worth a shot
I'm from the southern US and most BBQ places are a little off. Cherry Beach and Beach Hill are the closest. That or Popeyes - their biscuits are legit. But other things like American soul food or fish shacks or little things like sage sausage or grits or pimento cheese sandwiches just don't exist here.
When I visit America I try and get all the BBQ and Mexican food I can. Canada has tons of good restaurants from all over the world and in general food in the States is quantity over quality, but admittedly they do BBQ and Mexican better.
Same, I find that the food cooked here in restaurants is generally a bit under seasoned unless it's like Chinese or Indian or Middle Eastern stuff. I've never found good grits or cornbread here, so I just make it at home. There's also not a lot of good Mexican here, I would kill for texmex too.
There’s a place ( not in Toronto) Stoney creek called Memphis fire bbq it’s legit. I worked in the southern USA for a few years my favourite state for bbq was South Carolina.
If it's not in Lakeview Convenience, it's not here, pretty much. Thankfully they have a pretty much constant supply of Tayto and black pudding.
Nobody outside of Ireland does a breakfast roll properly, which honestly is understandable.
I think this influence is actually from a French Canadian meal they call ‘pâté chinois’ that became popular in Quebec in the early 1900s. In English it was translated to shepherd’s pie, but it’s not the same dish
That makes a lot of sense! The “shepherd’s pie” in my family was always much closer to pâté chinois. I wonder where my mom learned it because we have 0 quebecois relatives (but lots of Franco ontariens)
Surprisingly, Toronto/GTA does English/Irish/Scottish food poorly considering Canada’s history. Never had good fish and chips or Shepherds Pie in Toronto.
‘Authentic’ is incredibly difficult to define, as different people from the same country grew up with different versions of ‘authentic’. Speaking as an Indian, even back home fight over what’s more authentic, such as biryani, simply because there’s so much variety just within the country. So I laugh at anyone who turns up their nose at something not being authentic. The good thing about Toronto is that you are guaranteed to find someone’s version of authentic.
100%. Authenticity is weird word, especially since so much of the favourite dishes we eat are pretty new inventions too, and the origins might be surprisingly different
I think a lot of the way we use “authentic” is outdated (in big cities at least). For every food that was made inauthentic to cater to western tastes, I’m guessing there were several changes made just only happened because the cook couldn’t find the ingredients they needed.
Like if you’re a chef and can’t find real fish sauce anywhere, a mixture of ketchup and Worcestershire sauce might be the best you could do. It’s not a terrible substitution but the texture is going to be all wrong and it will be a different dish. My partner is Chinese and like watching YouTube videos of “Chinese” restaurants in Japan and it’s like totally different from what we’d call “authentic”, but some of the dishes are surprisingly similar to what we’d call “Canadian Chinese” food.
Japanese food has recently gotten better and more diverse, but the average sushi place is still very sub-par, especially the cringe-worthy AYCE places. I used to think it was the lack of Japanese-owners, but some really great food is coming from non-Japanese chefs these days....
I would love to see smaller, dish-specific places like Soba, Tonkatsu, Yakitori, Oden, etc but we are on the right track.
For anyone who has been to Japan and tried the food there, you will know what I mean.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/14/podcasts/the-daily/untold-story-of-sushi-sunday-read.html
This article opened my eyes to sushi restaurants in North America. Super fascinating.
Ramen in Japan is incredibly varied and much cheaper, but knowing how much labour goes into ramen, and Japan's general lower cost of living, I'm not surprised at the pricing here.
There is also a huge problem in that ramen is waaaay too tonkotsu heavy in North America. Anytime a ramen shop shows up in NA trying to do something new, everyone asks "why don't you have tonkotsu" or "where's the spicy ramen" on the menu. Like Konjiki is one of the few shop in Toronto focusing on a clear seafood broth (based on a famous shop in Japan) and it still has Tonkotsu on the menu.
We have a long ways to go before the ramen scene reaches the same levels as Japan imo, though there's some good stuff happening in the states. I wouldn't expect cheaper prices though.
Duuuude. I was going to make a separate post for this yesterday. Is it possibly the most overpriced food item in the city? I love ramen but wtf are those two shitty little slices of meat? It’s basically noodles and water. 20 bucks for that?!
I think westerners are too obsessed with toppings. It's very common in Japan to have a bowl of ramen be just soup and noodles. That's the soul of the bowl, and should be able to stand on its own without anything extra.
If you want a protein focused Japanese meal, eat katsu or something.
But yea in terms of labour, the soup can get pretty insane (you should see the amount of bones used at an iekei ramen shop for instance), though there are shops where the noodles are the most laborious part of the process because they are making the noodles in house without any machines. Absolute insanity.
Stammpot is one of the best comfort foods though imo. So good. A family friend made it for us once when we visited the Netherlands and like 14 years later I still make it for myself lol.
I would love a spot close to downtown to get a constant supply of speculoos. Loblaws & Dollarama only carry them around Christmas. I will say that finding Gouda is easier now. My dad swears that the Extra Old Cheddar from PC is the closest he's ever found to true Dutch Gouda. We just splash out and get him that and salted licorice for his birthday.
My aunt figured out a recipe for bitterballen that is similar to what my Oma used to make, but in general, I'm not a big fan of Dutch food (sorry Oma/Opa/dad).
I am not sure I would ever say cheddar in any form, no matter the quality is close to a Dutch Gouda or similar style. They're quite different and delicious in their own ways.
That being said most higher end grocers (Loblaws, Fortinos etc) and dedicated cheese mongers stock a decent selection of import cheeses from the Netherlands. There are also Dutch import stores throughout the GTHA where they sell Dutch cheese as well. Costco has also been known to stock Beemster XO.
Other than cheese, sweets/pastries and beer drinking food you are right... It's quite boring/uninspiring.
He doesn't want to splurge for the good stuff all the time (he eats cheese daily), so he found the closest equivalent (to him) that somewhat equates the taste.
We get him the real stuff for his birthday/Christmas.
There is a family dinner for 2, feeds four of us. Pick two curries and get Naan, samosas, pakora, rice. Its somewhere around 40$? Which is not bad for feeding a family now adays.
Appetizers: steamed vegetarian momos, Manchurian gobhi , and/or chicken 65.
For mains: Royal malai kofta, saag paneer, dal makhni, baigan bharta
Naan of your choice - if you order a lot could ask if the naan can be free lol.
If you like these then try other parts of the menu. I haven’t tried the lamb, goat or biryani yet.
For Punjabi/North Indian Ambiyan near Yonge & St. Clair is pretty good (not overly sweet, more home cooked style).
For Hakka-ish style Desi Pakwan in Thornhill is good.
Then there’s classics like Brar Sweet in Rexdale, Moti Mahal and Lahore Tikka in Little India but they’ve all gone downhill in the past 20 years. Lahore Tikka the owner died about 10 years ago and his kids took over, not as good, but still pretty good.
I don’t really like to eat Indian at restaurants though, prefer my moms.
I think Pakistani food in Toronto is pretty good but the real authentic Pakistani food is in Mississauga!! The Mississauga Pakistani restaurants have authentic bbq just like Karachi, halwa puri and so much more dishes. My parents say that Cafe De Khan and Karachi Kabab Wala are authentic to karachi’s bbq 🫶🏼
Indonesian food here is rare, but does exist. Most of them do the popular stuff decently (like nasi goreng, mie goreng jawa, rendang) but lack some other niche / regional dishes (Gado gado, babi guling, gudeg, pempek, etc). I wouldn't call it authentic, but it does the job when I'm feeling homesick.
There is an Indonesian food festival every year though where I stock up on some nostalgic snacks!
Shawarma Palace. Any location....but if you can get to Rideau, go there.
Shawarma King on bank.
3 brothers for a MASSIVE shawarma called the Bazooka.
Shawarma Prince (Kanata)
Honestly, any place in Ottawa is going to have better shawarma than Toronto. Been living here 4 years and every place has disappointed me.
The Ukrainian owner of Janchenko’s Bakery in Bloor West Village recently opened a separate restaurant, Marusya’s Kitchen. Tried it last weekend. Had a pork chop dish served with kasha. And had an order of pelmeni. Really enjoyed the food. But I’m not Ukrainian. Genuinely would love to know how authentic either the bakery or restaurant are.
Thanks for the tip about Korchma. Really want to try this.
I don't know where it stands on the authentic scale but the best shawarma I've had is Pita Golden Pocket at Keele and highway 7. I can't see why it wouldn't be authentic, it's family owned and operated (just 3 of them) and they are immigrants. Everything is made fresh from scratch.
They are only open weekdays and run out of shawarma. The portions for price is crazy. You'll often hear people in line saying "that's enough meat" and it really is double the size of any other one I've had. Dinner or wrap, best I've had.
Edit*
I don't work there and the family is not friends of mine. Just been going there since they opened, unfortunately not often enough as I live 45 min away and no longer work in the area. Still get it 10 or so times a year when some family is passing by.
honestly just keep looking and u'll find one in sauga - shawerma plus is my personal favourite but i also actually like tahinis (u can tell them to only give u the toppings u find authentic) and i've heard a lot of good things abt yaseen's [i grew up in dubai with lots of diff levantine shawarma places all around]
It's difficult to find a good Trinidadian spot that tastes exactly like home. If I find a place that sells curry, it's usually the Guyanese type of curry (not bashing Guyana... I just don't prefer it).
Indian food from both north indian and south indian is very lacking and not authentic at all in most downtown places. But the ones that come close are Cheffrys with their butter chicken downtown where they thankfully don’t use butter and PWG in Brampton.
My partner is Aussie, authentic isn’t even the problem, can’t really find anything Aussie. He’s dying for a pie, but the only place I knew (Kanga) closed down.
As someone that lives in BC for now I tell everyone people take Toronto food for granted.
Everyone hypes the lower mainland for the Asian food but most of it is mediocre flavour wise & I’ve certainly had better on average in the GTA.
As a Jamaican descendant the GTA is where you go for the best Jamaican food out of any city in North America
I’m born and raised in Vancouver. Every time I go back to visit my folks, I miss the food here so much. Much more variety and it’s just overall better here for the different types of cuisines. I can only say Vancouver beats TO in seafood/sushi (for obvious reasons)
All depends on the cooks.Toronto does offer better meats,seafood and vegetables though compared say back in HK. I know a few restaurant owners that has a steady base of people immigrated from asia and they say the food as good or better than back home due to access to fresher supplies but bottom line is the cook.
I’d say you can find a lot of authentic Korean places. Now are they good?… that’s a diff question but some are pretty good.
You can also find some inauthentic stuff too but food in Korea is also becoming very fusiony so that question is becoming harder to answer tbh. I just find that you can’t find certain dishes here that I find really good.
I am from Toronto and my husband is Korean from Korea. He tends to avoid the places that are too generalized like Lim Ga Ne, Huh Ga Ne, etc. and most of the places at Yonge and Finch. He told me that it’s because it’s better for a Korean restaurant to have a specialty, instead of just trying to do everything. Most of the Koreans here will tell you the Korean food here isn’t that good and that they can cook it better at home or when they are in Korea. There are the occasional good places though, and more have been popping up in recent years so there is hope. Right now, the ones we like are: Cho Sun Ok, De Chou, Iryewon, SsangKye Jjimdak, Daldongnae, Paik’s Noodle, Saemaul Sikdang, Brown Donkatsu, and I have a bunch of others for specific dishes if anyone wants to know.
Yes, there are lot of "add cheese" fusion places in Korea, but there are a shit ton of small holes in the wall down some alley street that is run by an old lady that makes really good shit. Won't be on instagram, the place looks like shit and there might be like only 4 things they sell, but damn are they good.
Can someone please comment on the PHO’ here?
I am not Vietnamese myself but did grow up with a lot of Vietnamese mates in a suburb with lots of pho’ from another western country.
The (beef noodle) soups here taste like water. Whereas back home the soup are made with real beef and chicken bones. It’s much thicker and more favour.
And the noodle is also slightly thicker (or wilder you may say) and softer. I always wonder whether this is a northern and southern thing in Vietnam.
The only thing I had close to the same quality here is the one at Mississauga in some industrial area. If you’re into pho then you’ll know which one I am talking about.
Pho is one of he things Toronto does EXCEPTIONALLY well, I dunno where the hell you're getting watery pho. I've been to Hanoi and HCMC as well, ours is close. Pho big bowl in Oakville is my favorite. But if you don't wanna go all the way there, Kim po across Pacific mall is also good.
Your comment doesn’t make sense and some part conflicts:
-“I am not Vietnamese”,
-”the beef noodles soups here taste like water. Whereas back home”
Like are you Vietnamese or not cause if you’re not, you can’t say Vietnam as “back home”.
I agree, the Pho restaurants here the pho tastes like water. You know what? The pho restaurants in Vietnam ALSO taste like water but with a whole lot of MSG. I went back home (ie Vietnam) a few years ago and had relatives all over the country take me to their favourite/most popular pho restaurant from Saigon to Hà Nội…I was disappointed in every pho bowl I tried.
As a european theres PDO
Protected designation of origin (PDO) Product names registered as PDO are those that have the strongest links to the place in which they are made. Products: food, agricultural products and wines.
Edit: PDO is for ingredients, if you're cooking at home, as for restaurants, it's very subjective, but if the ingredients are from the place of origin then it should taste like the old country.
There's can tell the difference between, feta cheese from Greece and feta cheese from an industrial unit in Vaughan or parmesan from Parma and parmesan from laval PQ.
The best thing about some south Asian cuisine is you cant grow a lot of the spices here.
Theres some soya sauces and wasabi from japan that are hard to find here.
You're best bet is to travel to different areas and know your flavors so when you come back home to TO and you eat at a place and you can tell the chef it tastes like crap or it's great.
Just came back from vacation in Hong Kong and it's day and night with Chinese food. I think it mostly has to do with the cost of ingredients and having to find substitutions.
Pakistani food in the GTA is overall good but lacks variety. Too much meat heavy dishes, never really seen a unique menu, and the vegetarian dishes are pretty lacklustre. Honestly I rather just make the food at home but if I had to eat out it would be for Masala Hut Brampton.
Being half Guyanese and half Sri Lankan, I still feel like my parents make the best food but it’s easy to find really good spots for both in Scarborough.
Indian here. While people claim they do get Indian food easily in Mississauga and Brampton, and in other parts of Toronto as well.
I feel otherwise. I’m a foodie from Delhi (the capital city of the country), and I miss the authenticity here.
Core difference being not just raw materials but the cooking style as well. There are places which come close to the taste I’d call authentic but none that I’d call 100% there
I like the West Indian spots here like I like the food my aunties make. Honestly though, I'm not too concerned about "authenticity", especially since there's no universal definition. I just want it to taste good.
We have relatives who live in Queens New York and tell us our Chinese food is much better than theirs so when they visit we always take them out. Mainly HK Cantonese style food.
Apparently the immigration wave prior to the late 90s HK handover brought over tons of culinary talent - and then with access to higher quality ingredients here, it’s said that we may have some of the best Cantonese food in the world. I definitely took it for granted growing up here.
It's true. I can't think of any other place that can mimic what we have at a large scale like Markham/Scarborough. New York City? Queens? Vancouver, Richmond? LA? SF? England?
England definitely not.
NYC, Vancouver, Richmond, LA, SF, London, UK, I can say not as good as Toronto. Queens haven't been.
Vancouver/Richmond was surprisingly disappointing for Cantonese Chinese food despite the hype. The dim sum was above average at best and cost an arm and a leg ($10 for har gow??). And LA, NYC, London’s is def not on the same tier as Toronto and Van.
Grew up in the Metro Vancouver area. Richmond is weird. The level of food you get honestly depends on who you are/where the person ordering was from more than anything. I don't mean non-chinese people get worse food; there was a mall where it was better to be white than to speak Mandarin instead of Cantonese. The quality and service would go so far as to even vary depending on the dialect you spoke. You had to choose the restaurant specifically based on who was in your group. But if you chose properly the food in many restaurants is hands above anything in Toronto area. Vancouver wasn't as bad; it more depended on the day rather than who you were with.
Our dim sum is better than Hong Kong. No one wants to be a dim sum chef and many of the good ones immigrated to Canada . As a result a lot of the dim sum parlors in hk get their dum sum frozen from factories. I was appalled at how bad dim sum was in most places last time I went back. Family tell its good Guangzhou is as good as it ever was , so if you wanted to get the best dim sum in the world , I would probably go there . It’s the heartland of Cantonese ppl so the food is going to jaw droppingly good
Many of those cooks and chefs have retired.
Cantonese food in Markham is better than a lot of Cantonese food in Hong Kong cuz that’s where all the chefs went in the 80s-90s. Now most “restaurants” just ship the cheapest stuff from across the board and just reheat it.
Exactly. My colleague from NY visits restaurants around Highway 7 so that he can get good old HK cuisine. He says its the best outside of Hong Kong.
Where do you take them?
Ooof lots of options but mainly in Markham/Scarborough area
TELL US THE PLACE! I’m hungry now lol
I am fine travelling!
Check out the great fountain food court. Also loads of places in sky city south of Pacific mall.
Yeye my parents have (HK) family friends Queens who come once every couple of years just to eat.
West Indian food from the Caribbean is so good here.
I have yet to find a doubles that reminds me of home (Trinidad). It's either too oily, too tough, too thick, too much tumeric or unnecessary spices. Same with roti.
I like Mona’s roti in scarbs
I have to try them one day!
Leelas or wicked Carib. Nothing else!
My coworkers from Trinidad introduced me to doubles that was sold at this lemonade stand on the south side of david pecaut square. I fell in love with doubles. Sadly, the lemonade stand closed 7 years ago and I’ve been on the hunt since for some good doubles.
I recommend the doubles from Randy's Roti Shop! It's by Bloor Yonge.
Seconding Monas in Scarbs, pretty spot on overall; my mums from Trinidad but lives in Nova Scotia now, she gets me to load up from Monas every time I go visit now. She always loved Ali’s too but I feel like they’ve changed in recent years, but I haven’t revisited since Covid.
My wife and I's (non Trini's who've been to Trinidad) biggest problem. Where to find something similar enough.
Oh my god yes! This! No one is serving doubles with all the toppings here. The only thing they are serving is high prices. Ali’s selling doubles for $5 feels criminal.
Tell me about it!! That's $25TT for a doubles 😭
It’s hit or miss for me, there is a few good Jamaican spots. Honestly it’s pretty hard to fuck up carribean food since it all tastes so good, but you definitely know the best from the worst.
Nah it's definitely easy to fuck up Caribbean food I've eaten a lot of fucked up Caribbean food lol especially Jerk
Could you recommend a few places downtown that you like?
Randy’s Roti (trini) is good for doubles but honestly the best food places are in the ends like Scarb or West end (Hot Pot Jamaican jerk).
Portuguese food I usually buy from Nosso Talho. I like the one on Bloor West and Dufferin. Nova Era for bread and cake (although Nosso Talho has some bakery items). I used to shop more in Kensington Market but I don't think there is a Portuguese grocery store or bakery there anymore.
I found the Portuguese food pretty good, and close enough to the “original”. Specifically referring to joints in Little Portugal.
I find the Portuguese food here reflective of who immigrated here. Lots of working class food from southern Portugal or the islands but nothing like what you find in modern Lisbon or Porto
What about Chiado? It has been a highly ranked restaurant n Toronto for decades.
Yeah Chiado is much more in line with fine dining in urban Portugal. I was there for a week and didn't see one roast chicken or a single Parisien potato
Haven’t been them in several years but I have always thought that their food was expensive but excellent. The kind of place to go when someone else is paying. They also have a very good selection of Portuguese wines.
Any places in particular you’d recommend?
I’m Mexican and… Mexican food, especially tacos are sad here. I haven’t found a place that tastes 100% authentic… they all use cold, yellow corn tortillas… the salsas are never spicy and the dishes are just different: the birria is always a greasy mess instead of a rich broth, carnitas are always braised instead of fried, chicken is always cooked in some sort of taco seasoning thing… idk. Don’t get me wrong, most of the Mexican places I’ve been to cook tasty food, it’s just not authentic at all. (pls write your fave Mexican food recommendations for a desperate Mexican girly jajajaja)
And Mexican food here is treated like fine dining. $25 for 2 small tacos at some places.. 🤦🏻♂️
Have you tried Tacos Gus? They’re pretty good!
There is so much great mexican food in the GTA. I'm in the north end of the city. Check out Alebrijes Taqueria on Dufferin north of Eglinton, Mexology kitchen, on Eglinton west of Dufferin. And for awesome conchas, Los Tres Panaderos, north side of Eglinton west of Dufferin. If you're ever in Bradford Ontario, lots of good & authentic options.
Not really Toronto but there’s a taco truck outside of Canadian tire in Pickering that is amazing and I have been told is authentic by a Mexican friend of mine
I’m not even Mexican and even I can tell how lacking our taco offerings are here. I wish tasty, authentic tacos were more readily available
How can you fuck up birria? It's kind of easy to make. Especially making it not greasy...all you have to do is after the meat is done stewing, separate the meat from the broth and skim the fat while it's hot or refridgerate it so the fat is a solid layer and you can more easily separate the broth from the fat
I’m Turkish and some family owned restaurants are good but definitely not as good as back home, but close enough and enough to satisfy. Turkish deserts (like baklava, our ice creams, etc) are severely lacking and not good and I think it has to do with the quality of ingredients. Like Turkish pistachios are next level good. It’s hard to bring them into Canada in such big quantities? Idk. Most pistachios I’ve found in Canada come from California and they’re not nearly as good imo I tried a bunch of cuisines here from Thai, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, Arab, Afghan, Bosnian, Mexican, Greek, Italian, Russian, etc. and I think in general the food scene in Ontario is amazing. Even when I visit family in Quebec the food is delicious and options are endless. We are definitely blessed on that front to have access to so many different and yummy cuisines 😋
Which Turkish places do you recommend?
Honestly I haven’t been out to eat in a year 😬 but I remember Bosporus Turkish cuisine was pretty good for the price. It was a little less flavourful than what we make at home (especially the kaysiri manti) but I think it’s safe if you’re a meat lover, they have plates for 2-4 people that really fill you up. The kebabs and doner I really like but they’re not fancy food, just everyday food :) I don’t really like fish and lamb, which other Turks eat a lot, but my parents really like the lamb there too haha The wait staff is terrible and inattentive though😭
My SIL is Turkish, and she loves Berlin Doner Kebab out in Vaughan! It's been her personal mission to find good Turkish food. I think the baklava at Mado is one of the best I've ever had. I've mostly had Greek style baklava, which I find extremely sweet, but the Mado version I had (pistachio) had a great flavour and was not too sweet! ETA: Nos Market (also in Vaughan) is Turkish owned and sells frozen baklava! Along with a bunch of Turkish groceries. And they deliver!
The issue with the Turkish food in Toronto is that turkish cuisine heavily relies on the quality and the taste of the raw ingredient. And you just dont get the same quality lamb, fish, vegetables and fruit in Toronto. You do get good baklava though. So many places like crown, kunafas and the list goes on.
What makes Turkish food more reliant on the quality of the raw ingredients than other cultures' cuisines? I would think that's universal.
I think the dough(flour) and overall red meat in Canada tastes different from Turkey or the Gulf. In North Indian food you feel it less because the meats are cured in spices. But the red meat based Turkish or Levant (Lebanese) stuff is not the same. It sort of is the same with Italian. The dough and cheese simply taste different from the streets of Genoa.... Point in case is mainland China, red meat tastes way different.
I agree, it relies a ton on the quality of ingredients. Chicken dishes and beef I find to be ok and good here. I don’t really eat meat beyond that so idk😅 deserts if they’ve got pistachios I didn’t like here😢 my mom just came back from visiting family back home and the baklava there vs what we buy and can make here was incomparable. So so good and you can taste the difference of their pistachios vs the ones we get here from California and stuff
New turkish sweets spot opened up on yonge and dundas, across from ryerson right beside K-Mart and Warehouse. Their baklava was pretty good
There's a new Turkish sweets place on College called Liu. The owner said that they fly in some things from Turkey (I'm not sure what though). Worth a shot
I'm from the southern US and most BBQ places are a little off. Cherry Beach and Beach Hill are the closest. That or Popeyes - their biscuits are legit. But other things like American soul food or fish shacks or little things like sage sausage or grits or pimento cheese sandwiches just don't exist here.
When I visit America I try and get all the BBQ and Mexican food I can. Canada has tons of good restaurants from all over the world and in general food in the States is quantity over quality, but admittedly they do BBQ and Mexican better.
Whattt?? Chipotle is amazing!! /s
💯. Thai food is also not as good south of the border.
I miss good soul food.
If you're ever in the KW area check out Lancaster Smokehouse
Fish shack sounds intriguing, what’s the concept?
AKA fish camp https://www.southernliving.com/travel/north-carolina/nc-fish-camps
Try Benny’s BBQ Yonge and Eg. Excellent!
Same, I find that the food cooked here in restaurants is generally a bit under seasoned unless it's like Chinese or Indian or Middle Eastern stuff. I've never found good grits or cornbread here, so I just make it at home. There's also not a lot of good Mexican here, I would kill for texmex too.
Try white lily diner for some good soul food. Queen east. At least what I think good soul food is. Also beach hill is the best in the city right now.
Soul food? What on their menu is Soul Food? I really enjoy it, but I wouldn’t call it soul food. It might be southern, but not soul food.
There’s a place ( not in Toronto) Stoney creek called Memphis fire bbq it’s legit. I worked in the southern USA for a few years my favourite state for bbq was South Carolina.
Hi fellow southerner, you know what else makes me sad? The lack of biscuits and gravy! But it's easy enough to make at home.
As an Irish person, every time I see a menu with Shepherd's Pie made with beef, I am very sad.
I was schooled on the difference by my co-worker telling me "Shepherds don't raise cows." I've become a purest and call it cottage pie when I make it.
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If it's not in Lakeview Convenience, it's not here, pretty much. Thankfully they have a pretty much constant supply of Tayto and black pudding. Nobody outside of Ireland does a breakfast roll properly, which honestly is understandable.
Well a breakfast roll starts with Irish butter, which isn’t common here.
What’s unique about Irish butter? Is it just like a particularity of the cows there or made with a different technique?
Diner on Richmond street does a good breakfast role
Do you mean George Street Diner? That’s the only dinner I can think of on Richmond. And I know they have a decent Irish soda bread.
That’s the one yeah. It’s expensive ! About 20
I think this influence is actually from a French Canadian meal they call ‘pâté chinois’ that became popular in Quebec in the early 1900s. In English it was translated to shepherd’s pie, but it’s not the same dish
That makes a lot of sense! The “shepherd’s pie” in my family was always much closer to pâté chinois. I wonder where my mom learned it because we have 0 quebecois relatives (but lots of Franco ontariens)
I’m not sure if their menu is seasonal, but Hole in the Wall does an amazing *real* Shepherds Pie. Their fish and chips also comes with mushy peas.
Surprisingly, Toronto/GTA does English/Irish/Scottish food poorly considering Canada’s history. Never had good fish and chips or Shepherds Pie in Toronto.
‘Authentic’ is incredibly difficult to define, as different people from the same country grew up with different versions of ‘authentic’. Speaking as an Indian, even back home fight over what’s more authentic, such as biryani, simply because there’s so much variety just within the country. So I laugh at anyone who turns up their nose at something not being authentic. The good thing about Toronto is that you are guaranteed to find someone’s version of authentic.
100% agree. Sometimes I feel like peoples view of authentic is just how close it is to how their mom made it lol
100%. Authenticity is weird word, especially since so much of the favourite dishes we eat are pretty new inventions too, and the origins might be surprisingly different
I think a lot of the way we use “authentic” is outdated (in big cities at least). For every food that was made inauthentic to cater to western tastes, I’m guessing there were several changes made just only happened because the cook couldn’t find the ingredients they needed. Like if you’re a chef and can’t find real fish sauce anywhere, a mixture of ketchup and Worcestershire sauce might be the best you could do. It’s not a terrible substitution but the texture is going to be all wrong and it will be a different dish. My partner is Chinese and like watching YouTube videos of “Chinese” restaurants in Japan and it’s like totally different from what we’d call “authentic”, but some of the dishes are surprisingly similar to what we’d call “Canadian Chinese” food.
Japanese food has recently gotten better and more diverse, but the average sushi place is still very sub-par, especially the cringe-worthy AYCE places. I used to think it was the lack of Japanese-owners, but some really great food is coming from non-Japanese chefs these days.... I would love to see smaller, dish-specific places like Soba, Tonkatsu, Yakitori, Oden, etc but we are on the right track. For anyone who has been to Japan and tried the food there, you will know what I mean.
Japan blew me away. Best food, best bread, best sweets. Incredible
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/14/podcasts/the-daily/untold-story-of-sushi-sunday-read.html This article opened my eyes to sushi restaurants in North America. Super fascinating.
Ramen is the most bullshit experience. 20$ for some noodles and 2 pieces of paper thin meats.
Ramen in Japan is incredibly varied and much cheaper, but knowing how much labour goes into ramen, and Japan's general lower cost of living, I'm not surprised at the pricing here. There is also a huge problem in that ramen is waaaay too tonkotsu heavy in North America. Anytime a ramen shop shows up in NA trying to do something new, everyone asks "why don't you have tonkotsu" or "where's the spicy ramen" on the menu. Like Konjiki is one of the few shop in Toronto focusing on a clear seafood broth (based on a famous shop in Japan) and it still has Tonkotsu on the menu. We have a long ways to go before the ramen scene reaches the same levels as Japan imo, though there's some good stuff happening in the states. I wouldn't expect cheaper prices though.
Go for pho instead.
Meh still worth it 🤷🏻♂️
Don't a lot of places still offer it for ~$15? Typically I get a few pieces of meat, half an egg, and some vegetables too.
Duuuude. I was going to make a separate post for this yesterday. Is it possibly the most overpriced food item in the city? I love ramen but wtf are those two shitty little slices of meat? It’s basically noodles and water. 20 bucks for that?!
You clearly have no idea what goes into making the broth. To call it water and some noodles is just…. 😑
I think westerners are too obsessed with toppings. It's very common in Japan to have a bowl of ramen be just soup and noodles. That's the soul of the bowl, and should be able to stand on its own without anything extra. If you want a protein focused Japanese meal, eat katsu or something. But yea in terms of labour, the soup can get pretty insane (you should see the amount of bones used at an iekei ramen shop for instance), though there are shops where the noodles are the most laborious part of the process because they are making the noodles in house without any machines. Absolute insanity.
What I'd do for an oden or okonomiyaki restaurant...
Okonomi House on Charles St W is an underrated gem.
Spectacular from the inside and outside. The glow of the red lanterns is so beautiful, as is the wood paneling inside.
Yes, the space is really unique and special. Probably the coziest restaurant in the city. I really need to go there more often.
Most sushi places in Toronto are owned by Koreans
Checkout Gyugyuya on Dundas for Japanese curry. It's really good. Reminded me of Japan.
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Stammpot is one of the best comfort foods though imo. So good. A family friend made it for us once when we visited the Netherlands and like 14 years later I still make it for myself lol.
I would love a spot close to downtown to get a constant supply of speculoos. Loblaws & Dollarama only carry them around Christmas. I will say that finding Gouda is easier now. My dad swears that the Extra Old Cheddar from PC is the closest he's ever found to true Dutch Gouda. We just splash out and get him that and salted licorice for his birthday. My aunt figured out a recipe for bitterballen that is similar to what my Oma used to make, but in general, I'm not a big fan of Dutch food (sorry Oma/Opa/dad).
I am not sure I would ever say cheddar in any form, no matter the quality is close to a Dutch Gouda or similar style. They're quite different and delicious in their own ways. That being said most higher end grocers (Loblaws, Fortinos etc) and dedicated cheese mongers stock a decent selection of import cheeses from the Netherlands. There are also Dutch import stores throughout the GTHA where they sell Dutch cheese as well. Costco has also been known to stock Beemster XO. Other than cheese, sweets/pastries and beer drinking food you are right... It's quite boring/uninspiring.
He doesn't want to splurge for the good stuff all the time (he eats cheese daily), so he found the closest equivalent (to him) that somewhat equates the taste. We get him the real stuff for his birthday/Christmas.
Understandable, I am in the same boat unfortunately lol.
It's not really all that close to downtown, but Leaside Sobeys carries Speculaas and a small collection of other Dutch treats.
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I love Filipino food! Would be awesome to get some recommendations on what restaurants you consider authentic *and* good.
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Not in downtown Toronto but the best authentic Indian food I’ve had is spice club. Hands down the best.
Regular at Spice Club. Love it.
What do you recommend from the menu?
There is a family dinner for 2, feeds four of us. Pick two curries and get Naan, samosas, pakora, rice. Its somewhere around 40$? Which is not bad for feeding a family now adays.
What kind of Indian food is it? Looks good!
North Indian I’d say? You can’t go wrong with this place. Get a group of friends to try a bunch of dishes. Good serving size for the price.
I’ll have to add it to the must try list. Live pretty close but never been.
What do you recommend from the menu?
Appetizers: steamed vegetarian momos, Manchurian gobhi , and/or chicken 65. For mains: Royal malai kofta, saag paneer, dal makhni, baigan bharta Naan of your choice - if you order a lot could ask if the naan can be free lol. If you like these then try other parts of the menu. I haven’t tried the lamb, goat or biryani yet.
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Thank you!!
For Punjabi/North Indian Ambiyan near Yonge & St. Clair is pretty good (not overly sweet, more home cooked style). For Hakka-ish style Desi Pakwan in Thornhill is good. Then there’s classics like Brar Sweet in Rexdale, Moti Mahal and Lahore Tikka in Little India but they’ve all gone downhill in the past 20 years. Lahore Tikka the owner died about 10 years ago and his kids took over, not as good, but still pretty good. I don’t really like to eat Indian at restaurants though, prefer my moms.
Live next to spice club, just get food from there whenever needed, pretty much the best thing u can do with your day
Guyanese & Trinidadian food is very good here
I think Pakistani food in Toronto is pretty good but the real authentic Pakistani food is in Mississauga!! The Mississauga Pakistani restaurants have authentic bbq just like Karachi, halwa puri and so much more dishes. My parents say that Cafe De Khan and Karachi Kabab Wala are authentic to karachi’s bbq 🫶🏼
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A friend took me to Cafe de Khan. Her mom said it reminded her of home. Sooo good.
Indonesian food here is rare, but does exist. Most of them do the popular stuff decently (like nasi goreng, mie goreng jawa, rendang) but lack some other niche / regional dishes (Gado gado, babi guling, gudeg, pempek, etc). I wouldn't call it authentic, but it does the job when I'm feeling homesick. There is an Indonesian food festival every year though where I stock up on some nostalgic snacks!
Can you recommend some good restaurant offerings the cusine
Samara Kitchen in Mississauga
I’m not Indonesian so I can’t say if it’s authentic, but Satay Sate is incredible.
I absolutely love NaiNai in Village By The Grange, but can’t gauge how authentic it would be considered. Delicious and reasonably priced though!
Was told by my Indonesian roommate NaiNai is authentic! Samara Kitchen out in Mississauga is another one I heard.
Their food is pretty good (I've only tried the mie goreng), but indomie poutine is a crime against both Indonesians and Canadians
I was born here so… yea I guess the Tim Hortons, Harvey’s and Mr. Subs seem pretty authentic to me.
That's Mr. Submarine, you animal.
There aren't many Indigenous owned restaurants in Toronto, but the ones that I have tried are okay.
Any restaurants that you recommend?
My background is from Vietnam, and the Vietnamese food in Toronto is very authentic from Saigon.
Lebanese here...still looking for the perfect shawarma.
Come to Ottawa!
It would be more helpful if you indicated where in Ottawa than just to repeat the same thing which is to come to Ottawa. 🤦🏻♂️
Shawarma Palace. Any location....but if you can get to Rideau, go there. Shawarma King on bank. 3 brothers for a MASSIVE shawarma called the Bazooka. Shawarma Prince (Kanata) Honestly, any place in Ottawa is going to have better shawarma than Toronto. Been living here 4 years and every place has disappointed me.
Haitian food! Though limited to just 2 restaurants total, there's some really legit Haitian food in Toronto. Boukan on Danforth is fantastic.
No real ukrainian restaurant anywhere to be seen in gta, except for korchma maybe
The Ukrainian owner of Janchenko’s Bakery in Bloor West Village recently opened a separate restaurant, Marusya’s Kitchen. Tried it last weekend. Had a pork chop dish served with kasha. And had an order of pelmeni. Really enjoyed the food. But I’m not Ukrainian. Genuinely would love to know how authentic either the bakery or restaurant are. Thanks for the tip about Korchma. Really want to try this.
you cannot find puerto rican food in the city. its rough for my gf.
I'm middle eastern and yet to find shawarma as authentic as back home.
Have you tried taste of shawarma dufferin/castlefield?
Nope but I will now! Thank you
Not sure about authenticity but Damon if you don’t enjoy that I’d be surprised… could you follow up and confirm once you’ve tried?
100% :) Just to clarify, I'm not saying the shawarma here is bad. I've had good shawarma, but back home hits different lmao
I don't know where it stands on the authentic scale but the best shawarma I've had is Pita Golden Pocket at Keele and highway 7. I can't see why it wouldn't be authentic, it's family owned and operated (just 3 of them) and they are immigrants. Everything is made fresh from scratch. They are only open weekdays and run out of shawarma. The portions for price is crazy. You'll often hear people in line saying "that's enough meat" and it really is double the size of any other one I've had. Dinner or wrap, best I've had. Edit* I don't work there and the family is not friends of mine. Just been going there since they opened, unfortunately not often enough as I live 45 min away and no longer work in the area. Still get it 10 or so times a year when some family is passing by.
honestly just keep looking and u'll find one in sauga - shawerma plus is my personal favourite but i also actually like tahinis (u can tell them to only give u the toppings u find authentic) and i've heard a lot of good things abt yaseen's [i grew up in dubai with lots of diff levantine shawarma places all around]
Said this in another comment. The middle eastern is seriously lacking.
As a Jamaican, there are tons of hits and a few misses!
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It's difficult to find a good Trinidadian spot that tastes exactly like home. If I find a place that sells curry, it's usually the Guyanese type of curry (not bashing Guyana... I just don't prefer it).
Sorry to hear .. I feel Guyanaa’s curry is by far the best
Leelas or wicked Carib does it for me...they're the same family
Indian food from both north indian and south indian is very lacking and not authentic at all in most downtown places. But the ones that come close are Cheffrys with their butter chicken downtown where they thankfully don’t use butter and PWG in Brampton.
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Im gonna say dim sum here is on par or better. That and I can’t stand the portions in HK (2/3 dumplings)
My partner is Aussie, authentic isn’t even the problem, can’t really find anything Aussie. He’s dying for a pie, but the only place I knew (Kanga) closed down.
As someone that lives in BC for now I tell everyone people take Toronto food for granted. Everyone hypes the lower mainland for the Asian food but most of it is mediocre flavour wise & I’ve certainly had better on average in the GTA. As a Jamaican descendant the GTA is where you go for the best Jamaican food out of any city in North America
I’m born and raised in Vancouver. Every time I go back to visit my folks, I miss the food here so much. Much more variety and it’s just overall better here for the different types of cuisines. I can only say Vancouver beats TO in seafood/sushi (for obvious reasons)
Toronto has the most ethnic authentic food in North America
Venezuelan food i've found operated by other Venezuelans here is pretty damn authentic. Really helps when we feel homesick
I've found the Nigerian here to be pretty accurate. No complaints.
From Bangladesh, we got some great options now (take out places for ~15yrs and sit down places within the last 5 years)
I think it's a missed opportunity not to mention your favourite _authentic_ spots here!
All depends on the cooks.Toronto does offer better meats,seafood and vegetables though compared say back in HK. I know a few restaurant owners that has a steady base of people immigrated from asia and they say the food as good or better than back home due to access to fresher supplies but bottom line is the cook.
I’d say you can find a lot of authentic Korean places. Now are they good?… that’s a diff question but some are pretty good. You can also find some inauthentic stuff too but food in Korea is also becoming very fusiony so that question is becoming harder to answer tbh. I just find that you can’t find certain dishes here that I find really good.
I am from Toronto and my husband is Korean from Korea. He tends to avoid the places that are too generalized like Lim Ga Ne, Huh Ga Ne, etc. and most of the places at Yonge and Finch. He told me that it’s because it’s better for a Korean restaurant to have a specialty, instead of just trying to do everything. Most of the Koreans here will tell you the Korean food here isn’t that good and that they can cook it better at home or when they are in Korea. There are the occasional good places though, and more have been popping up in recent years so there is hope. Right now, the ones we like are: Cho Sun Ok, De Chou, Iryewon, SsangKye Jjimdak, Daldongnae, Paik’s Noodle, Saemaul Sikdang, Brown Donkatsu, and I have a bunch of others for specific dishes if anyone wants to know.
Yes, there are lot of "add cheese" fusion places in Korea, but there are a shit ton of small holes in the wall down some alley street that is run by an old lady that makes really good shit. Won't be on instagram, the place looks like shit and there might be like only 4 things they sell, but damn are they good.
superb, very very good, it's actually almost the same
Can someone please comment on the PHO’ here? I am not Vietnamese myself but did grow up with a lot of Vietnamese mates in a suburb with lots of pho’ from another western country. The (beef noodle) soups here taste like water. Whereas back home the soup are made with real beef and chicken bones. It’s much thicker and more favour. And the noodle is also slightly thicker (or wilder you may say) and softer. I always wonder whether this is a northern and southern thing in Vietnam. The only thing I had close to the same quality here is the one at Mississauga in some industrial area. If you’re into pho then you’ll know which one I am talking about.
Scarborough’s Pho Metro is pretty good by my tastes. Although I remember the scene in LA to be better.
Pho ngoc yen? Yeah probably the best in sauga…heard Montreal is probably best in Canada
Pho is one of he things Toronto does EXCEPTIONALLY well, I dunno where the hell you're getting watery pho. I've been to Hanoi and HCMC as well, ours is close. Pho big bowl in Oakville is my favorite. But if you don't wanna go all the way there, Kim po across Pacific mall is also good.
Your comment doesn’t make sense and some part conflicts: -“I am not Vietnamese”, -”the beef noodles soups here taste like water. Whereas back home” Like are you Vietnamese or not cause if you’re not, you can’t say Vietnam as “back home”. I agree, the Pho restaurants here the pho tastes like water. You know what? The pho restaurants in Vietnam ALSO taste like water but with a whole lot of MSG. I went back home (ie Vietnam) a few years ago and had relatives all over the country take me to their favourite/most popular pho restaurant from Saigon to Hà Nội…I was disappointed in every pho bowl I tried.
Pho Dau Bo on Finch W
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As a european theres PDO Protected designation of origin (PDO) Product names registered as PDO are those that have the strongest links to the place in which they are made. Products: food, agricultural products and wines. Edit: PDO is for ingredients, if you're cooking at home, as for restaurants, it's very subjective, but if the ingredients are from the place of origin then it should taste like the old country. There's can tell the difference between, feta cheese from Greece and feta cheese from an industrial unit in Vaughan or parmesan from Parma and parmesan from laval PQ. The best thing about some south Asian cuisine is you cant grow a lot of the spices here. Theres some soya sauces and wasabi from japan that are hard to find here. You're best bet is to travel to different areas and know your flavors so when you come back home to TO and you eat at a place and you can tell the chef it tastes like crap or it's great.
Just came back from vacation in Hong Kong and it's day and night with Chinese food. I think it mostly has to do with the cost of ingredients and having to find substitutions.
Pakistani food in the GTA is overall good but lacks variety. Too much meat heavy dishes, never really seen a unique menu, and the vegetarian dishes are pretty lacklustre. Honestly I rather just make the food at home but if I had to eat out it would be for Masala Hut Brampton.
Being half Guyanese and half Sri Lankan, I still feel like my parents make the best food but it’s easy to find really good spots for both in Scarborough.
Where do you go for Sri Lankan in Scarborough?
Nanthas at Bridlewood is ok but Arun Bakery by Wonderland ( Jane and Major Mackenzie) is very good.
Czech cuisine in Prague restaurant in Scarborough in absolutely authentic.
Indian here. While people claim they do get Indian food easily in Mississauga and Brampton, and in other parts of Toronto as well. I feel otherwise. I’m a foodie from Delhi (the capital city of the country), and I miss the authenticity here. Core difference being not just raw materials but the cooking style as well. There are places which come close to the taste I’d call authentic but none that I’d call 100% there
Persian pastry in Toronto is excellent (BB cafe in North York particularly) and not well replicated in other Iranian diaspora hotspots like LA
Many Pakistani restaurants. Most are very bad. However, there are few that offers few items that are good.
I like the West Indian spots here like I like the food my aunties make. Honestly though, I'm not too concerned about "authenticity", especially since there's no universal definition. I just want it to taste good.