So many of you commented on my post about my itinerary for my trip to Toronto so I wanted to say thank you! I incorporated many of your ideas and tried to use google maps to plan things out.
Here’s my \~finalized\~ plan, please let me know what you all think! There’s a lot we won’t be able to see, so we’ll have to come back 🙂
And yes, we’ll have car but we’re hoping to just park it at the hotel and take transportation and do a lot of walking 🙂
Original post: [https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodToronto/comments/11bcth0/my\_boyfriend\_and\_i\_will\_be\_in\_toronto\_for\_23\_days/](https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodToronto/comments/11bcth0/my_boyfriend_and_i_will_be_in_toronto_for_23_days/)
Day 1 (Friday) Drive to Toronto, check into Shangri La
* Walk to 401 Richmond from hotel, Late lunch at Ahn Dao, coffee at Dark Horse; Explore the galleries
* Walk to Art Gallery of Ontario closes at 9pm (alternatively MoCa is free after 5pm-9pm on Fridays but it’s kinda far)
* Late Dinner at: Dzo (Vietnamese), The Queen Mother (Thai), or Dim Sum King
* Dessert **(WHERE?)**
Day 2: Saturday
* 9am Morning Fitness Class at Sweat and Tonic
* Go back, get ready for the day
* Lunch and explore St. Lawrence market
Walk around: Berczy Park->Union Station->Scotia Centre and Maple Leaf Square->Rogers Centre and CN Tower->lakeshore and Power Plant
* Have a snack and explore Powerplant art gallery
* Check out the Distillery district
Day Alternative (father out, more feesable if we don’t do am fitness class):
* Explore Kensington market- Eat here, thrift shopping
* Explore Yorkville
* Museum of Contemporary art
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* Go back to the hotel and get ready for the evening
If comedy show:
* Dinner at Pearl
* Go to 10pm show at Second City
If Club: Night Alternative:
* Go to Bar Raval
* Dinner at Bar Isabel
* Go out to a club: [https://www.torontoclubs.com/guestlist](https://www.torontoclubs.com/guestlist) or [https://fifthsocialclub.thefifth.com/](https://fifthsocialclub.thefifth.com/) (second is closer to hotel)
Day 3: Sunday
* Check out of hotel
* If Lunch: Pai
* If Brunch: Mildred’s Temple Kitchen
* **One last small activity (Not sure what tho)**
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Also, which of the places mentioned will I need to get reservations for?
by Mydogweighmorethanme
12 Comments
Are you set on Anh Dao just from recommendations? Maybe it’s just me, but the food there is mediocre at best in my opinion.
There are definitely better options in the city in general, and better options that are within a 10-15 minute walk from Anh Dao, for example:
-Dear Saigon
-Pho Ha Noi
-Saigon Lotus (be warned, vegetarian only but still good)
I feel like you’re gonna need to go with either bar raval OR bar Isabel if you go that route as they’re both absurdly popular weekend destinations and they’re similar vibes. I don’t think you need to see both in a night.
Go early, whichever you choose. Bar raval definitely doesn’t do reservations but not sure about bar Isabel.
Ahn Dao is pretty meh. The replies in your last post had better options in/around Chinatown.
There’s nothing going on at Scotia (aka ACC) or the rogers centre (aka SkyDome). IIRC you can’t go into them so there isn’t going to be much to do there. You can prolly feasibly explore downtown a bit and continue on to Kensington. Yorkville is pretty but you don’t need to see it. It’s mostly just luxury stores. MOCA has been slightly underwhelming every time I’ve gone so I don’t think you need to see that either.
You’re pretty likely going to run into long waits at Bar Raval and Mildred’s temple kitchen, both of which do not accept reservations (again, IIRC). Bar Isabel does do reservations and you’ll probably want to get one.
Bar Isabel > pearl imho. Also bar Isabel/raval + bar crawling along college or Dundas > clubbing in the entertainment district. If you want to go dancing the little jerry, bangarang, track and field, el convento, bovine sex club, Dundas video, mahjong, etc are all better options than fifth house (which is notorious for phone robberies and general douchery (sorry)).
If you’re going to eat at anh dao make sure you get something with bo la lot and cha gio which they specialize in. Like the v12.
If you’re walking to anh dao I would stop at le gourmand to get a chocolate chip cookie (best in city) and DaanGo inside R&D for a HK Milk Tea (also best in city). Both can be taken to go and enjoyed later.
Char Kway Teow at Canteen is also another hidden gem.
I think a trip to Toronto without visiting Ossington Strip is kinda a waste. You can grab ice cream at BangBang, I recommend the Miso Mon Cheri in a puff or Matcha Genmaicha Tiramisu in a sugar cone. Lychee Rosewater is also good. Have a beer at Bellwoods, grab a slice of pizza a Badiali (best jn city) or pho at tien thanh (best in city). Favourites Thai is also another great option. Ossington Strip probably one of the best food & drink crawls in the city.
Dzo is just ok imo. Dim Sum King is not worth a visit and dim sum in general is a brunch activity anyway. Sunny Chinese is ok if you want Nu Chinese.
Chef’s Hall at 111 Richmond is an interesting place near the area you’ll be. You can book a standing omakase at tachi, ramen from Isshin, grab drinks etc.
For Day 2, I’d recommend doing the alternate day and checking out Kensington/yorkville/moca instead although those are kinda spread out. I find that the power plant is kinda underwhelming but it depends on the programming and the area around scotiabank and Rogers centre is kinda whatever unless you’re there for a game or concert. Although I do love st.lawrence/distillery area if you can fit those in somehow but skip the rest
I’d also recommend doing bar raval/bar Isabel and then going to the comedy show instead of going to the fifth, clubbing in the clubbing district actually isn’t that great and I’d recommend bar hopping in the west queen west/ossington area or little italy(which you can do if you go to bar raval/isabel)
Really really think you should not waste calories at Queen Mother, Dzo, Pai, DSK, Mildred’s. So many many great places right now that are better. Also as mentioned you should pick one of the Bar’s, not both.
For dessert, you could go here:
The Dessert Kitchen 甜品工房
(647) 350-1911
https://maps.app.goo.gl/D8zTa1cW2ruZ8xVn9?g_st=ic
I live at St Lawrence Market, skip the fitness class. If youre walkin all day you dont beed to waste the calories.
If youre at St Lawrence for lunch i would hit Distillery to walk off lunch since its only 10 min walk away.
Food reccos for lunch at the market.
Paddington Pub – 2nd floor, montreal smoked meat and portuguese tarts
Italian sandwiches – 1st floor, the godfather veal, eggplant sandwich.
Buster sea cove – 2nd floor, fish n chips
Oyster bar – 2nd floor
Fresh italian pasta – 2nd floor around corner of Buster sea cove.
A block away is where the artist Banksy did a small mural on the wall. Its behind protective glass and worth millions. Worth seeing to say u saw a real life banksy. U dont need to see the stupid dog fountain at Berkzcy park. Ignore union station or scotia arena. Nothing to see there unless ur going to the game.
Check out soma chocolate in the distillery district. Also if you can squeeze in a stop to Eataly definently worth the trip.
Remindme! 2 months
What you have planned is ambitious but awesome. The only thing I would say is you need to make time for the distillery district. Grab a coffee and walk around for a few hours as you seem to like galleries. You will be super happy with this.
You don’t want to go to Bar Raval on a Saturday.