Toronto is renowned for its food scene. With remarkable cultural diversity as one of the world’s most multicultural cities, it’s a smorgasbord of international eats with authentic cuisine from nearly all of the world’s ethnic and cultural groups.
No matter what kind of fare you’re craving, you’ll find it in Toronto, from Vietnamese and Sri Lankan to Italian, Indian, Greek, Korean, and even Tibetan. If you buy a home among the real estate in Toronto, it’s going to take you a long time to sample all of the restaurants here, which at last count was around 7,500.
Farmhouse Tavern
Everything from the eggs to the wine is sourced from the surrounding land at the Farmhouse Tavern. The high-quality ingredients are the focus of dishes here, including the barn burger with blue cheese, bacon jam, and cider braised onion. Gnocchi features a fresh sage and brown butter sauce with scallions, pine nuts, and gorgonzola. A mainstay for more than a dozen years, it aims to support local farmers and even sells house-made ketchup along with other merchandise.
Pukka
This bistro enjoys a trendy exposed-brick setting with colorful Indian pop art for enjoying casual yet refined Indian cuisine, like sliced paneer with shiitake mushrooms and slow-braised beef short ribs. With generous portions, it invites sharing, making it particularly ideal for larger groups. It also has an impressive menu of desserts and a surprisingly good wine list.
Chubby’s Jamaican Kitchen
Considered the best Jamaican eatery in Toronto, Chubby’s is famous for its jerk chicken. The signature dish, it takes four days to prepare. They brine the bird for 24 hours and then leave it to dry before barbecuing it over maple wood. The coconut-crusted fish is fantastic too. If you can manage it, try to save room for the passionfruit and coconut cream pie will be worth the effort.
Grey Gardens
This understated wine bar has a very extensive wine list with bottles from both old world and emerging wine destinations, along with a seafood-focused menu of mains and small plates. Helmed by highly acclaimed Chef Mitch Bates, there’s no typical meat and cheese board, but more unique options like hand-torn pasta with truffles and dry aged pork with grits and preserved tomatoes.
ARDO
Often named among the city’s best Italian eateries, ARDO aims to please more of the local set rather than social media influencers. Chef Roberto Marotta is a sophisticated interpreter of classic Sicilian dishes including everything from rich duck ragout with Sicilian herbs to a pizza called Etna (after the famous Italian volcano) with house-made Sicilain sausage.
Canoe
Canoe honors Canadian fare and ingredients, here for now for over a quarter of a century. The elaborately plated dishes are a work of beauty, thnk seared Quebec foie gras set upon a sliced curtail-pollen waffle with sumac meringue and shards of pink peppercorn. The long wine list includes plenty of Canadian winemakers with all selections thoughtfully chosen. It’s worth saving room for the rhubarb cheesecake with strawberry compote.
New Orleans Seafood & Steakhouse
Craving Cajun? This restaurant is often named among or at the top of the highest rated in all of Toronto, Go for all those New Orleans classics with a focus on seafood, including Seafood Gumbo, Cajun Calamari, and pastas like the Seafood Creole Pasta. The Jambalaya, with a mix of andouille sausage, shrimp, chicken, and the daily fresh fish topped with crawful and mussels, is fantastic.
