My favourite Toronto food: savoury edition

Best Pho – Pho Hung

I love Pho Hung. Sitting on an inconspicuous corner on Spadina, the dining room is the best place in Toronto for people watching. It is always full of students, weirdos, people on first dates (is it written somewhere?), awkward families and solitary people like me. I adore how all the vegetarian options are listed on one page and I always look through all of them before deciding to have the pho. The soup is gently aromatic, lifted by the Vietnamese basil and lime that you squeeze in. A little sriracha goes well with the fried tofu. I could have this every weekend and be extraordinarily happy.

Best Ethiopian - Ethiopia House

Nothing like real Ethiopian food, sorely missed in Sydney. The simple dishes are the best, like the very smooth and punchy shiro just how I remembered it from Ethiopia. There are some really authentic flavours, but the injera is not sour like how it is made with teff (probably better catered to Canadian taste anyway). 

Best Banh Mi - Nguyen Huong

Forget Banh Mi Boys or any of the upmarket stuff, Nguyen Huong is where the action is at. If you arrive early enough in the morning, you actually see the lunch orders being made – a mountain of baguettes being filled by a conveyor belt of aunties, wrapped and dumped in huge garbage bags. “Large, tofu, chilli” is my usual order, as all excess words seem to result in eye-rolling from the aunties. Deep fried sweet treats also tempt every time from the cash register. The best $4 lunch in Toronto, hands down.

Best Subcontinental – Hopper Hut

Sadly, there is no truly edible curry downtown. Mediocre or overpriced are not good options. Thus I cherished the two visits we made to Hopper Hut all the way out in Scarberia, a scungy joint in a carpark full of unrecognisable foods. The hoppers with coconut sambal are just perfect. The menu is long and the few things we tried very tasty – eggplant curry, kothu roti, string hoppers.. perfect place to stuff one’s face with Lankan food.

Best Fried Food – Quinoa onion rings, Fresh

Ironically the best fried food in Toronto is in the healthy vegetarian chain Fresh. I first heard about the legendary quinoa onion rings from one of the consultants at TWH and later discovered why they are legendary. The batter has just the perfect blend of solid (you don’t want flaky onion ring batter, right?) and crispy (shatters with every crunch). The onion inside is just the right soft and is quite mild in flavour. You can choose your accompanying sauce, but garlic mayo wins every single time. I can never remember anything else I eat at Fresh (which incidentally has a wonderfully long vegetarian menu) because all I remember are these amazing onion rings.

Best Korean – Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu

I love Korean food. There’s something about the intense chilli and strong salty flavours that really suit my palate, so I’ve spent a lot of time eating Korean food in my life. Koreatown in Toronto is pretty amazing with a dozen restaurants within a couple of blocks, but BCD Tofu is the clear winner. It’s easy to see why there’s always a line-up here – a simple formula done well (soft tofu stew is the whole menu), good solid flavours, generous servings and low prices (how can one go past $10 tax incl for dinner?). This is just the perfect comfort food for winter – warm, simmering, veggies, tasty grainy rice, just the right amount of spicy. You can choose the level of spice (plain, mild, regular or extra), the plain version used to be called white but got changed after complaints about racism, ha!

Best Japanese – Japango

Japango is a tiny hole-in-the-wall just off Dundas St. So many Japanese restaurants are owned by Chinese and Koreans, and many are so far removed from Japanese food that they have no real Japanese soul (cooked tuna sushi?) Toronto has its fair share of mediocre sushi places, but this place really prides on the freshest ingredients and excellent execution. Lunch specials are great value for this level of food.

Best Roti – Gandhi

There’s a lot of roti in Toronto, most of it Caribbean, but the favourite was clearly Gandhi on Queen St. There’s something about these rotis – not sure if it’s because the roti is freshly made or the curries taste like they’ve been made by your friend’s mum, but the dish comes together so well. Extra points for having more than 10 vegetarian options!

Best Ramen – Sansotei

Incidentally, the closest ramen house to my place was my favourite. It had the richest, most flavoursome soup of all the Toronto ramen houses I tried. A few of them had veggie broths, but on account of ramen I usually drink the porky broth and donate the slices of pork to my friends. I came here countless times, and usually got the black garlic edition.

Best Pizza – Pizzeria Libretto, Queen Margherita 

I could not choose which one was the favourite. Pizzeria Libretto had the best, fluffiest, most chew-satisfying base ever - just look at that blister!

Queen Margarita had the best flavour combinations – mushroom and stinky cheese, come to mama

Best Thai – Sukhothai

I found Thai food in Toronto generally weak and unappealing, but Sukhothai had one major draw – deep fried tofu nuggets that resembled McDonald’s chicken McNuggets. These are just the most perfect morsel to start a meal – a light breading rendered golden and crispy from the deep fryer, soft tofu and a delectable garlic flavour. If only Maccas sold these...

Best breakfast

Growing up in Sydney instilled a healthy appreciation for brunch, especially on weekends. Sadly, this concept has caught on in North America but the coffee hasn’t arrived at the same time. How I dreamed of the perfect brunch place where great food and great coffee both reside, but mostly the food was great and the coffee mediocre. Never mind, several breakfast places were truly standout.

Souk Tabule

What a beautiful space this is, tastefully decorated with a real Middle Eastern feel. I wanted to try everything on their menu – but the souk platter was just the perfect way to try a few things. The falafel was so fluffy and crispy, almost rivalling my favouritest in the world at Jasmin’s. The labneh is rich and luscious, perfect alongside the salady bits and the flavoursome fuul.

Tavoos

We came on a cold winter’s day when Maha’s was closed. A modest Persian restaurant serving breakfast and lunch, I really loved the cosy décor and beautiful touches like the teatowel the bread was wrapped in. Where else can you get your eggs with haloumi, or with a sweet date, walnut & apricot base? Served with warm fresh Turkish bread and a little pot of red lentil stew. So amazingly tasty.

Insomnia

Two words. Home fries.