Toronto - food and fun things to do

Toronto is a moderate metropolis--it has a great combination of it all in moderation: it is a true North American city, only safer and cleaner and with a cheaper dollar and good public transportation. It has some European flavor to it, but its stores open on Sundays and late at night. You can experience several cultures in this multi-cultural city but everyone will still understand English. It has loads of theater, arts, and sports including the NHL and NBA. It has easy shopping in malls but the streets are also alive with small stores and you can stroll in the lively neighborhoods such as Little Italy or Danforth.

Quick Tips:

Head for Little Italy and Danforth (Greektown) for the restaurants; Yonge Street from Dundas to Bloor for ALL kinds of shopping including Eaton Center Mall or army surplus stores. There are some Asian restaurants closer to Bloor. Go to Bloor-Yorkville for fancy shopping and lattes in Lettieri to hopefully spot a couple of stars. Queen Street West is great for music, funky shops, and bars.

Best Way To Get Around:

In Toronto you can walk! It has sidewalks and other people are walking too--this is where the European flavor shows! Public transportation (TTC)is safe, fast, efficient, and especially the subway used by all kind of people. They've even got streetcars! Taxis are ok priced, too, especially if there is more than one going, it might even be cheaper than taking the TTC.

This is a nice, small hotel with almost a boutique feel in lower downtown Toronto right on Yonge Street, a little below King Street close to a subway station. Price is right and the rooms are pretty and clean. I stayed in a standard room in January 2000 with my husband and it seemed to have been renovated just recently. The bathroom was small, but very beautiful, with chromium and white finishes. It books up quite fast, so reserve in advance. Some rooms have a view of an inner courtyard--a bit claustrophobic. Friendly personal service - the lobby is tiny and doesn''t look as nice as the rooms do. There is a Starbucks close by for breakfast. The hotel reservations can be done at www.utell.com

This hotel has traditions--it used to be the star hotel, but since the renovation some time ago, locals say it lost its charm and now is mainly just a tourist hotel.

However, the luxurious feeling still remains, the rooms are well equipped and of a good size, and and the lobby is chic--you still get service here.

The prices are good sometimes; I stayed here in January 2002 for a few days. I saw a few hotels thanks to my job in Toronto, and I must say you do not get the best possible value for your money here . . .

We stayed here just one night in June 2003, happened to have a free certificate from my husband's frequent business travel - Marriott is a great chain in terms of rewards, often they have promotions that give you two free weekend nights if you stay 4 or 5 times in a Marriott within three months or so!

Anyway, this hotel is quite centrally located right next to the Bay department store, and a subway station that connects to both Yonge and Bloor-Danforth lines. The hotel itself is nothing remarkable, just a regular good North American chain hotel with all the normal services (valet parking, bell boys, extensive cable TV, full bath with that everpresent too shallow tub for a nice relaxing bath, gift shop, free newspaper, and in-room coffee maker, etc.) The rooms are standard though roomy, with space enough for a king size bed with two nightstands, tv cabinet, desk and chair, a table and an armchair. Gloomy brownish colours, but that's what you usually get, right? The bathroom was smallish, though.

Pretty much what you would expect, but nothing extraordinary, comfort food basically, no surprises here except for the very friendly bell boy/concierge who told us "everything" about Toronto and the hotel on the way up to the room with our luggage.

If you're staying in Toronto for a bit longer, this should be your first choice! Bridgestreet offers fully furnished apartments all over the world, with several locations in Toronto. We stayed at Yung Tower which is right across the street from Eaton Centre (Baton Rouge and Starbucks). The narrow building is wedged between two older buildings, it is so new that the fitness center is not yet ready and the elevator doors got painted during our stay . . . The entire building is owned by Bridgestreet, it has 11 floors if I remember correctly with a roofdeck on third floor.

The minimum stay is 7 or 8 days. We paid 119 CAD per night for our 7-night stay for a one-bedroom apartment, but if you stay longer, you can get better rates. When you book, you will receive a code that will give you access to the building and to a lockbox where your keys are - there is no reception. After that you can access the building with the code for a few days or with your access card.

The apartment was great!!! The images on www.bridgestreet.com give no proper idea of how nice is actually is. We had a one-bedroom apartment -- it was maybe some 600 square feet, with two bathrooms (full bath ensuite, 3 pc next to kitchen).

The floors were granite tiles and hardwood, walls were painted in offwhite and beige colours, the appliances and bathroom fixtures were white, furniture was mainly black leather, glass, steel and cherrywood. Not all absolutely my style, but very close, which is more than what you usually get in a temporary accommodation.

The apartment is FULLY furnished - full stove with ceramic top, big fridge, dishwasher, washer, dryer, iron, ironing board, two TV/VCRs, printer/fax (yes!), mixer, toaster, coffee maker, electronic kettle, roasting pan, pie dishes, knifes, forks, plates, ice cream scoop, the list goes on. Smart light fixtures -- touch swithes, dimming, light in the closet in the bed room, etc.

And everything sparkling with newness!!! Totally upscale and almost better than at home -- everything you might need -- I could have made an apple pie, had I known how! :-) So basically you are living exactly like a local Torontonian in a luxury condo, which was super nice to us, having lived in a condo here for a few years previously.

The downsides: parking is not good in the area, several garages are close by but expensive. The building doesn't have internet - Bridgestreet told us people get their own connection with a local company, but I don't think that works unless you are staying several months. They did say that they are THINKING about getting highspeed connection to all apartments -- some corporate residence . . . But Toronto has loads of internet cafes so that should not be a big problem.

This was my favourite takeout place in Toronto - it also offers a dining room but I lived close by so I grab the great stuff to take home with me.

You can see the cooks working right there when waiting for your food or you can also watch the busy Yonge Street as this is right on the street corner.

This has been called one of the real Asian places and it indeed is different from the fancy panasian spots further up Yonge. The fried rice was really good and my total favourite even though I know it's not really a Chinese dish... All the vegetables in the food are fresh and in larger bits. They also offer bubble tea - not really my thing but seemed to be quite popular.

*No cards - cash only!

This place might look simple and may not be the most tastefully decorated in DAnforth where serving the chic shish seems to be a growing trend... but it definitely has the best quality lamb shish kebobs you can get in Toronto - and the largest portions! The meat is tender, cooked in an open kitchen. You get a (yankee style) Greek salad and garlic bread for starters and yummy Greek style potatoes and rice or fries with your shish. The atmosphere is great - like a Greek tavern.

The lineups for an outside table tend to get longish on hot summer evenings as they do in all Greektown but who cares; Greektown is open until early morning and people are on the move.

The Yonge and Bloor area down Yonge street is filled with all types of Asian food outlets including takeout and sitdown dining. You can get a large meal for a few bucks (CA$). Lunch time queues may be long at the most popular spots (such as Green Mango) but there are plenty of choices! Oja, Spring Rolls on Yonge (my favourite beef chow mein), Ginger (Vietnamese takeout -- several good choices), Green Mango (Thai food with a twist) etc.

If you don''t like Asian, there''s a small quiet Indian restaurant called Raj Nagar and a Taco Bell. Further down on Yonge you can find pizza outlets, Burger Kings and Macs etc., plus a Hungarian restaurant and one or two Ethiopian places.

What more do you need? Go out and eat!

A tiny, cosy Italian restaurant with a limited menu and limited hours (so check first to avoid disappointments). The food is ok but the main attraction here is that finally you will be able to buy the wine to suit the food and not the one to suit your wallet! This place only charges some 5 bucks or so over and above retail on wines. So pick your meal and be prepared to actually enjoy the wine you have with it!

This is a very busy restaurant in Little Italy on College Street (a popular spot in the evenings). When it's full, it gets LOUD - everyone's talking... But that's not a bad thing! There's a nice bar where you can have a drink while waiting for your table.

Go here for the atmosphere and the amazing pastas - don't expect everything to be the fastest ever but you'll feel you're miles away from North America here!

A simple, pretty restaurant - the highlight definitely is that it has one of the very few patios downtown right on Yonge Street! Plastic and metal chairs on the patio.

Food ok, not marvellous but not expensive either. Pork filled with cranberries etc. was our favourite along with the daily pastas.

The interior is nicely decorated with varied chairs and tables, all very beautiful but some of them way too close to one another making it a little difficult to walk by... I seem to remember a fireplace inside but I think it did not actually have one, just a very warm feeling!

Offers a very decent Indian lunchtime buffet - popular with the business people working in the area. The restaurant is very small but pretty, also a regular menu available.

This is a regular tourist trap but the prices are not bad, so if you're out for a very full stomach and have some Pepto-Bismol handy, just go for it. The food is quite insignificant, but edible (just don't ever take the steak!!! trust me on this one). You get a salad or a soup, the main course and a tea or coffee plus an ice cream for the price of some 12 to 15 CAD (plus taxes and tip).

The service is what you might expect in a place like this - impersonal and sort of rude and slow with a fake efficiency and friendliness (i.e. "Hi, my name is Jim and I will be your server tonight!"). A lot of birthday cakes and happy birthday songs sung by the staff. The spumoni ice cream is not bad.

The decor is interesting; you can eat in a street car replica or next to a carousel.

It gets busy on some early evenings so you sign up and wait for your table to be called out. (Just stand up if no one else does, they do not do too well writing down anything else but Jim or Joe Smith.)

Almost anywhere in Toronto you're not further than two blocks from a "closest" coffee shop...

On Yonge and Bloor Streets that is literally true - check it yourself if you don't believe me! If you're not from North America, you may not be entirely familiar with the importance of coffee on the go - it may seem strange at first but you get the hang of it pretty fast. Now when I'm back in Finland, I miss drinking my cafe mocca on the run! So definitely, do try it!

Starbucks and Second Cups are everywhere, and the smaller Canadian equivalent Timothy's World Coffees - try them, they're nice, too. Try the Canadian specialties as well- the Tim Hortons. You may have thought these only exist in the suburbs and country towns... no way! There's a Horton's on Bay Street just below Bloor that is very popular for lunch, plus the police get their coffee and donuts from there all the time - whenver I walked by (that was a lot, I lived two blocks away), there would be a police car, motor bike or a bicycle outside, usually a few at the same time. You can get a really good cup of coffee from there or the Canadian office regular: the Timbits (the centres of donuts available with all possible toppings). They also offer cheap lunches - not a gourmet experience, but hey, for 4 bucks you should be happy to get your tummy full!

I went with my husband and my little sister (she was acting as our excuse to go...she was 17 at the time so I don't think it convinced anyone!) The lineups may be bad on the best summer days, especially on long weekends, so if you plan on visiting this on your vacation, do find out about the holidays and come on a regular weekday!

There is a bus/subway combination that you can take there--ask TTC (Toronto Transit Commission, the local public transit) but if you have a car, that's a lot faster, probably not less expensive though with parking and stuff.

The roller coasters are amazing--especially the one that takes you first up and then whisks you down via a corkscrew up to another side; stop and then the same corkscrew back your back first...

The food is horrible and expensive and you need to walk a bit, but if you love roller coasters, this is your spot.

There is a fun looking water park too, but I never had time to try that but you might want to take your swimming suit with you.

This is a theatre festival organized by Harbourfront Centre every May - it is targeted at kids but having worked for the festival in the past and seen the shows, the quality is great and some of the theatre is definitely for the entire family - meaning that it also will really entertain the parents; this festival gathers the best of children's theatre all around the world Doesn't cost much, either so if you're there in May, check it out - I think you will be very pleasantly surprised!

This Abba musical probably is still running in Toronto and seems like it will run forever - I saw it two times and took all my out-of-town visitors to see it. It is great pure fun for anyone who knows the Abba songs at least a little. It's not the merry singalong they try to make it sound in the ads, but it's still a lot of fun.

Definitely go see this if you can manage to get tickets.

TIP: If you're on a budget, call Ticketking or visit the theatre box office for 25 CAD limited view last row tickets - you can still see quite ok, but the balcony above obstructs the view a little and you might need to sit really upright to see well. I was on the edge of my seat most of the time anyway so that did not matter!

The film festival in September gets the city's film fanatics crazy - people flock to the theatres for the premieres of the most popular films, and the stars come to Toronto - for best chances to see stars, hang around the Yorkville aread: Inter Continental, Four Seasons, Windsor Arms are the hotels to watch out. Sotto Sotto and Josos with the good old fashioned Bistro 990 (at 990 Bay street) both feed the stars, the Rain and Monsoon may also get some, but you probably cannot get into the Rain (Nelly Furtado did not get to her own award party - it is that exclusive...).

Toronto festival also features some less well-known films, such as things from my home country Finland, and not just the Kaurismäki's which someone might actually have heard of!

Check their website to see what's on next time!

http://www.e.bell.ca/filmfest/

A cool spot to spend your night in!

Small and intimate and seems to be always packed. Aimed at the crowd who has grown out the tecno raves, I 'd say.

There's often a band usually playing jazz or blues, a small dance floor kind of thing or at least an area between tables where people often start to dance on.

One evening Jeff Healey showed up as a surprise guest; he had just felt like playing, he said.

A nine-hole golf course right downtown . . . who knows how long it will be there before the new housing developmets kick in, but while it is, go and experience swinging the club right at CN Tower. A really bad hit might get your ball even on the Gardiner Expressway, which runs right next to the course; I did not manage to do that, so don't worry, I don't think it happens too often!

This is a par-3 course with 115 yards as the longest hole, so no drivers, please!

There's also a driving range if you feel you need a little practice first. Club rentals are available. A whole-day package lets you play and drive all you can, and might be the thing for you if you're an enthusiast.

Well, you've come to Toronto--naturally you need to see The Falls. The best way to do this is to rent a car, drive down there, park your car, and walk to the falls along the pretty sidewalk admiring the gardens and slowly hearing the roar of the falls better and better. On some days, you'll know you're close when you feel like finding your umbrella!

Go see it from close by. One of the best viewing points is just behind the Table Rock House, just where the water falls down--find a spot next to the fence and let the amazing power of the water hypnotize you . . .

Then take a look at the little looking boats in the whirlpool of mist--that's where you're going next. Walk back to the line for Maid of the Mistand take the boat. It's cool, really! You may actually really get soaked . . . so be prepared. All the ice must be gone before it starts to operate, so in April you are likely to be out of luck!

This is it, then, I'd say. Everything else here is crap--oh so fake and artificial. If you like the Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, casinos, and Ripley's Believe It or Nots of this world--then sure, go ahead and get to know the town. Otherwise, I suggest you walk to your car, tour the main street by car, and then leave the falls for the small pretty village of Niagara-on-the-Lake via the Niagara Parkway--you'll have the river to your right all the time and you'll see the Floral Clock, the Spanish Aerocar, etc.

Have lunch in Niagara-on-the-Lake--admire the cozy houses and stores (a Winnie the Pooh store, for example!). By the way, the U.S. town of Niagara Falls is trying to get its tourism up the same way Canadians have, but I still found the Canadian side a lot more tourist-friendly, and would definitely recommend the north side of the falls for everyone, at least for the time being!

Then, it's time to see the wineries! I'm having way too much time in my hands this Christmas holiday ;-), so I wrote a separate story on those--see "Niagara wineries" . . .

There are actually great wineries in Canada! The main area for wine producing is the Niagara--they say it has a strange microclimate or something that makes the area different from its surroundings. They make good white wine, decent reds, and a marvellous ICE WINE! You have got to try this sweet dessert wine made of grapes that are frozen--it usually has a sweet scent and taste of honey, apricot, prossibly a little pear in it, and makes the best souvenir possible!

Pick up a map of the wineries at any tourist info or major hotel, and start touring! This can well be combined with touring Niagara Falls, since the wineries are around that area. A car is a must--if all you want to do is tastings, there are some tours arranged, or if you have enough in your group, I hear that renting a limo for the day has been done several times and is not outrageously expensive!

I toured the wineries a number of times with people who came to visit me and my husband while we lived in Toronto. We think the best tours are offered in Hillebrandt winery. It is a larger winery, with free tours offered every hour or so daily, and no boring videotape is shown (as is, for example, in an otherwise great winery called Chateau Charmes), but you do see the "champagne cellar," the wine benches, the wine barrels, etc., and you also do a guided free tasting.

Inniskillin has good ice wine, and Vineland has a very beautiful building, a very nice restaurant, and free tastings (once red wine with chocolate strawberries . . .).

The absolute best free tastings are at a small winery called Thirty Bench--they got to know me quite well there, since we loved their ice wine and late-harvest wine and went back for it again and again and brought friends with us. The staff is helpful, and you can taste pretty much anything you like. No tour to speak of, though. They probably have the prettiest ice wine bottles of all Niagara wineries! And no, I do not get any commissions or anything--I just really liked the place and think it is worth mentioning here alongside the big ones.

Some of the wineries are open in winter, too, so check out their schedules.

HOW TO GET TICKETS

It might difficult to get tickets for the NHL games in Toronto, since hockey seems to be everyone's favorite in Toronto--well, it is Canada! It is always worth a try, though. The easiest way is to book well in advance at www.ticketmaster.ca (try it--the more expensive tickets and single seats may be available even just a week before the game).

You can almost always get tickets from the scalpers hanging outside the ACC before the game, but if it is an important game, you may have to pay much more than the box office price! However, if there seems to be tickets available, wait a little into the game and you'll usually get the tickets for a lot less than before the game starts. We actually managed to get tickets for a play-off game in 2001 (Toronto-Ottawa), C$90/ticket, almost the normal price for two seats next to each other. But watch out--they will not tell you if it is a standing-room only ticket--it will be indicated on the ticket, but not too clearly! There are also a lot of tickets that are in a no-alcohol area so you have to finish your beer before returning to your seat.

If you live in Toronto or in the area, you can try to find out when tickets go on sale for the season, and then the day before that go to the ACC box office to get a wristband. The next day you'll have to line up according to the wristband number. Then a random number is picked, and the whole queue is rearranged starting from that number--then you get to buy tickets. You can purchase a maximum of eight tickets per person, four per game. Not all areas are available but this is your best shot at scoring tickets, especially at C$30-70 price level. We did this three times and got tickets each time, though it is not guaranteed in any way... It is also a lot of fun and you meet a lot of other real fans (plus wives and girlfriends, such as myself, who somehow got talked into this...)

THE GAME

Well, if you've been to an NHL game, then you know that it is fun even for someone who doesn't care much for sports--the atmosphere’s great, especially at Canadian games. We always like to go early so that we hear both national anthems and get to see all the light shows, etc. In the ACC, since it’s a new arena, you have great services available. The best and cheapest coffee you'll get is from Tim Hortons, naturally!

After the game, walk or take the subway back--it is fun to go together with all the other people from the game. The subway is packed and so are the streets close by--besides, parking costs some C$20 in the parking lots close by!

If you need pampering but are not prepared to pay an arm and a leg to get a pedicure or something--visit Civello spas.

These day spas want to make you feel good, so they have no white sterile-looking rooms where you're left alone with the eye mask dripping into your eyes. The Rosedale location is especially beautiful, with "castle" doors and cobblestone hallway complete with a stone fountain. The music is never from a radio; it's always some soothing and relaxing mood music.

The place smells great and the lights are dim. The treatment rooms are along the hallway and look like little caves. The facials and the massages are truly blissful--while the mask is on your face, you get a neck or hand massage, so you're not left alone in the room wondering what is going on. You get to choose the scents used if you're getting an aromatherapy treatment . . . So their focus is on making you feel good . . .

The manicures and pedicures are done in a brighter, more modern room (in the Queen Street, uptown Yonge Street, and Rosedale locations, at least). They have specific pedicure stations where you sit higher up with your feet in a little whirlpool tub. The pedicure and the manicure both include a nice massage. The products used are Aveda and Opi for nails. The Aveda foot cream is the absolute best foot cream ever!

I'm sure there are better spas, possibly the ones in deluxe hotels, etc., but this is in the normal person's price range and still absolutely luxurious. A floating facial costs C$95 and a pedicure C$50--I think.

They have a website at www.civello.com.

There is a little known place called Ontario Tourist Information in the ground floor of the Toronto Eaton Centre that has a wealth of information and brochures on anything worth seeing in the province of Ontario. You can also pick up Toronto maps, guides, and winery routes information here, too! I was surprised at how few people in Toronto even knew this booth existed . . .

Toronto Life! This monthly magazine also publishes up to a dozen annual guides to the city, and the information is also available online at Toronto Life. If you need recommendations on anything from where to play golf and eat well, to buying bread, tea or furniture and where to go for a short side trip, there will likely be a little red book by Toronto Life to tell what to do! These guides are really a life saver if you''re planning to stay longer or live in Toronto. These people take reviewing things seriously and the businesses and the customers do the sams--so if a restaurant gets rave reviews in the guide, it might see a boom in its business . . .

In Toronto there seems to be a Second Cup or a Starbucks every two blocks - well, there also are internet cafes everywhere. This is probably old news to anyone who lives in North America but not so to people coming from Europe. I did not have an internet connection at home while living in Toronto but soon noticed there was really no need to do that with 2 or 3 internet cafes within 200 metres from where I lived!

So if you need to chek your email in Toronto, you'll do that in a breeze!

Especially on Yonge Street between College and Bloor. You just need to glance around.

These internet cafes cannot really be called "cafes" since most of them do not serve coffee or any other beverages or edibles - they just have tightly packed computers in a small room and a large sign outside telling you what they charge. In January 2002, one hour on the internet cost between $2-4 (Canadian) and the computers usually were quite fast. So it is cheap!

Of course these places also draw a bunch of people who come here to view sites they do not dare load on their own computers or at work so don't be surprised if the link history gives some pretty "interesting" options... Also, watch your belongings.

If this bothers you, go and have a cup of coffee and a great sandwich in one of the nice cafes called Croissant Tree. They offer a free 30 minutes of internet use with a purchase of $3 (Canadian) or so.