Toronto Restaurants

  1. 360°

    You don't need to tell us that dining at the top of the CN Tower is an obvious cliché, and it's damn pricey too, but come on, how can you compete with those views?! Even if the food was ordinary (which it most certainly isn't), there's no better place in Toronto, if not Canada, for a high-class meal and a conversation about mankind's magnificent achievements. And the elevator ride is free!

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  2. 65 Degrees

    This relatively new kid on the Little Italy block seems to be making good, serving grilled steaks, lamb, chicken and seafood, along with classically-hewn pasta and risotto dishes. We can recommend the gnocchi with Alaskan lobster, mixed peppers, baby spinach and cherry tomatoes in a zingy lemon saffron sauce (around C$16 ). The interior design is downright sexy.

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  3. Akane-Ya

    You'll swear you can feel the North Pacific breeze when you bite into tender eel sushi and yellowtail sashimi at this modern dining room, filled with black lacquer, mini origami and shoji screens. The prices are high, but so is the quality. Try something with uni (sea urchin) in it, knocked down with some Asahi or Sapporo.

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  4. Ali's Tandoori Curry House

    There aren't many tables at Ali's, and the kitchen is pretty much in the middle of the room, but it all adds to the atmosphere. Ali is from Bangladesh, and he uses a lot of Bangladeshi techniques in his cooking. Feel free to specify exactly how hot you want your curry cooked (mild to molten magma), peruse the wine list then kick back into a low-key beachy evening.

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  5. Auberge Du Pommier

    A culinary college for Toronto's best chefs, graceful Auberge du Pommier is constructed from a pair of 19th-century woodcutters' cottages. Plates of roast lamb loin with olive tapenade and Provençal vegetables (around C$38 ), and butter-poached lobster glazed with citrus and tarragon (around C$40 ) look like they should be in a gallery (or at least a cookbook). Wine selections focus on French vintages, plus a few Niagara labels.

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  7. Balkan Bistro

    A husband-and-wife team run this joint, a Turkish take-out dressed up with timber paneling to look like something much more. The homemade cooking follows suit, elevating itself past simple kebabs to meaty mains served with rice, baked potatoes and grilled veggies. Try the hunkar begendi - Ottoman veal stew on mashed grilled eggplant.

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  8. Bar Italia

    Trendsetters come and go, but Bar Italia remains a place to be seen and to relax. Grab an excellent sandwich or lightly done pasta, with a lemon gelato and a rich coffee afterward - while the entire afternoon or evening away. You might need to pay the mob for a seat on the deep-set street-front patio.

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  9. Bar-Be-Que Hut

    They could probably change their name now (designed not to threaten virginal North American palates in 1976) but it's so well known it'd be business suicide! The fantastic funk of spices welcomes you at the door, luring you towards succulent North Indian tandoor slabs of chicken, sizzling curry pots or assorted naan , paratha and kulcha breads. Live Bolly-rock on weekends.

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  10. Barberian's Steak House

    This classic low-ceilinged steakhouse has been here for decades, and is regularly graced by hungry Hollywood carnivores like Sharon Stone and Edward Norton. John Candy was a regular, but let's not get into any morbid speculation… A New York sirloin will set you back around C$38 . The only word to describe the 15,000-bottle wine cellar is astounding.

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  11. Beacher Café

    Looking like a seaside cottage from a Virginia Woolf novel, this long-standing café has a narrow but eternally sought-after sidewalk patio. Particularly good are the egg and pancake brunches, while as the afternoon loses momentum Beaches wives discuss their husbands' indiscretions over merlot, jazz and seafood. Local artwork changes monthly.

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  13. Beer Bistro

    Packed to the gills with city lunchers during the day and boozy, flush-faced suits after dark, this stylish bistro offers sensational sandwiches, salads, meat and seafood dishes, each with a suggested beer pairing. Descriptions of the alcoholic experience include 'spicy,' 'bold,' 'robust' and 'sociable.' Try the grilled lamb loin niçoise with a pint of 'appetizing' Petrus Oud Bruin (around C$22 ). Avoid the side patio unless it's balmy beer weather.

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  14. Biff's

    A short flight from the Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts, Biff's is a super-friendly, welcoming place for all occasions: a high-stakes business lunch, a pre-theatre supper or a romantic full-course meal spent lingering over champagne on the sidewalk patio. Chef Basilio Pesce's specials include roast wing of skate with sauce vierge and preserved lemon (around C$22 ).

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  15. Bistro 990

    Ground zero for Toronto International Film Festival starlets bunking down at the Sutton Place Hotel, Bistro 990 feels a bit lost on a blustery reach of Bay St, but continues to serve fine French standards like duck in blackberry jus and rabbit fricassee, as well as meticulously made desserts. The wine selection is excellent, but unless you're Sean Penn, service can be surly.

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  16. Bloor Street Diner

    Its humble-sounding name belies just how swanky this place actually is, with its banquettes, starched tablecloths, formal table service by attentive waiters and a Parisian-style patio. Steaks and rotisserie fare are as distinguished as the wine list; the buffet brunch (around C$19 ) is an exercise in indulgence. Hit the café section out the front for speedy muffins, bagels and take-out sandwiches.

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  17. Bright Pearl

    Walk by the stone lions up to the 2nd floor of Hsin Kuang shopping center and discover this Cantonese-style banquet hall. Dim sum rules the roost - dozens upon dozens of dishes (dumplings, wantons, satays, pork buns, spring rolls etc, including vegetarian) are wheeled out and enthusiastically proffered. The bathrooms are a source of much pride.

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  19. Burrito Boyz

    Club-hounds who haven't got lucky pile into this basement booth to assuage their disappointment with a hefty Mexican injection of chili, sour cream and salsa. There's hardly enough room in here for both you and your burrito, so grab one to go.

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  20. By The Way Café

    An Annex fixture, this faded yellow corner bistro has a daily-changing menu of Mediterranean and New World fusion dishes, with plenty of creative choices for vegetarians. Service is A+ and the wine list features Niagara ice varietals and labels from far-flung Oregon and Australia. Why do people forsake the cozy booths inside for the claustrophobic patio?

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  21. Bymark

    Celebrity chef Mark McEwan of North 44° brings his sophisticated menu of continentally-hewn cuisine to this hip, bilevel room, a favorite with the Bay St Boys. His crew of genuinely creative kitchen operators whip seasonal regional ingredients (wild truffles, Niagara quail, the season's first soft-shell crab) into sensational combinations, each with its own suggested wine or beer pairing. Super-professional floor staff complete the picture.

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  22. Byzantium

    Slick interior design, hip young staff and lots of laughter - get your doting sugar-daddy/mommy to take you to Byzantium. Soften them up with a breakfast martini (gin, Cointreau, marmalade, lemon juice and sugar syrup), then direct them towards the signature Caesar Salad or more adventurous offerings like ostrich medallions with summer ratatouille and roasted sweet potato.

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  23. Café Crepe

    Watch the white-clad chefs deftly ladle the crepe mixture onto smoking hotplates then swirl it into delicious browned discs using a nifty wooden spatula. Sweet and savory fillings taste as good as they smell - try the coconut and banana special (around C$7 ). There are booths at the back, or crepe-escape onto the streets.

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  25. Canoe

    Toronto's definitive dining space may still be Canoe, and what a space it is! Sweeping views of choppy Lake Ontario and the Toronto Islands extend from the dining room, about half-mast to the CN Tower. Intriguing regional Canadian haute cuisine is on offer - find your sea legs after the elevator ride then tuck into a plate of pan-seared Yarmouth scallops (around C$23 ) or Nunavut caribou hind (around C$44 ). Reservations essential.

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  26. Celestin

    Chef Pascal Ribreau's imaginative French cooking triumphs inside a converted 1920s bank, where tantalizing amuse-bouche (amusements for the mouth) precede artful mains of succulent duck confit, pan-seared giant prawns with smoked pepper compote or roasted Québec squab. Celestin's atmosphere induces serenity, with widely spaced tables and superb waitstaff who are on a first-name-basis with the wines cellared in the old bank vault.

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  27. Chapter Eleven

    Part lounge bar, part restaurant, Cabbagetown's Chapter Eleven derives it's name from a US term for bankruptcy. Perhaps they're tempting fate, but if they keep doing what they're doing now, bankruptcy won't ever be a problem. The menu has plenty of appetizers (hummus, deep-fried pepperoni, wings; around C$4 to around C$6 ), or tackle something more substantial like the spinach salad with goat's cheese, grapes, cherry tomatoes, chicken, sliced almonds and balsamic vinaigrette ($11).

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  28. Chiado

    Classy Chiado sits amongst laundromats and used car dealerships at the not-so-classy western end of Little Italy, but it's well worth suffering the surrounds. Start with the grilled tiger shrimp with piri-piri, roasted jalapeños and banana peppers, then move on to the grilled octopus with roasted sweet-pepper salsa. Service is formal and faultless; framed oils enliven the walls.

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  29. Commensal

    Cafeteria-style Commensal sells 100-plus buffet dishes, including fresh salads, hot main dishes with international flavors and desserts naturally sweetened with maple syrup or fruit nectars. Most dietary restrictions can be accommodated; only a few dishes approach blandness (which the mod-mall interior design approached years ago). Herbal teas, beer and wine also make the grade.

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