Best of Toronto
The Best Hakka Restaurants in Toronto
The best Hakka restaurants in Toronto may not be the best looking restaurants in the city, but what they lack in decor, they make up for in flavour. Each restaurant is basically a sparsely decorated room with a smiling fat Buddha statue in the entrance, a lucky kitty next to the cash register, and kitschy posters of mainland China decorating the walls. But this no-frills approach to decor isn't a big deal. Because you don't go to these restaurants to look at what's hanging on the walls. You go to eat. And eat, you will. Generous, heaping portions of delicious Indian Chinese fusion will satisfy even the pickiest of palates and keep you full for days.
Best of Toronto
The Best New Restaurants in Toronto, 2009
The best new restaurants in Toronto all have a few things in common. Kitchens for one. These restaurants also apparently share a common thread of lunacy in their restaurateurs. I mean you'd have to be madder than a March hare to open a restaurant at the very bottom of the current economic trough, in a year more notable for restaurant closures and downsizing operations than for new places to nosh. Best of Toronto
The Best New Design Stores in Toronto, 2009
The best new design stores in Toronto offered something of an international battle royale in 2009. Canada had a strong showing with two crafty stores (Bluebird Handmade and Wise Daughters Craft Market) making the cut.Japan made a play via Cubeshops and its Asian quirkfest, while the Scandinavians and Europeans continue to dominate the decor market, with Mjolk's sleek chic, and a nod to the multi-use pieces at double-store Bullfrog & Limitless.
Best of Toronto
The Best New Fashion Stores in Toronto, 2009
When it comes to the Toronto fashion scene, 2009 was the year of the homegrown designer - almost half the stores on this list are mainly stocked with Canadian lines. The demand is there for local talent, and designers are obliging--the stores on this list have everything from vintage fabric earrings (Coal Miner's Daughter) and recycled leather purses (Imelda and Black Daffodil) to handmade tees (Shared) and Lundstrom LaParkas (eleven).
Best of Toronto
The Best New Cheap Eats in Toronto, 2009
The best new cheap eats in Toronto can just about be summed up in one word: sandwiches. Gourmet burger places continue to open all over town, but they're up against some stiff competitors who really know their way around a panini press. That being said, there are a few outliers on the list this year, proving that Torontonians crave a good poutine or bowl of ramen just as much as they love tasty stuff on bread. Best of Toronto
The Best New Brunch Restaurants in Toronto, 2009
Brunch in Toronto -- the fork in the road where breakfast meets lunch, where the hungry and/or hung-over turn to satiate their weekend cravings for fat, starch, and caffeine. A little bit of breakfast, with a dash of lunch -- who could ask for a more perfect culinary melding of the minds?Everyone has their go-to, tested and true, good 'till the last drop Toronto brunch spot. But 2009 has seen some impressive new contenders enter the ring, new slingers of hash who are eager to prove their eggs the benniest, their homefries the tastiest and their pancakes the fluffiest in Toronto.
