Scarborough almost completely left out of Michelin guide for Toronto

Michelin has revealed their inaugural guide picks for Toronto, and people have noticed one of our most diverse and stunning food neighbourhoods is largely missing: Scarborough.

One Scarborough restaurant made the guide's list of Bib Gourmand picks (friendly establishments that serve good food at moderate prices), SumiLicious. The restaurant serves smoked meat and poutine, delicacies some might argue another major Canadian food city is better known for.

At least SumiLicious got some well-deserved recognition: https://t.co/aK2CdF0sSG

— Kenric Leung (@KenricLeung) September 14, 2022

Where was the shawarma? The roti? The kebabs and pho and jerk? Doesn't the neighbourhood that a prominent economist once dubbed one of the best in the world for ethnic food deserve a little shine?

People were quick to point out that the 13 picks that received Michelin stars leaned heavily Japanese.

because the Michelin guide doesn't think "ethnic food" counts unless it's a higher end Japanese restaurant

— Señor Hobo (@doktor_hobo) September 14, 2022

Many restaurants are also located in more downtown areas like Yorkville.

So there’s no Michelin-star-worthy restaurants in Scarborough? Just Yorkville and its environs?

— Paloma 🕊 Toronto (@PalomaSaeed) September 14, 2022

The other restaurants that made the guide's Bib Gourmand list are far from Scarborough: The Ace, Alma, Bar Raval, Campechano, Cherry Street Bar-B-Que, Chica's Nashville Hot Chicken, Enoteca Sociale, Fat Pasha, Favorites, Fonda Balam, Grey Gardens, Indian Street Food Co., La Bartola, Puerto Bravo, R & D and Wynona.

Some people also felt other neighbourhoods like Chinatown had been left out.

ten minutes into toronto’s michelin restaurant unveiling and i already know these mf judges skipped all of scarborough, mississauga, brampton, markham, and chinatowns lol what

— Evy Kwong (@EVYSTADIUM) September 14, 2022

It's worth noting that in total, Michelin recommended 74 Toronto restaurants overall though they only gave stars and Bib Gourmands to some.

Mother's Dumplings and R&D in Chinatown were technically included, and while they didn't necessarily seem to make it out of Yorkville much they did give one star to both Frilu in Thornhill and Kaiseki Yu-Zen Hashimoto in East York. Michelin also recommends Babel in Don Mills.

In terms of showcasing some of the cuisines Toronto is most known for, they technically also recommended Chubby's, Ca Phe Rang, Pai, Pho Tien Thanh, Koh Lipe and Musoshin Ramen.

While Michelin is pretty well known to be synonymous with expensive luxury restaurants, people have also been commenting that it feels like restaurants were highlighted based more on price range than other factors.

Truth. $680 per person meals 🙄

— Errol Nazareth (@ErrolNazareth) September 14, 2022

Someone did point out, however, that they'll give out stars to street stalls, so it's not out of the question that a great Scarborough restaurant could be considered.

They've given stars to 2 street stalls in Asia...granted it's only 2 places but they've still gone and given em those stars 🤷🏻‍♀️

— ✧.* janna *.✧ (@just_janna) September 14, 2022

Either way, there's definitely a strong sentiment out there that Michelin could have done more to recognize the diversity of Toronto's vast food scene.

These people are stuck up french village critics. They cant handle the diversity of Toronto

— Naeem Siddiqi (@naeemsiddiqi) September 14, 2022

There are some people who don't even give much credence to Michelin guides at all (Anthony Bourdain called them "meaningless") so just remember, locals know best.