Shuttered beloved Toronto Vietnamese spot just got a second chance
A Toronto business that built a cult following serving Vietnamese street food at festivals around the city has settled into a new, permanent home with the help of a beloved, longstanding juice joint.
The team behind Tum Lum, a pop-up that's been serving street food favourites like Vietnamese coffee and banh mi since 2019, has officially set up a fresh new storefront in Toronto — but they don't exactly see it that way.
Opening the doors to its first permanent location on Oct. 31, Tum Lum takes over the space that housed Bloordale's beloved Galaxy T&T for 12 years before its owner Mai Phan, affectionately referred to as Auntie Mai, quietly closed the shop and retired earlier this fall.
But the closure wasn't, as it turns out, the end of the story for Galaxy T&T.
In a post announcing the business's new home, the Tum Lum team describes opening the business more as a changing of the guard than a true takeover, writing, "Some shops close. This one got passed on."
The Tum Lum team says that, in addition to their own dishes and recipes, which have garnered considerable clout over the years in their own right, they've also inherited Aunty Mai's old recipes, which they plan to continue serving with the same heart.
With extensive renovations to breathe new life into the space, Tum Lum-cum-Galaxy T&T is (back?) in business, stocked with Vietnamese snacks (including rice paper banh trang nuong, also known as Vietnamese pizza, grilled fresh in the window) and a renewed passion for serving the community that supported its forebear for over a decade.
Tum Lum is located at 1227 Bloor St. W.
Hector Vasquez
