canada :: toronto :: general

[xcoldricex]

thanks again for the recommendations...

i'm probably looking at a night at a romantic, chill lounge and a night at a club (hip-hop or any good dance club). a really nice dinner one night and just good food for the others. budget is pretty flexible- and i like food and i'm willing to spend money on food - so if its worth the money than by all means suggest it!

looks like i'm staying at the westin harbour center - not exactly super close to anything but i'm hoping it'll be a nice room/view at least. are there any other parking structures that have websites? i'm very averse to paying hotel parking fees. i found a greenp lot near the hotel but its a bit of a walk.

oh and detroit has a much worse public transportation system than toronto. guaranteed.

i'll be there from the 30th-1st. anything particularly good happening?

[nairb49]

Yep, I'll probably be there too.

[Kasper]

oh and detroit has a much worse public transportation system than toronto. guaranteed.

anyway, i didn't wanted to start an argument over that, but when i meant that toronto had a good public transport system, i meant compare to other north american cities.

the westin is really not that far from downtown, maybe a 10 min walk. try to get a city view room, the view should be really awesome. if it's not too cold outside, taking a walk next to the water might be a good idea. the area around the westin is newly developped and a bit souless IMO, but it's still pretty nice. oh, clubs in Toronto close really early so don't go out too late, you'll be back home way too soon

[dumadiscount]

I visited Toronto about 12 months ago and had to find somewhere to take the woman for her birthday.

After much deliberation I chose Scaramouche (almost chose the restaurant on top of CN tower, but glad I didn't), which is on a hill, 5 min taxi ride out of the cbd and has a view of the toronto skyline. Intimate and romantic and all that stuff women love. Didn't regret my decision.

Ask for a table next to the window.

EDIT: webpage and ph number for you my friend http://www.scaramoucherestaurant.com/

[SENDkylHISPASSWORD]

Deffinatley Second Scaramouche. Amazing food.

Also a very cool romantic spot is Amuse Bouche which is a tiny french restaurant near King West. Very intimate and amazing food.

Also try Perigee in the Distilery District, amazing food, try the omasake and get the desert tasting menu too. It is in a really amazing area and is nice to walk around.

Just take Taxis everywhere. The subway is OK but I dont bother with streetcars/buses. Single rides are expensive but for $8.50 you can get a public transit day pass for two, however None of there restaurants are really on the subway line, but Scaramouche is close.

a great resource is torontolife.com

[xcoldricex]

looking a guidebook (not the greatest resource i know) it looks like there's some crazy themed clubs in T.O. - they worth a night or should i pass?

might try to catch the ed banger show...

[axtsang]

Don't pay the full ($50?) per person to get up CN Tower just to sightsee. Tell the person at the bottom that are are going up for dinner or lunch. Its a free ride up, and the main menu costs around ~$30. For you and your wife, $60 will have you two main menu meals and a free trip up to the CN Tower, which revolves a full revolution in one hour. If I remember correctly, there was even a special way of getting up to the 'official sightseeing' area from the dining level.

[chrisbunnington]

cosign on the CN tower being kind of a waste. although i hear the food is good.

definitely check out kensington, even if there's nothing there of particular interest to you, it's such a neat little neighbourhood and totally worth having a look at.

nobody's mentioned the distillery district, which i quite like. it's a small area but it's incredibly nice, and is home to a bunch of neat little bakeries, restaurants, shops, etc.

queen west is nice, but kind of overrated. queen and bathurst is pretty much my least favorite intersection in the GTA.

hey, you like dim sum, right? now magazine published a huge dim sum guide a few weeks ago, check it out: http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2007-02-15/goods_foodfeature2.php

[l3ootlegs]

subway cost 2.75 CAD for single trip

i would recommand you buy 20 tokens or sth. that would save some money.

[xcoldricex]

Deffinatley Second Scaramouche. Amazing food.

Also a very cool romantic spot is Amuse Bouche which is a tiny french restaurant near King West. Very intimate and amazing food.

Also try Perigee in the Distilery District, amazing food, try the omasake and get the desert tasting menu too. It is in a really amazing area and is nice to walk around.

Just take Taxis everywhere. The subway is OK but I dont bother with streetcars/buses. Single rides are expensive but for $8.50 you can get a public transit day pass for two, however None of there restaurants are really on the subway line, but Scaramouche is close.

a great resource is torontolife.com

requoting sendkylhispassword's other post from another thread:

STAY AWAY FROM THE EATONS CENTER

some tips for Toronto though:

The best shop in the city by far is Nomad (nomadhsop.net). They carry the best brands that you may or may not have heard of, the owner calls it "street couture". Margelia, Engineered Garments, Spruce, Wings & Horn, Nom De Guerre, Supreme and the toronto brand Grandiose which is fantastic.

You will probaby be on Queen West and it is at 431 Richmond (@ Spadina, one street south of Queen). There is plenty on Queen West but the firts part is very commercial, and I don't hate it for that but it's stuff for the masses with the occasional decent place. (Caban is good, huge store, mostly furniture carries Levis PRemium, Trovata, Rogan, 5EP etc...) Walk west on Queen for as long as you want way past Spadina and that is the new "cool" area. Lots of greta local and independant boutiques, designers, studiosgalleries, bars, restaurants etc. At around 670 Queen is Czehoski, eat lunch on the patio. A mix of local hipsters and "perfect" 30 year old couples. It is great, I just enjoyed the $37 burger there last night (bison, truffles, gold, fois gras). Make sure to check delphic for Lindeberg, Alife shoes and more.

Any more questions ask. Also what are your tastes? perhaps I can direct you even more specifically.

And a great resource for food and shops is www.torontolife.com

I can also safley say avoid the eaton center unless you want to do the whole lame toruisty thing. Also stay away from that whole area, stylexchange and urbanoutfitters unless you are eurotrash or a suburban pseudo-hipster.

And as stated above check out the Yorkville area (TNT) and enjoy a drink on a patio while watching some seriously vain and beautiful people walk or drive buy in their Ranges and Ferraris.

Also for Toronto see this thread: http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/showthread.php?p=175741#post175741

here is an excerpt from it I posted about places to eat/drink:

Here are some noteworth bars/lounges/restuarants:

King West

Susur 601 King St. West - Famous chef Susur Lee's restaurant, exotic cusine.

Lee 603 King St. West - Susur Lee's cheaper casual place, still great design and exotic, tapas style cusine.

Brassai 461 St. King West - great traditional bistro, amazing patio, in an old warehouse.

The Spoke Club 600 King St. West - members only club. amazing place, has a dinning room, bar, library, great design, find a member to take you as a guest.

Brant House 522 King St. West - another cool place with a great patio right next to 8 Restolounge (12 Brant St.) and West Lounge (511 King St. West), 3 very trendy "it" spots.

Yorkville

Toni Bolloni's 156 Cumberland St.- great little spot in Yorkville for fantastic itallian cusine, not expensive and not pretentious like the rest of Yorkville, there are always athletes and celebs in there.

Lobby 192 Bloor St. West - cool place, all white, trendy, yound rich jewish kids hang out in the bar but they added a serious kitchen and do great mini kobe burgers

Montreal Bread Co - 100 Bloor St West - address is Bloor but you must get to it from the street behing bloor, see Finacial District for info.

Queen West/Entertainment District

Sandwich Box 238 Queen St. West - $7 lunch, grilled sandwiches: highest quality ingredients pick your bread, spead and 3 ingredients.

Burrito Boyz 120 Peter - freshest ingredients, huge, cheap, great lunch always lined up out the door

Ultra Supper Club 314 Queen St. West - Amazing rooftop patio, great food, beautiful people

Kai 220 Richmond St. West- Asian themed club of the moment, enter in a sketcy back alley, saw Paris Hilton there last week if thats your thing.

The Fifth 225 Richmond St. West- club underneath, take the elevator the fine dinning restarant or go to the great rooftop with cabans and some great easy food and fantastic cocktails

West Queen West/Parkdale

Czehoski 678 Queen St. West - trustfund hipsters and area locals, great design old butcher shop with remnants from the past operation. try the $37 burger, lots of organic, inventive playful cusine

Bar One 924 Queen St. West - Cool place, live jazz, good fresh modern italian, amazing back terrace.

Clafouti 915 Queen St. West - Amazing french bakery, famous croissants, good sandwiches too.

The Social 1100 Queen St. West - Slightly gritty but kind of bridges the gab between the trendyness and girttyness of the area, spillover from the Drake, Mischa Barton hung out there, so did all the hot indie acts (Franz Ferdinand, Broken Social Scene)

Dufflet Pastries 787 Queen St. West - Best pastries, small little bakery, a Toronto staple, order cakes for home or sit at the window and have a key lime tart while you watch the hipsters, cokeheads and modern couples stroll by.

Kensington Market

The Boat 158 Agusta Ave - Kennsington Indie kid hotspot, cool rundown place

Supermarket 258 Agusta - cool trendy spot asian food, mixed crowd all the artsy, punk, skater whatever kensington kids juxtapose with the 905ers and metrosexuals

Finnacial District

Bymark 66 Wellington St. - AMAZING food, cool design, lots of bay street sharks and the women who love them

Ki 181 Bay St.- think LA's "Koi"; see above

MBCo (Montreal Bread Co) 66 Wellington St. - Amazing fresh lunches, great design white marble wood floors. shrimp and lobster quesadillas, ahai tuna nicoise sandwich etc, you get the idea, in the food court of the TD center, the yorkville location is better has an outdoor patio

Other

The Bagel 258 College - Another Indie kid ironic spot, get drunk cheap.

Thats it for now, those are some of my favourite places to hang out or eat, can add more.

i'll post what i did after i get back.

[SENDkylHISPASSWORD]

Updates to my post: Avoid brant and west at all costs. 8restolounge is now gone.

Ki is empty now, for good authentic sushi go to Hiro Sushi (King and Jarvis). For great trendy japnesee/sushi try Doku 15 on colburne st.

Next to Hiro is Kultura - great tapas style food - try the samosas and the orgasmic donughts for desert.

Caban is now gone unfortunatley.

Walk west on queen, across from delphic/next to dufflet is a place called Sydney's which carries a lot of NY brands - opening ceremony and band of outsiders etc and he makes custom jeans.

[Etz]

I'm gonna add:

Nightlife

The Drake - If you come when the weather is warm, definitely check out the patio at the Drake. Always great.

Ideally, you could eat, hit the drake and lounge then walk down the street to the social if you want to dance some.

Everything kyl said is otherwise spot on.

[chanimal]

westin is a pretty nice hotel and its not far from the downtown if you like dim sum you should try pearl at the harbour front centre, since your nearby anyway, enjoy your trip

[F-fresh]

Yo what up party people.

Heading to Toronto for the 1st time for business/pleasure, and want to see what the city really has to offer. Any favorite clubs/bars that you'd recommend for a someone who's in love with partying and into good funk&electro, house and hip-hop?

Thanks for your time.

f-fresh

[SENDkylHISPASSWORD]

The only club worth going to is Ultra, the rest are trash. Be aware that It's where the rich and pretty kids of Toronto go. For me I love it, but other may not.

[SENDkylHISPASSWORD]

mixed drinks are around 7.50. Thats all I know

I hate all of the "premier clubs" but ultra gets the least trash from the 905. It gets pretty underage girls all the way up to bay streeters. The 20 something singles that come there are pretty akward and dont fit in. They look like the read ultra was good and decided to go but would have been better off anywhere on richmond.

music: a lot of interesting remixes, last time i was there bob sinclair, justin timberlake/timberland/nellyfurtado stuff... unfortunatley last time i was they they played some garbage techno stuff after 2.

the best spot is the couch by the bar in the back. it is low key, have a bar to yourselves and you can watch the fashion show as people come/leave the washroom/coatcheck

cover is 15 on most nights.

[yo!]

for a fun party, go to the social.

[Guest ATS]

Depends when you're there.

I kinda second u on the social, but sometimes it can be rather shit and a lot of suburbian kids there. plus u cant find any drugs there.

the drake is always decent.

ultra is good for mega clubbing.

for your eyes only then across the street to century room to pick up some stuck up hoes.

check out college street for some predrinking.

same as bloor and bathurst annex area for some pre drinking.

there's always something good going on in toronto depending on what ur into, and depending on when you'll be in town.

good djs & good live music.

soulwax is at the opera house on the 20th.!

[Guest ATS]

oh and stay the fuck away from Richmond street...

[sean_]

oh and stay the fuck away from Richmond street...

........................

[Etz]

oh and stay the fuck away from Richmond street...

Quoted for truth.

Thirding The Social. If you want electro either go on a Thursday or Saturday. Mixed drinks are $6 same with Stella. Labatt 50 is $3.50.

[alex_844]

i like social too, fun times. but not so classy or whatever.

[aDj]

what weekend are you visiting? Just pick up some flyers from stores on Queen St. W and find a copy of the free NOW magazine. There are plenty of good parties to find especially if you know DJ names.

For some regular parties you can check out:

Down One on fridays plays good hip-hop and its not your typical club district joint.

Supermarket on Saturdays for funk/house/hip-hop.

Octopus on Saturdays for funk/house/hip-hop

There are others. PM for more.

[jasonm]

this dude isnt looking for the social. these recommendations will ruin his trip.

posters directing you towards richmond st. area are doing you a favor. unfortunately i know nothing about that area and generally steer clear. but im sure if you roll down there you'll find a place you'll digg.

[Guest ATS]

U Serious????

Go To Muzik Saturday Night Then.

[yo!]

if he wants to class it up theres also Amber and CLVB in yorkeville (prob. on richmond if i remember correctly). had fun at those joints in the summer. CLVB had a rad covered smoking area in the back with a bar where you could burn some stogies. they had a humador with cubans and shit for sale that was pretty dank. but maybe those places are shit now though?, shit changes so fast in these scenes.

[hamham3001]

Im figuring out what way to get to new york from toronto.. to take the bus, drive myself, or take the plane.. any suggestions?? any experiences?

[high_contrast]

You mean NYC right, since Buffalo is in New York.

Either take a flight or go with those Tai Pan tour buses and ditch them for personal shopping. Keep in mind it's a 10 hour ride or something.

[Ryan]

dude..bus ride is suicidal styles. i think its been discussed before.. save your sanity and time and pay for a plane ticket.

[alex_844]

yeah fuck long bus rides, i took greyhound to boston and it was one of the worst experiences of my life.