TORONTO RECOMMENDATIONS for CAPS AGM Attendees
October 2024
Getting around:
From the airport: Use the UP Express, it’s great. Use it to connect to the Metro/subway to get most places you need to go.
In town:
Subway (frequent, fast, but limited geographically),
There are two lines
1 (yellow, north/south)
2 (green, east/west)
TTC street car (slow, infrequent, but useful, particularly East/West trips along multiple
Bikeshare – very convenient, please be careful.
Places to go (and things to eat):
MUSEUMS
The Royal Ontario Museum - I would try to give highlights, but it’s all good. Noteworthy: the Dawn of life exhibit, especially if you’ve never been to Kootenay.
Art Gallery of Ontario – Check out the group of seven gallery. Special exhibits are usually good, and the modern collection.
Nearby: Library coffee, Dzo Vietnamese, Baldwinville. Grange park is behind the museum.
I’ve also heard good things about the Bata shoe museum and the Gardiner Museum (Pottery)
Neighbourhoods/places to walk around
St. George UofT campus - You might enjoy walking around here. It’s not very exciting.
Baldwinville – Heart of downtown but a quiet street dense with restaurants.
Best: Koh Lipe thai food. Carbonic coffee.
Baldwinville is basically a little off-shoot of the downtown Chinatown. Lot's to explore there!
Special mentions: Corner Crepe, Ninetails Coffee.
Kensington Market - a neighbourhood with a lot of shops, very bohemian feel. Grey Gardens, Hawker, and Sunny’s Chinese are the best restaurants there.
- Sunny’s Chinese is my #1 Favourite restaurant. Go here on Sunday night if you can!
Queen West is also fun with many shops and restaurants. Geste Bakery is a good place for lunch and pastries. Campechano Taqueria (Adelaide) is nearby. You can follow Queen West to Trinity Bellwoods Park. Some favourite spots along the way will be Sanko Trading Company (mochi and omusubi), the Roasted Nut (Nuttery), and Nadege. Graffiti Alley is a popular attraction off of Queen West, but there's a laneway with a gallery of garage murals that I much prefer! See "Box Car Social Coffee" in Dundas West
Little Italy is also nice to walk around and has lots of restaurants. It’s quieter than Queen West. Tsuchi cafe, Liu Loqum, Campechano Taqueria (College St.)
Dundas West/Little Portugal is just a block south with lots of good places for food, offee, drinks etc. You can follow Dundas West to Trinity Bellwoods Park and then Ossington Avenue. There’s also a streetcar on this road which will make it very convenient to get to/from downtown. So many highlights: Little Ghosts Horror Bookshop (it’s unique), Hamer’s coffee (the best coffee, also delicious cookies and breakfast sandwiches), Boxcar Social Coffee (stroll the nearby laneway full of garage murals), Milky’s coffee, Patois Caribbean food or June Plum (for grab and go Jamaican patty’s), Lambo’s Italian sandwiches, Fourth man in the fire pizza, Bad Attitude Bread, Collective Arts Brewery, Northern Belle Bar, Rhum Corner, Bar Vendetta, Casa La Palma. (Can you tell this is my old neighbourhood?)
Death in Venice Gelato (Dundas west)
Ossington Avenue is also a popular shopping + restaurant street.
Best Restaurants: Haifa Room, Soo's/Fat Choi, Dear Grain Bakery. Not far from Trinity Bellwoods with is nice to stroll through.
Lawrence Market Still on my to do list!
Distillery district I biked through here once, it looks good for a walk, and should have some good restaurants.
GREENSPACE
Don River – Riverdale park is nice and expansive. Very popular for watching the sunset. A great option if you are here early on the weekend. There are many hiking options along the Don. Evergreen Brickworks is most popular.
Nearby: get coffee and enjoy the view of the park at Rooster Coffee: https://g.co/kgs/EhMCt3e And not so far from that there is my favourite little coffee shop and bakery with the BEST vegan chocolate chip cookie I have ever had. The canelle is most popular. It’s called ISSHO https://isshobakery.com/index.html They use a special small-batch flour and I’m convinced you can taste the difference.
Toronto Music Garden very centrally located near the harbourfront
Trillium Park on the lakefront, a little harder to get to from downtown, but if you want some waterfront greenspace it’s lovely. You can also probably see the destruction of Ontario place.
Toronto Island if you are looking for a more memorable greenspace adventure, take the ferry to the island. Also a great place to walk around on the weekend!
Tommy Thompson Park if you are looking for a more strenuous greenspace adventure under your own steam, rent a bike and bike out to this peninsula.
High Park – large park in the East end, but pretty easy to get to using the Subway, line 2. Nearby Roncesvalle has lots of shops and restaurants.
Some of the classic sites:
Casa Loma – I’ve never done the tour, but it’s pretty on the outside and you get good views of the city
CN Tower – If you’re going to do this, consider doing it with dinner or the edge walk. The food isn’t amazing, but you can get a $75 prix fixe meal that includes a lift ticket and let’s you cut every line. The lift ticket alone is usually $40. I’ve also heard the edge walk is fun.
If you are viewing the tower at night, enjoy the light show!
Eaton Centre – Very close to where you are staying. I think of the words “Consumer’s Crystal Palace” every time I go there. I heard them on a retro tourism ad. It’s very close to where you will be. If you are very undecided regarding where to grab a meal, the lower level food court or queen’s cross café are good options.
Allan Gardens – Glass house garden, very close to TMU. Never been, but it looks lovely. It’s on my list for when I have a guest on a rainy day.
THE EAST END
East End sights: I live in the East End, but I think the West End is a tad easier to get to from downtown and with a higher density of things to enjoy. Or am I just keeping the East End my secret gem all to myself? If you do make it East, here’s where to go:
- The Beaches – walk along the boardwalk at woodbine and kew-balmy beaches. If you make it far enough you can see the majestic RC Harris water treatment plant.
- Glen Stewart Ravine - hiking
- Leslieville – shops and restaurants on Queen St.
East End eats:
o It is worth making a trip across the city for this.
o Soul Chocolate – Go here after Maha’s to get the best chocolate I have ever had. It will make a good gift. If the line for Maha’s is long, get a coffee from Pilot Coffee or Soul Chocolate to enjoy while you wait. There’s also a brewery called Leftfield in the same complex.
- Tiflisi – Georgian restaurant, AMAZING
I can’t decide if this or Maha’s is my favourite East End restaurant, this is quite close to the water if you want to combine a walk on the beach with an amazing meal. Make sure you arrive here hungry.
- The Wood Owl – great food, a bit saucy, good wine list.
- The Wren (next to the wood owl, a bit more casual but I trust it will also be good)
- Lake Inez – good food, very saucy, great wine list.
- Borrel – Dutch-Indonesian
- Sala Thai
- Avling
- La Vegan Ethiopian (even non-vegans tell me they love it)
- Cumin Kitchen (Indian)
- Glory Hole Doughnuts
FOOD
I added a lot of food recommendations in the lists above for each neighbourhood above. Those are also the best recommendations.
There are many great options in the city, unfortunately I think they are less great in the area immediately surrounding TMU/the Sheraton where the CAPA conference is.
By the way, I’m vegan. This definitely skews my recommendations.
The best places to eat in these areas near where you are staying are:
Near TMU
Hailed Coffee (College Park)
Queen & Beaver Pub on Elm Street – good for food and drink
Lao Lao Bar
Madras Curry
Paramount Fine Foods on Yonge St. – middle eastern. (I think we’ll go here on Monday night)
Uncle Tetsu’s Japanese Cheesecake
Closer to the Sheraton
Sud Forno
Café Landwer
PLANTA Queen
PAI thai
Isabella’s Mochi Doughnuts
Welcome, and Enjoy Toronto!
Henny
Getting around:
From the airport: Use the UP Express, it’s great. You can take it to Union and then connect to the Metro/subway (Line 1, yellow) to get to the hotel.
In town:
Subway (frequent, fast, but limited geographically), two lines 1(yellow, north/south) and 2(green, east/west)
TTC street car (slow, infrequent, but useful, particularly East/West trips
Bikeshare – very convenient, please be careful.
Places to go (and things to eat):
MUSEUMS
The Royal Ontario Museum - I would try to give highlights, but it’s all good. Noteworthy: the Dawn of life exhibit, especially if you’ve never been to Kootenay.
Art Gallery of Ontario – Check out the group of seven gallery. Special exhibits are usually good, and the modern collection.
Nearby: Library coffee, Dzo Vietnamese, Baldwinville. Grange park is behind the museum.
I’ve also heard good things about the Bata shoe museum and the Gardiner Museum (Pottery)
Neighbourhoods/places to walk around
St. George UofT campus - You might enjoy walking around here. It’s not very exciting.
Baldwinville – Heart of downtown but a quiet street dense with restaurants.
Best: Koh Lipe thai food. Carbonic coffee. Basically a little off-shoot of the downtown Chinatown.
Kensington Market - a neighbourhood with a lot of shops, very bohemian feel. Grey Gardens, Hawker, and Sunny’s Chinese are the best restaurants there.
- Sunny’s Chinese is my #1 Favourite restaurant. Go here on Sunday night if you can!
Queen West is also fun with many shops and restaurants. Geste Bakery is a good place for lunch and pastries. Campechano Taqueria (Adelaide) is nearby. You can follow Queen West to Trinity Bellwoods Park. Some favourite spots along the way will be Sanko Trading Company (mochi and omusubi), the Roasted Nut (Nuttery), and Nadege.
Little Italy is also nice to walk around and has lots of restaurants. It’s quieter than Queen West. Tsuchi cafe, Liu Loqum, Campechano Taqueria (College St.)
Dundas West/Little Portugal is just a block south with lots of good places for food, offee, drinks etc. You can follow it West to Trinity Bellwoods Park and then Ossington Avenue. There’s also a streetcar on this road which will make it very convenient to get to/from downtown. So many highlights: Little Ghosts Horror Bookshop (it’s unique), Hamer’s coffee (the best coffee, also delicious cookies and breakfast sandwiches), Boxcar social coffee, Milky’s coffee, Patois Caribbean food or June Plum (for grab and go Jamaican patty’s), Lambo’s Italian sandwiches, Fourth man in the fire pizza, Collective Arts Brewery, Northern Belle Bar, Rhum Corner, Bar Vendetta, Casa La Palma. (Can you tell this is my old neighbourhood?)
Death in Venice Gelato (Dundas west)
Ossington Avenue is also a popular shopping + restaurant street. Best Restaurants are Haifa Room, Soos/Fat Choi. Dear Grain Bakery. Not far from Trinity Bellwoods with is nice to stroll through.
Lawrence Market Still on my to do list!
Distillery district I biked through here once, it looks good for a walk, and should have some good restaurants.
GREENSPACE
Don River – Riverdale park is nice and expansive. Very popular for watching the sunset. A great option if you are here early on the weekend. There are many hiking options along the Don. Evergreen Brickworks is most popular.
Nearby: get coffee and enjoy the view of the park at Rooster Coffee: https://g.co/kgs/EhMCt3e And not so far from that there is my favourite little coffee shop and bakery with the BEST vegan chocolate chip cookie I have ever had. The canelle is most popular. It’s called ISSHO https://isshobakery.com/index.html They use a special small-batch flour and I’m convinced you can taste the difference.
Toronto Music Garden very centrally located near the harbourfront
Trillium Park on the lakefront, a little harder to get to from downtown, but if you want some waterfront greenspace it’s lovely. You can also probably see the destruction of Ontario place.
Toronto Island if you are looking for a more memorable greenspace adventure, take the ferry to the island. Also a great place to walk around on the weekend!
Tommy Thompson Park if you are looking for a more strenuous greenspace adventure under your own steam, rent a bike and bike out to this peninsula.
High Park – large park in the East end, but pretty easy to get to using the Subway, line 2. Nearby Roncesvalle has lots of shops and restaurants.
Some of the classic sites:
Casa Loma – I’ve never done the tour, but it’s pretty on the outside and you get good views of the city
CN Tower – If you’re going to do this, consider doing it with dinner or the edge walk. The food isn’t amazing, but you can get a $75 prix fixe meal that includes a lift ticket and let’s you cut every line. The lift ticket alone is usually $40. I’ve also heard the edge walk is fun.
If you are viewing the tower at night, enjoy the light show!
Eaton Centre – Very close to where you are staying. I think of the words “Consumer’s Crystal Palace” every time I go there. I heard them on a retro tourism ad. It’s very close to where you will be. If you are very undecided regarding where to grab a meal, the lower level food court or queen’s cross café are good options.
Allan Gardens – glass house garden, very close to TMU. Never been, but it’s on my list for when I have a guest on a rainy day.
THE EAST END
East end sights: I live in the east end, but I think the West End is a tad easier to get to from downtown with a higher density of things to enjoy. Or am I just keeping the East End my secret only locals know? If you do make it East here’s where to go:
- The Beaches – walk along the boardwalk at woodbine and kew-balmy beaches. If you make it far enough you can see the majestic RC Harris water treatment plant.
- Glen Stewart Ravine - hiking
- Leslieville – shops and restaurants on Queen St.
East End eats:
- Maha’s Egyptian Brunch
o (It is worth making a trip across the city for this.
o Soul Chocolate – Go here after Maha’s to get the best chocolate I have ever had. It will make a good gift. If the line for Maha’s is long, get a coffee from Pilot Coffee or Soul Chocolate to enjoy while you wait. There’s also a brewery called Leftfield in the same complex.
- Tiflisi – Georgian restaurant (I can’t decide if this or Maha’s is my favourite East End restaurant, this is quite close to the water if you want to combine a walk on the beach with an amazing meal. Make sure you go hungry)
- The Wood Owl – great food, a bit saucy, good wine list.
- The Wren (next to the wood owl, a bit more casual but I trust it will also be good)
- Lake Inez – good food, very saucy, great wine list.
- Borrel – Dutch-Indonesian
- Sala Thai
- La Vegan Ethiopian (even non-vegans tell me they love it)
- Cumin Kitchen (Indian)
- Glory Hole Doughnuts
FOOD
I added a lot of food recommendations in the lists above for each neighbourhood above. Those are also the best recommendations.
There are many great options in the city, unfortunately I think they are less great in the area immediately surrounding TMU/the Sheraton where the CAPA conference is.
By the way, I’m vegan. This definitely skews my recommendations.
The best places to eat in these areas near where you are staying are:
Near TMU
Hailed Coffee (College Park)
Queen & Beaver Pub on Elm Street – good for food and drink
Lao Lao Bar
Madras Curry
Paramount Fine Foods on Yonge St. – middle eastern. (I think we’ll go here on Monday night)
Uncle Tetsu’s Japanese Cheesecake
Closer to the Sheraton
Sud Forno
Café Landwer
PLANTA Queen
PAI thai
Isabella’s Mochi Doughnuts
Welcome, and Enjoy Toronto!
Henny
Stay involved by following Support Our Science for the latest recommendations and check out the CAPS/ACPP website for resources pertaining to the Canadian postdoc experience.
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