Toronto/Chinatown Travel Guide
From Wikitravel
Chinatown runs along Spadina Street in downtown Toronto and is one of North America's largest Chinese districts.
Contents |
Get in
Drive in by car or take the King Streetcar (number 504) to Spadina. From here it's a short walk 2 blocks north. You can also take the Dundas streetcar (506) or take the subway to St. Patrick station and walk west 2 blocks.
See
Just walk around and enjoy the sights and sounds. In summer the smells can occasionally be a bit strong, but it's not really all that bad.
Do
Stroll along Dundas between Spadina and Beverley. For two blocks you'll think you're in Shanghai.
Buy
Cheap, bootlegged goods at third world prices. That's right, never released movies for 3 bucks each, you can't even get them in theatres at this point. And they are ........ $3/each in professional packaging!
Eat
There is an immense (and frequently changing) selection of restaurants in Toronto's Chinatown. Most are cheap, and many use plastic tableclothes that are picked up by the corners along with all the dishes. They may look bad, but the food is frequently excellent. If you're on a tight budget, this is a good way to go. Bakeries are particularly cheap and filling, and do offer many meat and veg options.
- King's Noodle, Spadina and Dundas (north-west corner), an authentic Chinese noodle joint, great selection of congees, chow mein, fried noodle in generous portions. Sit at a big round table with a bunch of other patrons happily slurping and chewing. Open to 2AM
- House of Gourmet, Spadina and Dundas (north-east corner just beyond the Royal Bank). A basic but good restaurant. Seafood is quite good here and many types of fish are available fresh from the tank at the back of the restaurant. If King's Noodle is full, this place is a good alternative.
- The Swatow, east side of Spadina north of Dundas, more upscale noodle joint, smaller better portions, same round tables, more crammed-in ambiance. Cantonese cuisine, rather than Szechuan, so not as spicy. Open to 3AM
- Peter's Chun King, south side of College just west of Spadina, best for lunch, great peanut chicken and ginger shrimp lunch for under C$6. Also famous for their orange beef (very spicy) and garlic eggplant (scary looking, but delicious).
- Melewa Bakery, located on the south side of Dundas just east of Spadina. No seating. Order some buns and take a walk to a park to eat. The curried beef buns are particularly good. Buns are generally $0.80-$1.00.
- Kim Moon Bakery, on the north side of Dundas just east of Spadina, almost across the street from Melewa. Similar to Melewa, but has a seating area. If you sit, you can get more dim sum stuff than is available ordering at the counter.
- Yung Sing, another Chinese bakery on Baldwin street (about half way between College and Dundas on McCaul). Offers a very good selection of buns, some dim sum on weekends.
Drink
- Grossman's Tavern on Spadina, 3 blocks south of College St, on the east side, is a very unassuming hole-in-the-wall that hides it's truth as one of the most respected blues joints in Canada. Many legends have played this room. Live musicians play most nights of the week. Very casual, almost rustic, if an urban dive bar can be such.
- The Silver Dollar Room on Spadina Ave just north of College St, is last but not least amongst bars catering to jazz and blues in downtown Toronto. The musical acts tend to range wider here, into folk and rock as well as the aforementioned. Live music most nights of the week. Note that this NW corner of the Spadina/College intersection can be somewhat off-putting due to the large contingent of homeless people congregating near the adjacent Scott Mission. Do not fear unnecessarily beyond normal caution, the homeless are almost invariably harmless. Instead, keep an eye on the patrons of the nearby Comfort Room bar, who can be sometimes initially mistaken for homeless and can be dangerously rowdy.
- Comfort Zone is perhaps the most notorious club in Toronto. Opening at 6AM Sa&Su, Comfort Zone is the home of the late late LATE night partiers, and some of Toronto's best tribal house music.
Sleep
Budget
TravelLodge at King and Bathurst. This is a clean, budget hotel that offers free parking in their lot. The King streetcar (number 504) runs east-west and stops right across the street from the hotel. The Bathurst streetcar (511) runs north-south and is a few steps from the hotel. From this hotel, Chinatown is about 6 blocks distant.
Mid-range
The closest hotel to Chinatown is probably the Holiday Inn on King. This is a large hotel, centrally located in downtown. From the hotel, Chinatown is about 5 blocks distant.
Splurge
Contact
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