My T.Dot 'Must Sees' & 'Favourite Spots'

Here's just a wee list of things I've compiled after living in Toronto for a year and a half!!! 

All my favourite things to do and places to hang out, etc, & what I consider to be the "Best" in Toronto :) 

Enjoy!

BEST OF COFFEE SHOPS: 

For Meeting Friends - Manic Coffee, Saving Gigi

Place to Take the Parents - Rooster Coffee House

Having Meetings - Tango Palace Coffee Company

Take a Coffee and RUN! - Sam James Coffee Bar or Sam James Coffee Pocket

For studying alone - Merchants of Green Coffee [couches!], The Green Grind

For Reading & Hanging Out - Saving Gigi 

For Studying in Groups - Merchants of Green Coffee (tons of space! wi fi!

For a Latte - Sam James Coffee Bar/Coffee Pocket

For a Mocha Latte - Te Aro hands down. 

For the Sweet Tooth - Ella’s Uncle for the banana bread, & The Remarkable Bean for the variety of sweet and savory scones! 

For Drink Variety  - Moonbean (endless choices!!)

           My Favourites: Iced Mocha over ice, Winter Soother (Honey, Lemon, Ginger - all fresh!)

For Service - Crema Coffee Co. Great People! 

For Atmosphere - Moonbean, Holy Oak

Have some Late Night Fun: Snakes and Lattes (board games! open late!), The One in the Only, The Holy Oak

If You're To Lazy to Grocery Shop & Need Food: The Hub Coffee House [great sandwiches!]

Special Shout Outs to: 

Cafe Novo - You MUST try their Honey Latte!! Make sure you stir it well! 

The Good Neighbour - Great display of old photographs

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Best Poutine: Poutini’s without a doubt!!! 

Best Cheap Grocery Shopping: Korea Town. Lots of cheap produce, etc, maybe not as cheap as Chinatown, but at least it’s not as busy and dirty! 

Best Neighbourhood/Area to spend the Evening: 

• With a Fancy Fella/Gal

Queen Street West at The Drake Hotel for a drink, or the Drake Underground for a show. Now, the drinks and such does get expensive... make sure they are special fancy fella or gal. Make sure to check out the photo booth! 

• With Friends Having Out 

Ossington and Dundas

Start off hanging out in Trinity Bellwoods, then hit up the Dakota Tavern for a show, or Communist Daughter for a drink, then, if you’re not done for the night, grab a booth at The Lakeview which is open 24hrs a day.

Best Neighbourhood to Dress Fancy: Yorkville. For obvious reasons. Famous people roam the streets... ooo 

Best Neighbourhood to Get Lost In: 

Kensington. So many different shops and stores to go into... you can spend a while roaming Kensington Market. 

Best People Watching Neighbourhood: 

Kensington Market - You get everyone from the hipster, to the confused tourists, to the Kensington locals who can’t stand the confused tourists, the musicians (well, everyone there ‘looks’ like a musician), to just your regular joe. They are all here. 

Best “Kids Friendly” Neighbourhood:

Leslieville - I saw many families with strollers here. Tons of shops for kids, and kid friendly cafes, etc. Perfect for young families. 

My Favourite Neighbourhoods to Hang Out in: Ossington/Dundas, Dundas West, Kensington Market 

My Favourite Neighbourhood to Live in : The Annex 

Best Museum: Royal Ontario Museum. Can’t really compete with this place. It has it all, and looks pretty awesome inside and out as well. Plus, free after 3:30 - 5:30 on Wednesdays! Take advantage of that!! 

Favourite Walking Route(s): 

From Dundas Street West up Bathurst to Kensington to The Annex via Major Street then up Walmer. 

From The Gladstone Hotel at Gladstone ave, down Queen Street headed east past Trinity Bellwoods all the way to Spadina. Lots of awesome shops to check out and coffee shops to stop in. 

Favourite Subway Station: Museum Station [for the beautiful totem poll platform]

Favourite Park: Trinity Bellwoods Park - It’s huge. Lots of space. Great for picnics and walks. Beautiful park stretching from Queen Street West to Dundas Street West. 

Favourite Area to Go Shopping: Queen Street West. Tons and Tons of options from Spadina down to Dufferin. 

Favourite Music Venue: The Dakota Tavern - I’ve seen the best live music here. Best atmosphere and great crowds (usually). 

Favourite Toronto Summer Time Activity: Blue Jay Game at the Skydome a.k.a Rogers Centre! & Doors Open Toronto 

Favourite Festival/Event: NxNE - The city just becomes one big musical party. People running around everywhere at every hour of the day. Amazing.

Where I Loved Getting My Hair Cut: Barberella’s on Dundas West

Best Record Store: Sonic Boom on Bloor, now attached to Honest Eds! 

Best Place to Take a Date: Walk Around Trinity Bellwoods, and eat a Kalendar on College. Or for something fancier, The Distillery District 

Best View of the City: From Toronto Island. Great view of the skyline. 

Best Organics Store: Essence of Life in Kensington Market. Cheap organic products! love this place! Rachel McAdams has been spotted shopping there if that helps :) 

Best Cookie: The Gypsy cookie from Bunners in The Junction. So good!

Must Do for Visitors to Toronto: Wander and get lost in Honest Eds, and buy something you don’t need and probably leave behind. 

Best Nachos: Sneaky Dees!!! SO FILLING, SO GOOD! 

The Place I’ll Miss the Most: The Dakota Tavern 

And there you have it!! 

If you need any recommendations about what to see in Toronto just leave me a comment and I'll help you out!! 

:) 

Hope you enjoyed the list! 

Monica

Ticking Off the Toronto Bucket List: Week #21 & 22

HELLLO!

Gosh, it's been so long since I've updated you on my bucket list!

Well folks, I'm done. Actually, I'm technically not done, but I finished as many activities and visited as many places that time and my wallet allowed! Week 21 and 22 are now a complete blur, so I'm just going to have to bunch them together! Is that alright with you?

I have finally said farewell to Toronto. To be completely honest with you, I felt as though I had broken up with a boyfriend the day I left the city. I thought I was okay until I realized that I no longer could walk out my door and wander down to Kensington, or go stroll in Trinity Bellwoods Park. I felt as though someone had left me. Toronto was such a big part of my life. It allowed me to really grow as an individual and opened my eyes to so many different things. However, now is not the time for reflection! I'll save that for another post!

My last two weeks in Toronto were all about seeing things I haven't seen, hanging out with friends that I won't see again for a long time, and visiting my beloved spots!

Enjoy!

The Dakota Tavern 

Bluegrass Brunch 

http://www.thedakotatavern.com/

Every Sunday 11am-3pm, except for Long Weekends! They go fishing! 

I'm not sure if I have mentioned the Bluegrass Brunch at the Dakota Tavern before so I thought I'd tell you about it even though it wasn't on my list! Since I love the Dakota so much, and eating brunch there is so awesome, I just had to visit it one last time. 

If you haven't been to the Dakota Tavern at Ossington & Dundas, you should. It's a Toronto music venue that everyone should go to! I've seen the best live music there, and it makes my heart ache knowing I won't be able to see more shows here! Maybe when I visit again? It has the best atmosphere. Very relaxed, and warm. Everyone there is friendly. The beer is great and the decor really does make you feel like you're in a tavern. The twinkle lights are my favourite. I have so many fond memories from the Dakota, please go here! 

Anyway, brunch is all you can eat! They take you to your seat, and basically just start bringing you food. You don't need to order. With your meal you get: pancakes, sausages, potatoes, scrambled eggs, a fruit bowl, orange juice, coffee/tea! All you can eat!!! AND you get to watch a great Bluegrass band play while you're eating. It's amazing. When you're finished with your meal, you can ask for more of anything. The service is swell, but don't expect quick service when it's busy! Those girls are workin the bums off! 

Great times. I love the Dakota. Enough said. 

Dutch Dreams Ice Cream
http://www.blogto.com/restaurants/dutchdreams
79 Vaughn Road

This place is BUSY! Great for a summer's night with the ladies, which is exactly what I did!

Great selection of flavours, great decor. There was some seating at the back, but we decided to enjoy our ice cream outside beneath the stars. I'd recommend visiting this popular ice cream parlour!

Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)

Part Two

I first visited the AGO during Week #18, during their free Wednesday night program, and I decided to visit one more time! I didn't have a chance to finish the entire gallery the first time, so I had to go back! 

This time I discovered, my now, favourite Canadian artists. 

George A. Reid

What I love about George is how real his paintings look. From far away they look like they are popping out at you. I couldn't take my eyes off his paintings. Now, I don't know much about art, but what I do know is that Mr. Reid paints the 'everyday life'. It's wonderful. One particular painting of his called "Gossip" really got to me. It's a wonderful portrait of two women, just hanging around gossiping. When you look at it really closely, you see all the subtle details he adds in with the curtains, the women's eyes, their expression, the body language. Everything was wonderful.

William Kurelek

I loved his attention to detail. The colours were so bright and lovely. The detailing in his art is spot on. He paints with Canada in mind, and I really appreciated that about him. That's the sense that I felt when looking at his work at least. I especially loved the ones which depicted winter in small town Canada.

The AGO is a must for art lovers. I really enjoyed roaming around and seeing all the art that Canada has to offer :) Check it out!

The CNE a.k.a The EX

http://www.theex.com/

Have you ever wondered what deep fried butter tasted like? Or anything deep fried for that matter? Well, you should go to the Ex. Now, the Ex isn't only about eating (actually it kinda is), but it's also about going on rides, playing games, and eating your weight in anything that is coated batter. 

As a kid growing up in Cambridge I always heard about The Ex, but I never actually got to go. It's held at Toronto's Exhibition Place, happens every year at the end of the summer, and is $5 to attend after 5pm, which is what I did! I would only recommend visiting in the evening, but if you must, during the day is okay too! 

I visited the Ex with a lovely lady who showed me the tricks of the trade. She knew where to go, explained what games were worth playing, showed me what rides were good, and most of all, knew where to get food. 

We ate a beaver tail (Classic Canadian treat)

Deep Fried Cheese Curds (not bad!)

Deep Fried Mars Bars!!!! (SO GOOD!)

Now, we could have tried a lot more deep fried treats, but our bodies probably would have hated us. They had deep fried cheese burgers, butter, coco cola? Strange. 

Anyway, we visited some animals (the pigs were adorable), played a round of BINGO (we lost, but that's okay!), watched people go on rides, shared some laughs, it was a lovely night :) I'd recommend visiting the Ex! Oh, and you MUST try the Mars Bars! 

Luna Cafe 

181 Dovercourt [Beaconsfield Village] 

So, I visited Luna Cafe for brunch! Luna was not on my list but it turned out that Saving Grace was closed for vacation, Luna was the next best thing! 

Turned out Luna's brunch was just as good as Saving Grace! It's located on a cute quiet corner just north of Queen Street West in Beaconsfield Village. Cute interior, and nice patio. Since it was a lovely summer's day, we sat on the patio. Now, the service is alright. It's pretty slow (they have 2 people working), and they aren't the MOST pleasant, but the food was pretty awesome! Their french toast was amazing with caramelized pears on top, and their breakfast wrap with sun-dried tomato pesto was delicious!

I would definitely go back here for the french toast!! 

BUT I still need to try Saving Grace. I'm not sure if I can leave Toronto completely without having tried Saving Grace. *sigh*

Casa Loma 

http://www.casaloma.org/

Now, I have lived about a 10min walk away from Casa Loma the entire time I've been living in Toronto. I used to run up and down the Casa Loma steps when I was "working out", I've gone for walks around that neighbourhood, I'd see it everyday when I'd walk to and from the subway. Basically, Casa Loma was a big part of my everyday life in Toronto. So, the day I moved out of my apartment, I decided to visit with my mom! 

The history of Casa Loma is a bit to much to write out, but I'll give you the cliff notes:

- Guy has lots of money, (1st one to bring electricity to Toronto)

- Guy builds a HUGE home that looks like a castle which sits on a hill overlooking Toronto's Annex and beyond

- The interior is insane, posh, extravagant, and everything in between

- Guy looses his fortune, goes bankrupt, died living in his chauffer's home.

Lots went on at Casa Loma, and I'd recommend googling it to find out more. I would recommend visiting the castle though, it's quite beautiful inside, and it's so strange to think that someone actually thought he was worthy enough of building such an extravagant home! When the city of Toronto only had 200 phones in the entire city, Casa Loma had 50! His personal bathroom was equipped with a 'modern' shower, bathtub AND a toilet. Talk about loaded! 

Here are some shots from the inside :) 

It's a self-guided tour. I'd recommend visiting :) 

The Hub Coffee House and Locavorium 

1028 Shaw Street 

Lovely little place! It's tucked away amongst houses near the intersection of Ossington and Dupont. 

Loved the sandwiches here. They look so simple, but are so very tasty! I also really enjoyed their iced tea, and my friend said the latte was also quite nice ;) 

What I loved about this place was how relaxed it was, and how at home I felt. Maybe it's because it's amongst homes that it didn't feel like it was a regular coffee shop. It felt like someone just opened up their home, and were serving some snacks and drinks. Also, we saw a man with a parrot! How random and awesome is that?!?

They offer wifi, and there is patio space, as well as indoor seating! I'd say it's a great place to come to work, meet with friends, or even just stop by to read the paper. You can do it all here. Very comfortable spot! Oh, and their cookies are a $1 and are very good! Healthy too! I forget what's in them, but I remember them being good for me, even with the chocolate chips :) 

5/5 Smiles! 

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So that's it!!! 

Doesn't seem like I did a lot, but I must say, as much as I wanted to complete the list, my heart really wanted to visit some of my favourite spots again. I had to go back to Moonbean, Saving Gigi and Ella's Uncle. I went for walks around The Annex, Kensington and Trinity Bellwoods. It was grand :) 

I'll probably need to reflect on my time in Toronto soon, and when I do I'll make some Top 5 lists for those hoping to explore Toronto in a less "touristy" way. Or maybe you've just moved to Toronto and need some advice on where to go. I can help you with that :) 

You can take the girl out of Toronto, but you can't take the Toronto out of the girl :) 

- Monica 

P.S There is more to come... this isn't the end of my Toronto blogs just yet! I still need to post about some more coffee shops I visited months ago!

P.S.S I leave for Ireland in a week!!