If you don’t already know, Toronto is two things: a sports city and a food city, and it was very easy to be vegan in Toronto. So, if you’re into either of those, you’re in luck. I recently traveled to The 6ix and braved the cold for a girls’ weekend, and there was no shortage of phenomenal vegan food. Here’s a breakdown of the best (and not-so-best) food I ate:
Arrival: Friday
I’m a fan of early flights. My flight from EWR landed around 9:30 AM and after a relatively painless trip through customs and immigration with my carry-on, I met up with my friend. While we waited for our room to be ready, we visited PLANTA Queen on Queen Street West. This PLANTA location is a 100% plant-based restaurant featuring Asian fusion and it was the perfect way to kick off the trip. The atmosphere and ambiance were excellent, and the service was great. We ordered a few plates to share—ahi nigiri watermelon sushi, xo tofu, and kung pao eggplant—as well as hot lattes with oat milk and we had no regrets. They had leftover red velvet lava cakes with cream cheese icing from Valentine’s Day, so we had that too.
For dinner, we headed to Zen Gardens in Mississauga so I could meet up with family I haven’t seen in almost a decade and a half. This is an all-vegetarian Chinese restaurant located in a strip mall. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the food here and the service wasn’t the best (they forgot to give us a dish we ordered but claimed we never ordered even though it was on the paper as well as forgetting to give us chopsticks when asked until we reminded them) but they had a ton of options, and used a variety of fake meats and seafood. Keep in mind that not every dish is vegan-friendly so be sure to ask if you go.
We had to follow up with something sweet, of course, so for dessert, we walked over (in the cold) to the Rollz Ice Cream location on Derry Road, which specializes in rolled ice cream. They had a singular vegan flavor—mango peach—which was delicious. Not the biggest fan of rolled ice cream so I preferred it when it was softer and closer to Italian ice. They have a lot of South Asian-inspired flavors and falooda also. Definitely a good option if you’re looking for a palate cleanser.
Saturday
We had breakfast at the hotel (where I got by with peanut butter and strawberry jam on toast with fresh fruit) and headed over to RS (formerly Real Sports) by Scotiabank Arena, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, for an early lunch. This is a great place to get a bite to eat with an excellent sports bar vibe. They have a massive screen above the bar that happened to be showing Newcastle and Liverpool while we were there. It has both vegan and non-vegan options. We got the vegan cashew-based queso dip to start, which wasn’t bad but the texture and flavor left a lot to be desired.
I also got the vegan burger, which comes with a vegan bun, sauce, and cheese, and fries or a salad on the side! As far as vegan burgers go, it was fine. It tasted like a Beyond burger, and the addition of the sauce and cheese was nice. They also have vegan nachos, which they tried to bring to us twice before I told them that we had ordered the vegan queso instead, and it looked like a plate of tortilla chips with jalapenos and red onions on top, not much else. And according to my friend, the Cincinnati chili really isn’t Cincinnati chili. Not the worst option if you’re in the area.
For dinner, we opted to do samplings at two different restaurants. We started at Mother Tongue, an Asian restaurant and cocktail bar on Adelaide Street West. We sat at the bar, and I got the crispy mapo tofu and a Southeast Beauty. Both were excellent. I would definitely make a reservation next time and stay for longer.
We followed it up with a trip to Rosalinda Restaurant on Richmond Street West, which was near where we stayed. It’s a plant-based Mexican restaurant. We started with the yucca fries and garlic aioli, which were fantastic and flavorful. For dinner, I had the chorizo tacos and my friend had the charcoaled beetroot salad. We had to get dessert so I highly recommend the churros if you have room for it (or you can make room for it). It’s a fun, beautiful restaurant and next time, I’ll go back during the day when there’s sunshine.
Sunday
I skipped the hotel breakfast this morning and did the sensible thing: ordering vegan donuts from Bloomer’s via Uber Eats. They pick the flavors for you when you get them delivered but if my taste buds are correct, we had bloomer’s glazed, strawberry sprinkles, chocolate fudge brownie, and maybe tiramisu. They have a ton of other baked goods and desserts that you can get as well, like bagels and focaccia. Would highly recommend.
For lunch, we headed back to PLANTA Queen, which was our favorite meal of the entire trip. This time, we went all out for my friend’s early birthday celebration and went early enough to also pick from their brunch menu. I had a super refreshing dragon baller juice to start, followed by a rainbow roll, cauliflower tots, and dan dan noodles. These are all on the main menu but we opted to have the ube mochi waffle from the brunch menu last.
As a note, I loved that they asked about any allergies when we ordered our food both times. It was a simple question but much appreciated. If you or anyone you go with has any food allergies, they’ll be happy to accommodate.
For our last meal in the city, we had a few options but we ended up getting food delivered from The Hogtown Vegan. I ordered the Phish n Chips with a side of Mac ‘N Cheez and I definitely think the food would have been better if I had eaten it fresh (the delivery was also delayed) but the vegan fish tasted like fried fish and you can’t go wrong with fries. I was nervous about the mac and cheese, only because it’s my go-to comfort food and I make it a habit to try vegan mac when I can, but I was not disappointed; the texture and the flavor were on point.
All in all, it was a pretty successful trip. I was excited to visit Toronto because it’s an incredibly vegan-friendly city and I definitely recommend visiting it if you can. There is so much to do, no matter what you’re into, and you won’t run out of food options. I have a ton of places on my list of restaurants to visit when I return to the city, including Soy Boys, Pai Thai Northern Kitchen, and Cactus Club Cafe, and I’m sure it’ll only get longer.
But my biggest accomplishment this weekend? I finally learned how to use chopsticks.
If you’re visiting Toronto, you might also be a hockey fan. Check out this blog post about what to do in The 6ix if you love hockey.
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