Living It Up in Toronto Part 2

Day 2 in Toronto was definitely the Foodie Tour of the city. Met up with a high school friend of mine who I don't think I had seen in person in around 20 years. Obviously in the glorious age of technology and Facebook kept in contact and what not. I would say that's not really the same thing but I digress. Anyway he suggested Kensington Market. Unlike St. Lawrence Market, Kensington Market is an actual neighborhood/district. I would say it most likely is the most diverse area I've ever seen- in a good way. It has all types of cuisine- Mexican, Jamaican, Chinese, etc. I think the weirdest combination for a restaurant (which will have to scope out next time) was a Hungarian Thai place called Hungary Thai. Decided to do a walking tour and actually hit up two spots that were on my list of places to try.

The first stop was Seven Lives- which they don't have a website but here is their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SevenLivesTacosYMariscos/. This place does So Cal/ Baja style tacos. Fair warning this place only takes cash so you know it's legit.

Karen ended up getting a Carnitas tacos. In case you're not familiar, carnitas is braised pork shoulder. As you can tell from the pictures they serve them on blue corn tortillas which added to the awesomeness. This taco was someone simple but awesome and full of flavor. I think its safe to say if we weren't going to hit up other joints we would have ordered a whole lot more.

Carnitas Taco

I ended up picking two different types of tacos to try. I got the Gobernador and a Carnitas taco. Should have let Karen order first so I could have tried another type but hey just another reason to go back. The Gobernador was fantastic if you're into seafood as it contains smoked marlin, shrimp, and cheese. Since I don't get to eat much seafood at home, this was a great treat for me.  I think whenever I go back to Toronto is this going to be the first stop right off the plane (depending on time of day). Honestly not familiar with the seafood scene of Toronto but this tasted pretty fresh and got bonus points from me.

The Gobernador and Carnitas Tacos

We perused the streets of Kensington Market and Toronto- catching some local tourist sites like the old city hall building, a street art alley, and an apartment that was used for Queer As Folk and Orphan Black. Ended up picking up some specialty ice tea from Ten Ren's Tea . Like a dummy I forgot to snap a picture but man they were refreshing. I picked the Taro Coconut Milk Tea per my friend's suggestion. Karen wanted a Pineapple Mango slushie but they were out. So she opted for the strawberry mango slushie... which she didn't like it so we ended up switching. Probably why I didn't take pictures. I mean I like both of them so I can't complain.

Stock photo of the Taro Coconut Milk Tea 

Definitely some good walking which lead to stopping for a snack. This time from another place on my list: Banh Mi Boys. Best I can describe it would be a Korean sandwich shop. This is located in Toronto's Chinatown. Related note- I think that might be the largest Chinatown in this side of the planet. Seriously might be 10x the size (if not more) of Chicago's Chinatown. Luckily we had my friend Jon who knew of a secret menu option for Banh Mi Boys: Club Bao. This is a steamed bun filled with fried chicken, pork belly, mayo, pickled carrots, cilantro, and cucumber.

Club Bao

Banh Mi Boys can be added to another must go to place on a trip to Toronto. You know the place is good when there's a line/wait to order and get your food. Well worth the wait for sure. Next to this location of Banh Mi Boys ended up being an Asian Gelato place called Kekou Gelato House. Asian Gelato? Sounds like something I had to try so we went for it.

Osmanthus Plumbery in the background

Karen ended up getting a cup of Osmanthus Plumberry gelato. She said it tasted like blackberry sorbet and really dug it. I ended up picking the peanut butter sesame gelato in a cone. To be honest Asian flavored gelato never would have crossed my mind when it came to ice cream but I'm glad these folks came up with it. This was some good stuff. Definitely have to say Toronto's Chinatown puts Chicago's to shame in size, food, and creativity.

It was an awesome time hanging with my friend Jon and going on a walking foodie tour for most of the day. We said our goodbyes and ended up hitting the very tourist spots afterwards as I had picked up a City Pass (basically for 1 price you get tickets to a bunch of place). The two stops which were next to each other were CN Tower and the Ripley's Aquarium. Definitely hit the tourist standards for fun. Actually thought they were pretty neat.

Given the time we were done with the CN Tower, our options for food places on my list were limited. One place which was not was Poutini's House of Poutine. I'm fairly certain you could guess from the name of the place that they specialized in Poutine. Day one we had tried poutine at a generic place so we felt it needed to be tried at a legit place.

Karen went with The Layered- which fits the name as it is what the original poutine combination is known for (fries, cheese curds, gravy) but with an extra layer of cheese curds. I ended going with The Works: which added sour cream, bacon, and chives to it. If you can tell there are no healthy options when it comes Poutine but hey we were on vacation so it's allowed.

The Works Poutine

The Layered Poutine

Poutine that's what's up. Don't worry about the over eating as we both didn't finish. We ended taking them back to the hotel and saving them for dinner the next night. Probably the best all day foodie outing I've had to date.

#TorontoFoodie,
Reef