By Zach Feral
Toronto offers a wide variety of ethnic cuisine.
Toronto is one of the biggest cities in
Canada, with a population of more than 2.5 million. As such, it is also one of North America's most culturally diverse cities. While visiting Toronto, you can take advantage of this fact by sampling an array of ethnic cuisine, such as food from Laos, that may be harder to come by in your neck of the woods. Laotian food is very similar to Thai cuisine; in fact, most of Toronto's restaurants that specialize in Lao food also offer Thai cooking.
Vanipha Lanna
Having garnered rave reviews from the likes of "Toronto Life Magazine", "Toronto Star", "Now Magazine", "The Globe and Mail" and Zagat Survey, Vanipha Lanna is a great choice to sample Laotian cuisine when you are in Toronto. Choice menu items include laab gai, paad priew whaan, ping gai, pla naam, khao paad goong hoalapha and gang kweaw whaan. Vegetarians also have plenty of choices, including: soop puck, paad makua, tofu priew whaan, gang hoh and paad roam mied. Vanipha Lanna also offers catering services.
Vanipha Lanna
863 St. Clair Avenue West
Toronto, ON M6C 1C4
(416) 654-8068
vanipha.ca
Rivoli
Rivoli is open for lunch and dinner throughout the week, and on Sundays, they serve brunch. Some of its more popular menu items include Laotian spring rolls, Siam wookie balls, dip and suck edamame, chicken curry rotti, Thai floating market seafood, bah me gai, pad Thai and spanokopita. Night owls will be glad to hear that Rivoli's kitchen stays open late throughout the week. Rivoli also contains a nightclub that features live music occasionally.
Rivoli
334 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario M5V 2A2
416-597-0794
rivoli.ca
Queen Mother Café
The Queen Mother Café has been a fixture on the Toronto dining scene since 1978. It offers lunch, dinner and late night dining. Each Sunday, the Queen Mother Café serves brunch, including such traditional offerings as eggs benedict. Signature Laotian and Thai dishes include vegetarian nam dip, nam jeun, dim sum quartet, curried quinoa salad, ping gai, pad Thai, bah me hang, khao soy gai and sticky rice. The atmosphere is decidedly artsy, with works by local artists and photographers adorning the walls; the Queen Mother Café is often used as an official venue for the Toronto Contact Photography Festival.
Queen Mother Café
208 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5V 1Z2
(416) 598-4719
queenmothercafe.ca
About the Author:
Zach Feral has been writing and editing professionally since 2003. He has a B.A. in philosophy from the New School for Social Research in New York and pursued postgraduate studies at the Open University in the U.K. His writing has appeared in numerous international publications, including "Dazed & Confused," "Artforum" and "Think Again."
Photo Credits:
toronto bird view image by Laura Frenkel from <a href='http://www.fotolia.com'>Fotolia.com</a>
