Welcome to
Five Top Tables
, a column from Bloomberg Pursuits to guide your dining decisions in major cities around the world, including
London
,
New York
,
Mexico City,
Tokyo
,
Paris
,
Manila
and
New Delhi
.
Toronto has always been a city that wears its passport stamps proudly. About half of its residents were born outside Canada , providing one of the world’s best and most diverse food scenes. Take a short subway ride, and you’ll find everything from Argentine asados and Ghanese jollof rice to Moroccan tagine and Korean kimchi jjigae.
The outstanding range of dining options comes in handy this summer as Toronto plays co-host to the FIFA World Cup and prepares to welcome thousands of football fans for the six games being played here. A majority of the cuisines from the 48 countries in this year’s tournament are easy to find in Toronto. On June 12, the first Toronto game features team Canada playing Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Whether you’re cheering for Canada — please — or farther-afield teams, it’s good to know where to show support for your country, or just to get a great meal. The places below are all great options before or after a game, particularly because most of them allow for walk-ins, if you want to spontaneously celebrate or find a distraction.
Another great thing about eating in Toronto: It’s a neighborly city where it’s easy to start conversations with the next table. Whether you’re at a luxurious expense-account place or a humbler order-at-the-counter spot, nobody minds if you’re still talking about a controversial referee’s call in this sports-minded town — they might even join in.
We’ve rounded up places that capture the city’s energy, from a grand dining room with a show-off prime rib carved tableside to a Chinatown storefront with outstanding soup dumplings. We’re also featuring a time-traveling French dining room that’s popular on Bloomberg’s DINE Index, where the food community rates their favorite places.
New: Bar Allegro , Little Italy
There’s a particular Mediterranean holiday culinary ritual: As you wander around hours before dinner, a lively aperitivo bar catches your eye. You stop for a spritz, order a few snacks — and never make it to dinner. Bar Allegro, the newest venture from Jonathan Bauer-Monneret, Martine Bauer and Maxime Hoerth — the team behind Toronto’s beloved Bar Pompette — re-creates that vibe.
In the former Vinoteca Pompette space on College Street, Allegro channels the easy glamour of a European watering hole, with warm wood interiors and a newly launched patio that will screen World Cup games. “People today are looking for experiences that transport them somewhere,” says Bauer-Monneret, who was awarded the title Best Sommelier in France in 2014. Start with a precisely made cocktail, like the Allegro spritz (C$15, or about $11), brightened with passion fruit and pepperoncini. The martini selection ranges from the vodka-based blue cheese martini (C$20) made with gorgonzola to a classic crisp Gibson (C$19), built on gin and garnished with pearl onion.
In the kitchen, chef Bauer specializes in upgraded bar snacks and plates. Marinated artichokes with black truffle and ponzu (C$14.50) have a powerful umami hit, while mussels with nduja (C$18) deliver a spicy kick. Bone marrow (C$38) is presented atop a glossy bronzed potato bun, with a generous scoop of slow-roasted marrow. “When we changed the concept, we did not want to stop working with the same suppliers and farmers. So we found a way to make it work,” says chef Bauer about her high-quality ingredients. (Her current favorite is the C$14 deviled eggs with crispy chili oil and ginger mayonnaise.)
For the World Cup, special menus are planned for the Canadian and Mexican games as well as special events for France games (the owners’ home team). In a city where bookings are increasingly important, no reservations Bar Allegro offers the luxury of walking in and seeing where the night takes you. 597 College St.; pompette.ca/bar-allegro
Business: Riley’s Fish & Steak , Financial District
Directly across from popular concert venue Roy Thomson Hall, Riley’s Fish & Steak is a well-placed retreat in the midst of the city’s bustling Financial District with a wide-ranging fan base that includes Drake. For World Cup watchers, it’s only a 20 minute walk away from the FIFA Fan Festival at Fort York.
The place is inspired by midcentury grand hotel bars, with an upscale, unfancy vibe and plush comfortable chairs and banquettes spread out across the dining rooms. The menu is an amalgamation of straightforward and reimagined classics. To start, salmon and bagels (C$24) pairs house-cured fish with dill cream cheese and delightfully crunchy crisps. There’s also a roasted seafood tower, stacked with grilled salmon and branzino, baked oysters and a bonanza of sauces and flavored butter (C$190) alongside the obligatory chilled one ($C110).
The star of the show, however, is prime rib carved tableside. Get the king’s cut (C$92): It’s 16 ounces of supremely tender beef, with appropriately rich sides like creamed kale and the pommes puree. If you’re staying in the over-the-top zone, the bruleed banana tart (C$20) is a luxurious construction of caramelized banana custard on brown butter graham crust with creme fraiche. Riley’s also makes tableside martinis, starting at C$21. For the mocktail crowd, the Reveried (C$15) is a whimsical drink with pineapple bubbles and zero-proof gin that tastes like the bartender tricked you.
155 Wellington St. W.;
rileysrestaurant.ca/toronto
No Reservations: Seoul Shakers , Bloordale Village
Seoul Shakers fits the mood of its eclectic Bloordale Village, where every corner offers a different culinary adventure, from Caribbean comfort food to Tibetan momos and South Indian dosas. The lively spot has fun with Korean staples in a room that feels equal parts retro tiki bar and late-night hangout. Once the sun sets, the mood is lively and kind of kitschy, with hanging plants, neon accents and a turquoise-blue jukebox in the corner. The soundtrack leans heavily toward hip-hop and upbeat party music, and the room is buzzing; it’s a great big energy spot for post-game celebrations.
Chef Leemo Han likes to mash up Korean flavors with Central and South American influences. Kalbi empanadas (C$13.95) are a signature, with sweet-and-savory marinated short ribs wrapped inside a crisp pastry shell. One of the most popular orders is roast kimchi chop cheese (C$11.95) — an Asian riff on the New York bodega classic — which layers richly seasoned meat, melted cheese and roasted kimchi in a deeply comforting sandwich. Be prepared to get messy.
Equally over the top are the phat fries (C$13.95), loaded with tomato sauce, garlic mayo and roasted kimchi, as well as the chorizo quesadilla (C$15.95) with smoky sausage and gooey cheese for a crowd-pleasing late-night snack. Drinks are just as playful. Along with tweaked classics like a mescal Negroni, the Pear Force One is a refreshing concoction of Espolon Blanco, Korean pear, yuzu, lemon, honey and sherry (C$17). And there are also bottles of soju that suit the mood of the walk-in-only, instant-party place. 1241 Bloor St. W.; instagram.com/seoulshakers.1241
Value: Juicy Dumplings , Chinatown
At Chinatown’s Juicy Dumplings, diners follow a straightforward pattern: Order on a screen or at the counter, then grab one of the seats at the back. Retrieve your food and chopsticks, then bite into the contents of the bright red takeout box and nod approvingly. You might be in and out of the no-frills storefront in less than 20 minutes, which makes it a great place to fuel up before running to watch a game.
But you will be highly satisfied. Shrimp wontons with spicy sauce are a standout: The plump parcels, with an excellent ratio of sweet shrimp to wrapper, get slicked in the restaurant’s fragrant chili oil (C$11). The steamed mini pork soup dumplings (C$5) arrive in the to-go container as a group of six, their delicate skins holding pockets of savory broth and richly seasoned pork despite their modest size.
Other mandatory orders include barbecue pork steamed buns, with their fluffy, cloud-soft exterior, sweet-savory meaty filling—and a bargain price tag (less than $C3 each). The pan-fried green onion pancake (C$7) was the lone miss: slightly undercooked and short on flavor. Another order of the steamed buns or dumplings is a better, modest investment. No matter what, Juicy Dumplings excels at serving affordable, satisfying food quickly. Don’t plan on lingering, as someone will be waiting for your seat. 280 Spadina Ave.; juicydumpling.ca
Bloomberg Index/DINE: Maison Selby , St. James Town
A short walk from the Sherbourne subway station, Maison Selby takes diners directly to France. In its Victorian mansion setting, with a small army of impeccably dressed staff delivering old-school hospitality, the restaurant feels straight out of 1920s Paris. In fact, it’s an ideal place to manifest the zeitgeist around Team France: At the time of this writing, predictions market Kalshi has them as the front-running World Cup winners.
It’s worth arriving early to grab a bar seat to watch the expert bartenders in action. The Tout Nu (C$19) is both strong and surprisingly light, blending elderflower liqueur, cranberry juice, lime, cherry syrup and vodka. To beat the summer heat, the nonalcoholic Fraîcheur d’Été (C$10) is a simple combination of strawberry juice, lemon juice and cucumber. There’s also a solid by-the-glass selection on the wine list that leans heavily and unsurprisingly French.
But nothing is as French as the menu, a highlight reel of the country’s most beloved dishes. French onion soup is built on a rich broth, but the king is the bubbling Gruyère crown, for C$19. Duck liver parfait is surprisingly light and elegant, served with marmalade and perfectly grilled baguette (C$17). Among the entrees, the stand-out boeuf bourguignon (C$46) is sumptuously fork-tender beef, and with a generous side of vegetables, it’s a hearty meal. If you want to extend your stay, Sous Sol, the mansion’s aptly named speakeasy, is just downstairs. “Go,” recommends a DINE user. 592 Sherbourne St.; maisonselby.com