We arrived in Toronto and as most tourists we got ripped off as soon as we arrived on the scene.
My advice to anyone arriving in Toronto is to not get a taxi as you can get from the airport to Downtown for $3. Of course no one told us and we spent $20 on a bus.
You get the bus outside arrivals. Its called the 192 Rocket. When you get on the bus pay your $3 and get a transfer ticket.
The bus will bring you to Kipling station where you can then get on the subway and get to anywhere you want. Check out http://www3.ttc.ca/Subway/interactivemap.jsp subway map to see where to get off and with that magic transfer you can then get onto a streetcar if needs be. As long as you are going in 1 direction you only need to pay ONCE....
I know this is the best news and once we figured this out, we have saved!
Backpackers
There are quiet a few hostels here in the lovely city but I would only recommend 2 of them. Both are downtown and not far from each other. I have visited both but didn't actually need to stay in either.
The first one is at Spadina and college. Right in the heart of hippy nation Kensington Market. http://collegehostel.com/ you can stay here for a month at a time for only $700 a month for a double room. It has a small tv room but the hotels are more like a hotel with a tv in the room. It is missing a closet but has an ironing board in the room. No onsuite rooms but its a hostel so you have to remember that!! This has 1 computer for the internet.
The second one you can try out is http://www.globalbackpackers.com/ This has its advantages and disadvantages. It has a bar, pool tables and 4 computers. It has a massive common room but you may feel a little unsafe as its a slanty building and rooms are not much to write home about. A double room has bunk beds but it does offer free breakfast!!
The internet I wouldn't be worried about cos most coffee shops have free internet and sometimes you don't even have to go inside and the library offers free internet and computers so just become a member. http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/branches/index.jsp this you should check out for locations. You don't need to pay to become a member but you must bring ID and proof of address.
Tourist Things:
The CN tower is an obvious stop but if you go when its windy you can't go outside. I would also suggest not going when it is cloudy as you won't be able to see that much. I didn't think it was the most amazing sight but Toronto sure is green!!
Went to the Ontario Science Museum yesterday and it was amazing. We did the IMAX experience package. It was $28 & $22 for students with valid id.. We saw Tornado Alley and it was amazing how up close you were. That film lasted for 1 hr. We then went onto the Space section which was good. I learned a lot about other planets and found out that Pluto no longer exists in the list of planets!
After we went onto the body exhibition which is great. It had fun games and questions and we really learned a lot. I would go again for all the games....
After we went onto the Nature Unleashed. It was all about Tornado, Cyclones, Volcanoes & earthquakes. Some of the facts were frightening. When some volcanoes go off they can change the earths weather for years!! That exhibition is only on till Mid April and well worth it.
Where to next??
Childcare:
Here in Toronto there are many places you can play with your kids but you want to make sure that the place is clean and the staff will help you keep an eye on the kids...
The most professional ones that includes doing Birthday Parties, has classes, can drop off while you go shopping or go to dinner. Check out http://www.justduckyyongekids.com/. Its only $10 per child and you can stay as long as you like!
Eating:
I could go on all day about food. It depends on what you like?! While in Canada you have to taste Poutine. Its chips with curds and gravy. We went to http://www.poutini.com/ and it was amazing. I wouldn't go in as big group cos there is about 8 sits but it was filling and I got sour cream, chives and bacon on mine while Damien got pulled pork.
This is a little gem I heard about and recommended to people to try out and have had AMAZing reviews. http://www.theburgerspriest.com/
A firm favourite of ours that we frequent a lot on Tuesday nights and bring a lot of our visitors is St Louis's Wings. http://www.stlouiswings.com/ We go on Tuesday's as you get 1lb of wings & fries for $5 with the purchase of a pint. Pints are cheap too though so its a great deal. When you chose the wings you then have to chose from about 12 flavours. They do ribs, fries, nachos etc. Its like a hooters in the sense that they wear short skirts but the wings are great and Damien can watch his English Premiership football too!! I would highly receommend it. It is a chain and not sure if they all do the cheap deals but the one on the Danforth does for sure.
Obviously I can't go through all the restaurants in Toronto but you should check out Greek town. Danforth Avenue is Greek town and http://www.messini.ca/ it is in many guide books and you can get a chicken Gyro for $5. Another definite for dinner is http://www.panonthedanforth.com/ They have a great deal on every day for 3 course meal for $25. I like this because it uses the food that is on the main menu and on a Friday & Saturday night they have bellydancers....
DO NOT go to http://www.christinas.ca/ we went here when my cousin was over. We thought cos we had been to Pan twice we thought we would go somewhere else but we were wrong. I got the lamb and it was cold. The spinach was dirty. Damien's Salmon was cold too and they didn't top up our wine which is why you pay for service. I wouldn't mind if they were busy but they weren't!!
We went to Brass Taps on the Danforth last night. They had such a good deal on there. They always do but we had never had food. As our friends were over we decided to go plus we had heard they were great for their pizzas. It was pizza night which is a Wed so we got the pasta deal. For $10 each we got a Ceasar Salad to start followed by pasta and garlic bread. It was such a big helping we were all stuffed!! It was amazing as well....
Got Mamma's pizza last night because you could get a medium pizza for $5 with $1 going to charity. I do like Mamma's though as it is a thin base pizza.
Check out restaurants on the Danforth on April 27th as they are giving a portion of their takings to HIV research. This is the city that keeps giving....
Went to Burger Cellar on at Yonge and Lawrence and for a gourmet burger place I expected more. I know back in Ireland the burger is enough, normally sides are too much but here we actually had to order more sides as we weren't full at all.
Damien had the Burger Cellar burger which was delicious. It had cheese, bacon, mushrooms & an onion ring on it. I had the Posh burger which had mushrooms with truffle oil on it & cheese (very small amount, didn't even cover the burger) We got our lettuce, tom & pickle on it as well. We went for the Kobe beef but I reckon you could do either the natural or AAA Angus and it would have been good enough. Less expensive. The burger itself was really small and they charged us $17 for Damien's and $19 for mine. Lucky their draught beer was cheap. It was $7 for a pint of Mill Street Organic beer. If you want to check it out http://theburgercellar.com/
Heading to http://www.vivethabistro.com/ anyone ever been? Excited cos I have heard great things so we'll see.... Didn't go as its closed on Mondays!!
Went to Gabby's instead http://www.gabbys.ca/ They had a good offer of half price wings on a Mon & Wed. They put it in the menu as $0.49 per wing but its just half price!! They were good. I liked that they gave you celery & carrot with blue cheese. No fries so obviously Louis's still wins on price. I went with work and we all got something each with a few drinks added on about it was about $20 each including tip. I thought the service was good but slightly dark for eating food. Orlagh was there and she had never tried wings before. After trying them she said she liked them but wouldn't get them again. That doesn't say much for their wings!! I didn't get the draught beer but I have heard bad reports (not gospel).
Last night as it was cheap Tuesday in the Scotiabank Scene Movie Threatre. It was $7 each and we went to see Limitless. I can not recommend enough but up to you.
Went went down to Little Italy to get some food before but we hadn't looked into anywhere to go and it was raining and windy so we went into Duff's http://www.duffsfamouswings.ca/content/home/home.html and we were not disappointed. We got the Tuesday special of 1.6LB for $7.25 each. We got sweet potatoe fries & regular fries, 2 pints and that was all for $30. Not bad at all. The wings were probably the best I have ever tasted. I went for the Mild-Medium cos they said Medium was Hot but after having them I would probably go for Medium as there was no kick to the ones I got. Damien had the Medium-Hot and he didn't think they were that hot but he also likes to burn his mouth so who knows!! I will miss the sweet potatoe fries when we get home. They are so lovely and better for you than regular fries. Pints of Canadian or Coors were $5 which is a bargain. The only negative was their blue cheese sauce was maybe to strong but I love blue cheese!!
Heading to PJ's tomorrow....wahooo
So we went to PJ's on Thursday and as usual it was slightly pricey as it was an Irish bar. It was $7 for pints and they had a very limited supply of bottled and draught beers. We all got food which I have to say was REALLY good. I got the Fish & Chips and it was really good. Actually 3 of us got the fish & chips. 1 of the lads got sausages and chips which were the cocktail ones but were the nicest sausage I have tasted in the 10 months I've been here!! I thought the service was pretty slow even though it wasn't crazy busy. I ordered a drink after I had been there 10 mins. I ordered another drink a while later and it was given to someone else. I know in the bar they were very busy and maybe that was why service in the restaurant was slow.
I did like the fact that the 2 areas were seperated and after we finished we headed to the bar part where they had a band playing and there was the little area to dance. It was a great night but thats cos we such good company and I wouldn't be rushing back again!!
Off to Il Fornello on the Danforth tomorrow for cheap Tuesdays....
Yes IL Fornello was lovely. We went early enough as we were pretty hungry! On Tuesday's they do all pizza's $10 and they did not disappoint. I got one with no tomato sauce, Argula (Rocket), Purshuito, Mushrooms and what tasted like Parmesan cheese. Damien got 1 with Carmelised onions, pear, Argula & walnuts. They were lovely and it was maybe we were really hungry but they did not fill us and looking across at Louis's wings did not help as they always fill us!!
Any suggestions on where to go next week????
We finally made it to Burger Priest and it did not disappoint!! I got the Option Cheese Burger for $9.99 which had the beef patty, cheese and a portobello mushroom stuffed with cheese, coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried!! AMAZING. You then decide if you would like lettuce, onions, tomatoe, mustard, ketchup, mayo & pickle on your burger. Damien went for the cheese burger for $5.99 and got chilli, cheese fries for $5.79. Water or pop is $1.49 and the option as a veggie burger comes with 2 mushrooms and is $7.99 on its own. Do not expect to sit in a restaurant as it is tiny and has maybe 4 stools. It doesn't take debit so you will need to bring cash as there is no ATM's near.
I would defintitely recommend to anyone to go though. Well worth the $$$$'s.
Pubs:
Obviously people ask me about Irish bars and cheap places to drink. It will always depend on what you like and drink as to weather it will be cheap or not!!!
McVeigh's http://www.mcveighspub.com/contact.html is a very good pub which does $3 drinks on a Sun with a band playing. A lot of people Canadian and Irish come down here on a Saturday night as it again has live music and I like that the band will always interact with the crowd. On a Sunday it can be very packed but they do eventually stop letting people in!
Another Irish bar on the Danforth is Dora Keogh's http://www.allens.to/dora/ It can be expensive to drink but it also plays music on a Sunday.
A lot of people will say to you have you been to the Irish Embassy pub downtown but I would not recommend it. First off it is the most expensive pub I have actually been in, in Toronto and I have nearly been here 1 year and no Irish staff there. It is not relaxed like an Irish pub should be but you can always go there. http://www.irishembassypub.com/.
All the Fox & Fiddles http://www.foxandfiddle.com/home.php are cheap pubs which do very good food. They do pitchers for $15.
Downtown has a good pub called the Dogs Bollocks http://www.dine.to/dogsbollocks . They do $10 pitchers and they show most games. They do really good food and its always a good atmosphere. We went here for the UFC and we got $15 worth of free drinks each!!
We went out on Saturday night to watch the UFC. Every place was charging in except Rails & Ales on the Danforth http://www.dine.to/railsandales. I checked it out on the internet to see what what it was like. I was delighted with this place. It had a few big screens. The food was AMAZING. I got the chicken wings and they were small and tasty. Damien got the burger which was very big and juicy with spicy fries. We were drinking bottles of beer which were only $4 including tax. We played a little pool after and they were the proper sized pool tables. We would definitely go back again and I would recommend it to anyone!
My advice to anyone arriving in Toronto is to not get a taxi as you can get from the airport to Downtown for $3. Of course no one told us and we spent $20 on a bus.
You get the bus outside arrivals. Its called the 192 Rocket. When you get on the bus pay your $3 and get a transfer ticket.
The bus will bring you to Kipling station where you can then get on the subway and get to anywhere you want. Check out http://www3.ttc.ca/Subway/interactivemap.jsp subway map to see where to get off and with that magic transfer you can then get onto a streetcar if needs be. As long as you are going in 1 direction you only need to pay ONCE....
I know this is the best news and once we figured this out, we have saved!
Backpackers
There are quiet a few hostels here in the lovely city but I would only recommend 2 of them. Both are downtown and not far from each other. I have visited both but didn't actually need to stay in either.
The first one is at Spadina and college. Right in the heart of hippy nation Kensington Market. http://collegehostel.com/ you can stay here for a month at a time for only $700 a month for a double room. It has a small tv room but the hotels are more like a hotel with a tv in the room. It is missing a closet but has an ironing board in the room. No onsuite rooms but its a hostel so you have to remember that!! This has 1 computer for the internet.
The second one you can try out is http://www.globalbackpackers.com/ This has its advantages and disadvantages. It has a bar, pool tables and 4 computers. It has a massive common room but you may feel a little unsafe as its a slanty building and rooms are not much to write home about. A double room has bunk beds but it does offer free breakfast!!
The internet I wouldn't be worried about cos most coffee shops have free internet and sometimes you don't even have to go inside and the library offers free internet and computers so just become a member. http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/branches/index.jsp this you should check out for locations. You don't need to pay to become a member but you must bring ID and proof of address.
Tourist Things:
The CN tower is an obvious stop but if you go when its windy you can't go outside. I would also suggest not going when it is cloudy as you won't be able to see that much. I didn't think it was the most amazing sight but Toronto sure is green!!
Went to the Ontario Science Museum yesterday and it was amazing. We did the IMAX experience package. It was $28 & $22 for students with valid id.. We saw Tornado Alley and it was amazing how up close you were. That film lasted for 1 hr. We then went onto the Space section which was good. I learned a lot about other planets and found out that Pluto no longer exists in the list of planets!
After we went onto the body exhibition which is great. It had fun games and questions and we really learned a lot. I would go again for all the games....
After we went onto the Nature Unleashed. It was all about Tornado, Cyclones, Volcanoes & earthquakes. Some of the facts were frightening. When some volcanoes go off they can change the earths weather for years!! That exhibition is only on till Mid April and well worth it.
Where to next??
Childcare:
Here in Toronto there are many places you can play with your kids but you want to make sure that the place is clean and the staff will help you keep an eye on the kids...
The most professional ones that includes doing Birthday Parties, has classes, can drop off while you go shopping or go to dinner. Check out http://www.justduckyyongekids.com/. Its only $10 per child and you can stay as long as you like!
Eating:
I could go on all day about food. It depends on what you like?! While in Canada you have to taste Poutine. Its chips with curds and gravy. We went to http://www.poutini.com/ and it was amazing. I wouldn't go in as big group cos there is about 8 sits but it was filling and I got sour cream, chives and bacon on mine while Damien got pulled pork.
This is a little gem I heard about and recommended to people to try out and have had AMAZing reviews. http://www.theburgerspriest.com/
A firm favourite of ours that we frequent a lot on Tuesday nights and bring a lot of our visitors is St Louis's Wings. http://www.stlouiswings.com/ We go on Tuesday's as you get 1lb of wings & fries for $5 with the purchase of a pint. Pints are cheap too though so its a great deal. When you chose the wings you then have to chose from about 12 flavours. They do ribs, fries, nachos etc. Its like a hooters in the sense that they wear short skirts but the wings are great and Damien can watch his English Premiership football too!! I would highly receommend it. It is a chain and not sure if they all do the cheap deals but the one on the Danforth does for sure.
Obviously I can't go through all the restaurants in Toronto but you should check out Greek town. Danforth Avenue is Greek town and http://www.messini.ca/ it is in many guide books and you can get a chicken Gyro for $5. Another definite for dinner is http://www.panonthedanforth.com/ They have a great deal on every day for 3 course meal for $25. I like this because it uses the food that is on the main menu and on a Friday & Saturday night they have bellydancers....
DO NOT go to http://www.christinas.ca/ we went here when my cousin was over. We thought cos we had been to Pan twice we thought we would go somewhere else but we were wrong. I got the lamb and it was cold. The spinach was dirty. Damien's Salmon was cold too and they didn't top up our wine which is why you pay for service. I wouldn't mind if they were busy but they weren't!!
We went to Brass Taps on the Danforth last night. They had such a good deal on there. They always do but we had never had food. As our friends were over we decided to go plus we had heard they were great for their pizzas. It was pizza night which is a Wed so we got the pasta deal. For $10 each we got a Ceasar Salad to start followed by pasta and garlic bread. It was such a big helping we were all stuffed!! It was amazing as well....
Got Mamma's pizza last night because you could get a medium pizza for $5 with $1 going to charity. I do like Mamma's though as it is a thin base pizza.
Check out restaurants on the Danforth on April 27th as they are giving a portion of their takings to HIV research. This is the city that keeps giving....
Went to Burger Cellar on at Yonge and Lawrence and for a gourmet burger place I expected more. I know back in Ireland the burger is enough, normally sides are too much but here we actually had to order more sides as we weren't full at all.
Damien had the Burger Cellar burger which was delicious. It had cheese, bacon, mushrooms & an onion ring on it. I had the Posh burger which had mushrooms with truffle oil on it & cheese (very small amount, didn't even cover the burger) We got our lettuce, tom & pickle on it as well. We went for the Kobe beef but I reckon you could do either the natural or AAA Angus and it would have been good enough. Less expensive. The burger itself was really small and they charged us $17 for Damien's and $19 for mine. Lucky their draught beer was cheap. It was $7 for a pint of Mill Street Organic beer. If you want to check it out http://theburgercellar.com/
Heading to http://www.vivethabistro.com/ anyone ever been? Excited cos I have heard great things so we'll see.... Didn't go as its closed on Mondays!!
Went to Gabby's instead http://www.gabbys.ca/ They had a good offer of half price wings on a Mon & Wed. They put it in the menu as $0.49 per wing but its just half price!! They were good. I liked that they gave you celery & carrot with blue cheese. No fries so obviously Louis's still wins on price. I went with work and we all got something each with a few drinks added on about it was about $20 each including tip. I thought the service was good but slightly dark for eating food. Orlagh was there and she had never tried wings before. After trying them she said she liked them but wouldn't get them again. That doesn't say much for their wings!! I didn't get the draught beer but I have heard bad reports (not gospel).
Last night as it was cheap Tuesday in the Scotiabank Scene Movie Threatre. It was $7 each and we went to see Limitless. I can not recommend enough but up to you.
Went went down to Little Italy to get some food before but we hadn't looked into anywhere to go and it was raining and windy so we went into Duff's http://www.duffsfamouswings.ca/content/home/home.html and we were not disappointed. We got the Tuesday special of 1.6LB for $7.25 each. We got sweet potatoe fries & regular fries, 2 pints and that was all for $30. Not bad at all. The wings were probably the best I have ever tasted. I went for the Mild-Medium cos they said Medium was Hot but after having them I would probably go for Medium as there was no kick to the ones I got. Damien had the Medium-Hot and he didn't think they were that hot but he also likes to burn his mouth so who knows!! I will miss the sweet potatoe fries when we get home. They are so lovely and better for you than regular fries. Pints of Canadian or Coors were $5 which is a bargain. The only negative was their blue cheese sauce was maybe to strong but I love blue cheese!!
Heading to PJ's tomorrow....wahooo
So we went to PJ's on Thursday and as usual it was slightly pricey as it was an Irish bar. It was $7 for pints and they had a very limited supply of bottled and draught beers. We all got food which I have to say was REALLY good. I got the Fish & Chips and it was really good. Actually 3 of us got the fish & chips. 1 of the lads got sausages and chips which were the cocktail ones but were the nicest sausage I have tasted in the 10 months I've been here!! I thought the service was pretty slow even though it wasn't crazy busy. I ordered a drink after I had been there 10 mins. I ordered another drink a while later and it was given to someone else. I know in the bar they were very busy and maybe that was why service in the restaurant was slow.
I did like the fact that the 2 areas were seperated and after we finished we headed to the bar part where they had a band playing and there was the little area to dance. It was a great night but thats cos we such good company and I wouldn't be rushing back again!!
Off to Il Fornello on the Danforth tomorrow for cheap Tuesdays....
Yes IL Fornello was lovely. We went early enough as we were pretty hungry! On Tuesday's they do all pizza's $10 and they did not disappoint. I got one with no tomato sauce, Argula (Rocket), Purshuito, Mushrooms and what tasted like Parmesan cheese. Damien got 1 with Carmelised onions, pear, Argula & walnuts. They were lovely and it was maybe we were really hungry but they did not fill us and looking across at Louis's wings did not help as they always fill us!!
Any suggestions on where to go next week????
We finally made it to Burger Priest and it did not disappoint!! I got the Option Cheese Burger for $9.99 which had the beef patty, cheese and a portobello mushroom stuffed with cheese, coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried!! AMAZING. You then decide if you would like lettuce, onions, tomatoe, mustard, ketchup, mayo & pickle on your burger. Damien went for the cheese burger for $5.99 and got chilli, cheese fries for $5.79. Water or pop is $1.49 and the option as a veggie burger comes with 2 mushrooms and is $7.99 on its own. Do not expect to sit in a restaurant as it is tiny and has maybe 4 stools. It doesn't take debit so you will need to bring cash as there is no ATM's near.
I would defintitely recommend to anyone to go though. Well worth the $$$$'s.
Pubs:
Obviously people ask me about Irish bars and cheap places to drink. It will always depend on what you like and drink as to weather it will be cheap or not!!!
McVeigh's http://www.mcveighspub.com/contact.html is a very good pub which does $3 drinks on a Sun with a band playing. A lot of people Canadian and Irish come down here on a Saturday night as it again has live music and I like that the band will always interact with the crowd. On a Sunday it can be very packed but they do eventually stop letting people in!
Another Irish bar on the Danforth is Dora Keogh's http://www.allens.to/dora/ It can be expensive to drink but it also plays music on a Sunday.
A lot of people will say to you have you been to the Irish Embassy pub downtown but I would not recommend it. First off it is the most expensive pub I have actually been in, in Toronto and I have nearly been here 1 year and no Irish staff there. It is not relaxed like an Irish pub should be but you can always go there. http://www.irishembassypub.com/.
All the Fox & Fiddles http://www.foxandfiddle.com/home.php are cheap pubs which do very good food. They do pitchers for $15.
Downtown has a good pub called the Dogs Bollocks http://www.dine.to/dogsbollocks . They do $10 pitchers and they show most games. They do really good food and its always a good atmosphere. We went here for the UFC and we got $15 worth of free drinks each!!
We went out on Saturday night to watch the UFC. Every place was charging in except Rails & Ales on the Danforth http://www.dine.to/railsandales. I checked it out on the internet to see what what it was like. I was delighted with this place. It had a few big screens. The food was AMAZING. I got the chicken wings and they were small and tasty. Damien got the burger which was very big and juicy with spicy fries. We were drinking bottles of beer which were only $4 including tax. We played a little pool after and they were the proper sized pool tables. We would definitely go back again and I would recommend it to anyone!
1 comment:
Fair play to ya Leela!!
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