From bannock to butter tarts, peameal bacon sandwiches to Saskatoon berries, here’s where to try Canadian flavours in Toronto.
Ask someone about traditional Canadian flavours and they’ll probably mention poutine or ketchup chips. But the best Canadian dishes in Toronto go beyond the classic Quebecois snack of French fries, gravy and cheese curds or the cult-fave potato chip flavour you can famously find here.
Multicultural and diverse, Toronto’s food scene offers unique opportunities to sample Canadian and Indigenous ingredients, both in their OG versions and in inventive fusion foods that celebrate the Canadian mosaic.
Ready to feast on our country’s most iconic foods? Here’s where to find traditional Canadian flavours in Toronto.
Savour Canadian maple syrup
Start your day with a stack of red fife buttermilk pancakes at the Leslieville brewery Avling. They’re served up hot with wild blueberry and peach beer preserve, whipped cream cheese and dark maple syrup.
For a sugar fix later on (or to bring home with you), pick up a tarte au sucre or some maple toffee walnut cookies at the Vanilla Bite. The owners launched this bakery out of their home kitchen, and it now has a brick-and-mortar shop near the Entertainment District.
Cocktail enthusiasts: get your maple fix at the Fairmont Royal York, right across the street from the Union Station hub. Fifth Business is a special cocktail created in honour of the hotel’s 96th anniversary, and it includes maple syrup, Dillon’s Single Cask Rye, pear, raspberry Eau de Vie, rosemary and Fernet Branca.
Chow down on a peameal bacon sandwich
They don’t call Toronto Hogtown for nothing! Peameal bacon—also known as Canadian bacon—is a meaty staple in Canadian cuisine. It’s a wet-cured pork loin that’s rolled in cornmeal and known for its juicy, slightly sweet flavour.
Make your way to Carousel Bakery in historic St. Lawrence Market for an award-winning peameal bacon sando that includes several thick slices of Canadian bacon in a white hamburger bun (egg and cheese optional).
Emma’s Country Kitchen also serves up peameal bacon. Hit up this cozy Hillcrest Village neighbourhood spot for Emma’s Benny, a beautiful brunch creation of perfectly poached eggs, mousseline sauce and peameal atop a buttermilk biscuit.
Try Indigenous cuisine in Toronto
Bannock, sometimes referred to as frybread, is a staple for many Indigenous cultures. You can find the flatbread at Tea N Bannock, which has an Indigenous-focused menu crafted by Indigenous chefs and traditional cooks.
This Gerrard East neighbourhood joint cooks up old-school bannock (which you can try three ways with blueberry jam), as well as creative interpretations like bannock pudding and bannock-and-wild-blueberry dumplings.
Tea N Bannock’s menu includes other traditional Indigenous foods like elk, bison, salmon and wild rice in dishes running the gamut from burgers and frybread tacos to daily stews and stir-fries.
The 360 Restaurant in the CN Tower showcases local cuisine in its Indigenous Menu. This three-course prix-fixe meal, crafted by Xaxli'pmec chef David Wolfman, is updated seasonally and celebrates Indigenous culinary traditions, including ingredients like bison, sweet corn, squash, beans, sumac and wild berries.
Sample wild blueberries and Saskatoon berries
Have you truly ever brunched in Toronto if you haven’t tried the buttermilk pancakes at Mildred’s in Liberty Village? Stacked a mile high, they come complete with wild blueberry compote, Lanark County maple syrup and whipped cream.
More of a scone fanatic? The wild blueberry mini scones at Parkdale’s Drake Hotel will more than hit the spot.
Saskatoon berry (think blueberry but with more of a sweet, nutty flavour) is the star ingredient in the dessert course of the 360 Restaurant’s Indigenous Menu. Their Saskatoon berry and wild bergamot parfait will have you wondering why the berry isn’t on everyone’s radar.
But don’t worry: you can also find this native fruit at the upscale Mexican restaurant Quetzal (just east of Little Italy), where it shines in an avocado leaf ice cream dessert.
Discover Canadian smoked game and fish
In the west end, Antler Kitchen & Bar is known for a menu that focuses on local ingredients and seasonality. Wild game is a star ingredient here, and you’ll find dishes like venison tartare, wild boar cavatelli and boar chop to satiate your carnivorous cravings.
If you want a more pubby vibe to get your “game” on, WVRST (multiple locations) has an entire menu dedicated to game sausage, with seven to choose from, including rabbit, wild boar and kangaroo. One of the most popular options is the bison, which earns bonus Canuck points for including blueberry and maple in the recipe.
A favourite of Toronto BBQ aficionados, Roncesvalles Village’s Barque Smokehouse serves up smoked duck tacos with pickled radish and BBQ hoisin sauce.
Out east in Cabbagetown, gastropub House on Parliament has a smoked trout and horseradish pâté that locals swear is addictive. With its flavourful crispy capers, baby greens and fresh lemon (all served on sourdough crostini), it has the power to make a smoked fish lover out of anyone.
Intrigue your palate with cedar and birch syrups
Both cedar and birch trees are native to Canada, and you’ll find that chefs and mixologists play with infusing these two trees’ flavours into their recipes.
At Evangeline, the rooftop bar at the Entertainment District’s Ace Hotel Toronto, gin lovers will find the refreshing Cicada Days cocktail–it’s got gin, cedar syrup, grapefruit, lemon, cypress bitters and egg white.
High above the Financial District at Canoe (located on the 54th floor of the TD Bank Tower), beef tartare comes dressed with winter truffle, barbecued lettuce and birch syrup, which nicely balances the earthy and sweet flavours.
At Azura on The Danforth, birch syrup stars in one of the dessert options: not too heavy or overly sugary, their birch syrup and fig leaf semifreddo with wild blueberry gel is an ideal sweet finish to a meal at this fine dining establishment.
Hail the classic Canadian Caesar cocktail
This vodka, Clamato, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce cocktail was invented in 1969 in Calgary and has become a brunch staple in Canada.
For a simple take on the classic, head to Pure Spirits Distillery in the Distillery Historic District, where the Caesars are blended with freshly grated horseradish and garnished with a house-made spicy green bean.
For a more over-the-top approach, get your Caesar fix (and Instagram shots) at Score on King. This King Street East sports bar has an entire menu dedicated to Caesars, one option being the Grande, which is garnished with a fried chicken sandwich, a nacho bowl, a burger, fried mac n’ cheese balls, a corn dog and Nutella pie.
Want more Caesars? Check out this list of the best Caesar cocktails around Toronto.
Taste all the butter tarts in Toronto
You can find the quintessential Canadian dessert, the butter tart, at many Toronto bakeries.
You can’t go wrong hitting up Circles & Squares at Yonge and Davisville: they won the title of top butter tart in Ontario in 2023.
Over in Koreatown, the gooey butter tarts at Ba Noi sell out quickly. Get there early to avoid disappointment!
Looking to take your tart consumption up a notch? Gerrard Street Bakery bakes up a truly impressive butter tart cake if tarts aren’t enough.
Craig’s Cookies (multiple locations and trucks across the city) takes pecan butter tarts and wraps them in chocolate chip cookie dough for a truly Torontonian sugar high.
Sweeten up with Canadian ice wine
Cold Canadian winters are ideal for producing our iconic ice wine, which is pressed from grapes that have frozen on the vine, concentrating their intense, sweet flavour.
Centred on contemporary Canadian cuisine, Canoe, naturally, has ice wine on its menu (including much-loved Château des Charmes Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine and Cave Spring Riesling Icewine) along with a robust selection of Canadian wines.
If you’re looking for a casual spot to sip and sample, Downtown Winery on Ossington pours iced Vidal, which has notes of apricot and apple crumble, by the glass.
Obviously, you’ll want to head home with a bottle or two to enjoy long after your Toronto trip. Visit the LCBO or Wine Rack (both chains have multiple locations) or plan a Niagara wine tour where you enjoy a wine flight and purchase souvenir bottles right at the winery.
