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Toronto for a day?


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We have a trip to Niagara Falls, staying on the Canadian side and I think we're going to go to Toronto for one of the days we're there. We're city people and museum nuts (yes, even the kids) and I think we'll go do the Royal Ontario Museum so that will be the main activity du jour. I've never been to Toronto. Any tips? Anything else we should try to do? I especially would love a restaurant recommendation - something semi-kid friendly, nothing crazy expensive. Of course, we can always just grab Chipotle or something quick, but I like when we can eat at good local places.

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If you're with the kids and like museums and similar things, you may want to carve out some time to check out the Science Centre; depending on the ages of your kids they (and you, it's a fun place) may prefer it to the ROM.

For restaurant recommendations, what sort of food do you like? And what do you consider "crazy expensive"? There's a huuuuuuge variety options, especially in the area you'll be heading to.

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Crazy expensive would be anything above $25ish a dish, though cheaper is better. I don't anticipate that we'll eat fancy while we're at Niagara, so I'd rather splurge a bit in Toronto on a good meal. I'm not fond of Indian (the kids and dh love it), and none of us are super into Greek or Ethiopian or Middle Eastern. But otherwise... I'm open to suggestions... East Asian food of all kinds is good, Italian, Spanish, Mexican, American, French, burgers, seafood, salads, diners... I don't know. I guess I'm more interested in going somewhere with a little character?

 

Oh, and totally unrelated question for anyone in the know... when we go to a hotel, I usually bring snacks and fruit with us beforehand. But it occurred to me... we won't be able to bring fruit across the border, will we? So I'll need to do that grocery snacks and breakfasts stuff run after we get to Canada, yes?

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Well you can TRY to bring it across the border if you're driving; I've gone across numerous times and never gotten stopped, even holding snacks in my hand, so I don't think they care much. But there would be a chance you might get pulled out to have your vehicle searched, in which case there's a risk you could lose it all.

 

If you're into Asian food I've heard Salad King is excellent. Never been there myself, but various friends in that area love it. I think it's not too far from the ROM, but I'd double check that just in case. It's close to the university so it's got a cafeteria vibe (though it IS a sit-down place even if it doesn't look like it from the pics), but the food's supposed to be great. http://www.saladking.com/

As far as local greasy spoons go, The Stockyards are close to that area as well and have AWESOME food, but be warned that they pretty much only do heart attacks on a plate, lol. Fantastic food... because it pretty much all tastes like it's been marinating in bacon fat, rofl. If you don't have heart problems you'll love it. ;) http://www.thestockyards.ca/

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Don't forget a trip up the CN Tower if you have time. Touristy, yes, but worth it for the view (on a clear day you can see the mist from Niagra) and the chance to jump up and down on the glass floor--with the whole of Toronto below your feet. :)

 

You are correct about fruit and veggies--sometimes they care and will confiscate, other times it's fine. Whatever you choose, be scrupulously honest.

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I can't seem to find anything official, but I've never had any problem bringing fruit into Canada.  Taking it from Canada into the US can be a problem.   The guards sometimes check to make sure we don't have food on the US side, but never the Canadian side.

 

I grocery shop in the US regularly.

 

And I agree with the ROM and the CN Tower.  We were disappointed with the Science Centre.  Science North in Sudbury was so much better.

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I don't think I can do the CN tower. Ugh... heights... No hockey... We just went to a Ripley's Aquarium, so we'll skip that. They had such an awesome homeschool discount though.

 

Kensington Market sounds nice. The above mentioned Salad King sounded yummy and the Stockyards... Any other specific restaurants?

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I can't seem to find anything official, but I've never had any problem bringing fruit into Canada. Taking it from Canada into the US can be a problem. The guards sometimes check to make sure we don't have food on the US side, but never the Canadian side.

 

I grocery shop in the US regularly.

 

And I agree with the ROM and the CN Tower. We were disappointed with the Science Centre. Science North in Sudbury was so much better.

We live in Sudbury and I am not sure I agree that Science North is better but it's not much worse. I was so excited to go to a big city science center in Toronto and really, I didn't find it that great. We do Science North once a week so I may just be over science centres in general lol.

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I live in Toronto and still haven't scoped out all the great places to eat ;) Banh Mi Boys has Asian style sandwiches and is super yum though. I just went there recently so it is fresh in my mind. http://www.banhmiboys.com/index.htm

There are lots of neighbourhoods that surround the Downtown core where you can find good food or interesting shops. 

 

The ROM, Science Centre, Art Gallery of Ontario is beautiful, Kensington Market, Allen Gardens Conservatory, Casa Loma.

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So is Korean Grill House like a Mongolian Barbecue? Or is it more like a Japanese steakhouse? Or is it really its own thing? It sure looked yummy.

 

Sometimes I think the best reason to go on vacation is to eat.

 

It's more like it's own thing. Each table comes with it's own grill in the center and they just keep bringing you bowls of marinated meat that you cook yourself to your liking. They also bring a million sides of various korean delights as well. My husband would eat there every night if I let him :)

 

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We did that trip last summer (Niagara Falls and then Toronto for an overnight trip). We did the CN tower and it was worth it, but maybe not so much if you don't like heights. 

 

We walked around Kensington Market which was fun. We also walked throughChinatown. Dh is Chinese-American and his parents actually met in Toronto so he wanted to see it. It was fun as several of the restaurants were very specifically from his mother's families region in China (even one that referenced the small village that she was from). The place we ended up eating was  a Japanese Ramen shop. I can't remember which one, it was kind of a "we're all hungry and the kids are tired and need to eat" stop but it was really delicious. 

 

Another thing my kids really got a kick out of was going to a grocery store (Loblaws?). They had a blast picking out snack foods for the car trip back home. All sorts of weird-to-us things like maple flavored potato chips. 

 

 

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I was there in 2002. At the time, on the corner of Yonge and E Gerrard (I think) Streets was a croissant shop with all different flavors of croissants. We went there several times.

 

The Royal Ontario Museum was fun even though I didn't know much about history then. I would enjoy it a lot more now.

 

The other thing that stands out about the trip were homeless people everywhere, including women and kids. We couldn't walk even a block without someone sitting or standing there with a sign.

 

Make sure you use the bathroom when you find one. We walked a mile or two in search of one before we found a McDonald's.

 

If you are used to big cities, perhaps the above won't phase you.

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