Chinatown

King’s Noodle — You can spot this must-eat restaurant on Spadina by looking for the front window full of hanging barbecued ducks, pork sides, and two chefs cooking fast and furiously. The name underrepresents their amazing diversity of unique Chinese cuisine such as BBQ duck, fresh clams, dumplings and family style soups.

8090 KTV — After filling your hankering for Chinese food check out this amazing karaoke spot to complete an evening in Chinatown. Their catalogue of songs are predominantly in Mandarin and Cantonese, but there are English titles if you’re not feeling as adventurous.

Mother’s Dumplings — Known to many as the best dumplings in the city, this casual spot fills up fast any night of the week of people looking to feast on steamed, fried, and/or boiled dumplings. Though it’s hard not to love everything, must-eats include pork and dill dumplings, mushroom and chicken dumplings and the green onion pancake. But if we’re being honest, it’s all about the dumplings.

Herb Depot — Are you a believer in ancient Chinese herbal remedies? Well even if you’re not, you may be a convert after visiting this spot in Chinatown, known to have a remedy for really anything you can imagine.

Grossman’s Tavern — Like much of Chinatown, this place looks exceedingly seedy from the outside, however, it’s been a blues institution in the city since 1948. Check out nightly blues, New Orleans style jazz, and that authentic layer of grime.

Kai Wei Supermarket — If you’re looking for any rare Chinese food item, you can be sure to find it at Kai Wei. Durian, lotus root, even green tea Kit Kats are available at this bustling supermarket. Plus their prices are way more suited to the student budget than almost anywhere else.

El Mocambo Tavern — This is another legendary music venue in the city that has hosted the Rolling Stones, U2, Elvis Presley and more. Though it was due to close, it was recently saved by Dragons’ Den star Michael Wekerle, so be sure to check out their lineup.

Rol San — A tour of Chinatown is not complete without a full dim sum meal. Though this spot seems hidden among the fluorescent lights of Spadina it serves up one of the best dim sum meals without having to go north of the city. Whether you’re feeling porky, shrimpy, fried, steamed, spicy and/or sweet, you will be satisfied into a food coma at Rol San.

Lucky Red — This brand new bao shop from the Banh Mi Boys team (who also have another Chinatown hot spot People’s Eatery) is serving up amazing Vietnamese-inspired snacks. If you’re in the mood for dessert, they even have a s’more bao. And if you’re feeling daring and have a love for the worst smelling fruit ever: check out their durian pie!

Tap Phong — This is a true kitchen equipment emporium in the city where all the restaurants and professional chefs shop, but it has amazing finds for the amateur chef/home cook in all of us. Think of any utensil or kitchen gadget you could want, and Tap Phong will have it, plus about a thousand other items you didn’t even know existed.