Toronto travel guide

Toronto Food Stops: Dumplings, Dim Sum, Peameal Bacon, and Kim's Convenience

We came to Toronto to catch the Clippers and built the rest of the trip around food, Chinatown, downtown wandering, and a few stops that felt unmistakably Toronto. These are the places we actually made time for.

Toronto City

5 Food stops

Raptors Arena connection

See the Toronto Raptors on our Arena Quest →

Toronto from the waterfront, with the skyline and CN Tower across the harbor.

Steamed soup dumplings in Toronto — Juicy Dumpling in Toronto's Chinatown.

Peter and Lisa outside Kim's Convenience in Toronto — A stop at Kim's Convenience on Queen Street East.

Peter and Lisa downtown Toronto at night with the CN Tower behind them — Downtown Toronto after dark.

Where we ate.

 Juicy Dumpling Chinatown, 280 Spadina Ave., Toronto, ON M5T 0A1, Canada 

Dumplings

Get: Soup dumplings

A quick Chinatown stop for juicy dumplings at 280 Spadina Avenue. This is the kind of place that fits easily into a walking day through the neighborhood.

 Rol San Restaurant Chinatown, 390 Spadina Ave., Toronto, ON M5T 2G5, Canada 

Cantonese dim sum

Get: Dim sum classics

Rol San was our sit-down Chinatown stop, at 390 Spadina Avenue. It made a natural pairing with Juicy Dumpling for a Toronto food day built around Cantonese flavors.

 Kim's Convenience Queen Street East, 252 Queen St E, Toronto, ON M5A 1S7, Canada 

Convenience store and Toronto pop-culture stop

Get: A walk-through and a few snacks

Kim's Convenience on Queen Street East was one of the stops we wanted to see in person. It is a small detour from Chinatown and an easy downtown walk.

 Carousel Bakery at St. Lawrence Market St. Lawrence Market, Toronto 

Canadian market sandwich

Get: The peameal bacon sandwich

St. Lawrence Market is one of the essential Toronto food stops, and Carousel Bakery's peameal bacon sandwich was the order we came for. Salty, savory, and very much the Toronto classic.

 Chefs Hall Downtown Toronto, 111 Richmond St W, Toronto, ON M5H 2G4, Canada 

Food hall

Get: A spread from the vendors

Chefs Hall gave us a chance to sample more than one kind of food in one stop, at 111 Richmond Street West in downtown Toronto.

Good to know before you go

The restaurant addresses and stops here reflect our trip; check current hours before visiting.
Toronto weather was cold during this visit, so plan for layers if you are building the same walking-heavy itinerary.

Questions people ask us about Toronto.

What should I eat in Toronto?

Start with a peameal bacon sandwich from Carousel Bakery at St. Lawrence Market, then add Chinatown stops such as Juicy Dumpling and Rol San Restaurant. Chefs Hall is useful when everyone wants something different.

Where can I find the peameal bacon sandwich?

Carousel Bakery inside St. Lawrence Market is the Toronto stop we visited for one.

Is Kim's Convenience worth visiting?

If you enjoy Toronto pop culture, it is a fun stop on Queen Street East. We visited the location at 252 Queen St E while exploring downtown.

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