Green Mango

Rated this place:

730 Yonge St., Toronto, ON, M4Y2B7

Thai: Hot and delicious, and none of that cursed heat-rating on the menu (i.e. "1 to 5 flames"). The Real Deal. The pad thai is awesome - a no-brainer - although the cashew chicken and curry beef are also killer. The Yonge St. location has been holding it down longer than most of the other thai places that have been popping up. Go and see why!

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• thai

Tango Palace Coffee Co

Rated this place:

1156 Queen St E, Toronto, ON, M4M1L2

Coffee shop: No-nonsense coffee and lattes, and killer eats and sweets. Cozy atmosphere, no attitude. Every neighbourhood should have one of these.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• coffee shop

Ed's Real Scoop

Rated this place:

2224 Queen St E, Toronto, ON, M4E1E9

Ice cream: Ed has been written up internationally, carries dozens of flavours, and bakes an apple pie for the sole purpose of mashing it up in his Apple Pie ice cream. All of that is a long way of saying that Ed's Real Scoop is the bomb. If you've got to feed an ice cream craving, you can't pick a better place. Go already.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Ice cream

La Palette

Rated this place:

256 Augusta Ave, Toronto, ON, M5T2L9

French bistro: When the menu includes things like Horse Tenderloin and Rose Water Cassis Crème Brûlée, let's face it, it'll cost you (entrees will run you about 25 bucks and up). But the food is good. Period. (Crème Brulee Trilogy, pictured at right) Menu changes seasonally, which is annoying, or opportune, depending on how you look at it.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• french bistro

Swipe Books On Advertising & Design

Rated this place:

477 Richmond St W #103, Toronto, ON, M5V3E7

Shopping: Unique design and gift ideas, and stacks of books on advertising and design that you won't find anywhere else. The brainy grown-ups' toy store.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• shopping

Sashimi House

Rated this place:

2038 Sheppard Av E, North York, ON, M2J5B3

Sushi: This is a blessed respite from Sheppard East's lonesome strip of office cafeterias and family restaurants. Damn fine quality sushi - the texture of the salmon (pictured) is unbelievably soft and velvety. Sushi-a-la-carte is more than reasonably priced - you will think they screwed up the bill. (I hear the bento is good too, but it's a crime to pass up that fish) If you find yourself in the area, do not settle, go ichiban, san.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Sushi

Kathmandu Restaurant

Rated this place:

517 Yonge St, Toronto, ON, M4Y1Y3

Best indian food: Outside of Monday-to-Friday office hours, Kathmandu is usually empty. It is criminal. The butter chicken has to be one of the best in the city. Sweet-and-spicy Lamb Sali Boti with stewed apricots, and topped with caramelized onions is like nothing I've ever had before. Waitstaff are mellow and friendly... at least until Kathmandu stops being criminally empty.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Best Indian Food

New Treasure Restaurant

Rated this place:

150 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON, M5G1C6

Dim sum restaurant: Unless you work upstairs from this restaurant, leave for your workday lunch here at 11:30am. Any later, and you have a lineup to contend with. My favorites are the har gow (sticky shrimp dumpling) and daikon cake (the scallop dumplings are pictured here). But you'll do just as well pointing at whatever looks good on the cart - everyone else is doing it, anyways.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Dim Sum Restaurant

The Prague

Rated this place:

638 Queen St W, Toronto, ON, M6J1E4

Restaurant: The appearance of an upscale eatery, the soul of yer mom's kitchen. Big ol' dishes of comfort food, at really good prices. Pictured here is spaetzle with chicken and garlic cream sauce. (It was good.) It's all stick-to-your-ribs, and it's all fantastic.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Restaurant

Swatow Restaurant

Rated this place:

309 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON, M5T2E6

Late night food: Good food, cheap, anytime, all the time. The vibe is always amped, as just about all of Swatow's patrons are either heading out, or calling it a night. I recommend the lemon chicken, and the fried wontons (pictured). On Spadina, east side, north of Dundas, look for the lineup - they know where it's at.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Late night food

Ends

Rated this place:

1930 Queen St. E., Toronto, Ontario, M4L1H6

Discount clothing: The Beach isn't the first place I think of when I think of bargain hunting, but for whatever reason, this place is the last stop for all kinds of quality clothes, accessories and knicknacks. I like stocking up on basics here (socks, tees, belts). Think of it as Winners with better prices, and less elbow room.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Discount Clothing

Le Gourmand

Rated this place:

438 Richmond Street West, Toronto, ON, M5V 3S6

Cafe: The coffee is great and the cookies are enormous (pictured). They also make really good sandwiches and salads (Carpaccio on Organic Greens? Yes!). But I think the soul of La Gourmand is the ten-foot wall of epicurean goods for sale (jams, cheeses, chocolates, breads + more). It's reassuring that you're getting good stuff on both sides of the counter.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Cafe

Mangiacake Panini Shoppe

Rated this place:

160 McCaul Street, Toronto, ON, M5T1W4

Work lunch: It's a bit pricey to "do lunch" here often, but with luxe offerings like prosciutto cotto and pesto aioli on ciabatta on hand, you'd better believe it's worth it (the Topogigio - brie and mozzarella with sundried tomatoes - is pictured here). Service is friendly and attentive, good place to lunch if you can take your time heading back to the office. Go now, before the AGO finishes building the sneezeguard.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• work lunch

Vintage Depot

Rated this place:

70 Kensington Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5T 2K1

Second hand store: Come in with twenty bucks, go away with an armload of trendy, barely used clothes. You can't go wrong.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• second hand store

Aunties & Uncles

Rated this place:

74 Lippincott St, Toronto, ON, M5S2P1

Sunday brunch: The alternative to the typical diner menu. Favorite pick is the tuna on pan bagnat with sundried tomatoes and dill potato salad (pictured). Perfect if you're tired of poached/boiled/scrambled as your only brunch options. The coffee is also good.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Sunday brunch

Churrasco Of St Lawrence

Rated this place:

91 Front St W, Toronto, ON, M5E1C2

Hot chicken sandwich: Whenever I get this sandwich from the Churrasco at St. Lawrence Market, people invariably stop to ask me what it is and where I got it. It's as good as it looks - a 1/4 pound of roast chicken swimming in mayonnaise and piri-piri sauce (kind of like BBQ, but more sour), barely contained by a pada bun. These move fast on Saturdays, so get a move on!

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Hot Chicken Sandwich

Grassroots Environmental Products

Rated this place:

408 Bloor W, Toronto, ON, M5S1X5

Shopping: Kind of like an old-school dry-goods general store. Neat ecological products and ideas for home, office, kitchen and garden, as well as a great selection of books on community and environment.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• shopping

Burger Shoppe

Rated this place:

688 Queen St. E., Toronto, ON, M4M1G9

Burger joint: Upscale burger joint that serves organic burgers, thin-cut fries and even plays decent music. But forget all that, it's just really, really good. (I reccommend the mini-burgers, for indulging a mini, girlish appetite)

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Burger Joint

Pizza Pide

Rated this place:

949 Gerrard St. E., Toronto, ON, M4M 1Z1

Pizza: Pide is a Turkish flatbread. Pizza Pide is foot-long Turkish flatbread stacked with mozzarella cheese and your choice of toppings (I quite like the spicy sausage, pictured). Yes, the world needs another take on pizza. Come with an open mind and a big appetite.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Pizza

Red & White Mediterranean Food

Rated this place:

519 Yonge St., Toronto, ON, M4Y 1Y3

Shawarma place: The special is served with this awesome chickpea-and-coleslaw salad with your chicken instead of the usual tabooleh. It also comes with saffron rice, and a generous helping of your meat of choice. These folks expanded to a second location almost within a year of opening - there's a good reason.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• Shawarma Place

Up To You

Rated this place:

1483 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON, M4L1E2

Shopping: Whiz-bang gift ideas with an emphasis on individuality and innovative design.

• favourite thing(s) at this place:
• shopping