Toronto’s neighbourhoods

This summer we set ourselves the challenge of exploring Toronto’s global neighbourhoods, sampling the culture and cuisine of each. We started in Kensington Market; nowhere shows Toronto’s diversity better. Within a few small streets nearly every continent is represented with shops, cafes, bars and restaurants. On one corner, you can find authentic Belgian waffles and a Turkish restaurant directly opposite a ‘Cocina Mexicana’ and a cannabis shop. Walk a few steps further down the street and you’ll be intrigued by the Rastafarian Society or find your mouth salivating for raspberry doughnuts.

The history of Toronto has been shaped by waves of immigration. Every time the federal government allowed nationals from another country to live in Canada, that country’s expats formed distinctive neighbourhoods in the city. Today the descendants of those first immigrants have moved out to the suburbs, but the character of each neighbourhood remains. Little Portugal, for instance, in the west of Toronto, became home to Portuguese immigrants in the 1950s. Although the area is now popular with families from South America and Asia too, nearly half the population identify as Portuguese, and it’s still the best place to find a custard tart.

Little Italy, to the north of Little Portugal, has a slightly longer history since the surge in Italian immigration in the 1920s. Again, many of its first residents have moved, but the restaurants and cafes remain: from the Riviera bakery with its sumptuous cannoli, to Il gatto nero, the ideal spot for a little vino rosso. As we passed, the Sicilian Sidewalk Café – Toronto’s oldest gelataria – was celebrating its 60^th anniversary.

Over to the east, Greektown was established on Danforth Avenue by Greeks fleeing political troubles in the 1960s. Among the many restaurants – the most per kilometre anywhere in the world (according to Wikipedia) – you can sample Mediterranean delights from dolmades to spanakopita. We enjoyed delicious loukoumades by a statue of Alexander the Great, in a square barely distinguishable from the piazzas of Europe. Greektown is also famed for its music scene, and provided the location for several scenes from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. 

Continuing our journey south, Little India is Toronto’s first stop for curry, spices and saris. Opulent bazaars stand alongside family-run curryhouses and ramshackle sugarcane stalls. And the curry we had there was a long way from the Anglicised restaurants we know and love; this is real Indian home cooking.

Back in the centre of Toronto, Chinatown is the city’s most recognisable district. It began in the 1890s with American Chinese immigration from California, and has since sparked a number of Chinatowns around the GTA. Its lucky red hotels, numerous spas, and enticing restaurants stand alongside a variety of supermarkets with an extraordinary array of produce. You can barely believe that the ivory towers of the University of Toronto are just a few metres away.

Finally, nearby Koreatown was established by a wave of Korean migrants in the late 1960s. It’s much smaller than Chinatown but similarly renowned for its bubble tea, as well as for Korean BBQ and karaoke.

We’re just scratching the surface of course, but the shopping and cuisine of Toronto really give an insight into its fascinating history. Canada is a country shaped by migration, whose past and future depend on the people making their home here from often distant shores. Toronto wouldn’t claim to be perfect, but its diversity makes it a truly exciting city.