3 Days in Toronto!

My husband and I took an anniversary trip to Toronto, Canada. This was both of our first trip outside of the US and we loved it! We road tripped, so we were able to cross the border and drive through Canada. Surprisingly, it looks very similar to the US in the landscape, but the foods and languages were what made the biggest difference. We stayed for three days and were able to try so many fun things!

Cafe Oro di Napoli was our first food spot in Toronto! We stopped here for dinner. They had wood fired pizzas, salads, pastas, and gelato! We each got a pizza and shared a Cesar Salad. The salad had a homemade Cesar dressing that was very light and had good flavor. They added bacon bits to the salad that made it even yummier! The pizza's come with real mozzarella and lots of pizza topping options. We ate our leftovers for lunch the next day! The gelato wasn't our favorite, but it hit the spot for a sweet treat after dinner. 

Tim Hortons is on every street corner in Toronto! We stopped by for donuts our first morning there. They have breakfast sandwiches and other items to pick from, but we went for donuts. I got the maple and vanilla sprinkled donuts. They are super soft, but tasted like a store bought donut. They weren't amazing, but they were good. We also got the Timbits that are little donut holes. Those were pretty good. I liked the chocolate Timbits the best! It is a must stop by to say you have been, but nothing that we will be craving down the road. 

Versus Coffee was a cute little coffee shop in Toronto. My husband tried a coffee with ice cream in it! He is now addicted and we have already found a coffee shop in Kentucky that has it on their menu. I got a hot chocolate, which was really creamy and had good chocolate flavor. We stopped by this shop twice on our trip and enjoyed it both times. 

Dundas Square is a miniature Times Square in Toronto. It is just a little street full of big screens and some shopping spots. It is right next to a really cool mall. It only took us a few minutes to walk the street, but it was fun to see. There was a big open area with chairs that you could go sit and people watch! 

Eaton Center Mall is right next to Dundas Square. This mall is massive! It went on for miles it felt like. There are three levels and tons of shops. We love Uniqlo from our New York trip, so we shopped around there and then they had tons of American shops as well as some stores we had never heard of. They had a bakery that looked super good. The ceiling was all windows which was super cool to see. 

Toronto Sign at Nathan Phillips Square wasn't too far of walk from the Eaton Center Wall. The Toronto letters are pretty large, but the water fountain was a bit in the way for pictures from across the sign. It looks like this water turns into a skating rink in the winter which would be a fun spot. There was a little market going on in the area and lots of seats to sit and enjoy the views by the water fountain area. 

Butter Baker is a super cute bakery! The cakes were all super cute and they have soft serve frozen yogurt. There was a little restaurant area as well! I got a slice of their birthday cake and a strawberry and vanilla frozen yogurt cone. Both were really good! We wanted to go back for another cone, but we didn't make it back this trip. This was my husband's favorite treat we had found in Toronto! 

Pai Northern Thai Kitchen was the best restaurant we ate at in Toronto! The vibe of the restaurant was super cool. There was so much to look at and very upbeat. A lot of famous people have been there with their pictures along the wall when you first walk in. I got the Pad Thai and my husband go the Fried Rice. We shared the chicken skewers with a peanut sauce. Everything tasted so fresh and had such good flavor. We ate our leftovers for lunch the next day and it was just as good as when we had it fresh. 

Longo's grocery stores are all over in Toronto! We had one walking distance from our hotel. I think we spent the longest time in the grocery store out of everywhere we went on this trip. Canada has so many cool foods and brands. We got a few of their candy bars to try and a Canada Dry Raspberry Lemonade to try. This was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip! 

Harbor Square Park waterfront by Lake Ontario was walking distance from our hotel. It went on for miles. You could walk, bike, scooter, run all along the lake. We went each day and sat on a bench to people watch and look at the water. They had boats and water taxis moving along the water. There are food spots, shopping spots and lots of benches and tables to sit and enjoy the area. 

St. Lawrence Market was another really neat spot we stopped by! The market is adorable from the outside and has a really fun vibe on the inside. They had all sorts of vendors, foods, trinkets and seating areas. We walked the upstairs and downstairs before we chose where to grab breakfast at. There were so many yummy looking foods. It was a perfect spot to people watch at. 

Paddington's at St. Lawrence Market was a hit! We grabbed the famous Peameal sandwich. It comes with Canadian bacon and then you can pick from a few different toppings options. We just had tomatoes, but you could add a marmalade, pickles, mustard, cheese...etc. The breading is like a Ciabatta roll and so good! This was one of my favorite foods we tried that was Canada known. 

CN Tower is another staple spot in Toronto! You can ride up to the top to get the full city views. We went to the lower level and thought the views were great! They have little concession stands with drinks and treats and some tables to sit at. You can walk around the whole circle with all glass views looking over Toronto. We spent about a half an hour there, so it's super quick if you don't have a lot of time, but you are welcome to stay as long as you'd like. 

Booster Juice wasn't my absolute favorite smoothie spot, but I think I just ordered the wrong thing. My husband's smoothie was so good, so we definitely would go again. I got the Tropical Tornado and my husband had the Lemon Berry flavor. The Lemon Berry was so much better! I would get that one next time! 

La Carnita was a no go for us! It is a really cool location and vibe, but the food was not good. I got the Pork Belly tacos and now reading the menu again it makes sense why the meat was the way it was. It literally was a solid piece of fat on my taco which I did not love. My husband got the Carne Asada tacos that were soooooo salty. I love salty meat and it was too salty for me too! The chips were the best part of the whole meal though! We won't be going back to this spot, but if that is your kind of food then give it a try! 

BeaverTails is another iconic Canada food that we tried! There was the cutest red building right by the water that sold BeaverTails. A BeaverTail is a fried dough covered in whatever you order. I got mine with Nutella and my husband had the apple pie topping. I loved every bite of this! It was a perfect sweet treat for sure! 

Poutine from the Costco food court was surprisingly delicious! You can't go to a Canada Costco and not give this a try! It was so iconic for Canada and was one of my favorite experiences. You can get Poutine at a lot of different spots in Canada, but I thought it was cool that it was on the food court menu at Costco. The French fries were so crispy and the cheese curds melted a bit with the hot gravy. That gravy was so good. I am sad we can't get that for our Thanksgiving meals in America! The fries get soggy quickly though, so eat it fast or maybe get the gravy on the side. 

Toronto Canada Temple was one of our last stops on this trip! The grounds were closed, but you can see plenty from the gates. The temple was just little and pretty as usual. They don't rent temple clothes here which was a bummer! It was still neat to see in person! 

The One King West Hotel was where we stayed this trip. The hotel was clean and in a good location. The rooms are pretty small, but they do have a little kitchenette and great views from the window. The hotel restaurant on the main floor was busy every night and had a really cool vibe. We were able to walk to everything on this trip and was able to stop back at our hotel for breaks. The room we were in we were able to see the water a bit and the CN Tower which was super cool at night! 

What Canada foods and places should we try next time?