I am planning a trip to Toronto with my girlfriend. We like some
low-key nightlife and nice dining. I would REALLY appreciate your
input (as locals) into some spots we shouldn't miss. I will likely
rent a car for a day or two, and will be there for 5 days towards
the end of June. Looking for great Dim-Sum, restaurants, shopping,
thoughts on import car shopping, and any other suggestions. We
are not casual tourists looking for the regular BS...

Any thoughts on trekking to Quebec? anywhere else? My girl has
never seen the falls, and I might want to play some poker so we
might head to Niagra for the day. Any thoughts on car rental?
I would like to get something classy - ie Audi A4, Mercedes C300,
etc... and would prefer to stay away from the big rental agencies.

I've narrowed down hotels to the Intercontinental, Pantages, Le Meridien,
Cosmopolitan, and Westin Harbour Castle - any input there would
be appreciated too.

I used to live in Toronto for about a month every summer in a great
condo on Bay and Bloor, but that was 15 years ago... All your help
is greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks ahead!

 

if you're looking to rent something fancy, i've heard of this place before, though i've never been a customer...

http://www.gtaexotics.ca/dev/

 

check this place out... very trendy... great food.

http://www.spiceroute.ca/index2.html

 

keep em coming guys. need your input. any streets for walking? parts of town?

 

Just have a walk on young street, its pretty great, you will see alot of stuff in downtown. Regarding dining; If you want to spend 50+$ per person, i recommend the Keg Mansion in downtown, if you want to spend 20~$ per person, i honestly would recommend my favorite place; Baton Rouge.

Not really in to the whole nightlife in downtown, so could not help you on that one.

Id defenatly visit the CN tower, eaton center mall, maybe drive up to vaughn mills mall and while there maybe drop by and take couple rides on the coasters @ Wonderland? (Hwy 400 & Major Macenzie?)

Hope you enjoy the city =)

 

$20 @ baton rouge?

maybe if you have the bread and water

 

good chinese?

 

i think you need to define what "good chinese" means. We have a pretty large chinese population around here, so we have lots of good cheap eats, but not exactly fancy. I know there are a couple of fancy chinese resto's, but not sure if that's what you're looking for.

 

DT chinese is "ok" all the good stuff is uptown in the suburbs, check out Pacific Mall, dim-sum is better uptown, 2 that i think stands out is one on Steeles that looks like a castle www.casaimperial.ca and on woodbine Spring Villa Chinese Cuisine.

As you lived at bay and bloor, Yorkville has all the baller stores, Queen St has the smaller boutique stores, sorta like 5th ave vs. Soho but on a much smaller scale unfortunately.

Try Panorama for the view and chill atmosphere, Muzik for dancing and partying.

Scaramouche or Canoe DT to really ball out.

 

if you want nice dim sum, check this place out

http://www.metropolitan.com/lwh/

it's inside the metropolitan hotel, one of the best dimsum i've had around GTA. 'high end' dim sum i'd say.

other worthwhile visits..

distillery district is pretty fun to walk around,
http://www.thedistillerydistrict.com/

brick works (just a quiet park you can walk around for a bit)
http://www.evergreen.ca/rethinkspace/


oh this is pretty neat too... plus free beer at the end of the tour
http://www.steamwhistle.ca/tour/tourinfo.php

 

well what i get 99% of the time at Baton is Baton Club Sandwich, ****ing amazing with fried cooked in peanut oil or w.e, if you go steak you pay up 30+, but if your going for steak, might as well hit up the Keg.

 

Awesome. This is what I am looking for. I don't need to kill it everywhere
I go, but I do like to eat well. I know Toronto is filled with good eats at
reasonable prices,,, so I am looking for value too. I am not a fan of picking
a restaurant walking by, I definitely value local opinion. You guys are
being very helpful.

 

Scaramouche was pretty good, but it didn't really live up to the expectations for me.

distillery distinct is a really nice place to walk around, i like that place alot.

and yup, the better (and cheaper) chinese food are all uptown. if you have a particular style of chinese cooking you like, we can recommend some places (shanghai, traditional chinese, hk cafe, etc).

 

my question is why the hell are you coming to Toronto ...like honestly that's a downgrade from the 305

 

I am fan of "americanized" hong-kong style chinese and dimsum if that helps.
I've been local to miami for 10 years. I grind here. When I get away, I get the
**** out of dodge. I have fond memories of Toronto, and I'll be looking at some
distressed assets while we're there.

 

stone grill
is something u cant miss
http://www.stonegrillonwinchester.com/home.php

 

haha, i've been there, the aroma is amazing. It's just that you're forced to take the aroma home with you :P Food quality was pretty good, the smell of the steak cooking on the stone is excellent. It's just that you smell like what you ate when you leave the restaurant haha.

 

night life - king st/distillery as suggested is good
chinese food - i would say hwy 7 and woodbine area
shopping - yorkdale, sherway, yorkville
asian knick knacks and car stuff - pacific mall

quebec is awesome, but hope you speak french.
montreal is awesome and would be better if you dont speak french.

 

approx. actual drive time in between Quebec and GTA?

 

About 6 hours? if im not mistaking, i did 6 or so hours from quebec city to toronto in 6.3 hours doing 130~+, it was deeep dark night, low traffic, only truckers, fun times.