6 Best Restaurants on the Danforth

We all have that one friend, who tries exotic places and boasts about it in front of everyone, well this article has 6 unique and best restaurants on the Danforth that will make your friends’ souls crave for it when they hear about it.

Danforth, a centre for multiculturalism, is home to numerous local eateries serving international cuisine.

The area’s density of Ethiopian eateries and the flood of new restaurants that have debuted in recent years can both be seen in the best restaurants on the Danforth East.

Best Restaurants on the Danforth

If you haven’t gone to the Danforth, you haven’t actually dined in Toronto. There is a good reason why the local cuisine is the focus of a whole festival. Since it is incomparable, anyone who dares to operate restaurants on the Danforth must live up to the high standards set by Greek food.

These best restaurants on the Danforth offer gluten-free foods like fresh basil, roasted potatoes, crispy bacon, French fries, lemon juice, olive oil, caramelized onion and so on these Danforth Restaurants. Their food focuses on taste as well as health.

1. Rendez-Vous

Rendez-Vous is an Ethiopian eatery that serves as both a location for people to come together and to satisfy their cravings.

The restaurant is only a five-minute walk to Greenwood station and is situated on a small plot of land that appeared much more desolate when it first opened 17 years ago.

Owner of Rendez-Vous, Banchi Kinde claims that the opening of her restaurant was the catalyst for other Ethiopian companies to move into the Little Ethiopia neighbourhood, which is a part of Greektown.

All the amenities of your normal Ethiopian restaurant are present inside, but the setting is more vibrant and certainly noisier. When you walk into the room, the first thing you’ll notice is the locals gathering around the well-stocked bar watching live sports on TV.

The restaurant’s back includes seating with straw-thatched umbrellas and is lit up in a red glow. It seems like a lovely place to throw a celebration, and according to Banchi, birthday parties held there include complimentary champagne for visitors.

The dinner is served with endless sides of injera by Kullubi, a wholesaler who supplies the majority of Ethiopian eateries in the city with their in-house teff flour bread. It arrives in a gorgeously colourful bread basket known as a Mesob.

About the Eatery 

• Their vegetarian platter lunch & meat combo both come with a bottom sheet of injera, and it’s sufficient to feed two people, which, once soaked by the plate’s juices, is universally acknowledged as the best component of the meal.
• Utensils are not used in Ethiopian cuisine. The spinach, beets, split lentils, and chickpea puree that are scattered over the platter can be picked up with the hand, as well as a piece of injera.
• All the dishes are flavored with garlic & ginger for a delectable vegan supper, albeit some will have a kick.
• Your choice among three types of meat is included in the meat combo, which is served on a single platter. You decide to order the spicy awaze tibs (Ethiopian beef tibs) and the milder nechi tips, as well as the well-known kitfo, a large portion of lean beef tartare mixed with a mitmita spice blend and herbed butter.

• The best moment of eating Ethiopian is the post-dinner coffee ceremony, which is a customary practice in which organic coffees imported from Addis Ababa are roasted in a pan right at your table in an exciting and fragrant presentation.

The coffee is then served in a clay coffee pot after the beans are carried back to the kitchen to be ground. Myrrh crystals are included in the set, and they are burned to give the food yet another layer of flavor and perfume.

2. Borrel

Borrel is a charming Dutch snack bar that accurately reproduces Dutch classics like bitterballen and poffertjes.

Alison Broverman & Justin Go, a husband and wife partnership, started Borrel as a pop-up series, and this location serves as its permanent home.

In addition to designing the menu and website for Borrel, Nanna Koekoek also created amusing bathroom murals with well-known Dutch people and wood flooring tiles with Dutch proverbs.

About the Eatery

• Bitterballen, a favourite vascular bar snack in the German-speaking world, are better defined as deep-fried balls of oozy beef bliss. Delicious authentic Zaanse coarse-ground mustard is offered beside them.
• They make a vegetarian version with broccoli & mushrooms in addition to the traditional variations, which are made with just beef, herbs, onion, and roux.
• Watch out for different sorts because they have been known to serve pulled pork & Reuben versions at their pop-ups.
• The frikandel speciaal may look like a peppered or slightly overcooked hot dog wrapped inside an excessively bready Baked Goods bun, but this sausage composed of beef, pork, and chicken is much more than that.
• Onions and mayonnaise traditionally set off the tough beef texture, but curry ketchup provides the necessary moisture and flavor.
• Boerenkool is a hearty concoction of stewed potatoes and kale that’s been mixed in with salty, fatty lardons to give it an almost babyish texture. Slices of Dutch pork salmon and gravy both significantly contribute to this.
• Warm small pancakes topped with a heavy topping of powdered sugar and a big smear of butter are known as poffertjes, a common street food in the Netherlands.
• An excellent upgrade from a Radler and lateral movement from a negroni and Aperol spritz is The Orange Bike.
• It consists of soda, sweet vermouth, citrus and orange juice, and Ketel One (the sole Dutch vodka).

The area is warm, filled with wood, brick, and quirky light fittings, giving you the impression that you may have walked into an Alps pub.

3. Sala Modern Thai

Sala Modern Thai offers exquisite renditions of traditional Thai fare from all parts of the nation. If you are a big-time fan of Thai food, then you must visit Sala Modern Thai.

This best restaurant on the Danforth East has decorated with numerous Thai themes, including portraits of Thai movie actor Tony Jaa and sentences written in chalk on the walls using the letters of the Thai alphabet.

Thai-made shrimp chips are more flavorful and meaty than your typical pale, tasteless chip filled with powdery filler. As the first of many fantastic house sauces, they come with an addicting shrimp paste, soy sauce, and fish sauce dip.

A complimentary tamarind sauce with garlicky flavoring is supplied with the crispy squash fritters. A spicy and sour medley is created by combining mushrooms and herbs.

About the Eateries

• Skewers for moo ping Thai grilled pork is a popular street snack that is available all around Thailand and is quickly consumed. It is spiced up with a homemade dipping sauce made of tamarind, shrimp paste, chili oil, and chili paste.
• Elegantly wrapped inside a paper-thin rice crepe is pad Thai instead of rice noodles, glass noodles are utilized because they better absorb the savory tamarind sauce. It seems that places along the fabled Khao San Road are well-known for their egg-wrapped pad Thai.
• Thai holy basil is used in pad gra prow to give it its distinctive flavor. It comes with sticky rice and a fiery sauce made of Thai chili and fish sauce.

• Along with the Tom Yum, it appears that Khao soi also drew a couple all of the way to Niagara Falls. The fried noodles are coiled into a knot and presented elegantly. Massaman curry beef is cooked with a variety of spices until it is fall-apart tender, and it is served with more deliciously gooey sticky rice.
• Mango sticky rice is well presented and sweet and flavorful enough that the Nutella drizzle is unnecessary. Thai roti pancakes are topped with sweet condensed milk, Nutella, and bananas.

The welcoming atmosphere and somewhat casual atmosphere, together with the special added touches, are likely to keep regular customers coming back to enjoy more of their favourite Thai home-cooking meals.

4. The Wren

The Wren, a contemporary saloon-style bar on Danforth, debuted last month and is now serving craft beer and southwestern cuisine to the neighborhood’s thirsty residents.

It is somewhat of a relief to see a new bar in this lonely region between Greenwood & Coxwell, and maybe it will help the neighbourhood, along with its neighbors Sauce, to experience a renaissance.

Dennis Kimeda, a former advertising executive, and his wife Rhonda created and refurbished the entire area.

It feels like a tiny piece of the old west thanks to the wooden floors, a wagon wheel chandelier over the bar, as well as the salvaged barn wood banquet sets and walls. A portion of a vintage advertisement that was found behind the drywall now dominates one wall.

About the Eatery

• As you consider your beer selection among the 12 Canadian beers available on tap, including Lakes Hissyfit Grisette, Cameron’s RPA, & Flying Monkeys, as well as a full bottle list, a wren that Dennis himself proudly carved into the bar wood looks on.
• The Western Sour, made with Forty Creek whisky, herb-infused syrup, grapefruit juice, and lime served in a tumbler rimmed with brown sugar and lime zest, is one of the beverages on The Wren’s southwestern-inspired cocktail menu.
• There are also beer-based cocktails available, such as the Lager-Lada, which is served in a glass with a crushed pepper & salt rim and is mixed with tequila, lime, and smoked chilis.

So if you are an avid lover of craft beer, this restaurant is surely for you. The place has friendly and amazing staff and also serves great pub food.

5. Local 1794

The Danforth East neighborhood’s Local 1794 gastropub is located at Coxwell. The owners of the nearby Taps & Tales have transformed what was once Colombo’s Pizza into a neighbourhood pub and café that welcomes families.

The word “local” inside the restaurant’s name has two meanings (none of which have anything to do with unions, despite the fact that it may sound like it); first, all the products, as well as proteins utilized in the kitchen are, whenever possible, sourced from local farmers as well as sources, and second, the establishment itself aspires to serve as a gathering place for the neighbourhood to eat and drink.

About the Eatery

• Old black-and-white images of the city, similar to those at The Borough some few blocks away, are displayed on the walls, along with mural prints of Toronto.
• Each of the traditional, retro-styled booths has a light switch and a power outlet so that diners can choose whether to have overhead lighting or a more romantic, tea-light-lit ambience.
• A few flat TVs, an attractive illuminated display of spirits, and a wide selection of wines, including bottles of pinot from Frances Ford Coppola’s winery, are all displayed on the wall behind a long wood bar.
• There are 23 primarily regional craft beers on tap besides Thornbury cider, as well as a weekly rotating cask ale, in addition to cans and bottles of beer. The Lake of Hangars Sparkhouse Red Ale is exactly malty, not overly hops.

The menu of this retro-modern themed restaurant has something for everyone. It serves the exquisite Ontario craft beer, which happens to be the lifeblood of many Canadians. Do pay a visit!

6. Blue Nile

This restaurant is well renowned for its vegetarian platter, which is heaped high with all the usual selections of nutritious spiced vegetables.

This platter may be a little more trendy than that of its other Danforth East competitors. However, they also offer meat options.

About the Eatery

• They serve not just vegan and meet options, they serve Ethiopian food and Gluten free dishes as well.
• They have dine-in and takeaway options both.
• The vibe that this place offers to its visitors are excellent and very pleasant.
• This restaurant is also quite affordable.
• They serve quality and healthy food.

Blue Nile has a simple and sweet ambiance and is a go-to place for any vegan person, so if you are one, don’t think twice and pay a visit to this amazing restaurant.

Final Note

That’s our list of the best restaurants on the Danforth. An opportunity to completely sample the cuisine is within reach due to the excellent price-to-piece ratio. Comfortable outdoor chairs for the warmer months is a feature of Danforth restaurants.

The menu at these establishments strikes the ideal blend between home-cooked food and comfort food. If you’re in the region and yearn for Caribbean food, these above mentioned restaurants can satisfy your cravings.

FAQs

1. Do Danforth restaurants serve Ethiopian food?

Yes, many Danforth restaurants serve amazing and exotic Ethiopian food. Some restaurants are very affordable and serve quality food.

2. Are Danforth restaurants the best in Toronto?

Without a doubt, Danforth restaurants serve the best cuisine and handcrafted beer in Toronto.