Canada’s Excellent Food Cities: Toronto + Montreal + Ottawa

Our writer, James took a food trip to Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal in July of 2023.

Below are his restaurant notes based on the road trip.

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Shoushin

Shoushin has one Michelin star, although it should have received more in my opinion. This was the most memorable sushi restaurant that I have been to. The sushi counter was made from a single Hinoki tree that was shipped to Canada from Japan. The wood was sanded to a perfect smoothness. The service was outstanding and the food was out-of-this-world. Great attention was paid to seasonal ingredients. One notable example of this was a special mango dessert that involves removing all but one of the mangos from a special tree and then letting all of the nutrients accumulate in that last mango to create a culinary delicacy that is beyond description.

Gitane

The highlight of our trip to Ottawa, Gitane has an incredible raw bar where I had some of the best oysters that I’ve ever tasted. We ordered a dozen oysters which were accompanied by a delicious mignonette sauce, as well as an even more spectacular green sauce which featured fermented peppers. We loved the albacore tuna with a strawberry vinaigrette. We also had a fantastic and delicate beef tartare. Make sure to save room for the foie gras sundae, which is even better than it sounds.

Beba

Beba is an Argentinian restaurant in Montreal, which leans toward Italian. Dinner started with a perfect empanada accompanied by a green pepper sauce. Next, we enjoyed a caviar blintz. The rabbit tagliatelle was a really special dish that highlighted the sweetness of rabbit with a rich Bolognese style sauce that featured rabbit kidneys. Our main course was a guineafowl grilled to perfection with a delicate butter sauce featuring fava beans.

Foiegwa

A phenomenal take on the French bistro; Foiegwa was fun and delicious. We enjoyed their oysters and chicken pate with applesauce. The duck gnocchi was a wonderful highlight that was even better than it sounds.

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Foie gras sundae: gooey and savory…dripping in caramel… this sundae was one of the star dishes at Foiegwa (a restaurant located in Montreal, Quebec).

Side of Fries, Parmesan bechamel, truffle.

Burrata, garlic scape salsa verde, cucumber, jalapeno.

Oysters.

Escargots en coquille, parsley garlic butter

AAA Angus beef bavette, bois boudran sauce, fries.

Refreshing cocktail with rosemary sprigs.

Grilled rabbit romano beans, pancetta, red wine.

Excellent place in Montreal for xi'an-style, hand-pulled noodles.

Interior of Nouilles Zhonghua.

Oil spill noodles.

The Halal Guys in Toronto? Yes, please!

The Platter of Gyro and Chicken. The Halal Guys.

From a Thai restaurant specializing in grilled foods. The lamb was juicy and delicious. The name of the restaurant is lost to me for some reason.

Emperor's Fruit : This is no ordinary fruit. This fruit was carefully grown by pruning off all the other fruit growing on a tree. The idea is…all the effort going into producing fruit should go towards this one, precious fruit now. It is said the fruit is especially sweet when produced this way. This melon did not disappoint.

***No sponsorship of any kind was made. These are photos taken by James on his trip with his father on vacation.

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**These photographs are original content created for Advanced Leisure, L.L.C., and any unauthorized usage of our photos will be met with legal consequences. The legal rights to these photos belong to Advanced Leisure, L.L.C.