Buca King West is an italian restaurant in King West, Toronto.
Buca King West has run modern Italian on the King strip since 2009, chef Rob Gentile's pastas and house-cured salumi in a converted laneway warehouse.
Signature dishes: Whole roasted Ontario suckling pig, House-cured salumi
Must order: The salumi board and a long pasta from the seasonal list.
Tip: Sister Bar Buca next door at 604 King is the walk-in spritz counter. The full dining room books well ahead Friday and Saturday.
Address: 604 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V 1M6
Byblos Downtown on Duncan Street is Charles Khabouth's Eastern Mediterranean room since 2014, family-style plates across the historic Storys Building.
Signature: Eastern Mediterranean small plates, Wood-grilled mains
Order: The mezze board to start and a wood-grilled main from the menu.
Tip: The first-floor bar runs spritzes from 16:00 and accepts walk-ins. Second floor needs a reservation.
Donna's on Lansdowne in the Junction is the Peter Jensen, Ann Kim and Jed Smith all-day cafe-bistro since 2018, French-leaning baking with natural wines.
Signature: All-day breakfast sandwich, Family-style dinner
Order: The breakfast sandwich at 09:00 or the family-style dinner plates after 17:00.
Tip: Phone or email reservations. Breakfast 09:00-11:00 is the easy seat; lunch and dinner fill the rest of the day.
Aloette on Spadina is Patrick Kriss's all-day diner below Alo since 2017, the burger and rotisserie chicken the surviving favourites at lower price.
Signature: Burger, Lemon meringue pie
Order: The Aloette burger and a slice of lemon meringue pie.
Tip: Walk-ins only at the counter; the booths book on OpenTable. Easier weekday lunch than weekend brunch.
Patois on Dundas West is chef Craig Wong's Jamaican-Chinese fusion kitchen since 2014, fine-dining French training applied to Caribbean home cooking.
Signature: Double Down patty sandwich, Juicy jerk chicken
Order: The Double Down sandwich, jerk chicken between two Jamaican patties.
Tip: JunePlum by Patois next door at 796 Dundas is the patty-and-drink offshoot. Closed Mondays.
DaiLo on College is chef Nick Liu's modern Chinese kitchen since 2014, big-flavour Cantonese-meets-Sichuan plates with a strong cocktail bar program.
Signature: Truffle fried rice, Hakka tasting
Order: The truffle fried rice and the Hakka tasting menu.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday. The upstairs bar takes walk-ins; main room books on OpenTable.
Joso's on Davenport has run Dalmatian Adriatic seafood in Yorkville since 1967, founded by Joso Spralja and now operated by Leo and Shirley Spralja.
Signature: Black risotto, Grilled prawns
Order: The black risotto with squid and the grilled prawns with garlic butter.
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday. The painting on Drake's Take Care album hangs upstairs; book a Saturday table for the full room.
Byblos Downtown on Duncan Street is Charles Khabouth's Eastern Mediterranean room since 2014, family-style plates across the historic Storys Building.
Signature: Eastern Mediterranean small plates, Wood-grilled mains
Order: The mezze board to start and a wood-grilled main from the menu.
Tip: The first-floor bar runs spritzes from 16:00 and accepts walk-ins. Second floor needs a reservation.
