Recipefiesta

Vada pav – spiced potato balls in a soft roll – is the quintessential Mumbai street food. BBC presenter Leyla Kazim devours the city’s best

Mumbai was the first stop on an eight-month, round-the-world trip I took with my husband in 2014. The longest time I’d spent out of the UK prior to this had been three weeks. I’d only ever visited three places outside Europe, and it took me a whole year to persuade my other half to join me. And our main objective for these months on the road? To eat.

We hurled ourselves in at the deep end, starting in Mumbai. It is so vast and sprawling that it’s hard not to assume the entire country must lie within this city alone. It was at least 10 times as alive and chaotic and exhausting as I’d dared anticipate. Mumbai offers an unrelenting onslaught on all the senses, particularly hearing: the horn honking does not stop.

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Healthy takeout restaurants in Toronto cater to those who are always on the run and need fast food, but not the burger and fries variety. Rather than giving in to the wiles of greasy joints, pop by one of these restaurants for some quick clean eats instead.

Here are my picks for the top healthy takeout options in Toronto by neighbourhood.

Annex

Mugi is a low-key takeout spot specializing in vegan Thai. Located just steps from Bathurst station, this spot serves up hearty bowls of curries, noodles, and rice, with nearly everything made from scratch. 

Cabbagetown

Pho noodle soups, fresh rolls and vegan specials is what you'll find on the menu at Vietnamese spot Phosome.

Canary District

Montreal's 100% plant-based food outlet Copper Branch has multiple locations throughout the city including this one on Front. Order from a number of offerings including power bowls, soups and sandwiches. 

Corktown

Impact Kitchen is a restaurant that aims to be an all-in-one source for clean eating at breakfast, lunch and dinner while also dispelling the common belief that healthy food is bland and boring.

Danforth

Mocha Mocha blends Croatian, Japanese and Peruvian culinary influences together on their menu. They serve unique offerings of salads and sandwiches.

Clean eating at Tractor Foods is a breeze. Photo by Jesse Milns.

Danforth East

If you're craving delicious soups Vegan I Thali is the spot. The restaurant is home to Toronto's Corn Soup King, Kurt Davson, and his epic corn soup.

Eglinton West

Three Sisters Kitchen also dubbed 3SK offers a menu of healthy foods and drinks, all prepared in-house and kosher-certified. Offerings include baked goods, salads and breakfast yogurt and granola.

Entertainment District

Imperfect Eats is a healthy fast food restaurant in Toronto that helps shorten food waste in Canada by cooking with blemished produce. They make a variety of rice bowls and salads perfect for a quick lunch.

Etobicoke

Good Grains has something for everyone. If you're looking for something small opt for the soup or salad but if you're coming with appetite opt for their entrees like the Harvest Stew or Golden Curry. 

Financial District

Vancouver import Tractor Foods is all about serving healthy, customizable breakfasts, lunches and dinners. All meals here are prepared fresh in house geared towards a balanced diet. 

Can't go wrong with a smoothie bowl from Plant Lyfe. Photo by Fareen Karim.

Junction

The Beet has a huge organic menu for healthy eaters. Grab a black bean, avocado and cheese Buenos Dias wrap and pair it with a house salad for some tasty takeout.

Kensington Market

Whether you're looking for organic salads, vegetarian sandwiches, vegan soups or just a really healthy, flavourful and filling lunch, Urban Herbivore has got you covered.

King East

AAamazing Salad goes beyond your classic salad offerings. They also have a menu of wraps, grain bowls and soups as well. 

King West

LOV is a totally vegan restaurant with their first location outside of Montreal here in Toronto on King. LOV stands for Local, Organic and Vegan, principles the restaurant tries to adhere to in every way.

Leslieville

Plant Lyfe in Toronto is where the wellness of your mind and body go hand-in-hand. Doubling as a meditation studio and a plant-based cafe, they offer up smoothies, cold-pressed juices, smoothie bowls, and loaded toasts.

There's plenty of ready-to-eat meals available at Athlete's Kitchen. Photo by Hector Vasquez.

Liberty Village

Athlete's Kitchen started out as meal prep service before debuting a retail location in Toronto. It's now a take-out food counter with a whole slew of ready-to-eat meals on offer.

Mount Pleasant

Yaowarart is Toronto's desintation for vegan Thai. On the menu you'll find dishes like fresh rolls, chicken satay and noodle soups. 

North York

Basil Box is a local chain with a number of Toronto locations including this one at York University. They serve up a healthy menu of customizable eats influenced by Southeast Asia.

Oakwood Village

Come the colder months it's all about soups at Soul Provisions. On the menu you'll find beef barley with greens, cream of mushroom, split pea and much more. 

Ossington

Season Six serves farm-to-table foods with an emphasis on the diverse "six seasons" of our local surroundings. Here you can assemble meals with varying proteins and sides. 

The toasts at Nutbar are almost too pretty to eat. Photo by Hector Vasquez.

Queen West

Kupfert & Kim is a household name in Toronto with multiple locations throughout the city including this one at Richmond and Spadina. The menu features plant-based dishes available at both lunch and dinner.

Riverside

Good Karma is a fast casual restaurant specializing in Indian food made from organic and locally-sourced ingredients. The idea here is quick eats for the health-conscious diner. 

Roncesvalles Village

There’s a number of healthy options in this area but The Simple Kitchen does salads and boxes as well as gluten-free sandwiches. They also have a cheap bone broth that will be your saving grace as you dash around in the city.

Rosedale

Nutbar is a healthy coffee shop in a sleek basement space on Yonge near Summerhill station. Beyond beverages food here is plant-based and designed to fit grab and go standards.

Scarborough

Ital Vital has been providing a healthy alternative to Scarborough for years. Their vegetarian West Indian food and vegan chocolate cheesecake will make your day.

iQ Food Co. makes healthy eating easy. Photo by Jesse Milns.

South Core

Beyond locations in the Financial District iQ Food Co. can also be found on York Street. Just like their other locations discover a menu of toasts, snacks, soups, bowls and smoothies. 

St. Clair West

This location of Jack and Lil's has no indoor space but you can still get lots of their cafe fare you know and love to-go. Order items like egg bites, toasts and hearty bowls. 

Upper Beaches

The Big Carrot has been Toronto's one-stop destination for ethical and healthy shopping but they also have a number of ready-made meals you can grab to-go as well. 

West Queen West

There’s something about Bolt Fresh Bar's menu that makes you want to eat healthy. Their chocolate smoothies are creamy and nutritious, and they have affordable protein bowls that will satisfy your hunger pangs.

Weston-Mount Dennis

V's Caribbean Restaurant specializes in vegan and vegetarian dishes from the islands such as soups, steamed okra and bammie, and mac pie.

There's plenty on offer at Suup Health Bar. Photo by Hector Vasquez.

Yonge & Bloor

A hole in the wall right next to one of Bloor’s side street entrances, Salad Days makes custom salads with your choice of chicken breasts, smoked salmon, and a wide selection of dressings. They’ve also got a nice selection of ready-made salad you can take to go.

Yonge & College

Walking distance from Ryerson, Suup is a vegan spot under the Aura condo that offers burritos, smoothies and salads with housemade dressings. Naturally, they also have a list of gluten-free soups.

Yonge & Dundas

Sweet Po Vegan Eats can be found next to Ryerson in the World Food Market. They have an array of options available including wrap and bowls. 

Yonge & Eglinton

Fresh has a comprehensive menu of salads, green smoothies and immunity drinks that you can order to go. While things can get busy during luncha and dinner hours, their bowls of basmati rice or soba noodles with a choice of protein are filling and worth the wait.

Yonge & St. Clair

Expect to have a hearty meal at Mary Be Kitchen, with hormone-free proteins and gluten-free sides. Everything you need throughout the day can be found here, from stews to full plates and coffee.

A gigantic food hall that opened not too long ago and was normally flooded with office workers every lunch hour has closed.

Harbour Eats by Mercatino encompassed multiple food concepts within the same sleek cafeteria-like space, including sushi, panini, tacos, coffee and even wine and beer.

A restaurant equipment sale was posted to local Facebook group Food and Wine Industry Navigator on Feb. 18 for the "Former downtown corporate food hall concept with appliances, smallwares and equipment for 2,000 sqft kitchen." Items for sale include ovens, a fryer, flat top, hotel pans, a meat slicer and much more.

Prices listed online range from just dollars for ladles, spoons and bowls up to around $15,000 for items like ovens.

With office vacancies expected to continue rising, this is far from the first or only business to be affected by the exodus of workers from the downtown core.

Like most service jobs, working for the TTC can be thankless. There are perks including pay, benefits and pension, but it comes at the cost of being the first person furious riders lash out at. And of course, it requires having to sit in Toronto traffic all day. Though they make it look simple, operating large buses isn't as easy as it seems.

Here are just a few things to keep in mind next time you find yourself riding a TTC bus in Toronto.

1. They probably don't know where the side street you're looking for is

A lot of transit riders seem to believe that since bus drivers are constantly travelling through the city, they'll know where every street is. The truth is, if it's not a major street or part of a stop on the route, most of them won't. 

Many of the transit operators in the city actually commute in from outside of Toronto and as a result aren't as familiar with the finer details of the neighbourhood.

If you're searching for a particular road or shop, your fellow riders are far more likely to be able to help as chances are they're local to the area.

2. Working for the TTC requires A LOT of training and testing

Working as a transit operator can require about half a dozen tests and a practical driving test that all require scores of 80 per cent or better. Some tests even require a perfect score.

For prospective employees, failing any one of these tests can result in immediate dismissal. Even longtime transit operators are expected to recertify every few years. Failure to pass can lead to retraining and could even result in reprimand without pay.

Needless to say, it's a difficult job but every employee has proven they're capable of it.

3. They're human, your words hurt

For some reason, frustrated transit riders love to lash out at bus drivers as if everything is their fault. Not only are the delays, short turns, or traffic not their fault, but they're probably just as frustrated with them as you are.

Assaulting an employee because circumstances beyond their control inconvenienced you is never acceptable.

"I've been cussed at, chewed out, sworn at, issued a death threat, and intentionally spat on," one TTC employee explained. "I have yet to be punched, kicked or otherwise physically assaulted. Yet, I believe it's just a matter of time."

4. You have the power to make change

Transit operators are not suggestion boxes. If there is something you dislike about the way the TTC operates, telling them is unlikely to solve much at all.

That being said, riders have far more power to affect change than they think.

The TTC doesn't listen to its operators nearly as much as it listens to its customers. If you want to request a change to the schedule, route, or anything else, be sure to reach out to the TTC directly by calling, tweeting, or sending an email to make your voice heard.

5. They can't always stop and wait for you

As much as many transit operators would like to, even if they see you running for the bus, it isn't always possible to stop and wait for a passenger to catch up. Routes are expected to run on a tight schedule and stopping to wait for one person could mean hundreds of other people being furious the bus is late. 

There's also the matter of safety, as having a bus stop and idle forces the traffic around it to adapt. In situations when the bus has already started to pull away, suddenly stopping again could catch other drivers by surprise.

Everyone knows how frustrating it can be to see the bus you need pull away as you're only seconds away, but at least in some situations, the next one will is only a few minutes behind.

6. They like their riders but are also trying to focus

Transit operators aren't as cold as they appear to be while sitting behind a barrier. In reality, they're just trying to focus on doing a safe job driving passengers around the city.

Navigating a giant bus through Toronto traffic isn't as easy as some make it look. As a result, drivers need to stay focused at all times watching our for other vehicles, pedestrians, bikers, and anything that may be on the road.

If you do decide to engage a TTC operator in conversation, make sure to at least do it safely and stay behind the white line.

7. They don't always know the other driver they're waving to

The wave that many TTC riders notice when two buses pass each other isn't always the result of two pals crossing paths. In many cases, it's more of a case of camaraderie for another transit operator.

"Nothing is more heartbreaking than not getting a wave back," one TTC operator joked. "We might know each other. We get really excited if we do."

The 905 area code in Canada was born at the stroke of midnight on Friday March 25th, 1994. It was then that Bell Canada officially killed the 416 area code outside of Metro Toronto and the legend of the 905 was born.

By 1993, phone numbers in the 416 area code were almost entirely used up. With the advent of modems, cellular phones, faxes and pagers, technology had finally pushed the possible number combinations to their extreme limit.

Area codebreakers - Ma Bell tried to make it simple for everyone to understand. Courtesy of Retrontario.

Before then, you rarely saw area codes in local advertising – the 416 code had stretched across the Golden Horseshoe for almost 40 years.

Unless you were calling long-distance, phones numbers only had 7 digits (or so we thought.)

Lucky numbers 7 - no area codes in old local TV ads. Courtesy of Retrontario

Soon it became apparent that if nothing was done, 416 would completely run out of numbers by mid-1994.

It was decided that the 1.6 million phone customers in Metro Toronto (anyone with a postal code starting with M) would retain the 416 code, while surrounding suburban regions from Fort Erie to Lake Simcoe to Colborne would adapt the new 905 code.

The 905 area code had previously been used as a routing prefix for calls from the United States to Mexico in anticipation of Mexico joining the North American Numbering Plan. It was withdrawn in 1991 after Mexico adapted its own independent numbering plan.

In the months leading up to the seismic at-the-time change, Bell Canada ran a multi-million-dollar ad campaign in Ontario warning of the upcoming change that included billboards, radio spots, TV ads and a blitz of print advertising.

Bell's angels - Bell blitzed Ontario for almost a year to help people prepare for the arrival of the 905 area code. Courtesy of Retrontario.

By late 1993, anyone calling a number outside of Metro in the newly designated 905 code region was warned by a nameless (human) Bell voice that "in the future" they would need to dial 905 before the 7-digit number.

This low-energy recording became the butt of many local jokes and became increasing annoying as time went on.

It was a surprisingly difficult concept for people at the time to grasp. If you were making a local call in the 416 or 905 area codes, you just dialed the 7-digit number as before.

When placing a call from 416 to 905, or vice versa, things got complicated. Many people instinctively dialed 1 before the area code as they would when making a long-distance call.

Schools even provided students with lenticular rulers adorned with fish that explained the 905/416 change (presumably so they could explain it to their parents.)

After the changeover, "905ers" quickly gained popularity as an insult du jour from Toronto residents when describing (mostly) young people visiting the club district.

It has since been reclaimed as a badge of honour, while the legend of 416 has taken on global significance thanks to a certain local artist.

By 2005, a mere 12 years after its introduction, the 905 numbers became exhausted forcing yet another set of new pre-fixes, however in the cell phone age none of it matters nearly as much as it did in those innocent rotary phone days.

Toronto's most hard-to-get pizza right now is secretly being turned out in a pub by a one-man operation.

Mac's Pizza is named for sole owner and operator (and, he jokes, dishwasher) Josh McIlwaine (pronounced "Mac-IL-waine").

He's been serving a tight menu of Margherita, pepperoni, cheese, spicy bacon and white pies out of restobar Century Park Tavern, recently opened by the people behind popular chicken restaurant Love Chix.

Only about 30 pizzas are available at a time, and they typically sell out in about one or two hours.

"After I was seeing some success selling my pizzas from my house, I reached out to a number of business owners to see if they would be willing to share their space at all. I was primarily reaching out to cafes etc., places that would be closed on Saturday nights," McIlwaine told blogTO.

"I was pointed in the direction of the guys from Love Chix, and they were open to letting me work out of Century Park Tavern, as they opened right before the pandemic hit and had a pizza oven I could use.

"The guys at the tavern have been so great. Considering I run the whole operation on my own, they've been great with helping me expand and get the business up and running."

Century Park extended their generosity to another online business which shares the space with Mac's as well, cocktail kit service Salty Paloma.

Like many budding food entrepreneurs, McIlwaine started the Mac's as a way of turning the extra time on his hands into a new skill and business venture.

"I cooked for a few years in Montreal, a mix of everything, pub grub to fine dining. Pizza has always been my favourite food, but always strayed away from it as i saw how hard dough can be to work with, especially after seeing it made in house at some restaurants I worked at," says McIlwaine.

"With the pandemic and working from home, I took a crack at some dough and after some final tweaks, felt comfortable with the product and had some good praise from those who tried it.

"It was a great way to start off my business with some creative ideas with food, but really saw an opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do with the time I had on my hands."

Margherita and cheese pizzas are $22, will all other pies selling for $26.

He says he draws his influences from NY-style pizza, but thinks his is a bit crispier than that. 

While the menu is pretty stripped down, he's working on new ideas for different pizzas.

McIlwaine also makes his own creamy garlic dip from scratch.

"People have been super kind and supportive, and seem to really like my product as a whole. Its been great to be a part of the smaller pop-up community here locally and its been awesome doing some swaps with others like Sohmers and St Clarens Bagels, etc. Everything seems to be progressing quickly and in the right direction," says McIlwaine.

Online reservations for Saturday pickup at 33 Powerhouse St. go live at 4 p.m. on Wednesdays.

"I'm super excited to see what comes next and would love to establish myself as one of the best pizza spots in the city," says McIlwaine.

A three-storey apartment building in Toronto and the 29 rental units inside are slated for demolition to make way for a new condo project. 

There's a new application from registered property owners Rockbrook Developments Inc. (owned by Tribute Communities) for the property at 71 Talara Dr.

In a push to densify the area located by Bessarion subway station, a new 27-storey residential building is being proposed to replace the current low-rise which has sat there since 1961.

71 Talara Drive is slated for demolition to make way for a 27-storey condo. Photo by Rockbrook Developments via City of Toronto submission.

The 29 rental units that currently exist at 71 Talara, all of which are occupied right now, would make way for 256 new residential units, if approved by the city. 

On top of that, the build would include 29 rental units to replace the ones on site. 

The 29-unit building has sat on Talara since 1961. Photo by Rockbrook Developments via City of Toronto submission.

According to the site's Rental Housing Demolition application, the replacement rentals would be considered "affordable". Tenant relocation assistance, including a right to return to the replacement rental units, is also being offered, says Rockbrook Inc.  

blogTO was not able to contact any current residents of 71 Talara at the time of publishing.

Currently, there are 21 two-bedroom units, seven one-bedrooms, and one bachelor unit at 71 Talara. 

The new replacement would see eight three-bedroom units, 13 two-bedrooms, and seven one-bedrooms. All rentals would be relegated to the condo's third and fourth floors.

The tower will sit atop a five-storey podium. Turner Fleischer Architects Inc. via City of Toronto submission.

The condo proposal includes a five-storey podium wrapping around the east and west of the building and landscaped areas to replace the exisiting driveway on the west end of the site. 

Indoor and outdoor amentity spaces would be accessible via ground level, while the roof of the five-storey podium will also feature an outdoor area.

A five-level underground parking area would fit 207 cars. 

The 27-storey proposal would replace the current rental units and add 256 new condo units to the area. Photo Turner Fleischer Architects Inc. via City of Toronto submission.

According to the proposal, the development hopes to intensify and utilize both Bayview and Bessarion stations, the latter of which has been known to be one of the most underused stations on the TTC. 

The 45-acre Concord Park Place project, part of which sits directly across from the station, is expected to bring density to this part of Sheppard, though at this point a 2021 completion date seems unlikely.