Ruffino’s in NOTL is a good choice for wood-fired pizzas and fresh housemade pastas with quality ingredients.
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I don’t think Piano Piano pizza is worth your time.
Would you be interested in trying old school Toronto/ Mississauga type pizza? Mississauga does have an Italian population and some good old fashioned Italian bakeries. I am sure they also have some old school pizzerias. I confess, I rarely dine in Mississauga, so I don’t know which pizzerias are their best.
We do have this Mississauga thread
Mississauga’s looking to be the next Scarborough-style food destination
Also, this Greek / Turkish/ Balkan thread
Greek, Balkan and/or Turkish restaurants, bars, coffee shops, groceries and bakeries in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area [Danforth] [Scarborough] [Ossington]
Toronto and the Greater TO Area are having a Turkish restaurant and gourmet shop boom. Anatolia is the oldest, and it’s quite a good restaurants near the border between Etobicoke and Mississauga. I had takeout about 2 years ago.
In terms of shopping, Sherway Gardens, which is close to Mississauga, is a much nicer mall than the Eaton Centre. It has a new Eataly, and more upscale shops than the Eaton Centre. Free parking, too.
In terms of some regional Chinese food that might be of interest, there are some Uyghur restaurants in Mississauga. One of those has caught my attention.
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St. Lawrence is a great call. My wife and I were there, more than a decade ago. I will just send them there to browse and eat. And maybe get some food souvenirs for me lol.
My young one will for sure enjoy Little Canada!
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Thanks for the tip on Greek. I found one in Oakville - Maro’s, that should be good enough if they want a quick bite close by. Much more likely they will go somewhere local.
That reminds me that we went to Bata. Here’s a pair that can double as food ingredient:
Thanks, Let me look into Mississauga Italians and Turkish. We have some Turkish here but I don’t think they are great by any means.
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There is a large Middle Eastern population in Mississauga, too. Marché Adonis is a Middle Eastern grocery store that has a location in Mississauga.
Unfortunately, I don’t know which Middle Eastern places in Mississauga would be the best.
The Mississauga subReddit might be helpful.
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If they’re up for Vietnamese, there’s a very authentic one in Mississauga called I Love Pho. The original location is closer to Oakville (Burnhamthorpe Rd). Always order the fried squid cakes and try the other non-pho dishes. Ignore the “Chinese and Thai” sign (I don’t know why they have it there) because it’s their Vietnamese that’s one of the most authentic around. They also have beef 7 ways but you said no multi-course (but it’s not multi-course in the traditional sense).
Closer to Toronto, but also in Mississauga (and also close to the airport), is Pho Ngoc Yen (Kamato Rd) which has a lot of buzz and worthy of it. Their more unique dishes are only offered after 5 p.m.
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I started a map to keep track of the recommendations as well as Oakville places I found, since they decided they are not going to rent a car so I figure they will probably eat local most of the time. They shortened NOTL to one day so I am good there.
Has anyone been to Zoelicious, B’s Banh Mi, Applestone Pizzeria, Pizza Pienza, Meet Noodles? All close to Oakville. They will be in Toronto a couple of times. The rest they will probably stay local to Oakville visiting families.
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I recommend checking out Reddit for Mississauga and Oakville restaurants, or for thoughts on those specific restaurants you mention
I haven’t been to any of the restaurants you mentioned.
I post occasionally on the Toronto Food Reddit when I’m interested in something or somewhere that isn’t mentioned here.
There are also some big FB groups for dining out in Oakville , in Burlington and in Hamilton. I have some friends active in those groups.
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Mississauga is where a lot of Indians live, the indian food is going to be better and different than what you get at home
Guru Lakshmi for idli /dosa / South Indian veg
I’m trying to recall the place my extended family likes for Indian chinese, but there are a ton of them.
Another unusual and delicious option is Gujarati snacks (farsan) and sweets — the shops will serve chat and a while range of savory gujarati snacks you’ll never see outside india or toronto (not even in Edison, that stuff is Americanized, the toronto stuff I remember is the real deal). Surati is in Vaughan, but there are many options in Mississauga itself.
And finally, toronto north Indian is India level — the concentration of Punjabis there is well known (a lot of frozen indian food in the us comes from toronto because of this)
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I’ve had some Hakka recs from a Punjabi friend in Mississauga. I’ll look up the place he mentioned last.
I think it was probably A1 .https://www.a1hakka.ca/
I asked him what he orders.
2023
2022
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We live very close to the Sunnyvale-Cupertino-Milpitas area in Northern California where there is a very high concentration of Indian engineers working for the surrounding tech companies. That’s why we are blessed with all these wonderful Indian restaurants.
Alas, the younger daughter finds everything to be spicy (even if its only very mildly so). The older daughter used to be the same, but in the last year developed an affinity to dishes like biryanis, dosas and can handle mild (to adults) spices perfectly fine. So I think the day is soon where everyone can go to Indian restaurants and find dishes they can enjoy.
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I haven’t been yet. Austrian and German specialties
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Polish is strong in Mississauga
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+100 for Guru Lakshmi. Dosa there is fantastic! It’s very popular and with good reason.
I third this.
I know, I spent a good chunk of time traveling back & forth to the Bay Area
And still, Toronto indian will be better than what’s near you.
Spice and spicy are different, as you already know 
But I get not wanting to eat what’s abundant at home.
I didn’t know there is more than a million South Asians in the Toronto area. Definitely a lot more than here. I am sure the food is at a whole different level there. There is a lot of passable to decent hole-in-the-wall places here, but nothing really eye opening until the last few years we got a few more creative and higher end places.
If I should point them to the best casual Indian places in the whole GTA, knowing the question is as broad as it is somewhat meaningless, where should they go? I was reading the GTA Pakistani / Indian discussion. Khau Gully? Lageez?
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Look at the menu of Guru Lakshmi. There must be at least 5 pages of dosas on the menu. I’d come here just to eat that. I pitched the joint to the wife and she just may go if she figures out a way to get there.
Now I got into the rabbit hole of all other interesting eats of GTA- e.g. Ismaili, Bangladeshi. I think I need to plan an eating trip for myself soon lol.
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Recommended Pakistani/Indian/Desi food spots in Toronto GTA
Rediscovering Toronto - also Indian buffet?
We have several people in the GTA who know their South Asian food, especially @elvisahmed and @Estufarian .
My friend who is Bengali loves Khau Gully. I have not been.
In terms of Indian restaurants in the Toronto city limits that is worth a 45 minute drive from Mississauga, I guess it depends who you are and how often you eat Indian food.
I am not sure most Indian people would drive from Mississauga for Indian food, especially if they have access to home cooking.
My friend who loves Khau Gully lives in Mississauga, and works on Bay St. He occasionally has work dinners in Toronto, or might have a date night with his wife in Toronto.
I would think Khau Gully and Pukka, get the most attention right now, as upscale special Indian restaurants.
My last 2 Indian take-outs in Toronto haven’t been that good.
There is a lot of demand for affordable Indian food , especially with a lot of new Canadians arriving from South Asia over the last 5 years. A lot of it is highly mediocre. There are also a lot of Indian restaurants that have become mini-chains. They’re often based in Mississauga or Brampton, and opening up satellite locations in London On, Waterloo, Guelph, etc. I have no idea what the quality control is like across the mini-chains.
It’s been quite interesting here in London On, where I spend half my time. There are at least 50 South Asian restaurants now, and around 10 Hakka restaurants, in a city of 423 000. There are less Italian restaurants than Indian restaurants right now.
As far as I can tell, only 1 of the 50 South Asian restaurants has what I’d call a trained chef, who had worked as a chef in Bombay. (Massey’s )The rest are quicker restaurants and some mini-chains such as Oh Bombay! , Hakka Khazana, Biryani Walla, Kothur and several spots across from the community college. Recommended Pakistani/Indian/Desi food spots in Toronto GTA - #32 by Phoenikia
Now London ON has quick affordable restaurants with dosas, Pani puri, Goan specialties, but they’re still quick and fairly cheaper restaurants, using mother sauces and short cuts, etc. I don’t know if the restaurants with locations in Toronto and Mississauga are making the food inhouse in London, or distributing some sauces and prepared foods by truck.
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