More elusive cuisines/dishes [Toronto]

Maybe Karelia Kitchen, where Alma is now located.

Fika in Kensington makes nice kannelbullar (they always contain both cardamom and cinnamon), semla, and sunshine buns. The owners are Asian Canadian as far as I know. The baked goods taste Swedish to me.

I tried a lot of Danish Pastry House goods around 2015-2020. I liked their breads and some of the cookies. I’m not that impressed by their danishes and puff pastry-type goods. After I stopped taking VIA in March 2020, I stopped visiting Union Station, and I haven’t bought anything at the Danish Pastry House since then.

Some Scandinavian imports are available here:

If you ever drive out of town, there is Danish food in Puslinch, not too far from Guelph.

Also, one of the chefs at Donna’s is Danish, and he occasionally features Danish meals. Notice of upcoming meals is usually posted on Instagram.

Toronto doesn’t have too much modern upscale Russian food. The Stop on Roncy is apparently excellent.


I tried a Moldovan restaurant in Oct 2023. I wouldn’t say what I had was quite as tasty as some Georgian meals, but I’m always game to try new to me cuisines.

There’s also Maven , a new Central European restaurant with some Ashkenazi dishes on Harbord. I’m looking forward to trying that one out.

https://torontolife.com/food/whats-on-the-menu-at-maven-eastern-european-jewish-harbord-village/

I don’t think there are any Bulgarian restaurants around at the moment.

Mak Deli on Lawrence West would have some Bulgarian imports as well as Macedonian imports.

I am interested in Khoja Cuisine. I rarely get to Scarborough or East York, so I haven’t had a chance to explore.


There are a lot of Serbs, Croatians and Bosnians in Etobicoke and Mississauga. It’s not elusive there, but it’s interesting for me. I really enjoyed the cevapcici and burek from Sarajevo Grill last year.


Burns night is this Saturday. The Caledonian is the only Scottish pub downtown right now. I think there had been another in the Upper Beach about 8 years ago but I’m not sure it’s still in business. The Caledonian serves haggis and a couple other Scottish specialties.

People are complaining about the high prices. Matty’s Bar Clams is the only Maritimes restaurant in Toronto right now.

I don’t understand why the places that serve Halifax Donairs never seem to stay in business longer than 2 or 3 years.


There are almost no German, Austrian or Czech restaurants left. I think there’s one German restaurants left in Scarborough, and a couple bakeries. One German bakery left in Mississauga and another in Oakville.

Prague Deli in Scarborough might be the only Czech restaurant.


No Belgian restaurant. There was a place called Café Brussels on the Danforth in the 90s.


Not much in terms of Dutch food other than the place on the Danforth and one shop near Weston IIRC. I am surprised that the GTA doesn’t have any pannekoek restaurant, considering Calgary and Vancouver have had a couple places for decades.

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