Sandwiched between a McDonald’s and commercial brunch spot in a strip mall, this comforting street food spot resembles the dai pai dongs you’d find back in Hong Kong. Chef and owner Eddie Yeung doles out mighty bowls brimming with silky egg noodle strands swimming in fortified broth, topped with the unctuous fatty and collagen-laced morsels of slow-cooked beef brisket. Not a fan of beef? Swap it out with his tiger shrimp and pork wontons, which just need a drizzle of his house chile oil before they dive down the gullet. [$] — T.L.

While Toronto’s storied Chinatowns remain part of the city’s cultural tapestry, there are even better options for Chinese food in the suburbs. Successive waves of immigrants in the 1950s and ’60s created a robust melange of Asian fare in enclaves like Markham, Richmond Hill, and Unionville. Yu Seafood in Richmond Hill is a prime example of the stellar dim sum available. The place isn’t cheap, but does offer gilded service, top notch ingredients, and elegant presentations in a mix of contemporary and classic bites: Think sea urchin siu mai and charcoal puffs with Malaysian durian. [$$] — T.L.

In Chinatown, every block has a few windows adorned with glistening pigs and ducks hanging from hooks. But nowhere is the cured and roasted pork better than in this strip mall in Scarborough. Nowhere else is the skin as crispy as a creme brulee top, the meat as soft as fresh doughnuts. The owner cleaves off chunks and hands them over in take-out containers without fanfare, as if perfection were a common commodity. [$] — C.M.

Inside this tiny takeaway shop, you’ll find meats hung with the utmost care and shimmering under an ambient heat lamp. For nearly three decades, chef and owner Jack Tsoi has been fine-tuning his siu mei (Chinese barbecue) with diligence and care. He offers his holy trinity of whole roasted suckling pig (with hallmark wafer-bubbly skin), mahogany lacquered roast duck, and sticky-sweet char siu (barbecue pork), which are cleaved off the racks, weighed, then deftly chopped up and mounted onto noodles or rice. The meals shine from their run-of-the-mill squeaky styrofoam boxes. [$] — T.L.

For nearly 40 years, chef and owner Satee Beharry has been an integral part of Scarborough’s culinary community, building a following long before the days of celebrity chefs, bloggers, and social media. She remains a beloved fixture for her plentiful portions of West Indian favorites, including goat and oxtail curries swaddled in flaky paratha rotis, pillowy curry channa doubles, and feisty jerk chicken. [$] — T.L.

With each mouthful of this bakery’s sublime sweets, the hand shoots to the face, expecting drips of honey or debris of pastry. But the tiny bundles — including basbousa (semolina and rosewater syrup), borma (crisp strands of dough around pistachios), and warbat (flaky dough around creamy hazelnut) — are too tightly packed, too expertly composed to allow for crumbs. [$] — C.M.

Pide, aka Turkish “pizza,” is a thin, crispy flatbread layered with toppings like ground beef and tomatoes, feta and spinach, sausage and eggs, pastrami and mozzarella, and a dozen other flavorful combinations. In this spot decorated like a cave, you can split one with an order of iskender, buttery lamb cooked on a rotisserie, served with thick yogurt. [$] — C.M.

Pitmaster and owner Darien List has staked a claim for central Texas barbecue north of the border at his three restaurants (the OG on Main street, one on the Danforth, and the newest one in High Park). Here you can taste the signature marbled brisket, hugged with just the perfect amount of heady smoke. For a handheld meal, look to the Austin: a brisket sandwich slathered with List’s signature tangy Texas BBQ sauce and topped with a bone (pork rib). Watch the weekly specials for the Flintstones-sized beef ribs with ample char, yielding flesh, and earthy oak finish. [$$] — T.L.

People still need to go out for fancy meals sometimes. And you can’t do it better than at Scaramouche, where white tablecloths and classical European cooking, in which entrees are composed plates with starch and green components surrounding large portions of protein, have never gone out of style. From the crest of a hill, the restaurant looks down over a Toronto that twinkles at dusk. Everyone needs to dine here once, if only for the view and a slice of the iconic white chocolate and coconut cream pie. [$$$-$$$$] — C.M.

At this butcher shop and restaurant, customers dine on some of the city’s best Mexican street food just a few feet away from a display case of kidneys and pig’s feet. Try a pambazo, a sandwich filled with chorizo, potato, lettuce, cheese, and crema, the bun dunked in a mild guajillo sauce and fried on the flat top. It’s easy to over order, as the tamales — filled with sweet dark mole or chicken in green sauce — most likely weigh about a pound each. Don’t miss the quesadillas, fried until the crispy shells entomb the chicken tinga and cheese. [$] — C.M.

Beloved owner and chef Giorgio Taverniti recently revealed to Torontonians that he is legally blind, with no vision in his right eye and very limited peripheral vision in his left. While he had contended with glaucoma since he was a teen, his eyesight rapidly deteriorated in the past few years. His announcement received an outpouring of support and love from the dining community, and with the support of his staff and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Taverniti relearned to navigate his kitchen safely. Despite the hurdles, the quality of his menu hasn’t diminished. His stretched and hand-tossed New York-style pizza offers a hallmark toothsome chew, a classic cheese shimmer, and ruddy pepperoni with burnished edges. For something ultra indulgent, there’s Taverniti’s deep fried panzerotti. Golden brown with bubble-like puffs around the edges, they’re like soft doughnuts stuffed with gooey mozzarella; they absolutely warrant a mile-long cheese pull. [$] — T.L.

On the border of Annex and Forest Hills, Anthony Rose and Rob Wilder have remade a strip of Dupont Street with a collection of restaurants: Rose and Sons (an upscale, down-home greasy spoon), Big Crow (barbecue with lots of smoke and fire), Fat Pasha (Jewish cuisine with a side of bubby-meets-Mediterranean), and Fet Zun (casual fun flavors of the Middle East). But it’s Schmaltz that blends best with the local history of the nearby Jewish enclave. During the week the delicatessen is sleepy, but on Sunday mornings, customers queue out the door to get their bagels (from Kiva’s), cream cheese, and something from the ample selection of smoked and cured fish. It’s the Russ & Daughters of Toronto. [$] — C.M.

Paper thin dosas, the size of little league baseball bats, are the showstoppers at this vegetarian Indian restaurant. But don’t miss the menu of chaats, particularly the dahi poori, bite-sized spheres of crispy dough holding spiced potato and cooling yogurt, with mint and tamarind chutneys dueling for attention. [$] — C.M.

If you’re going to visit the Junction, that strange Toronto neighborhood where a prohibition on alcohol was only lifted in 1998, lunch at Honest Weight is a must. An unusual blend of retail fishmonger and restaurant, here you can eat a sandwich filled with Atlantic cod and dill mayonnaise while picking out Prince Edward Island littleneck clams for dinner. [$$] — C.M.

Residents of the Riverside community have gotten deservedly smug about this 30-seat restaurant that serves ideal versions of all-day diner food. Massive sandwiches and billowy pancakes are done exquisitely. Bread, pickles, pastrami, and doughnuts are all made entirely in-house. Biscuits arrive warm and flaky and topped with a rich sausage gravy that’s unapologetically gray. Because despite all of the restaurant’s attention to detail, there’s no gussying dishes up for Instagram. White Lily’s classic Americana is designed to stand on its own merits. [$$] — C.M.

This American-Italian eatery is owned and operated by friends and boxing enthusiasts Conor Joerin, Alex Wallen, and Scott Pennock. The trio applies the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle to all dishes, serving classics with gusto and generosity. Portions are enormous, evident in the mountainous spaghetti Bolognese, baseball-sized meatballs in a moat of rustic sugo (tomato sauce), and chicken parmigiana smothered in glossy mozzarella. In keeping with the red sauce establishments of yore, the restaurant welcomes guests with chequered tables, boisterous hospitality, and recipes that nonna would approve. [$] — T.L.

DaiLo’s menu offers a wealth of creative and intricate flavor combinations — like chunks of watermelon fried in a wafer-thin batter and topped with pork floss, or Hakka wontons in brown butter. If dining in a group, absolutely save room for a whole trout that’s been filleted, fried, and reassembled on a platter with sweet, salty, and spicy dipping sauces. [$$$] — C.M. & T.L.

The inside of this pintxos bar — with its ovoid floor-to-ceiling woodwork and Steve Ditko abstract background carved out of mahogany — is mostly standing-room only. The good news is that it’s open from 8 a.m., giving the advantage to diners who want to stop in during off hours to sample tiny plates of Cantabrian anchovies or sweetbreads. [$$] — C.M.

Thanks in part to the rising cost of beef, fried chicken sandwiches have overtaken burgers as the ubiquitous meaty mainstay of any large city. Not only is P.G Cluck’s Toronto’s best, but it sits heads and shoulders above any second-place contenders. Each sandwich consists of an entire bone-free chicken leg that’s brined, buttermilked, floured, floured again, and fried. It’s then stacked on a barely large-enough potato bun with pickles, fermented chile sauce, and buttermilk sauce. Despite the demand, the tiny shop won’t pre-fry any chicken, so expect to wait patiently for exactly six and a half minutes while your sandwich is prepared. [$] — C.M.

Hip-hop beats, free-to-play NBA Jam arcade machines, and local graffiti greet you at the Heartbreak Chef — then chef and owner Jerome Robinson goes for the jugular with epic sandwiches big enough to rest your head on. His creations are plenty Insta-worthy, but more importantly, they’re phenomenally tasty. The Big Ass Chicken Sandwich sees three juicy deep-fried thighs stacked on high, topped with slaw and pickles; while the creamy Charlie Sandwich is a frankenwich smothering mac and cheese between (and spilling out of) a grilled cheese. Pro tip: You’ll need plenty of napkins for these gloriously sloppy sandwiches, then a long slumber afterwards. [$] — T.L.

This elevated, friendly neighborhood restaurant builds on a foundation of Canadian foods with worldly flavors. With exacting standards and precise plating, the dedicated team does practically everything in house (fermentation, butchery, aging, curing, and baking) to reimagine favorite dishes. Cookstown soup is a loaded baked potato in liquid form; classic mac and cheese is given a refined makeover with pumpkin in beaufort cheese, konginut squash, and nutty chestnut chips. To finish, tubers are made extra tasty when transformed into a dessert pudding composed of sunchokes, zesty lemon granita, and lush vanilla curd. [$-$$$] — T.L.

Aloette delivers the cozy vibes of a diner while reimagining the genre as something slightly more upscale and chic. You’ll find the usual suspects on the menu, such as chicken wings, onion rings, burgers, and ice cream sundaes, but everything is presented with care and confidence. Chef and owner Patrick Kriss executes dishes meticulously and sources stellar ingredients that make familiar favorites dance and shine with new energy. Those onion rings? They’re topped with Siberian caviar. The wings? Stuffed with black truffles. And that sundae? Apple pie gate-crashes the classic dessert. A note to those readers outraged this list doesn’t include Aloette’s upscale sister Alo: Reservations are still arduous to snag years in, and Aloette is far more accessible while still delivering that wow factor. [$$] — T.L.

Bang Bang has challenged the city’s established ice cream hierarchy with a selection of flavors bordering on fantastical — matcha-jasmine soba, Bellwoods stout beer and brown bread, fig and chevre — packed between gooey, house-baked cookies. The contrast of textures is ideal, between ice cream just firm enough to exist as a solid, and cookies soft enough that they don’t crumble or snap when bitten. But if cookie sammies aren’t your thing, you can ask to house their cold creamery goodness in other specialty baked goods, such as their airy chiffon, choux puffs, Big Bang Cone (Hong Kong style waffle), or sticky-soft “cinnibun.” [$] — C.M. & T.L.

This cool, eclectic snacky microbar offers Asian fusion eats. Dishes are homages to regions of East Asia playfully reinterpreted, from Singaporean chicken rice that rivals any Michelin-level hawker stall, to HK-style crackle-laced pineapple bun sandwiched with sous-vide pork belly, to loaded fries with bulgogi and kimchi that are like the love child of Taco Bell and K-pop. [$$] — T.L.

Saffron sings in this Spanish restaurant’s paella de vieira, permeating the bomba rice and crusty crispy socarrat with floral notes. From tapas to carne and everything in between, the Patria team nails dishes with exacting restraint and elegance. The pan con jamón serrano is rich and refreshing, tickling the tongue with just the right balance of wafer-thin ham and sweet tomato base. The tender pulpo yields easily, layered with fingerling potato coins and finished with paprika and fruity rincon olive oil. For desserts, salt-tooths will love the lush chocolate con aceite (chocolate pudding) that’s drizzled with olive oil and topped with sea salt. [$$$] — T.L.

Executive chef Chris Locke and his culinary brigade champion a zero-food-waste philosophy. They promote a fermentation-forward approach, embrace nose-to-tail and root-to-flower eating, and have reimagined neglected “ugly bits” that would otherwise go wasted. Humble rutabaga chop is revelatory when amped up with shio koji (a fermented moldy rice marinade), while laksa gets fortified with peanut miso, upcycled golden noodles, and funkified crab garum (fermented fish sauce) seasoned egg. [$$] — T.L.

While Mildred’s does serve lunch and dinner, the crowds come for brunch — despite the notoriously long lines and no reservation policy (during brunch hours only). Patrons come back again and again to tuck into towering stacks of cakey pancakes studded with wild blueberries, silky smoked salmon eggs benedict, and lofty biscuits slathered with house apple butter jam. [$$] — T.L.

Maitre fromager (cheese master) and owner Afrim Pristine is a fan of the funk (and Batman). His family has been in the cheese business since the 1970s and they’ve run this grocery-fromagerie-bodega location on Ripley Avenue in the west end of the city since 2000, when they moved from their original Bloor Street outpost. You’ll find Batman paraphernalia all over the 12,000-square-foot epicurean emporium, which offers artisan charcuterie, olive oils, truffles, bakery goods, prepared foods, and approximately 500 varieties of cheese in wheels, wedges, and hunks. A visit wouldn’t be complete without a walk into their famous cheese vault, where they stockpile about $1 million dollars’ worth of nose-tickling, age-ripened products. Check out the crowd favorite, easygoing three-year Boer’n trots cheese from Holland; it’s complex, nutty, highly snackable, and versatile enough to be grated on pasta. For the brave and bold, there’s Bleu d’Élizabeth from Quebec, which strikes the perfect balance between pungency and salinity. [$ - $$$$] — T.L.