By Helen Racanelli on
Growing up in the 1990s, I traversed Chinatown nearly every weekend with my Cantonese grandparents. We would run errands in and around Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West, stocking up on tangerines, lychees, bok choi and lap cheong (Chinese sausage).
Sunday mornings, my grandfather would take us out for dim sum, and my grandmother would buy me good-luck charm bracelets, bright kung fu slippers or steamed curry-beef baos.
Decades later, these are all things you can still do.
While Chinatown now offers shops from the Asian diaspora and beyond, its cultural DNA as a walkable, food-obsessed, Chinese-Canadian heritage district remains. Here’s how to cover 12 hours in Toronto’s downtown Chinatown.
Downtown Chinatown (also called Chinatown West, as there are five Chinatowns in the Greater Toronto Area) welcomes visitors with Millie Chen’s iconic Gateway art installation on the corner of Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West. Its four red dragons are located high above a streetcar stop as an allegorical entrance.
Another landmark is Dragon City Mall, which is filled with food spots, souvenirs, and clothing shops.
From here, fuel up with dim sum: dumplings, rice rolls, congee and tea at Rosewood Asian Cuisine or a student fave, Rol San Restaurant.
Head north on Spadina Avenue towards College Street for the full, bustling Chinatown experience, where music booms from shops, greengrocers call out in Cantonese, and everyone from tiny grannies to the frazzled University of Toronto students is speed-walking to their next destination.
Tap Phong is a one-stop shop for affordable Chinese and Western cookware and classic souvenirs like paper lanterns and jade statues. Shops selling bamboo goods, T-shirts, umbrellas, sun hats and slippers abound, such as at B & J Trading, so if you forgot anything at home, now’s your chance.
Explore the eastern edges of Chinatown on Dundas West. At Chinatown Mart, you can buy Chinese good-luck ephemera. Take a milk bubble tea break at Hey Sugar or Higher.
Sit down for lunch at Fudao Noodle House, or head to Pho Hung for excellent Vietnamese bun noodles and pho. You can also get takeout Vietnamese sandwiches from Banh Mi Nguyen Huong or steamed BBQ pork baos from Ding Dong Pastries & Cafe to eat at Grange Park.
Grange Park offers shade, play structures and a splash pad for your little ones. You can also stroll along the path and visit the climbable Henry Moore sculpture Large Two Forms for a photo opp.
Spend the afternoon at the AGO, an art museum with something for all ages. An expansive Group of Seven permanent collection, notable Indigenous and Canadian art collections, and the impressive Old Master Collection will all captivate art lovers.
Across the street, Bau-Xi Gallery is one of the city’s best international and Canadian contemporary art galleries, founded by prominent Chinese-Canadian Bau-Xi Huang.
Tuck into Chinese-Canadian comfort foods like chow mein, fried rice and lo mein at Swatow Restaurant or Taste of China Seafood Restaurant. For a fun hotpot experience, try Chine Legendary Hot Pot & Noodles.
For fruit-laden crepes, waffles and tea, head to Spot Crepes and Tea. If stiff libations appeal, make your way to the low-key Red Lounge and its cozy patio.
Take in Toronto’s live music scene at the legendary El Mocambo. Its unmissable neon palm signage dates from its origins as a dance club circa 1948. Acts like Blondie, U2 and the Rolling Stones have appeared on the “El Mo” stage.
Or, warble the night away at a karaoke bar, such as B-Boss KTV.