Roti in Toronto: The Trini Original and Butter Chicken Roti
Toronto holds two roti traditions: the Trinidadian classic and the butter chicken roti it inspired. Here is how they differ and where to start.
Ultimate guide
What to Eat in Toronto: Dishes Worth Planning a Day Around
Organised by dish, not by restaurant: pick a craving and follow it.
8 stories in this guide, from 1 desk: Eat & Drink Desk.
Ask ten Torontonians what to eat in this city and you will get eleven answers, and most of them will be right. This guide is organised by dish rather than by restaurant: peameal bacon, butter tarts, roti, dumplings, ramen, dim sum, shawarma, jerk chicken and Jamaican patties. Each link goes to a deeper look at one craving.
Some dishes come with a story we can source. Foodland Ontario says peameal bacon originated in Ontario and is cured in a brine and rolled in cornmeal, and the peameal bacon sandwich was declared the city's signature dish in 2016 by former mayor John Tory. CBC reports that a recipe describing the butter tart as we know it was published in 1900 in the Women's Auxiliary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook. Roti shops, CBC reports, can be found from Brampton to Scarborough and many points in between.
Every restaurant named in these guides has been verified as currently operating, and we leave prices and hours to the restaurants' own sites. Pick a dish, pick a day and go hungry.
In this guide
