toronto winter food

10 things to eat in Toronto that will warm you up this winter

There are lots of things to eat in Toronto that have the almost mythical power to warm you up, even if this winter turns out to be a doozy. When those cold weather warnings hit, head indoors and curl up with a bowl of one of these dishes.

Here are my picks for things to eat in Toronto that will warm you up this winter.

French onion soup 

Kingston Social House is only open a couple nights a week, but the wait only stretches half as long as the gooey gruyere topping molten onion soup here. 

toronto pho

Hot tea and house special noodle soup from Pho Metro are just the ticket on a chilly day.

Pho

Pho Metro at Lawrence and Warden is a destination for deals on steaming, warmly seasoned bowls of noodle soup so hot the broth cooks thin slices of beef almost instantly. 

toronto raman

The Chashu Lover with seven slices of pork at Hakata Ramen.

Ramen

When it comes to Japanese, in winter cold sushi just won’t don’t do. You need a piping hot bowl of hearty noodle soup with fatty pork, rich egg and salty nori from Hakata Ramen

toronto karahi

Bone-in white and dark chicken karahi, served in the same pan it was cooked in.

Karahi

It only makes sense to head to the place named for this dish, Karahi Point, in order to obtain the spicy, thick curry cooked in a vessel with the same moniker.

toronto butter chicken

The butter chicken served with naan and rice at Indilicious. 

Butter chicken 

Indilicious brings deliciously layered curries of all sorts to the junction, but nothing beats this creamy tomato-based crowd pleaser on a chilly day.

toronto congee

The Super Supreme Super Bowl Congee is big enough to share.

Congee 

Not much beats a bowl of warm congee that requires pretty much no chewing when it comes to warming the soul, and Congee Town is the place to get this essential winter dish. 

toronto soup dumplings

Sheng jian bao at Sang-Ji Bao stuffed with pork and pork soup.

Fried bao 

Sang-Ji Bao and it’s dumplings may be little, but you’ll warm up big time after one bite and slurp of the crispy pan-fried sheng jian bao served here. 

toronto filipino spaghetti

Filipino spaghetti with bolognese and house garlic pork hot dog.

Filipino spaghetti 

Sweet spaghetti may not sound particularly warming to the soul, but anyone who knows this steamy dish can attest to its comforting benefits, chunks of house-made hot dog topping the pasta at BBs Diner in Little Italy.

toronto soon tofu

The combination soon tofu with beef, shrimp, mussels, and an egg you crack in fresh yourself.

Soon tofu 

This hearty dish of spicy broth, velvety soft tofu and your choice of protein that can be modified to your heat preference can be found at Koreatown’s Buk Chang Dong.  

hand pulled noodles toronto

The Magic Beef at Magic Noodle; add chili oil for tons of extra heat and colour!

Hand-pulled noodle soup

Magic Noodle has a downtown location in Harbord Village near Spadina, where you can get seven types of la mian from skinny strings to wide ribbons, so you have all kinds of options when it comes to beating the cold with a hot beefy noodle soup.

Lead photo by

Hector Vasquez at Kingston Social House


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