Taste of Toronto

Contrary to a lot of reviews below, I absolutely loved Taste of Toronto.
Our group wanted to try a variety of options, so we pooled our money and loaded it on 1 card. Surprisingly, the wait time to try top restaurants were not bad at all. We pretty much got a taste of every dish at every place. By the end of the night, I was holding my magnum ice cream with a big smile on my face. My friends were all struggling to walk and wanting to roll home instead.
The main dish that made my night was:
Splendido — «True North Atlantic Salmon Sashimi from Atlantic Canada — Avocado, sesame, race cakes.»
This dish had the «Wow factor.» After having a slice, I was in shock. I honestly could not stop talking about how delicious this dish was that night. I had to get a second order immediately. The sauce had the perfect amount of flavor without being too strong to cover the taste of the freshly sliced Salmon Sashimi. The texture from the avocado compliments the tenderness and chewiness of the Sashimi perfectly. Amazing!
What I really like about this festival is that you get a taste of the food from top restaurants around Toronto. I will definitely be trying Splendido shortly in the future. I look forward to Taste of Toronto next year and I highly recommend others to join me as well!

This was a first for me and I was pleasantly surprised albeit left broke afterwards. Why? Well most items range from $ 6-​$ 10 dollars and you need to buy a Taste Card which is kind of like a gift card. I wish there were more spaces available to participate in the events and that we were allowed to stay longer than the allotted four hours. You can’t do it all in that short of a time so plan ahead.

Totally a fan of Taste of Toronto!
This was my first year, and we couldn’t have picked a better day. I arrived at the Taste with about 7 – 8 other people, and for all of us, it was our first time.
I anticipated long lines getting our tickets, but they weren’t long at all. We paid for admission ($ 30) each person, which I thought was ridiculously expensive. I mean, we’re not really getting anything for $ 30, basically just access to the grounds. In addition, we had to put money on a plastic card they gave to each one of us… Their currency is called the «Crown». How the system works is that you walk from tent to tent within the Fort York grounds and tap your card to «pay» for the food before it’s given to you. I found the system to be quite effective, but I soon realized how quickly my crowns were being spent. I had to re-​charge my card one more time during my stay to get access to the additional restaurants I wanted to try.
A particular downfall to the Taste is that the lineups are long, and you generally have to wait 5 – 10 minutes at each different «restaurant», or as I like to call it, «station», to get your food. Often portions are TINY, but that really allows you to sample more food. By the end of the festival, spending about 4 hours in total there, I racked up easily over $ 100 on both admission and «Crowns». Was it worth it? Yeah, sure. Would I come back? Um… debatable. It all depends on the featured restaurants next year.
Some of the top restaurants I sampled and particularly enjoyed were: America (ahi tuna), Byblos/​Patria/​Weslodge (fried chicken, grilled lamb), Barque (ribs), Monecito (tuna ceviche), The Harbord Room (grilled summer squash salad with zaatar). My favourite would have had to have been the grilled lamb kofte from Byblos… so juicy and tender!
I think next year I’ll try a cooking show, or maybe buy a bottle of Barque’s famous BBQ sauce. The nice thing about this festival is that it’s not strictly about eating, but about the full food experience!
A great vibe, a fun atmosphere, and a great way to spend a summer day in Toronto!

Disclaimer: I won 2 complimentary tickets from Unilocal Toronto Giveaway. So we ended up just paying for the food.
Love the set up and location of Taste of Toronto. This is the first time I ever been to Fort York. Getting there was easy as Streetcar 509 get me right to the entrance. The ground is spacious and I like the white tent like set up giving it an English Garden gallery vibe.
I was expecting the worse since I attended the Saturday Evening Session but was pleasantly surprised that the event was well organized and it was not too crowded. Maximum wait for me was less than 10 minutes for anything.
Most of the restaurant vendors did have good time management and kudos for all the kitchen staff working so hard keeping us all fed and wait time to the minimum. We ended up trying Little Sister’s Pork Belly ($ 8), Morimoto Toronto’s Uni Carbonara with a bottle of S. Pellegrino ($ 8) and THR’s Lobster Grits ($ 10). Each dish was well presented with good flavours. There are also a lot of free sampling and tasting in various food vendors, For wine tasting, they are going for $ 1 each or so.
Love the different demo. Getting into Master Cooking Classes were impossible with the limited first come first serve openings but watching the cooking class was just as fun.
American Express Lounge was a nice touch from AMEX as it has free samples and free bottle water to keep you hydrated.
I would come back next year on a nice day to spend a few hours to wander around and sample some food. The longest line being Richmond Station and Drake. I would suggest to skip those as it really was no point spending your time lining up for food.

I thought the event was very well organized and well set up. I paid $ 25 per ticket (from a $ 5 early bird discount as the original price was $ 30). The booths for the stations were very well set up and easy to find from the map in the booklet. It was very nicely colour coordinated with a white and blue theme. I though the Crown Card was a brilliant idea. The Crown card is similar to the presto card, where you load money onto the card and pay through the machines when you want to purchase food. This sped up the process for waiting in line and it felt extremely clean to know that the person handling my food wasn’t in contact with many bills and coins. The food was delicious, though fairly expensive, it was a great sample of the restaurants that belonged to famous chefs in Toronto. There was a first come first serve cooking class sponsored by Metro which was a great experience because it was led by one of the famous chefs (depending on which session you attend). There were a lot of exhibitors where I was able to try many samples of delicious products. Would recommend!

Well organized, very clean and tidy. The portion of the food is relatively small based on the price but it would be a good time to try many different kinds of food. The $ 30 admission plus the food and drinks (most of them are from $ 8 to $ 10) is something you may want to check around. They offer live music too.
The lobster roll for $ 5 is the best!

This review is for the event itself, not for the food or vendors.
I won 2 general admission tickets (thank you, Unilocal Toronto).
If you purchased these tickets in advance, Thursday and Friday sessions were $ 19 each and weekend sessions were $ 25. Purchasing at the door cost $ 30.
I understand there are significant costs associated with events like this: venue, set up, scanners, promotions, people, etc. Did you know the card itself costs a buck?
Food wise, the dishes run between 6 – 10 «crowns» which are actually the equivalent to dollars. Load up your card and scan away! There were definitely enough restaurants to choose from. Most were well-​known establishments. It’s too bad there’s a fee to make a return if you had unused crowns.
There were some vendors who provided complimentary samples. Considering the entrance fee, this was a nice surprise at the event.
If you had an AmEx card, you were able to access their lounge area which was actually a pretty nice space. Two bars were available for purchasing drinks, tables, seating areas, even mats on the grass for you to have a picnic with your food.
If you like hands-​on cooking demos, and if you were quick enough to sign up, Metro hosted some pretty good sessions led by celebrity chefs.
There was a main stage where celebrity chefs would prepare various dishes and provide a pretty good show. I was lucky enough to watch Chef Morimoto cut up a decent 130 pound tuna.
I believe there was also the opportunity to have a small round-​table discussion with various chefs, hosted by Toronto Life.
All in all, it was a well organized event. Line ups were very civilized and entry times were staggered to prevent over capacity. Purchasing last minute at the door was a bit much but if you got to see a favourite chef or two, I think it would still be worth it.

I got free tickets at the LCBO for Taste of Toronto and this was one food festival I didn’t want to miss out on. I went to the Friday July 3^rd 2015 afternoon session (12−4pm) and as expected, lines were pretty minimal and there weren’t many people there.
After entering, I knew what I wanted to experience first. I headed straight to the Metro Master Class, as described in the information booklet, «The Metro Master Class offers visitors the unique opportunity to pick up hints, tips and techniques from some of the city’s leading chefs in a series of interactive cooking demonstrations using the freshest ingredients provided by Metro». But as we lined up in front of the tent, we were quick to discover that all the sessions had been booked for the afternoon. I would suggest getting there right when it opens if you are interested in getting a spot for this event.
We did a quick round to see the overall festival and I must say, I think that Fort York was a great venue for this festival. The historical site was a nice contrast to the 2-​year old event. Although the main focus was Taste, being able to walk around the old buildings and seeing the soldiers walking around was definitely an interesting and unique feat.
«Crowns» is the currency used at this festival, at first I wasn’t too enthusiastic about paying for a card ($ 1) just to use as currency but as we explored the festival more, I completely understood it. It was a great convenience not having to dig around my pockets and purse to search for loose change, or having to handle money while working out a balancing act with food. 1 Crown is equal to $ 1 and each dish is generally 6, 8, or 10 Crowns. However, I noticed that we were spending a lot of our Crowns on the Exhibitor booths which varied in pricing (1 Crown to 10 Crowns). We originally loaded up $ 30 (or 30 Crowns) on our card for 2 people but ended up spending about $ 45 at the festival.
After hearing about Iron Chef Morimoto was opening a restaurant in Toronto, I was ecstatic that I would be able to have a preview taste of his menu. At the Morimoto Toronto booth, I opted for the Uni Carbonara (quail egg, smoked bacon, parmesan) which came out to 8 Crowns. The line-​up was fairly long at this booth but the wait wasn’t too bad as we got our food within 5 – 10 minutes. I might have set my expectations too high as I felt it wasn’t as good as I had imaged it to be. The food wasn’t bad but it wasn’t much of a stand out dish to me.
We ended up trying the CSB (char siu bao) bbq pork buns from R&D. It cost us 6 Crowns but it was well worth it as if we were to go to R&D restaurant it would have cost $ 8. It wasn’t a traditional bbq pork bun, the bun had a nice subtle sweetness on top and the bbq pork wasn’t as saucy as it generally is in the buns. Overall, the bao was pretty delicious and I wouldn’t hesitate ordering another one.
We also tried a Lobster Roll from Matty’s Seafood priced at 5 Crowns. (I wanted to mention this exhibitor because of the quality and taste of the food was excellent). I enjoyed the Lobster Roll a lot. The lobster mixture wasn’t overwhelmed with fillers or excessive mayo. It was served in a nicely toasted bun which made the dish very pleasant.
I was able to catch one of the showings at the Cadillac Taste Theatre (as stated in the brochure, «The Cadillac Taste Theatre in partnership with Metro and All-​Clad will host live demonstrations from a selection of Toronto’s best chefs and some special guests! These leaders in world cuisine will create gastronomic delights, live to the audience on the latest appliances from Electrolux»).The session was featuring Eric Chong & Alvin Leung (First season winner of Masterchef Canada & Michelin Star chef and a judge on Masterchef Canada) creating Chong’s Masterchef Canada winning dish of Lobster Chow Mein. It was a great experience to see amazing chefs cook and being able to interact and ask questions.
Being an event that has an entry fee, this festival wasn’t as busy as it would have been if it were free. To me, it was an amazing experience to be able to learn new things from great chefs, taste amazing food I probably would have never tried, and meet chefs and foodies alike. The cost of the festival is kind of steep but actually being able to have space to walk around and explore was a nice change. I would suggest to anyone attending the festival to go at a time where it won’t be too busy as there’s so much to see and taste and so little time.

Disclaimer — I got my tickets compilmentary so I only had to pay for cost of food. Thank you again to the Toronto CM for offering up these tickets in a contest.
So Taste of Toronto, I would say pick your session, but definitely in preparation for the session you are attending — review the posted menu list of what is available ahead of time on the website.
In terms of currency — depending — would say load your card up with $ 35 to $ 40 dollars and that should cover you for at least one glass of beer or wine or cocktail and 2 – 3 tapas style plates (range is $ 6 to $ 10) per person.
The lines were longest for McEwan Group and Barque.
During the session I attended — Barque had out of ribs halfway through the night, so be aware and hustle over to any other interesting places.
The Metro Master Classes are first come first serve and since there is no extra fee for the Hands On class — So these filled up really quickly, but the cool thing was that you were able to hang around the outskirts and still watch.
The Richmond station burger — we didn’t find it that interesting or did we find it very tasty — plus it was was a half burger.
Depending on the line I would say try the fried chicken at McEwen station; plus the staff manning the booth — seemed to be very into it and Mark McEwen was on hand when we were there serving up stuff if you care for that.
Patria’s paella was decent, they have a large screen counting down as they are making the paella; so that was cool
I thought the Harbord room’s griddled Crab and shrimp sandwich was quite refreshing and excellent. Best of all no line — this was my favourite of the night.
The Japanese contingent was uninspiring for food choices — so I would take a pass on them (takoyaki, ramen, etc)
The crowds were manageable and all of the places serving food seem to have a good system in place, in terms of taking orders and getting the food out in a timely manner. I would say average wait time per booth — max 30 minutes.
Overall it was a great night out, although I would say next year, spring on the General Admission and save yourself for the food.
Another tip: AMEX also had a VIP lounge for all AMEX holders, so bring that along with you if you need a bit of a respite and no need to spring for the VIP tickets.

3.5
This was the maiden voyage for the worldwide ‘Taste’ festival in Toronto. It was a well organized event from start to finish including their on line ticket purchasing and use of the crown system to purchase food.
The lineup of restaurants was well varied and offered a wide array of trendy foodstuffs from many acclaimed Toronto chefs and their establishments. It was also great to see a huge number of small companies with excellent samples and information about what it is they’re doing and selling. As a big supporter of small craft companies who are doing a great job, I was very impressed with almost every kiosk we visited.
Lineups moved quickly and we rarely waited long for anything. We tried to watch some of the live demonstrations, but there wasn’t much shade, which made standing difficult in the heat and the seating was taken quickly. The VIP lounge was advertised as being Air Conditioned, but it was either not working, or the open windows prohibited from the cold air being contained. it was very hot in the tent and there was no breeze to cool things down. I purposefully bought the VIP tix since I thought that it might be nice to have a place to cool down on a hot day. Fort York is not a location with a lot of shade.
It would have been nice if there were more lounges set up around the venue with umbrellas and shelter as many people were sitting on the grass.
Most of the food that we tried and paid for was quite good, but the value factor was not high for this event. The Ribs and potato salad from Barque were great, but 10 crowns (= to $ 10 CAD) for 3 ribs and a little squirt of potato salad was pretty steep considering that you can get almost a whole rack of ribs at any local ribfest for a little more than double the price.
Duck Scotch egg from Hudson Kitchen was pricey, too. especially for only half an egg.
McEwan’s Lobster Poutine for 10 crowns seemed to be a little more on the money, featuring lots of lobster, crisp golden fries and a lovely gravy that was tinged with a really nice amount of nutmeg.
If you were hungry, I’d say 50 crowns would do you well for the day. If you have extra crowns, try selling them to other festival attendees for a reduced price. They say the extra goes to charity, but there is no proof of this or tax receipt. I prefer to make donations in lump sums and don’t donate to any charity that can’t provide me with a receipt.
Overall, a pricey day, but very fun! I would go again but I wouldn’t bother with the VIP tickets. I’d buy the minimum entry and spend the extra on crowns.