Thomas Lavers Cannery & Delicatessen

Came here with a group as part of a food tour of Kensington Market, and it was one of my favorite stops! I’ve had a couple of vegan banh mi’s, but this one was definitely the best, and I love how the meat eaters really enjoyed it as well. They also tried the Rueben, and my cousin is still talking about it being her favorite food she had on the whole trip to Toronto (and she isn’t normally a Rueben fan!) I am less into the cannery part (theirs is great quality, but not my thing) but I’d go back for the sandwiches, and the owners are so down to earth and passionate, I love it.

great ginger beer, awesome sammies!
chill atmosphere with super freindly staff.
you should check this place when you have a chance

Vegans, take note: This is an unexpected gem. Their vegan rueben is incredible! Just make sure you ask for it without cheese. This is where I take off one star. You should not have to specify, when ordering an item marked «vegan» that you actually mean vegan. The default should be to make the sandwich vegan, and maybe ask if you’d like cheese to be added. I’ve definitely made it through nearly half a sandwich before noticing the weird texture that turned out to be tasteless cheese. This is the most perplexing part — it doesn’t even add any flavour! Anyway, it’s a really good sandwich, sans cheese. Their ginger beer is also A+.

Holy. Ginger. Beer. I was upset at the Steam Whistle brewery when they said they did not have ginger beer but they told me where to find it. And for that, they are my favorite. Because this ginger beer is THE GREATEST GINGER BEER IN NORTH AMERICA. It is INCREDIBLY gingery, which is my favorite. I got the ginger beer from a bottle but they also have ginger beer ON TAP. GENIUS! I love this place. I want them to live in my house so I can have ginger beer all the time. Or in a keg. Or whatever.
The only bad thing about this place is that they’re not open 24 hours a day.

This little gem has an amazing selection of home made condiments amongst other things. Their ginger beer is deliciously refreshing specially for those who love that strong kick of ginger! The handlebar actually uses their gingerbeer to make their dark n stormys which is how I learnt about the ginger beer in the first place. Definitely try the fennel relish, you will NOT be disappointed !!!

delicious roast beef sandwich. Their mustard is delicious and so are their vegan sausages.

The shop was very spacious! The owners were super cool, and everything in their shop is handmade! They also gave us a little history of their background and how they come to opening the shop! Fresh sauce! Everything fresh! It’s amazing what a difference it makes. They even introduced us to Ginger Beer. Yes you heard that right, Ginger Beer! Love love love! I am normally not a fan of Ginger. I know I’ve been saying that throughout the whole post, but it’s true! I’m taken to all the food places I don’t normally eat but make me love them instead! The gourmet food shop is owned by chefs Bryan Lavers (formerly of Grace) and Tye Thomas (owner of Ronnie’s Local 069 around the bend)

Went in with a friend so he could refill his Ginger Beer bottles… ended up leaving with one of my own.
I’m not a big soda person for health reasons, but after trying a bit of this I was completely convinced. The Ginger has a real kick and you get the feeling that you’re actually getting some real nutrients with it. Even 20 minutes after drinking it, you can still feel the ginger warming you up. On a cold December day in Kensington, it’s perfect.
I’ll be back to refill my bottle and check out some of the other items there. Definitely worth stopping by!

Saucisson, pâté, pâtes artisanales, conserves avec un personnel ultra-​sympa.

My new favourite shop in Kensington Market. I love everything that I’ve tried from here. The relishes, chutneys, homemade ketchups, mustards, etc… all very good quality, super flavourful, and goes well with various meats or vegetables.
The beet relish and fennel relish are my favourites.
The staff are knowledgable, interesting, and funny :)

A surprisingly good place to get treats for vegetarians.
We bought fresh buttercup squash ravoli there and they were the hit of our dinner party. Also, they have really, good vegan italian sausage — most vegetarian sausage is terrible, this I would happily eat over and over again.
And perfectly balanced ginger beer. Didn’t try the rootbeer that the other reviewer complains about but I would be surprised if it’s as bad as they claim, given how good everything else is here.
Nice guys too.

So far I have only tried their condiments while on my quest for the ultimate home made burger and Thomas Lavers did not disappoint. The rhubarb raisin jam was the perfect touch and adds some Canadiana to your repertoire of fridge door selection of goodies that come out when barbequeing. The home made pasta looked interesting so maybe I’ll try that sometime. I get the impression that they are well on their way to finding their niche in Kensington. Along with Peter Sanagan, Cold Tea Bar, Thirsty and Miserable, The Good Egg, we have riches beyond belief in a small area of the city and Thomas Lavers can add more of what’s good in Ontario to the mixture.

I purchased a few canned items as gifts and for myself as well as sampled a sandwich from the delicatessen. I liked the variety of chutneys and condiments they had to offer but felt that the markup on some items was high. I started canning recently and have made pickled green beans. I know how much it cost me to purchase the beans from the farmer’s market and make 2 — 500ml jars. I found that the cost of one jar was almost 3x the price than if I made a jar at home! I didn’t actually try their green beans so who knows, they may be mind-​blowingly better.
As for the sandwich, mmmm! I ordered the vegan banh mi and found the sandwich to have great flavours and textures. It was a crusty bun filled with your usual banh mi toppings, tofu of some kind and I believe they use their kimchi jam (?) and a wasabi mayo. The portion was a good size but I don’t recall the price.
All in all I would return to purchase some of their more adventurous condiments such as piccalilli or for something sweet, wild blueberries in syrup. I’d also try another sandwich or their root beer but I’ll stick to making my own pickled green beans.

Disgusting root beer. Tasted like a glass of water with stale cigarettes in it.

Ordered a corned beef sandwich with made-​in-​house sauerkraut and condiments. So disappointed there wasn’t any sauerkraut to purchase while I was there — I’m sure I could eat a tub of it. Could the sandwich be less pricey or use a wee bit more meat? Maybe, but I think $ 9 (after tax) was a fair price for the quality, effort and tastiness. It’s only been open for 3 weeks at this time, so i’m sympathetic to the lack of sauerkraut inventory until they’ve established their customer demands. Looking forward to trying their vegan Rueben very soon…

I had a smoked ham sandwich. The ham was of great quality. However, the sandwich itself was a little uninspired, and left me thinking that I could have easily made the same thing at home. When a sandwich comes up to more than $ 9 with tax, I would expect more than simply ham, cheese, tomato and lettuce.
The staff was friendly, and the place looked good, but next time I want a sandwich in Kensington, I’m going to go back to Dr. Augusta’s Samitorium, who has much better sandwiches for cheaper.