Recently, I was graciously invited by Tourism Toronto to check out the Taste of Toronto for the weekend. While these FAM trips are usually jam packed with days of eating and touring, I was lucky to live a bit of a double life during my time in the Tdot.

You see, a great deal of my relatives live in and around Toronto, so when we called it quits for the evening – I’d go out to see another side of Toronto that was more so the local scene. While my entire itinerary was filled with great stories and meeting amazing people (as you’ll read about when I continue on with the series), I was also very fortunate to get a true local perspective.

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This particular perspective was thanks to my cousin, Christine and her husband Rob. Originally, we were supposed to meet to check out the Jazz Festival, but instead, she recommended we check out the T&T Night Market near Cherry Beach. As we are lucky enough to have a handful of night markets here in Vancouver, I wanted to see how Toronto compared. It’s silly of me to think that any comparison could be made – since we are east coast vs. west coast. But during my time walking around, I couldn’t help but make comparisons.

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For example, it seemed for the most part that food was a bit cheaper than the fare here in Vancouver. But again, we have big events that go on for the entire summer and then some – so perhaps rent is more expensive than a T&T parking lot? Another difference is that there is some entertainment for the kids.

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Back in the day when the night market started off small in the parking lot of Lansdowne Mall in Richmond, there was half the carnival and half the ‘market’ area. So being at the Toronto Night Market made me reminisce of when that was still around.

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In terms of vendors, besides maybe one or two tents, they were primarily food. The mix of different cultures is more apparent at this night market – lots of Filipino stands, a Malaysian one, several Taiwanese, Vietnamese and so on.

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Favourites like takoyaki, potato on a stick, red bean fish and all sorts of barbecue can be found here. There are also delicious Malaysian wraps and satay, Filipino tocino and tacos and these ridiculously huge clams that were about the size of my fist!

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A popular item at the night market was grilled whole squid.

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There was a huge lineup for this chicken tent, I really wish I had the time to try it, but the line up was way too long.

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What’s great about the area is that you can walk along not too far off and get this magnificent view of the city’s skyline.

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This is probably as authentic a night market experience you could get in Toronto, and a great way to try some up and coming businesses. It looks like the Night Market only happens once a year, so I’m glad I got to check it out while I was in town! Definitely go for the experience and to try the food – and most definitely for the beautiful view.

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