Baldwin St. is a small street tucked away just north of the Art Gallery of Ontario. It primarily consists of a variety of vastly differing restaurants that could satisfy any urge of the munchies that may arise. The clientele vary from students staggering in from the University of Toronto to professionals from the nearby hospitals and government buildings. Situated right next to the Silverstein bread factory, you might also be able to smell the delicious yeasty bread wafting down the street.
Kowloon Seafood Dim Sum Restaurant
Cantonese cuisine.
Lunch dim sum is done by checking off a dim sum list card.
Opinion: I’m not a big fan of their lunch special menu, as I find their selection rather small and not particularly my taste. Their dim sum menu however is top notch and 100% authentic. Lunch time is busy, but wait time is very short. Delivery 6-11 PM
5 Baldwin St.
Tel: 416-977-3773
Fax: 416-977-4751
Baldwin Naturals Health Food Store
-sells organic fruits, vegetables, herbs, supplements, aromatherapy and skincare products
16 Baldwin St.
Tel: 416-979-1777
Vegetarian Haven
www.vegetarianhaven.com
Opinion: I’m not a vegetarian and I think I’ve only been there once a long time ago. No memorable experiences from there.
17 Balwin st. 416-621-3636
The Gateways of India
Has a lunch time buffet.
Opinion: The lunch group I go with never wants to go for east indian food, so I don’t have a recent experience that would be helpful. I remember it being acceptable.
19 Baldwin st
Tel: 416-340-0404
Kuni Sushi Ya
Sells “Japanese style” food.
Low priced. Large outdoor patio. Clean. I am not a fan of their food.
20 Balwin
416-260-3188
Sambuca Grill
Central Italian food. Secluded patio. Been there once.
21 Baldwin st.
Tel: 416-595-6277
Yung Sing Pastry Shop
Established in 1968. Serves super fresh homemade chinese buns, pastry, and dim sum. Siu Mai and Haw Gau dim sim is only sold on the weekends. I think the owners are retired now, and their kids are running it now - quality is as good as ever. Also, everything is very low priced, 3 buns for around $3.50-$4.00 which is enough for an average person.
Has a large community bill board. No seating - take out only, however there’s a bench outside the place.
In my opinion, this place has the best chinese buns in Toronto, and believe me, I’ve been to a lot of bun places in Toronto. I particularly like their curry buns, roasted pork buns, beef buns, and the ham&egg buns. Don’t like the vegetarian buns though.
Their buns also may make you very sleepy afterwards, so I’d recommend a coffee afterwards. The lunch time line gets very long from 12:15 to 1:00 .
22 Balwin St.
Tel: 416-979-2832
Balwin Laundromat
Drycleaning, wash, and fold. Good luck trying to get a menu or flagging down a waiter here, because amazingly enough, it’s not a restaurant at all, but a great place to wash one’s clothes. Bad place to bring a date to, but laudromats are supposedly good places to pick up people. Good luck!
23 Baldwin St.
Tel: 416-597-9429
Cafe La Gaffe
So, after you’ve picked up a hot date from the laundromat across the street, walk on over to the Cafe la Gaffe. It’s a medium sized place in addition to a small front patio, and a small sheltered back patio.
Mediterranean cuisine. Large wine list.
24 Baldwin st
Tel: 416-596-2397
John’s Italian Cafe
It’s been on this street since 1981. And as I vaguely recall from my childhood in the 1970’s, the two store units were once a tofu making place and a chicken butcher shop, then into some sort of jewish cheese place…. Of course, Balwin st. itself was not as dynamic as it is now. It reminds me of the cafes one would typically see in Europe - I half expect to see Don Corleone (the fat one, not Michael) sitting at his favourite table in a back corner. Nice large patio - one of my favourite places to unwind on a warm summer evening.
They often serve an order of Coke drink in those small coke bottles, gives it a nice pseudo Euro feel (assuming they even do that in Europe), also a bit of a ripoff for the amount you get for what you pay. They also sell some wierd brand of italian chinotto that I’ve never seen anywhere else - which is ok, nothing special.
Food-wise, their caesar salad is one of the most intense garlicky versions I’ve ever had - I love it - but don’t recommend it if you have an important meeting.
Their panini’s are excellent, with my favourite being the sausage panini. However, the roof of my mouth ends up being cut up afterwards - that’s the risk you’ll have to take for this sandwich.
Nothing special with the bruschetta, still worth it to nibble on in the beginning.
Maybe it’s expected in the restaurant business, but it just seems like there’s a high turnover rate for the waiting staff, so the service is kind of spotty - acceptable if you’re not in a hurry.
On a nice warm day, the lunch time crowd is extremely busy. Get there before 12pm or after 1 pm. Should be no problem getting a seat for dinner time.
I don’t think they accept lunch reservations, but doesn’t hurt to double check. Catering and delivery available.
27 Baldwin
Tel: 416-596-8848
Bodega
Since 1979, this French-Mediterranean restaurant is a cornerstone of this area. This is generally a suit and tie place, which may be exactly what you’re looking for if you’re meeting a client or wooing a lady friend. I don’t go there very often as I’m not a big fan of French-Mediterranean and prices seem kind of high, but I guess that’s important if you want to impress a client or lady friend.
Has a nice patio. Reservations recommended and catering available.
30 Baldwin St.
416-977-8538
Kon-Nichi-Wa
Mostly specializing in japanese style noodle and rice dishes. I used to go there often, I don’t know why, as the noodles and soup base is not particularly to my liking. If you want a real good japanese noodle taste, go to Kenzo noodle on Yonge St., north of Finch Ave.
31 Baldwin St.
Tel: 416-593-8538
Jodhpore Club
Traditional cuisine from various areas of India. I think I’ve been there once, nothing memorable.
