Happy New Year.  And thank you, truly, to everyone who followed, read, shared, bookmarked, and showed up hungry in 2025.  The Toronto Food Blog exists because you do.  We never forget that.

2025 was another year deep in the chase… a slightly obsessive, occasionally unhinged pursuit of good food in all its forms.  White-tablecloth temples.  Greasy spoons with flickering lights and no website.  We worked our way through restaurants, watering holes, strip malls, food courts, bodegas, markets, and food trucks across the 6ix… always looking for the places that feel honest, lived-in, and real.

We leaned harder into #weekendsinwinecountry, tracking the fast-changing food scene across Niagara.  We spent more time than any reasonable person should in New York City.  Still, we found room to eat our way through the Eastern Townships, the Savoy, Scarborough v. Jackson Heights, and a handful of places the algorithm hasn’t ruined yet.  We kept showing up alongside Toronto BIAs, too… because small, local businesses are exactly the point.

From après in the Alps to conch in the Caicos… thanks for coming along for the ride.

Here are a few memorable meals from 2025… in no particular order 😉

The Ceviche des Pescado at Las Fronteras (2300 Finch Ave W) has lingered in our memory throughout the year. 

Cold.  Sharp.  Unapologetically bright.  Acid does the heavy lifting while the ample seafood stays out of its own way.  A reminder that citrus, salt, and restraint still matter.

Quick overshare:  we don’t ever eat banana but found ourselves asking for more plantain chips after just a couple of bites.  Happy to oblige, in this Ecuadorian kitchen it’s Abuela vibes all day long (with a pinch of lime).

V’s Schnitzel House on Brown’s Line is about commitment.  Commitment to thin-pounded schnitzels, fried hard and properly, stretching past the edge of the plate like they’ve got something to prove.  Crisp exterior.  Tender meat.  No shortcuts.

This is Slovakian comfort cooking planted firmly in Etobicoke.  Schnitzels paired with seasoned potatoes that soak up everything they’re supposed to, and a simple salad made memorable by a dill dressing that somehow ties the whole plate together.  It’s heavy, honest food meant to be eaten hot and without hesitation.

The dining room feels lived-in.  Family-run.  Regulars at the tables.  No interest in trends or reinvention.  You come here hungry, you order the schnitzel, and you understand immediately why this place has lasted.  Nothing flashy.  Nothing ironic.  Just a very clear idea of what dinner should be… and the confidence to stick with it.

Nam Tok Kor Moo at Somtum Jinda (76 Gerrard St E) is straight-up Isan cooking… bold, herbal, sharp, and built around contrast.  This is food rooted in a family tradition from Ubon Ratchathani, brought to Toronto without sanding off the edges.

Grilled pork jowl comes smoky and rich, sliced and tossed with onion, cilantro, garlic, chili, and mint.  Lime cuts through the fat.  Heat lingers.  Herbs keep things fresh and restless.  Every bite pulls in a different direction, and that tension is what keeps us coming back.

Nothing precious here.  Just a dish that knows exactly what it’s doing… and does it every time.

What’s the Dill, Yo? at Slowhand Pizza (99 Pape Ave) in Leslieville became our most-ordered pizza of the year without any formal discussion.  It just kept happening.  Every visit to our mom’s ended the same way… this box on the table.  She loved it.  We noticed.

A personal Detroit-style deep dish where every slice is a corner (which is clearly an intentional design choice rather than a gimmick).  Sourdough crust that’s as light as air.  Creamy roasted-garlic sauce.  Mozzarella and Swiss.  Dill pickles layered admirably and finished with fresh dill and a Carolina Gold mustard drizzle.  Tangy, rich, faintly absurd, and completely logical once you’re eating it.

Some foods are good. Others end up permanently linked to a particular time and place.  Both boxes ticked here.  Winner!

Old Avenue (1923c Avenue Rd) is an Azeri kitchen bringing a taste of the Caucasus to North Toronto.  It’s the kind of food that naturally slows you down, served in a room that’s full of energy.  Thanks for the recco, Samuels.

Khinkali are big, steamed parcels filled with heavily-seasoned lamb and finished with extra pepper.  The dough is soft but purposeful, built to hold in the juices.  There’s broth inside, which means there’s a right way to eat them… and a wrong way you usually only try once.

No theatrics.  No translation layer.  Just honest food from a part of the world that doesn’t show up on enough menus around here.  Cuisine that expects you to meet it on its own terms… and rewards you when you do.

At Chilli Chicken House, you walk in already decided.  Our love for Hakka is always met with open arms here… and real heat.  Located in Erindale, this Indo-Chinese kitchen pulls no punches.  It’s a great spot to catch up with old friends who are big eaters (guilty as charged).  Bring the kiddos.  Make a mess.  It’s all good.

Our go-to is the dry version, which means nothing’s softened by sauce.  Chicken fried hard, edges crisp, tossed with chilli, onion, and pepper that refuses to fade into the background.  Savory, spicy, Halal, a little unruly, and impossible to stop picking at.

The eponymous dish earns the name on the door… loud, direct, and exactly what you came for.

The Ribs at Beach Hill Smoke House (172 South Main St) are the kind of thing that makes you briefly question why utensils were ever invented.  Central-Texas BBQ in the Upper Beach… ordered by the pound, heavy with smoke, meant to be handled.

They come off the pit with a bark that’s a little rough around the edges, smoke worked deep into the meat, and enough juice that you’ll still be wiping your hands after you’re convinced you’re done.  The rub leans in: pepper and a touch of sweetness setting the stage before the smoke closes the deal.  Bite in and there’s that slow, deliberate pull of smoke, salt, and pork fat that makes everything else you’ve eaten recently feel strangely restrained.

This isn’t tidy food.  It’s not playing it safe.  It’s finger-lickin’ by design… the kind of ribs that reward commitment and punish clean sleeves.  If BBQ is a language, these ribs are impossible to misunderstand.

We saved the best for last… intentionally.

The best meal we had all year (and it’s not close) was at Restaurant Pearl Morissette.  Destination dining, planted firmly in the middle of agriculture, where the land isn’t a backdrop… it’s the point.

Built on a holistic, regenerative philosophy, the food and wine here are shaped by close relationships with regional farmers, growers, and makers.  Everything on the table feels like a direct expression of the local ecosystem.  Not interpreted, not embellished, just understood and executed at a very high level.

There’s a reason this place holds two Michelin stars and is widely regarded as Canada’s premier dining experience.  The entire evening unfolded like theatre.  Precise, calm, perfectly choreographed, and paired with the most thoughtful, intuitive service we’ve ever experienced.  Every detail considered.  Nothing announced.  Nothing rushed.

Does thinking about this meal daily make it the best we’ve ever had?  Possibly.  What we know for sure is this: it was a hell of a way to close out 2025… and it’s going to be very hard to top in 2026.

Here are a few closing musings as both our review & our year come to an end.

Honourable mentions go out to a handful of places that stuck with us long after the plates were cleared.  Ted’s Hot Dogs, a Buffalo institution, continues to prove that some of the best #cheapeats in New York live well north of Manhattan.  Archie’s Subs in Port Colborne served-up the single best sandwich we ate all year.  TUMI in the Junction keeps quietly steaming some of the most satisfying dumplings in the city.  And Les Incompétents in downtown St. Kitts was our favourite restaurant opening of 2025.  Don’t sleep on their yakitori brochettes… holy mackerel.

As we close out the year, we’re deeply grateful for full stomachs and good company.  If our ongoing food coverage helped get a few more butts in seats for local, independent spots, then we did our job.  That’s all the Toronto Food Blog has ever really tried to do… show up, eat well, and help others.  Big thanks to all of YOU for reading, sharing, and making that possible.

Cheers to 2025!