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This is kind of my beef. Why do you have to perfectly time your visit to get a good meal? If you screw up once or twice, you are off my list for food forever. Sorry but there are way too many places to eat and limited meals each day to waste it on poorly executed food.
We are back in the US, because my wife ran the Boston Marathon on Monday. So she got to pick the meal for after. She had a craving for West Indian food. We went to this place owned by a Jamaican and Lucian. Ordered Curry Crab, Escovitch Fish, Brown Stew Conch, Fried Lobster (Hellshire beach style), Side of Callaloo, Fried Plantain, Festival with Tons of Sorrel and Rum to wash it down. Everything knock it out the park good, why cant you easily find a meal like that in Toronto with the population that is there?
Hakka food in Toronto is one of the foods that the city excels in! I love that place Federick on Ellesmere. My brother in law takes us there whenever we are in town, its delicious. Cant say I have had a bad dish there even once!
Hey i'm sure I would like every menu item at every restaurant to be fantastic but there are some items that some restaurants just excel at. Its their go to item and if its that good I'd never ban them. When I feel like Crispy Beef I know where to go but i'll stay away from their curry dishes. Its not that their terrible just that the I can find better curry dishes elsewhere so I just stick to their Crispy Beef and Hot and Sour Soup. To be clear, it is not like there aren't places where everything is fantastic however it just depends on where you go. Some places can be hit and miss and I don't think this is a T.O only problem.... You should check out ALO when you come to Toronto. I haven't been, its a bit rich for my blood but its apparently making quite the name for itself. I think you'll see places like this happen more often in Toronto. Its always played second fiddle to Montreal in the country for fine dining but that is starting to change as Toronto grows in prosperity. I've always felt Toronto did well in day to day mom and pop variety type cuisine but its just recently started to excel in stuff like this..
Speaking as a millenial (and I think I can speak for the majority of my millenial friends in Toronto), "nightlife" is hardly at the top of our mental "list" when we consider where to move. I think this would apply to most millenials who lead sane, active, and balanced life styles. Millenial =/= we go clubbing every Friday and drink hipster espressos on Saturdays (in fact that kind of lifestyle gets old very fast. Been there done that).
So what are the things I actually do care about when migrating to a new city as a millenial? The exact same as everyone else:
1. Jobs. Career Advancement. Potential for future pay increases and career mobility.
2. Affordable, wide-ranging housing options, in a variety of different neighborhoods.
3. Good mobility and public transit options.
4. Connectivity and proximity to other regional hubs.
5. Stable economic/political environment. Open, progressive, and tolerant attitudes towards people from different backgrounds.
Yes I would be looking for all these things regardless of being a millennial and would apply to someone who just needs to hold a job and have a productive life. If i'm 21 with loads of cash and don't have to hold down a job, sure i'd choose to live in Bangkok or Barcelona over Toronto. Way more exciting nightlife and just more fun. Obviously Bangkok KILLS Gothenberg or Amsterdam for nightlife but the city is crazy and frenetic. Even expats who work as digital nomads in Thailand much prefer the lifestyle that Chiang Mai brings. That said, if you are looking to land a gig in Finance and make tons of money - Thailand isn't the place lol.. For anyone you have to balance personal needs with what a city offers and make a choice from there. Most millennials are at a stage of establishing themselves so partying all the time will quickly lead them down the path of destruction. It only lasts for so long! Beside you're right - it gets old and a balanced person appreciates balanced things!
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Originally Posted by Acajack
I think this list is grossly wrong and unfair to Toronto in terms of nightlife. WTF?
BTW, it seems like the author of the artlcle thinks that Quebec has separated from Canada. Almost all her comparisons for Toronto are with Vancouver, whereas Montreal is its closest comparable in Canada by a longshot.
Any list that has Brussels having better nightlife than Bangkok just instantly means stay away to me. Brussels is a fine enough city but for nightlife Bangkok it is NOT.... I also think it depends on where you live for nightlife. If you live in some far flung burb in T.O - nightlife SUCKS - it deserves -1000.. If you live and On Queen Street West or King and Spadina obviously its different so where you live in a city matters. Agree about the author. The whole list and article is just completely forgettable - the Toronto Star needs to find better stories by the looks of it lol...
Why - i'm a nice guy lol - oh because I didn't show enough love for Pudong ;P
I always look at these lists as a grain of salt anyway and when I see Gothenburg or Utrecht having higher scores for nightlife than Mexico City and Bangkok or Vancouver having a higher score than Toronto for Festivals - for freaking festivals you'd have to be living in an alternate universe to think Vancouver beats T.O for festivals.... I instantly tuned off this list...
Most of our festivals, and we do have a lot, are smaller than TO's. PRIDE is just one example. Our Greek Days is fun and crowded....but it's wasn't like the Danforth one I attended. Our Italian Days used to be good. Last time I went it was kind of sad. I mean...I don't go to Italian days to buy Indian Curry.
...but then size isn't everything. I actually prefer Vancouver's smaller, but manageable PRIDE. Still fill very community orientated, although more corporate than it used to be.
That headline is misleading as he doesn't actually say that Toronto is a better food city than Montreal.
But it's true that Toronto offers the best range of the world's cuisines of any city in Canada. (Whether this makes this the best food city is a matter of debate as there can be other criteria.)
Today's star: Toronto ranks 24 among 100 cities for Millennials. Vancouver at 10th, Montreal at 15th. The top three go to Amsterdam, Berlin and Munich.
this is gonna make many pissed: Although many actual Toronto millennials would disagree, the city’s lowest score was for nightlife. Among the rated 100 cities, only Ottawa, Denver, Brugg, Cork (wherever that is), Philly, Boston and Perth ranked lower than Toronto in night life. Berlin and Paris tied for number 1. Montreal scored 9.5, putting it at the 7th position. Vancouver and Toronto each gets 1 point at 92th. LOL
Criticism of Vancouver, at least on this forum, is not directed at the city itself which is fine for what it is but to the people that make it to be what is not, some sort of perfect paradise on earth pretty much on every front....if Vancouver were to be correctly compared to, let's say, to Portland, nobody would say anything.
Toronto discussions are generally "correctly calibrated" to what the city really is, this is why you read less criticism...no Torontonian (or at least very few) would compare their city to NYC for example..........on the other side, absurd comparisons between Vancouver and San Francisco abound......
Vancouver nightlife is not any worse generally than a comparably sized North American city (or even North European city) with similar economic weight, in a similar climate.
Warmer locales tend to be more "naturally oriented" towards nightlife, at least certain type of nightlife, staying out until late walking, open cafe and restaurant culture, etc......but that is not Vancouver fault.
Have you read the Vancouver subreddit? Vancouverites themselves are often negative about Vancouver. It's not just other Canadians.
I also disagree with your Vancouver-Portland comparison.
Vancouver is not comparable to San Francisco, but it's certainly more internationally relevant than Portland. You are doing the opposite of people who overvalue Vancouver's relevance by comparing it to a random American city that few people outside North America care about.
Why - i'm a nice guy lol - oh because I didn't show enough love for Pudong ;P
I always look at these lists as a grain of salt anyway and when I see Gothenburg or Utrecht having higher scores for nightlife than Mexico City and Bangkok or Vancouver having a higher score than Toronto for Festivals - for freaking festivals you'd have to be living in an alternate universe to think Vancouver beats T.O for festivals.... I instantly tuned off this list...
Although my family lives in Pudong, I am not a fan either. It is poorly planned, with a car-oriented mind. It all looks fancy and prosperous, but in reality is far less livable than the dense and crowded old city. It was designed at a time when the North America suburban living with a Financial Disctrict that turns into a ghost town was consdiered a great example.
I know very little about nightlife, but I believe you make sense. The ranking explicitely said it is based on number of bars and opening time, which is not really the best measurement of night life (which is really not determined by bars and how late they close).
I also think it is a very western-centric ranking. All Asian cities are ranked very low, which is a clear sign of a western bias. It is more about "where an American can have the most fun at night".
Hey i'm sure I would like every menu item at every restaurant to be fantastic but there are some items that some restaurants just excel at. Its their go to item and if its that good I'd never ban them. When I feel like Crispy Beef I know where to go but i'll stay away from their curry dishes. Its not that their terrible just that the I can find better curry dishes elsewhere so I just stick to their Crispy Beef and Hot and Sour Soup. To be clear, it is not like there aren't places where everything is fantastic however it just depends on where you go. Some places can be hit and miss and I don't think this is a T.O only problem.... You should check out ALO when you come to Toronto. I haven't been, its a bit rich for my blood but its apparently making quite the name for itself. I think you'll see places like this happen more often in Toronto. Its always played second fiddle to Montreal in the country for fine dining but that is starting to change as Toronto grows in prosperity. I've always felt Toronto did well in day to day mom and pop variety type cuisine but its just recently started to excel in stuff like this..
I definitely was not implying that Toronto does not have good food. I was just pointing out that despite how diverse the place is, it still has holes in its offerings. There are still types of foods you cant find and also types of food that are not executed very well. On the other hand it has many types of food that it excels in. As with anywhere, you take the good with the bad, but it is hardly a bad food city!
The fine dining has actually come a long way. ALO has been on my list. Last visit I tried Edulis, amazing meal to say the least!
Most of our festivals, and we do have a lot, are smaller than TO's. PRIDE is just one example. Our Greek Days is fun and crowded....but it's wasn't like the Danforth one I attended. Our Italian Days used to be good. Last time I went it was kind of sad. I mean...I don't go to Italian days to buy Indian Curry.
...but then size isn't everything. I actually prefer Vancouver's smaller, but manageable PRIDE. Still fill very community orientated, although more corporate than it used to be.
This is fair. Sometimes the smaller festivals are more fun and other times the larger ones are. I do not know enough about what Vancouver offers (We tend to not be in the know when it comes to places we do not live) but I assume a city of its stature has an excellent festival scene.
One example of smaller is sometimes better. Trinidad Carnival is technically smaller than Caribana. Do I need to tell anyone which one is more fun?
That headline is misleading as he doesn't actually say that Toronto is a better food city than Montreal.
But it's true that Toronto offers the best range of the world's cuisines of any city in Canada. (Whether this makes this the best food city is a matter of debate as there can be other criteria.)
Not that I disagree with the latter portion of your post, but is there a type of cuisine that you can find in Toronto that is not available in Montreal? Honest question, because I do not know the answer.
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Most of our festivals, and we do have a lot, are smaller than TO's. PRIDE is just one example. Our Greek Days is fun and crowded....but it's wasn't like the Danforth one I attended. Our Italian Days used to be good. Last time I went it was kind of sad. I mean...I don't go to Italian days to buy Indian Curry. 
