I first decided to attend the Toronto Film Festival in 1986 after reading a story by Carrie Rickey in the Philadelphia Inquirer the year before. If my blog inspires you to go to the festival next year here is some advice about having a good fest.
Getting Around: The public transportation in T.O. is fabulous, a combo of subways, buses and trolleys that gets you around town in fine fashion. Save money by buying a weekly pass or tokens. I stick with the tokens since the pass can't be used if a stop is automated. And be aware that despite being a thriving metropolis of 2.5 million, the subway stops running at 1am on Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Cheap Eats: Toronto has a 15% sales tax so keep that in mind; it makes NJ's 7% look pretty good, hey? A grilled chicken salad and bottled water at McDonald's cost me $8.75 Canadian! (The US dollar is worth about $1.08 Canadian, a slight advantage that is eaten away by the tax. My favorite food places are the perfect combination of location, speed and good food, since I usually only have 40 minutes at the most between movies.
My two favorite restaurants are the New Yorker Deli on Bay St. across from the Manulife Building/Varsity Cinema (the main movie venue), and, around the corner from the back entrance, Zyng Asian Grill on Yonge St. The former is just what the name says, a great deli with fabulous brisket and corned beef sandwiches, plus a cheap breakfast, and one of the best soups on the planet, owner Jerry's cabbage borscht (vegetable beef soup). Soup & sandwich is around $10 plus tax. The latter is an Asian noodle house where for their "bowl meals" you pick the protein, the sauce and are then handed a bowl to use at the veggie bar to grab your choice of veggies and hand them to the chef to grill together. The basic bowl meal is $8.99 plus tax. Here's the Web site for Zyng http://www.zyng.com/
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I first decided to attend the Toronto Film Festival in 1986 after reading a story by Carrie Rickey in the Philadelphia Inquirer the year before. If my blog inspires you to go to the festival next year here is some advice about having a good fest.
Getting Around: The public transportation in T.O. is fabulous, a combo of subways, buses and trolleys that gets you around town in fine fashion. Save money by buying a weekly pass or tokens. I stick with the tokens since the pass can't be used if a stop is automated. And be aware that despite being a thriving metropolis of 2.5 million, the subway stops running at 1am on Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Cheap Eats: Toronto has a 15% sales tax so keep that in mind; it makes NJ's 7% look pretty good, hey? A grilled chicken salad and bottled water at McDonald's cost me $8.75 Canadian! (The US dollar is worth about $1.08 Canadian, a slight advantage that is eaten away by the tax. My favorite food places are the perfect combination of location, speed and good food, since I usually only have 40 minutes at the most between movies.
My two favorite restaurants are the New Yorker Deli on Bay St. across from the Manulife Building/Varsity Cinema (the main movie venue), and, around the corner from the back entrance, Zyng Asian Grill on Yonge St. The former is just what the name says, a great deli with fabulous brisket and corned beef sandwiches, plus a cheap breakfast, and one of the best soups on the planet, owner Jerry's cabbage borscht (vegetable beef soup). Soup & sandwich is around $10 plus tax. The latter is an Asian noodle house where for their "bowl meals" you pick the protein, the sauce and are then handed a bowl to use at the veggie bar to grab your choice of veggies and hand them to the chef to grill together. The basic bowl meal is $8.99 plus tax. Here's the Web site for Zyng http://www.zyng.com/
Posted by Lori Hoffman | November 27, 2006 11:39 AM
Posted on November 27, 2006 11:39