At the corner of Portland and King, you’ll find the aptly named Portland Variety: an eclectic mix of a café, lunch counter and tapas bar. Fusing the flavours of Spain, Greece and France, the restaurant offers a variety of bite-sized eats including beef carpaccio, ceviche, grilled octopus and cured meats. Many of the plates can be paired with their extensive cocktail menu and come summertime, you can indulge on the outdoor patio located overlooking King Street West.
The brainchild of Jennifer Gittins and Michael van den Winkel of Quince Bistro (RIP), Little Sister is an Indonesian snack bar serving up the very best in small plates. The menu showcases plenty of fun and whimsical options including croquettes, skewers and Indonesian-style rendang tacos. Van den Winkel—who serves as the consulting chef—brings some Dutch influence to the traditional dishes having grown up in Amsterdam. As of February, the restaurant now offers take out for when you...just...can't...even.
In Anthony Rose’s quest to take over the Toronto dining scene, he explores a “euphoric mish mash of Eastern European and Israeli Jew food” in his offerings at Fat Pasha. With everything from daily salatims. hummus, latkas and roast cauliflower, Fat Pasha is the type of food you want to share with others—not just because of the experience, but because trust us, the portion sizes are very generous.
This tiny little wonder in Kensington Market has been serving up some of the best Latin-style sharing plates in the city for a decade now. All of the classics are here: patatas bravas, shishito peppers and fresh ceviche, paired with a selection of Spanish wines and Cava. In the winter it's a perfectly cozy spot, but it really comes alive in the summer, with not one, but two patios to relax on.
The sister spot to Toronto’s beloved Bar Isabel, Bar Ravel is a hat tip from chef de cuisine Grant Van Gameren and partners Michael Webster and Robin Goodfellow to the Basque region of Spain. The standing-room-only spot features only a few stools to perch on while munching on an array of pintxos—grabbed straight off the bar—including house-smoked mackerel, fatty chorizo, and canned smoked sardines. One thing to remember: this is a snack bar, not a restaurant. Be prepared to socialize and have an experience.
Found in the St Lawrence Market area, Barsa Taberna inhabits an old heritage building with original stone archways and 19th-century beams. The decor, accompanied by the new-generation Barcelona tapas, set the tone for Barsa’s full-on tribute menu to the authentic roots of Spanish cuisine as well as the avant-garde movement of the Nueva Cocina Espanola. With everything from house-made chorizo to grilled octopus and empanadas, we recommend you wash it all down with a glass of their sangria, known to be among the best in the city.
