This Riverside locale is putting a plant-based spin on famous comfort food. At Animal Liberation Kitchen, burgers are made from pulled jackfruit, the cheese in the mac and cheese is made from cashews, the maple bacon is made from tempeh, and it is all hearty and delicious.

Taps are pouring at the first Ontario location of CRAFT Beer Market. Originally from Calgary, the two-storey restaurant has set up shop at Yonge and Adelaide.

Downtown Markham is getting pretty fishy with Good Catch Boil House. Toronto restaurateur Patrick McMurray is responsible for bringing one of the first raw seafood bars to the area in addition to the freshest daily seafood catches that are served. Good Catch Boil House is not serving up just your average seafood favourites, though its

Cheesy dakgalbi is the speciality at Korea Town’s Hancook. The Bloor West hot spot for cheesy goodness is serving up some of the most authentic and delicious dakgalbi in the city. At Hancook, they are focused on using fresh and local ingredients to make the most traditional Korean grub they can, and it shows. Hancook

Acclaimed Japanese ramen chain Hokkaido Ramen Santouka has opened up its third Toronto location, in the bustling midtown centre. Diners are encouraged to finish every last drop of their soups as the chain’s original founder, Yuzaka, has created nuances of smell and taste meant to be enjoyed to their finality. Come in for the signature

It’s official: Toronto is experiencing ramen mania. This year alone we’ve seen the opening of New York noodle giant Momofuku, along with ramen-houses such as Kinton and Sansotei. Meanwhile, the team that brought us Yours Truly is set to open a ramen shop come December, and Ramen Raijin, from the owners of Vancouver favorite Kintaro, is opening on Gerrard Street soon. And now we can add Santouka Ramen to the list.

Opened in December on Dundas West, Imanishi is a new Japanese kitchen offering izakaya-style appetizers and teishoku, a traditional style of pre-set meal consisting of meat, rice, salad and soup.

If you’ve ever wondered where to go to get all your Japanese staples, the one-stop-shop is J-Town located at Woodbine & Steeles in Markham. Inside you’ll find everything from onigiri, to sashimi to a Japanese bakery and also Izakaya Ju. The specialties of the house are the chargoal-grilled yakitori (meat on skewers). If you’re lucky

Over at Bloor and Clinton in Koreatown, Japas opened in the old Camto corner lot on Wednesday. The concept: a Japanese tapas and oyster bar with plenty of Japanese beer and cocktails flowing. It’s also meant to be distinctly un-izakaya in nature (read: no yelling and no gongs) while offering a fun, casual space for people to meet and share a few bites over drinks.

As patrons drift into Kingyo Toronto, each party is greeted with an enthusiastic chorus of "Irashaimase!" The latest addition to Cabbagetown’s culinary landscape, Kingyo is, in fact, a transplant from Vancouver. Out west, the eatery has been dishing out elegant Japanese pub fare for some seven years; this rendition is the first to make its way eastward.

When it comes to ramen in Toronto, choices have been scant compared to the bounty of New York City, with its Ippudo and Totto Ramen, or even Vancouver, with its Kintaro Ramen Noodle or Motomachi Shokudo. But now Toronto has a new player in the ramen scene: Kinton Ramen, opened last week in Baldwin Village, which aims to do away with the misconception of ramen as instant food that hails from plastic packages.

Fans of Baldwin Village’s Kinton Ramen know that it’s a pork lover’s spot. There, thick pork bone broth comes with heaps of pork belly or pork shoulder, and customers can request how much pork fat they want added to their soup (“rich” means a lot, “light” means less).

Konjiki’s original Tokyo spot has been included in Michelin’s Bib Gourmand guide for four years in a row, and when chef Atsushi Yamamoto led the Toronto expansion, the lines formed immediately. And for good reason. The menu is stacked with items you won’t find anywhere else, like velvety clam broth ramen scented with truffle, sous-vide

It took a long time for Japanese ramen to become popular in Toronto. When it finally did, in 2012, the trend proliferated quickly, much of it mediocre. But since then, a few purveyors have risen above expectations, their broth a little more complex, their noodles a bit more springy. The long menu at Ramen Isshin

Ramen Isshin brings true authentic ramen to three locations across Toronto (College Street, Queen West and Assembly Chef’s Hall). The signature dish is the wok-fried red miso ramen, but Ramen Isshin also has other exotic offerings like white sesame shio ramen and tsukemen (a.k.a. dipping ramen). Ramen Isshin also offers a large selection of vegetarian

Koji Zenimaru may be a relative latecomer to Toronto’s ramen scene, but what he lacks in timeliness he makes up for in dedication. In researching noodles for Ramen Isshin, his new restaurant on College Street, Zenimaru spent six months tasting different varieties — around 900, in total — before finally settling on two. That’s right, 900 types of noodles.

While Toronto doesn’t have any Michelin stars or Michelin-recommended eateries, we’ve inherited some from afar and Ramen Misoya is just one of said restaurants hailing all the way from Japan. With over 100 locations worldwide, you bet they have their ramen down to an art. As you may have guessed by its name, Ramen Misoya

Ryus Noodle bar relocated to Bloor and Broadview after a fire took its original location on Baldwin out of commission. It enjoys a sort of monopoly in the ramen category in its new home, being the only ramen spot for blocks. But that’s not why they’re busy. Ryus is arguably one of the best ramen

Dundas Street West has become a sort of “Little Japan” with its variety of eateries peddling everything from cheesecake, matcha soft serve and of course, ramen.

The Shozan Room’s long-anticipated opening has arrived, and the two-storey locale at Ossington and Dundas West is advertising “new wave” Japanese creations that pay homage to their culinary roots while simultaneously breaking all of its rules. “Our starting point was traditional Japanese food,” says CEO, co-owner and co-chef Squid-Ti, “But we completely deconstructed it and