Saturday morning and afternoon
Kensington Market is a colourful neighbourhood between Chinatown and Little Italy and a perfect place for a stroll. Vegans will love Hibiscus, hibiscuscafe.ca, for soups, crepes and salads. For dessert, try cupcakes, ice-creams and milkshakes at the spaceship-themed Cosmic Treats, cosmictreats.ca, or Bunner’s Bakeshop, bunners.ca, for cinnamon buns or chocolate cheesecake.
Saturday night
Fresh, freshrestaurants.ca, is a great option for a casual dinner before hitting the clubs, theatre or Toronto Raptors basketball game. Those with carnivorous pals will like Khao San Road, khaosanroad. ca, where you will find excellent Thai food. The restaurant also has a plant-based menu. If dive bars are more your thing, EL Ruddy, facebook.com/E.L.Ruddy.Co.Cafe/, serves vegan "pulled pork", burgers and burritos.
Sunday morning
For Sunday brunch, the Hogtown Vegan hogtownvegan.com, and the Steady, thesteadycafe.com, are two of the best spots. Try pancakes smothered in maple syrup or guacamole and pico de gallo-laden tofu rancheros. The Steady even does a pretty mean vegan eggs benny.
Bronwen Keyes-Bevan, a freelance writer from Limerick, lives in Toronto. She blogs about veganism at nowoowoo.com Share your travel tips for your adopted home with Irish Times readers by emailing magazine@irishtimes.com with Live Like a Local in the subject line.