Toppa Top 10: The Best Caribbean Eats in Toronto

Words and Photos by Ola Mazzuca

Welcome to Toronto, where the biggest celebration of the year is the colorful, enthralling celebration of Caribbean culture known as Caribana. Caribana might only happen every summer, but West Indian culture is celebrated year round in “The Six” through music, fetes and, of course, food.

Toronto is one of the best cities in the world for Caribbean cuisine. Jerk chicken and roti are the first dishes that come to mind when one mentions Caribbean food, but all of the dishes that reflect the true flavors of the Caribbean — pelau, ackee and saltfish, callaloo, bokit — are available in T-O. It’s a place where you can taste the flavor of almost every island. If you’re craving a five-dollar jerk chicken lunch special with rice ‘n peas packed up in a white Styrofoam box, there’s a good spot for that. If you’re searching for authentic Trinidadian doubles, reminiscent of those sold outside Piarco airport, a flight isn’t necessary.

Toronto is more than a ‘melting pot’ of cultures – it’s a place where people share and explore different parts of the world. The city cherishes facets of the Caribbean and the Diaspora, which is why many of the restaurants in our list have been serving the city core and Greater Toronto Area for years. They are preserving culture, straight from the kitchen, and onto piping hot plates.

Click here, or scroll through the thumbnails above, to check out our 10 favorites—in no particular order— from Trini roti kingpins in the suburbs to the finest Jamaican joint in the downtown core.

LEELA’S ROTI AND DOUBLES
Cuisine: Trinidad & Tobago
(900 Rathburn Rd W #1, Mississauga, L5C 4L3; 905.232.9070)

The menu at Leela’s is extensive, and adaptive to the multifaceted palates of its Mississauga neighborhood. At lunchtime, Filipinos, Pakistanis, Jamaican, Chinese and guitarists from the nearby Long & McQuade store line up for “Hungry Wednesdays.” It’s an event for customers, as mini parathas are stuffed with chicken, goat, shrimp or potatoes and channa for a mere $3.29. Add a doubles or sahiena – slight with homemade tamarind chutney – a bottle of Apple J, and lunch is superb.

If you’re craving traditional “Trini Sunday brunch” food, opt for the chicken pelau. This take on fried rice is abundant with tender pieces of bone-in stew chicken, shredded peppers and mandolin-thin carrots. It’s best served with a side of Leela’s macaroni pie or callaloo, a top favorite amongst patrons.

For a real taste of Trini nostalgia, spend time with Leela Mahese for Sunday brunch. Tomatoes and saltfish, bhagi (spinach), amazing pumpkin, starchy and sweet eddoes choka (eddoes and potatoes), baigan choka (roasted eggplant) and fried bodi beans are always “hot and spicy,” like the sign says. Consume the platter with whole-wheat sada roti a la minute, and it feels like you’re at grandma’s house in Tacarigua. Mahase regards this meal as “sentimental” and “home bound” from her Sunday morning customers. As one customer testimonial reads, “When you’re running a business that’s home bound, it’s love. Leela and her family are truly blessed and grateful to be able to share their love for good food with their customers and the city.”

LE TI COLIBRI
Cuisine: Guadeloupe and Martinique
(291 Augusta Avenue, Kensington Market, M5T 2M2; 416.925.2223)

When Matthias Laurin and Kristel Procida moved to Toronto five years ago, they were in search of home-style dishes that reminded them of home in the Lesser Antilles. Located in the colourful Kensington Market neighborhood, their Le Ti Colibri, is a vibrant cove of authentic Creole eats from Guadeloupe and Martinique. Amidst the city’s abundance of Jamaican and Trinidadian spots, this unique restaurant shines. “They see the white sand beaches, but they don’t know the culture behind it,” Procida says of Canada’s general perception of the French islands. “We bring a new flavour.”

Laurin, a trained and cultured chef who has worked in Europe, hails from Martinique, while Procida is from neighbouring Guadeloupe. Both countries offer very similar flavors, blending African spices with a French twist. “The main ingredient is love,” Laurin says, crediting his grandmother, Mamille Leonie, for many of the homestyle dishes served.

Offerings range from Accras de morue (codfish fritters) to plates of callaloo and codfish. But nothing compares to the Bokit – a truly irresistible, “Creole sandwich,” served in a fried bake. This popular street food from Guadeloupe is usually filled with either seafood (shredded salt cod, tuna) or veggies (avocado, soy meat) and comes in several different mixtures and varieties.

The most popular Bokit at Le Ti Colibri is “Le Augusta,” which is filled with feroce— a blend of avocado, codfish and cassava. With a guacamole-like consistency, feroce doesn’t level. Fresh and clean flavors of fish and veg are pronounced in each bite, especially when paired with LTC’s house-made, spicy Creole sauce. A combo will get you a side of cassava fries or a whole fried plantain, perfectly caramelized and piping hot. Don’t forget a glass of homemade sorrel ginger juice, aka bissap.

Le Ti Colibri is a pretty small place, and you’ll find their shaded, lush back patio packed with an ethnic mosaic of diners on a sunny day. Speakers bump everything from Chronixx to Kassav’, with an emphasis on Zouk of course. Laurin and Procida have picked the perfect spot in Toronto to share their cultural gifts with the city, and their establishment reflects the food they make: colorful, warm and inviting.

INDAR’S ROTI AND DOUBLES
Cuisine: Trinidad & Tobago
(152 Albion Road, Rexdale, M9V 1A8; 416.745.0009)

Hospitality runs in the family for the owners of Indar’s Roti and Doubles in Rexdale, Ontario. Founder Indar Rampersad’s sister is the proprietor behind Pamela’s Café, a popular eatery in Chaguanas, Trinidad, near Port of Spain. Look up at the ceiling at Indar’s and you might feel like you’re closer to Maracas Bay thanks to an airbrush mural in vibrant island colours. Or maybe it’s the bake and shark that’s on your table, served with all of the staple fixings. Listen to the sound system and you’ll hear the latest soca mix – sold at the cash, atop a cooler of currants rolls, kurma and barfi. Maybe you are on your way to Maracas, by way of Canada.

Rampersad established Indar’s in 2012 with a mission to serve the community with top-notch Trinidadian eats. “Light and fluffy” is the perfect way to describe the restaurant’s main seller, doubles. The sweet-and-spicy, channa-filled snacks have the perfect amount of chutney, are tightly wrapped and non-greasy. Also popular are the deep-fried Pholourie and the All Day Veggie Platter. “My mom makes all the food we sell, but if we had to choose specifically according to our customers, our veggie platters remind them of home,” Indar’s daughter, Anu, says. Generous spoonfuls of baigan choka, channa and aloo, pumpkin and bhagi fill white Styrofoam containers, with paper bags of freshly baked dhalpuri on the side.

The chicken roti is Indar’s most popular dish, notorious for its heaping chunks of meat – all halal – and filled with veggies of your choice, and a splash of scotch bonnet.

THE VINEYARD
Cuisine: Jamaica
(3918 Cotrelle Boulevard; Brampton, L6P 2R1; 905.794.0211)

In an unassuming strip mall in Brampton, a suburb northwest of Toronto, there’s a Jamaican joint that turns up on a Tuesday. Walk into The Vineyard and you’ll find its tables filled with men drinking Red Stripes and shooting the shit, their voices fighting the volume of Vybz Kartel and Alkaline songs through the speakers. Against bright orange walls, there are handwritten signs promoting the daily special, and Digicel “top-up” posters. The vibe is raw and real, which is why many Brampton locals can’t get enough of the ambience, as well as that five-dollar jerk chicken special.

“I’ve eaten here five times in one day,” says one area resident, Devin Gorgis. “I never get sick of it.”  Gorgis lives down the street, and has become a familiar face at Vineyard, where owner and head chef Michael Bailey doesn’t even have to take his order. “When I walk through the door, Michael sees me and says: jerk chicken, rice and peas. I know people that drive from Bradford for the Tuesday special. If the food is that good, you’re bound to come back.”

The fedora-wearing Bailey likes to crack jokes, but he’s serious about his jerk chicken. What makes it special? It’s all about preparation. “We wash our meat three, four times, until you see no more blood,” he says. “We wash our rice until you see clear water. We make our own seasoning from scratch. Most restaurants go to the supermarket and buy seasoning, but we blend everything. Pimento is number one.”

A classically trained chef, Bailey moved from Clarendon, Jamaica, to Toronto in 1992. Vineyard has been open since 2007, serving diverse Brampton with an array of classics — breakfasts abundant with ackee, saltfish, callaloo and “food” (typical provisions of yam, dumpling and boiled green banana), to a daily soup special (cow foot, fish) and melt-in-your-mouth oxtail. The Vineyard also serves a and practically-perfect fry bake.

Bailey compares his establishment to the “United Nations” for its ability to attract all races and occupations. He often serves “more Indian people than Jamaicans” from the local population of South Asians, to notable celebrities like Kardinal Offishall, who lists Vineyard as his favourite Jamaican restaurant outside of the city. The restaurant even makes a cameo in his short film, “The Invention of Truth.” Before the video, Vineyard’s proprietor had no idea who he was. “The first time he come here, he don’t stop [eating]. My daughter brought it to my attention… [Now] when he has a party or birthday, I do the cooking for him.”

Bailey never takes a day off. Peeking out of the kitchen to take orders often sends him to front of house, where he receives enthusiastic greetings and goodbyes of “see ya later, boss!” He’s preserving Caribbean culture in the community through his food and his attitude. “I love to serve people, you know? I’m doing my part. I get to know everyone, and it brings people together.”

CRYSTAL SEAFOOD
Cuisine: Jamaica
(632 Vaughan Road, Oakwood-Vaughan, M6E 2Y4; 416.656.6632)

Owner Delroy Schobourgh first opened Crystal with his grandma in 1995 in downtown Toronto. The current location, at Vaughan and Oakwood, is in a more “authentically” Jamaican neighborhood. But while he serves classics like fried snapper, oxtail, curry goat and jerk chicken, Delroy claims fried chicken and shrimp linguine as his top specialties. And indeed, the stream of West Indian-Canadians ordering up the linguine make it clear that downtown dilettantes have no right to decide what’s authentically Jamaican.

Back in the kitchen, Delroy tosses the al dente pasta together with crisp veggie bits, a subtly spicy red sauce and fresh, juicy shrimp with the skill of a chef from one of Bourdain’s Italy episodes. The dish is delicious, with a soul lacking in most Italian fare north of Rome. Delroy has worked in some 50 kitchens over 30 years, high-end Italian ones included, and doesn’t subscribe to a purist view of Jamaican cuisine.

He does claim to be the first business in Toronto to offer Jamaican-style porridge, and features a different flavor every day—we tried the peanut porridge, which was delicious. The jerk, oxtail, goat – and yes, his signature fried chicken — are all excellent. But Saturday’s bean and dumpling soup of the day stands out especially. It was the most ordered item next to the linguine during our visit. Delroy admits as a child, he and his pals preferred Chinese to the native Jamaican cuisine his grandma taught him to cook. Ironically Delroy’s Chinese friends bring their kids to eat at Crystal on the regularly, and joke how they now know where Delroy got his famous belly from. “I eat here everyday,” he says. “Like my grandma would say, don’t serve what you don’t eat yourself.” —Booker Sim

ISLAND FOODS
Cuisine: Trinidad & Tobago
(1182 King Street West, Liberty Village, M6K 1E6
; 416.532.6298)

Island Foods has been a staple in Toronto’s core, at the edge of the Liberty Village neighbourhood since 1974. The large restaurant space accommodates couples to families that stumble in throughout the day for piping hot roti fllled with tender curry goat, bright channa and spicy potatoes. Jerk chicken and curry oxtail entrees are stacked high on plates, complete with cole slaw and rice and peas.

Owned and operated by the Sawh family, Island Foods is authentic Trinidadian cuisine. There isn’t any aloo pie or sahina, but the doubles are classic. With fluffy bara, perfectly cooked channa, and a hint of chutney, it’s one of the best takeout treats you’ll find on King Street.

The restaurant is fully licensed, serving an array of mixed drinks, and Caribbean beers like Red Stripe, Carib and Dragon Stout. They’re also known for their booth at the Canadian National Exhibition Food building, where they’ve been selling hot, cheap eats for nearly 30 years. For island heat in the East end, visit their takeout location at 1310 Don Mills Road.

ALI’S WEST INDIAN ROTI SHOP
Cuisine: Trinidad & Tobago
(1446 Queen St W, Parkdale, M6K 1M2; 416.532.7701)

Walk into Ali’s West Indian Roti shop. Glance to your left. Now, to your right. With two massive wall murals depicting Maracas Bay, this institution in Toronto’s multicultural Parkdale neighborhood brings you one step closer to Caribbean heat, even in the midst of a Toronto winter. But you haven’t acclimatized until you’ve tried the homemade pepper sauce and tamarind chutney that blesses Shiraz Aligour’s authentic Trinidadian dishes.

A former welder hailing from Princes Town, Trinidad, which is said to be the birthplace of Doubles, Ali moved to Toronto in 1972. After an injury on the job, he opened up his first shop four years later with his wife, in a smaller unit one block away. They’re the go-to for Caribbean eats at the Canadian National Exhibition, where Ali has operated two restaurants in the food building for the last 16 years.

“When we started, 90 percent of our customers were West Indian,” Aligour says of his now 38-year-old establishment. “The white customers didn’t know about our food, so they were introduced to it by their co-workers and would come and try. They would ask, ‘What is a roti?’ and I would have to explain it. There were no pictures [on the menu boards] at the time. Those who liked spice would get right into it. The others, it would take time.”

Now, Aligour says the clientele is “50/50” due to the various ethnic backgrounds within the community. Likely Toronto’s oldest Trini establishment – and the one that brought doubles to the city – Ali’s is the Mecca for piping hot roti. What Ali describes as a “boat,” can weigh up to two pounds, with fillings of boneless chicken, curry goat, veggies, and shrimp. The doubles, too, are massive. Two, tumeric-rich bara blanket the perfectly cooked channa, fragrant with garlic, thyme and cumin. Ali also serves a top notch POS sidewalk snack: Sahina, deep-fried dough balls blended with split peas and collard greens. To offset the spice, finish off with one of Ali’s home made ice creams: Coconut, mango and soursop are all made with fresh fruit.

Ali shuffles back and forth between the back kitchen, where staff are kneading dhalpuri dough, baking paratha skins and simmering curry beef—all Halal. “Yes, sir! How are you?” he asks a familiar face at the cash, grabbing an aloo pie, adding a dollop of chutney and wrapping it quick.

“When I started to work in Canada, my friends couldn’t say the full name Aligour, so they shortened my name to ‘Ali’,” he says over a glass of Mauby. “Last week, 10 new customers arrived and said, ‘oh, my friend told me to come,’ or ‘I was walking in Parkdale and wanted a roti and somebody told me to go to Ali’s.’ It makes me feel good. I can serve my people and introduce our culture to the Canadian culture.”

MONA’S ROTI
Cuisine: Trinidad & Tobago
(4810 Sheppard Ave E, Scarborough, M1S 4N6; 416.412.1200)

In an industrial business lot in Scarborough, there’s a piece of San Fernando behind the doors of Mona’s Roti. Step inside and all you hear is noise — The sound of heaters, stoves, boiling oil, and people shouting, “I need six dhalpuri and a bag of pholourie.” Nostalgia-inducing smells of aromatic curry, tamarind, pepper and turmeric fill the air. There are a couple of tables to sit and consume a roti, but they’re rarely ever used. Mona’s is the epitome of a Caribbean takeway.

When co-owner Mona Khan and her husband, Cyrus, moved to Canada in the late 80s, she began producing hundreds of roti skins in the kitchen of her Markham home. At the time, she was feeling “homesick” after moving back and forth from the outskirts of San Fernando, Trinidad, where Mona’s began. “While we were in Trinidad, it was tough to live,” says Cyrus Khan, who helped Mona open their Marabella shop in 1983. “People from all over the island would come to us for a well-made dhalpuri.” Purchasing their current space in 2003, Mona’s quickly became the place in Scarborough for made-to-order roti.

Today, classic curry chicken in a dhalpuri shell is what people crave the most. Yet, Mona’s is famous for their baseball-sized pholourie, perfectly spiced and fried, or specials like their jerk chicken and rich, curry beef. The kingfish steaks and salt cod are also tops, paired with some pumpkin, spinach or baigan choka – a traditional roasted eggplant dish. All of this cooking commences at seven o’clock in the morning, and with many hours spent in the kitchen, and around Mona, Cyrus can attest to the passion his wife puts into the food.

“She is happy when people enjoy the food and come back with good, positive comments. She doesn’t look at the cost, or anything like that,” he says. “That well-made Creole taste you have in the Caribbean, people long for that and they love it, you know? Many people come in for a taste that they can’t get anywhere else in the city.”

THE REAL JERK
Cuisine: Jamaica
(842 Gerrard Street East, Toronto, M4M 1Y7; 416.463.6055)

Go to The Real Jerk during Caribana or any time year-round and you’ll find some of the realest Jamaican vibes Toronto has to offer. The atmosphere here is as lively as the food. Every Thursday, they host a karaoke session aptly titled “Irie-Okie” and, though their old outdoor BBQs from their previous location are a thing of the past, the new location boasts a lounge area offering one of the widest selections of rums in the city, and they still host and cater an annual boat cruise event during Caribana. Prices are fair and the jerk chicken wings are the bomb. The roti comes in a generous serving, too.

Originally located at Queen & Broadview in Riverdale, owners Lily and Ed Pottinger were recently forced to relocate due to construction of new condos on their old site. They’ve now found themselves in a bigger space at Gerrard and Carlaw.

For the Pottingers, 29 years in business and a consistent place in NOW Magazine’s annual Best of Toronto list doesn’t mean resting on one’s laurels. Ed can be seen greeting every table and clearing the dishes, and staff are helpful and knowledgeable, recommending the perfect cocktails to pair with your dish. Beautiful murals depicting scenes of Jamaica painted on sheets of zinc meanwhile have survived through three different moves (there was also a brief stint operating a smaller take out joint in suburban Woodbridge).

The Real Jerk remains a landmark for the local Caribbean community and visitors to Toronto alike, attracting a culturally diverse clientele. It is a meeting place for food, culture, music and people, and truly is a piece of Jamaica in ‘the Six.’ Check out their sister location in Toronto’s Beaches neighborhood, at the fitting address of 1004 Kingston Road.

BACCHUS ROTI
Cuisine: Barbados and Guyana
(1376 Queen Street West, Parkdale, M6K 1L7; 416.532.8191)

This Bajan/Guyanese roti spot in Parkdale is revered for quality paratha and perfectly spiced curries. Although Bacchus is known for takeout, it’s also an inviting place to sit and savour. Just ask Anthony Bourdain, who stopped by the restaurant during his Toronto stop for The Layover. If you do stay, there’s beer on tap at the bar, and a window for people watching while you’re enjoying a roti filled with jerk chicken and pumpkin, sipping on a bottle of Kola Champagne. Hospitality is in abundance for those who dine in, as your glass of water never runs empty, and your roti arrives on a real plate, with real stainless steel silverware. No white Styrofoam containers here.

Bacchus encourages you to mix and match roti fillings, both traditional and unconventional,. Homemade curry chicken, goat and beef are tender, while homestyle veggies – from channa to spinach – are hearty. The veggie samosas are also delicious, and their creamy coleslaw is a perfect pairing to any rice dish. Also on the menu is Barbados-style street food like the “Bajan Handshake” —  five chicken fingers tossed in smokey BBQ sauce, and served with skinny sweet potato fries and honey mustard sauce. To end, try the flaky pastry peanut butter star, and cap it off with a five-dollar rum and coke.

FINAL COURSE: JR Sweet’s Jamaican Inspired Ice Cream
(522 Oakwood Ave, Oakwood-Vaughn; 416-913-0110)

When Claude Fearon, owner of JR Sweet’s Jamaican Inspired Ice Cream, was growing up in Sandy Bay, Jamaica, Sunday night dessert always meant a slice of his mother’s freshly-baked black cake or carrot pudding, paired with a scoop of rum raisin ice cream. “That was our staple,” says Fearon. “Those are the things that I remember as a kid, and a lot of the people that walk in the door feel like they’re a kid again in Jamaica. It makes them feel good.”

Fearon opened JR Sweet’s, in Toronto’s Oakwood-Vaughan neighborhood, in May 2014 with a vision to share a facet of his culture that was being overlooked. Toronto’s Jamaican community includes numerous places to feast on jerk chicken and curry goat, but nowhere else that specializes in the island’s unique ice-cream flavors. “In Jamaican culture, we have a lot of desserts and it runs pretty deep,” Fearon says. “I want to bring that to Toronto in a more detailed fashion.” Fearon works with different suppliers to offer a vast array of ice cream flavors, including Coconut Rum, and incredibly rich variations on classics like Stout, Mango, Soursop and Grapenut. There are a few unexpected twists like Tequila Lime and Kahlua, but the standard choice is nostalgic like Sunday nights in Sandy Bay: an outstanding Rum Raisin. Loaded with the dried fruit and fragrant like an aged barrel of Appleton, it’s unequivocal.

Fearon isn’t stopping at hype of obtaining exotic delicacies, and sees JR Sweet’s as “progressive business.” He plans to change formulas to produce a more authentic Soursop flavor, and introduce nesberry, a tangy-sweet fruit from Jamaica. After closing for the season in September, JR Sweet’s re-opened on Father’s Day, with additional cakes, pastries and Jamrock-inspired frozen yogurt.