Taste of the Danforth - Greek Food Festival in Toronto

Friday night saw the start of Taste of the Danforth, one of Canada’s largest street festivals, devoted to all things Greek, with food being the main attraction. The organisers estimate that around 1.2 million people will stroll up and down Danforth Avenue sampling what is on offer before it winds down on Sunday night. Conveniently this event just happens to take place a mere ten minute walk from our apartment, and there was no way I was going to miss out on this Hellenic feast.

The unmistakable smell of grilled meat and fish filled the air and could be detected streets away. The place was already heaving with people, and trying to find the end of the queues was almost impossible in this sea of people. We managed to navigate our way to Astoria Shish Kebob House, and got in line for their award winning pork souvlaki. They won’t disclose what goes into their secret marinade, but I definitely tasted cinnamon and cumin, so it was probably a yoghurt based marinade which made the meat so tender.

Next up we tried the grilled quail on offer further up the road from the unfortunately named Louis Meat Market – I have to assume that ‘meat market’ does not have the same connotations here as it does in the UK. Anyway quail doesn’t immediately spring to mind as being particularly Greek, but it turns out that game meats can feature quite prominently in Greek cuisine. This was certainly not a dish to eat with a knife and fork, much too fiddly. I’m a huge carnivore and not at all fussy about bones or the fact that these birds are tiny! Each quail had been spatch-cocked as you would with a chicken and simply grilled. It was delicious and beat the pork souvlaki into first place for the best dish so far. We went traditional Canadian for our third course, and stopped for roasted sweetcorn, smothered in melted butter and seasoned with salt and paprika. I’m a huge sweetcorn fan and lucky that it is in such abundance here. I devoured it within minutes and didn’t want to get to the end of the cob.


Day two saw us return during the afternoon grazing around for a late lunch/early dinner. A chicken gyro (kebab served in a pitta bread) this time from Megas that came with a healthy dollop of tzatziki and a tomato and onion garnish. Not quite satisfied that we had sampled enough, we found room for a slice of spanokopita (spinach pie made with filo pastry), and some very sweet loukoumades from Athens Pastries. Loukoumades are genius little things, probably best described as crunchy deep-fried doughnut balls. The crunchy outside almost resembles the banana or apple fritters you get at Chinese restaurants. The best bit is that the spongy inside has absorbed so much honey that it oozes out when you bite into one. Dust them with a little cinnamon and icing sugar before eating and there you have it, pure genius, enough said.

With bellies the size of balloons it was time to put the souvlaki skewers down and remove ourselves from any further temptation. I will be back to re-visit my favourites from this weekend when things get back to normal and are a little quieter. My first destination will be Athens Pastries for a coffee and some heavenly nectar filled loukoumades.

Astoria Shish Kebob House
390 Danforth Avenue, Toronto

Megas Restaurant
402 Danforth Avenue , Toronto

Louis Meat Market
449 Danforth Avenue, Toronto

Athens Pastries
509 Danforth Avenue, Toronto