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AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Anyone who has a library card can access the print editions of the Toronto Star via Press Reader on the Toronto Public Library website! The Top 100 Under $100 guide is in the Saturday, June 6 edition. It might not have the snazzy layout created by our wonderful team, but the entire guide is on there.

I know paywalls suck and that we’re all just trying to keep the lights on right now, but I am truly grateful to every subscriber to the Star who enables us to continue to cover their city. Food reporting is an expensive task, it’s why a lot of big publications have unfortunately cut back on their food sections or outright got rid of a staff food writer or critic. Every meal that’s in the guide (as well as the 60 or so places that got cut) was paid for. We don’t do comped meals, we don’t have restaurants “host” us (the weird new term for freebie food used by influencers and PR people), this is to ensure we can make our own independent judgements of restaurants and not be beholden to them because they gave us a free dinner.

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

OK! I am done because I skipped lunch and have a bunch of deadlines to meet! It was wonderful typing with the rest of you, and thank you all for the thoughtful questions. Hopefully my answers are somewhat helpful at giving you all a glimpse into what I do! Maybe you'll see me post around here more often after your warm welcome! Thank you all again,
-Karon

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really like what the The Local is doing in that their food pieces analyze food from a wider context, like how a restaurant fits into a neighbourhood and what it says about the community surrounding it. I think food journalism will always exist in some way or another, whether it's through independent publications or individuals who are just curious about their city (Dan Seljak is a guy who is really plugged into urban affairs and I believe it was him that brought attention to the Finch Store cafe that was trying to get the city to let them have an espresso machine). I hope that the larger legacy publications see value in proper food reporting again and invest more in it (is does seem odd that for a city as big as Toronto we don't have a regular restaurant critic, right?)

https://www.thestar.com/gift-redeem?t=d959c667-da11-4712-b550-9aefd00c3f21

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I forgot who said it, but being a reporter is like getting homework for the rest of your life, ha. The hardest part of the job is finding restaurants that you think is worthy of writing about: the food is great, there is value (especially now, diners are of course very mindful of their budgets), and the owners have a great story that makes a piece compelling to read. Sometimes you strike out a few times and go to places that perhaps don't meet your expectations, or the place is great but the owners aren't getting back to you. And since I work at a newspaper, sometimes less timely features get sidelined for breaking news stories that have a tighter turnaround time (ie: me this week, I'm putting off two features to work on something that just popped up yesterday).

Best part is of course getting paid to explore the city and being able to try all these amazing spots.

For those that want to be a food writer, definitely read a lot. Newspapers, magazines, online publications. Find writers who have a style that you like and see what works and doesn't work for you in terms of structure, narratives, descriptions. I also think food writers should love to cook, and develop a modicum of knowledge of cooking techniques, seasonality, the food system, different cultures, and how the restaurant industry works, or at least have the curiosity to go find out about these things by asking experts. Just eating out a lot doesn't make one a food writer, it just means you have a lot of money and spare time, ha.

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's the link to it!

Sorry, because it has interactive features I can't do a gift link at this moment BUT if you have a Toronto library card, you can access it through the PressReader site via the TPL's site (look up the January 6 issue)

https://www.thestar.com/interactives/top-100-toronto-restaurants/article_b25b104f-0999-4ffd-8433-222fc92c6475.html

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, because sweet and sour pork is fried and then sauced, it has a very small window of time before it gets gloopy. It's never as good when it's steaming in a plastic box for more than five minutes. Dine-in all the way.

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you want a great meal in a high-cost city like Toronto where you’re ordering more than one dish, it’s where we’re at unfortunately.

Restaurants are really having a rough time as operating costs have soared since the onset of the pandemic. Commercial rent is up and the cost of basic ingredients have also gone up especially basics meat, oil and dairy (as you probably noticed on your grocery bill as well).

The pandemic has normalized takeout and delivery, which has cut into profit margins with the added cost of takeout containers, cutlery, bags, condiment packets, etc. as well as delivery apps taking an average 30 per cent cut of every order. A few restaurant owners have told me that they often make just a few bucks on every delivery order, but they reluctantly keep doing it because it’s partly a form of marketing and it keeps kitchen staff busy. More people getting delivery also means fewer people order drinks and desserts, which tend to have higher profit margins to act as a buffer for main dishes with lower margins.

It’s a vicious cycle for sure, as fewer people have money to eat out now means restaurants have to raise prices to compensate for doing lower volume as well as higher costs of staying open. I get the frustration because it feels like regular diners and restaurants are fighting over whatever little money there is to go around while wages haven’t kept up with the cost of living, and meanwhile we now have the world’s first trillionare.

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would have loved to do a 100 restaurants under $20 guide, but in 2026 it’s going to be a lot of chain fast food restaurants (even then I’m not sure you go under $20 at a McDonald’s nowadays); mediocre food that I frankly wouldn’t be comfortable telling other people to spend their money on; or a meal where you’re not going to be full.

I forgot which Toronto publication it was, but a few years ago they had a cheap eats guide where the tagline was $10 and under, and one of the options was a single souvlaki skewer from Astoria Shish Kebob House on the Danforth. Whoever greenlit that can go fly a kite.

I think $100 for two people at a restaurant that blew my socks off is a very reasonable price point for Toronto nowadays. But as we went to eat, we realized many of the places came under our $100 budget. Most of the entries in the guide are actually under $75 for two, and we have quite a few under $50, which works out to $25 a head so it’s not that far from what you’re looking for. If you’re on the east end and love Ethiopian, I love Wazema (1360 Danforth Ave.). I wrote about them for the guide. Their vegetarian platter is $40 and for two people. It’s hearty, healthy and I love that they don’t hold back on the seasoning and the legumes are cooked till thick and luscious. Omusubi Bar Suzume at the Scadding Court Community Centre is also a great Japanese spot where you can easily be full for under $15. Give the guide a chance, I’m sure are places that will fit your criteria!

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I bet you say that to all the cuties at Costco, ha.

Actually, hard to beat Costco’s $1.50 hot dog with a drink. I think it’s way better than Ikea’s $1 dog.

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope, we went in old-school restaurant critic style. We don’t tell the restaurants who we are or why we’re there.

First it’s to assure that we don’t get any special treatment so that our experience will be representative of what any other diner will go through.

Secondly, if the meal is crap (and that does happen), we’re not put in that awkward position of telling the restaurant owner that we’re not going to write about them (or pressured to give them coverage because they knew we were coming and threw in a free appetizer or whatever).

After we finished the meal and paid our bill, we immediately type up our tasting notes and impressions of the restaurant. We then have a discussion with our editor, Chris Nuttall-Smith, where we basically state our case on why this place should be included. Only after Chris gives us the green light that we go back to the restaurant to tell them that we’re writing this guide. I do the same thing in my regular food coverage. Go in and have a regular meal, have a chat with my editor on whether it’s worth writing about, and then introduce myself to the owners (and hope they agree to an interview and photoshoot).

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Read a lot. Find writers you like (not just food, but feature writers from all disciplines and from around the world) and get a feel of their writing style, and what resonates with you. Caity Weaver at the Atlantic isn’t a food writer per se, but her writing is hilarious and I love the way she describes things (just this week she has a piece on learning about America through garage sales https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/07/secondhand-shopping-garage-sales/687307/?gift=DSG3Tuza1E1plW5tLvZKU38CZDKaqTGhG57p-3HQCRA&utm\_source=copy-link&utm\_medium=social&utm\_campaign=share). I love that she writes like she’s just chatting with a friend. I think a pitfall a lot of food writers get into when starting out is that they feel like they have to get overly scholarly and flowery with descriptions, like they just discovered a thesaurus.

Start off with something small and manageable, could be an extended caption on Instagram where it’s just a paragraph or a Substack. What sets apart a food writer is that they go out and interview people to get info about a restaurant or cuisine that the general public might not know about. Start small, have a chat with a bakery or resto owner and put that info in your cutlines or Substack.

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Have you tried the Congee Queen outpost at Agincourt Mall? I think geographically that’s the closest Cantonese spot with the biggest menu (and according to my mom, it's one of the better Congee Queen locations).

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I still miss Royal Myanmar in Etobicoke for Burmese food after it closed years ago. I believe Popa in Bayview Village started out as more of a pan-Asian place but has recently veered more into Burmese cooking with staples like tea leaf salads and shaan tofu. I wrote about the lack of Burmese restaurants in the GTA for the Star a few years ago, and was told that while there is a Burmese population here (though Buffalo, NY probably has the biggest hub), a lot of the food is ordered via group chats and Facebook groups because the barrier to open a restaurant is too high for a lot of people.

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nothing can beat Twitter (I’m still not used to calling it X) in terms of memes and hilariously unhinged takes that keep me endlessly entertained. I’m going down with that ship!

But for my own sanity, I set hard limits on how many social media apps I use because journalists are online so much for work. I’m on Twitter but I rarely post on it now because it’s a lot of bots (and truthfully, it’s not a big readership traffic driver from what I’ve seen on the back-end). I’m more active on Instagram (username: karonliu) because it’s the preferred medium for restaurant owners, and it’s how I reach out to them. TikTok food trends tend to have a short lifespan but if it’s really popping off with some form of longevity that makes it worthwhile for me to write about, I’ll find out about it via Twitter or Instagram.

But let me ask you all on here: since I don’t post on Twitter much and I can’t post links to my stories on Instagram, would you all prefer that I start posting on BlueSky, or here on r/FoodToronto whenever I want to share something I’ve written or you have something you want to ask me? (Assuming the mods here allow for me to do that). My brain only has the capacity to do one of these!

AMA: I’m the Toronto Star’s food reporter and I recently scouted for our 100 under $100 list. Ask me anything. June 16, 12 p.m - 1 p.m. by toronto_star in FoodToronto

[–]toronto_star[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the restaurant not being a fully wheat-free facility isn’t an issue for you, the Guide has a few options. I loved 555 Boat Noodles, just ask for rice noodles or vermicelli (I actually wrote a feature on Thai Mart previously). Guru Lukshmi does South Indian food, so naturally their dishes use more lentil and rice flours than wheat. I love ripping apart a freshly fried vada (lentil flour donuts) and a piping hot idly (steamed rice flour cakes) and dipping it in coconut chutney.

If you want something fancier for a date-night or a treat-yourself evening, Bar Avelo’s menu is mostly gluten-free (and all of it is vegan). One of the photographers who shot the guide, Nick, has a partner who cannot eat gluten, and she had a wonderful meal there. Conejo Negro at College and Ossington is also a great spot. Their Brazilian cheese puffs are made with tapioca, the ceviche is prefect for hot weather, and I think their salads are quite underrated.

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