A Message from Kristina!
Posted under: Hello! My name is Kristina and I am the Campus Life Coordinator here at Vic. That means I have the opportunity to work with students all year around on different projects that included tons of amazing events starting from Orientation all the way to Graduation. That means I am here every step of the way while you are at Vic.
I cannot wait to officially welcome you to Victoria College, UofT, and Toronto. All three of these places have so many great things to offer you and Orientation will be the perfect place for you to learn about these things. But Orientation is still a few weeks away and I am so excited that I want to start sharing some resources with you now.
Toronto, and especially the area around UofT, has a lot of really great places to eat between classes. But even better than the fact that there are a ton of places to eat, is that so many of them are vegetarian friendly (which I especially love because I am vegetarian). So, I am going to dedicate this entry to sharing five great places to eat if you are a vegetarian (but still great for all types of eaters).
Ethiopia House
Location: 4 Irwin Ave.
(Two blocks north of Wellesley off Yonge St.)
What to get: Vegetarian Bayaaynatu – $12.65
It is a sampling of eight different ethiopian dishes on injara (Ethiopian flat bread).
If you go before 3pm you can go for the lunch special. I can’t remember how much it is exactly. I think it is around $7. Ethiopia House is one of my favourite places! A lot of the veggie dishes involve lentils, peas, or chickpeas and the injara is so tasty.
Biryani House
15 Hayden St.
(One block south of Bloor off of Yonge)
What to get: the lunch special. It’s about six bucks and you can pick any three dishes. It’s definitely worth going here for lunch over dinner. It is a great value and is just down the street from Vic. If you want a sit down Indian dinner I would walk down Bloor over to Nataraj.
Nataraj
394 Bloor Street W
(On Bloor, right between Bathurst and Spadina)
What to get: So many options! They have so many things for vegetarians but I think the paneer dishes are the best tasting things off the menu. Paneer is a fresh cheese and it is done up with different sauces, like Saag Paneer which is cubes of fresh cheese and a creamy spinach sauce. Yum!
Hot Yam!
33 St. George St
(International Student Centre at St.George and College)
The Hot Yam runs once a week out of International Student Centre. The student volunteers cook up a mostly local, mostly organic meal every Thursday at lunch. Moreover, its entirely vegan, completely delicious, and only $4. Lunch runs from lunches from 12-2pm, every Thursday at the International Student Centre. To find out what the menu is each week and to get great recipes check out their blog (http://hotyam.blogspot.com/). If you want to try your hand at cooking and want to join a great group, the Hot Yam! is always looking for volunteers.
Diabolos’ Coffee Bar
15 King’s College Circle
Diabolos’ is located in the Junior Common Room at University College. It is not-for-profit and completely student run. There you can find fair trade coffee, tea, and vegan and vegetarian lunch options. It is open Monday to Thurs 8:30am – 6pm and Friday 8:30am – 4pm.
Happy eating!
Kristina