Kensington Market 'Taste the world' Food Tour

Tasty Tours has been hosting food tours in the historic Kensington Market for over 10 years. Like its immigrant heritage, Kensington Market is full of survivors who have braved countless changes in the neighborhood, including the most recent business-decimating pandemic. Find out what makes Kensington so special, and let's support them together! All within one neighbourhood, we will travel:

1. Around the world, locally - we'll sample a variety of ethnic eats in the multi-cultural enclave of Kensington Market. In between bites, feast your eyes on the mom-and-pop businesses, brightly coloured graffiti murals and gourmet food shops that lure locals and visitors alike. Come with an appetite, as you'll have enough samples for lunch!

2. Through time - we'll trace the history of the market from its origins as a Jewish market to hip neighbourhood to the recent coronavirus challenges, weaved through the stories of the stores, cafes, and bakeries we visit.

3. Through perspectives - we've got the insider edge, from special foods made just for our group, to secret photo spots in the market. After our day together, you will become an insider too!

"This tour was great! I am from the Toronto area but wanted a unique birthday gift for a friend. I googled and found this tour and the amount of great reviews was what sold me on it and I couldn't be happier! We had an absolutely great day. The food was AMAZING, it was a great mix of sweet and savoury and you learned about the area, the market, food origins, how they are made, about the restaurants and about the owners. I would recommend this tour to anyone and I would do it again! You get great portions and feel like you got what you paid for. Amazing tour!" - 5-star TripAdvisor Review

(All participants will receive a complimentary neighbourhood e-guide with their ticket, as well as access to our exclusive Food Concierge service)

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More about Kensington Market and the tour

Tasty Tours was one of the first to offer food tours of the Kensington Market area, and we've been running tours in this neighbourhood for over 5 years now. Kensington Market and it's neighbouring Chinatown was a natural choice for us to choose for a food tour, as it truly reflects the spirit of Toronto as one of the most multicultural cities in the world. Chinese, Mexican, Canadian...you name it, you can find it here. Kensington Market is an interesting area to visit because it has managed to retain its immigrant, working-class culture in the face of rampant gentrification. As you stroll down the streets of Kensington, you will notice that unlike most other neighbourhoods in Toronto, there is a surprising lack of large corporations in the neighbourhood.

That's because Kensington Market residents fight to keep the big box stores out, allowing small, locally-owned businesses to continue flourishing in this area. This is why the neighbourhood has such special character and soul.

Kensington Market was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2006, and is widely considered to be one of the most photographed spots in Toronto, for good reason. Kensington Market is a colourful neighbourhood made up of small eateries, boutiques, produce shops and other local stores lining pedestrian-friendly narrow streets, with many buildings decorated with eminently photogenic graffiti. People who are new to the neighbourhood are sometimes a little confused when they first arrive, expecting a more traditional market like St Lawrence Market selling mostly fresh produce. The name Kensington Market is actually a throwback to its original roots as a Jewish market in the early 1900s, but it has since evolved over the years to become the neighbourhood that we now see, with a mix of ethnic eateries, produce shops, vintage stores and more.

Having visited all the stores in the neighbourhood over the years, we like to consider ourselves Kensington Market experts.

In our humble opinion, Kensington Market is THE place in Toronto to get a huge variety of authentic, affordable eats within walking distance of each other, and that is why it is one of our favourite neighbourhoods in Toronto. After countless hours of research (and a lot of eating!), we've hand-picked a variety of different stores that we feel best represent distinctive threads in the fabric that is Toronto's rich food culture, as well as a selection of stories about the neighbourhood, stores and food. We even worked with one of the stores to put a special twist on a Canadian dish, just for the tour! All of the stores and samples were tested by countless locals and tourists, and we've tweaked the tour over time to arrive at the perfect mix of variety, amount and deliciousness for the majority of our guests.

After the tour, you'll probably want to stick around the area. Shop at some of the vintage stores in the area, listen to some of the buskers in the area, or take selfies at the many graffiti murals in the neighbourhood. Feel free to ask your guide for more suggestions during the tour, as we would love to share more about one of our favourite spots in the city!

Whether a local or a tourist, Kensington Market is a unique and must-visit Toronto neighbourhood, and we guarantee you will eat or learn something new on this tour.
 

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