Unless you work upstairs from this restaurant, leave for your workday lunch here at 11:30am. Any later, and you have a lineup to contend with. My favorites are the har gow (sticky shrimp dumpling) and daikon cake (the scallop dumplings are pictured here). But you'll do just as well pointing at whatever looks good on the cart - everyone else is doing it, anyways.

Outside of Monday-to-Friday office hours, Kathmandu is usually empty. It is criminal. The butter chicken has to be one of the best in the city. Sweet-and-spicy Lamb Sali Boti with stewed apricots, and topped with caramelized onions is like nothing I've ever had before. Waitstaff are mellow and friendly... at least until Kathmandu stops being criminally empty.

Good food, cheap, anytime, all the time. The vibe is always amped, as just about all of Swatow's patrons are either heading out, or calling it a night. I recommend the lemon chicken, and the fried wontons (pictured). On Spadina, east side, north of Dundas, look for the lineup - they know where it's at.

The appearance of an upscale eatery, the soul of yer mom's kitchen. Big ol' dishes of comfort food, at really good prices. Pictured here is spaetzle with chicken and garlic cream sauce. (It was good.) It's all stick-to-your-ribs, and it's all fantastic.

The coffee is great and the cookies are enormous (pictured). They also make really good sandwiches and salads (Carpaccio on Organic Greens? Yes!). But I think the soul of La Gourmand is the ten-foot wall of epicurean goods for sale (jams, cheeses, chocolates, breads + more). It's reassuring that you're getting good stuff on both sides of the counter.

Ed has been written up internationally, carries dozens of flavours, and bakes an apple pie for the sole purpose of mashing it up in his Apple Pie ice cream. All of that is a long way of saying that Ed's Real Scoop is the bomb. If you've got to feed an ice cream craving, you can't pick a better place. Go already.

No-nonsense coffee and lattes, and killer eats and sweets. Cozy atmosphere, no attitude. Every neighbourhood should have one of these.

It's a bit pricey to "do lunch" here often, but with luxe offerings like prosciutto cotto and pesto aioli on ciabatta on hand, you'd better believe it's worth it (the Topogigio - brie and mozzarella with sundried tomatoes - is pictured here). Service is friendly and attentive, good place to lunch if you can take your time heading back to the office. Go now, before the AGO finishes building the sneezeguard.

Hot and delicious, and none of that cursed heat-rating on the menu (i.e. "1 to 5 flames"). The Real Deal. The pad thai is awesome - a no-brainer - although the cashew chicken and curry beef are also killer. The Yonge St. locations have been holding it down longer than most of the other thai places that have been popping up. Go and see why!

The Beach isn't the first place I think of when I think of bargain hunting, but for whatever reason, this place is the last stop for all kinds of quality clothes, accessories and knicknacks. I like stocking up on basics here (socks, tees, belts). Think of it as Winners with better prices, and less elbow room.

Come in with twenty bucks, go away with an armload of trendy, barely used clothes. You can't go wrong.

Upscale burger joint that serves organic burgers, thin-cut fries and even plays decent music. But forget all that, it's just really, really good. (I reccommend the mini-burgers, for indulging a mini, girlish appetite)

Whenever I get this sandwich from the Churrasco at St. Lawrence Market, people invariably stop to ask me what it is and where I got it. It's as good as it looks - a 1/4 pound of roast chicken swimming in mayonnaise and piri-piri sauce (kind of like BBQ, but more sour), barely contained by a pada bun. These move fast on Saturdays, so get a move on!

The special is served with this awesome chickpea-and-coleslaw salad with your chicken instead of the usual tabooleh. It also comes with saffron rice, and a generous helping of your meat of choice. These folks expanded to a second location almost within a year of opening - there's a good reason.

The alternative to the typical diner menu. Favorite pick is the tuna on pan bagnat with sundried tomatoes and dill potato salad (pictured). Perfect if you're tired of poached/boiled/scrambled as your only brunch options. The coffee is also good.

Kind of like an old-school dry-goods general store. Neat ecological products and ideas for home, office, kitchen and garden, as well as a great selection of books on community and environment.

Pide is a Turkish flatbread. Pizza Pide is foot-long Turkish flatbread stacked with mozzarella cheese and your choice of toppings (I quite like the spicy sausage, pictured). Yes, the world needs another take on pizza. Come with an open mind and a big appetite.

Whiz-bang gift ideas with an emphasis on individuality and innovative design.

Unique design and gift ideas, and stacks of books on advertising and design that you won't find anywhere else. The brainy grown-ups' toy store.