From four foot-long belt noodles (yes, you read that right) to vegan Italian food (can you believe it?), here are five of the best Toronto restaurants to check out on your next night out.

MIMI Chinese

 

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If you haven’t snagged a seat yet, head to MIMI Chinese, a stylish, red light-saturated spot nestled in Yorkville serving a bevy of sharing plates that explore regional Chinese cuisine. Come for the four foot-long belt noodles teeming with mushroom-lent umami flavours; stay for the slow-roasted Char Siu, a BBQ pork dish originally from Guangdong province that’s finished with a wildflower-honey glaze.

265 Davenport Rd., mimichinese.com

Piccolo Piano Pizzeria

Out of Café Cancan’s old space comes Piccolo Piano Pizzeria, a classic-meets-contemporary joint headed up by chef Victor Barry who’s tossing perfect pizza—the blistered, cut-with-a-pair-of-fancy-scissors kind. Expect elevated antipasti favourites (mozza caviar stix are next level) plus cocktails on tap set in an all-red room, dressed up to nines in flamboyant pizzeria decor.

89 Harbord St., @piccolopianopizzeria

Gia

 

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Beefy bolognese, mountains of parm, oh-so-buttery cacio e pepe—if the thought of Italian without dairy or meat sounds blasphemous, you haven’t met Gia. The plant-based Dundas West restaurant, under the helm of chef Matthew Ravenscroft, is taking an entirely meatless and mostly milk-free approach to comfort food favourites: panko-crusted vegan meatballs, Koji-cured celeriac steak and homemade agnolotti stuffed with porcini.

1214 Dundas St. W., giarestaurant.ca

The Haifa Room

 

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After slinging gloriously delicious falafel sandwiches from its take-away window since late last summer, The Haifa Room’s indoor dining situation is finally open. Dishing out new spins on Palestinian and Israeli dishes, the team’s developed a concise, but stunning menu, including lamb kibbeh, loaded labneh and the sabich, a deep-fried eggplant and hard-boiled egg pita that’s garnered line-ups at this sun-drenched Dundas and Ossington spot.

224 Ossington Ave., thehaifaroom.com

Oji Seichi

 

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Dubbing itself “your neighborhood ramen bar,” the east-end’s Oji Seichi is a love letter to the owners’ Japanese-Canadian roots: traditional techniques derived from home cooking (like their sumptuous broth that undergoes hours-long simmering) and bouncy, made-in-house noodles crafted with a blend of local flours, like whole wheat and rye. Oh, and don’t miss the maitake mushroom sandy—a veg take on the crispy chicken katsu of their youth.

354 Broadview Ave., ojiseichi.com

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