Wikivoyage:Tourist office/Archives/2019/September

Homestyle Hunan cuisine in Toronto

So my birthday is coming up, and my wife and I are going to Toronto for dinner, a concert and spending the night of Sunday, November 3rd either at her boss's condo over by Moss Park (that's Plan A) or at a hotel, preferably one from which the Danforth is easily accessible via the TTC.

Since it's my birthday, I get to pick where we go to dinner, and lately my dominant food craving has been "homestyle" (i.e. not Americanized) Chinese. The problem with the restaurants of the genre in and around Buffalo is they almost invariably serve Sichuan cuisine. Which I love - love - but am frankly getting a bit bored with. So I'd like to take this opportunity to mix things up a bit and indulge in something I can't easily find at home. If I can, I'd like to try Hunan food - it's got the fiery spice I love, but of a different kind, so I've been led to believe, than Sichuan.

Yelp and TripAdvisor have been very little help in my search. The problem with crowdsourced information of that type is a pervasive inability among the general public to distinguish between American/Canadian Chinese food and homestyle. I know real Hunan cuisine must exist in a city as multicultural as Toronto, and I know we have a few Torontonian contributors here at Wikivoyage (Ground Zero, TheTrolleyPole), so I'm wondering if anyone can help point me in the right direction.

-- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 20:39, 12 September 2019 (UTC)

My experience is with Cantonese and Northern-style Chinese restaurants, where my favorites (Kwan, Dynasty, Asian Legends) are already listed in the Toronto articles. The only thing I can suggest is to do a Google search on "Hunan Chinese restaurant Toronto" and try your luck. Going a little off topic, someone wrote "Toronto is the only city in the world to have such a variety of Hakka restaurants" in the Toronto article; yet I know of only one Hakka restaurant, a recently opened one which I have not tried. Should we delete this statement? It seems useless without examples. TheTrolleyPole (talk) 23:38, 12 September 2019 (UTC)

I don't know myself, but I've put the question put to a couple of friends who may but know and will get back to you. I'll add a couple of Hakka restaurants while I'm here. Ground Zero (talk) 00:41, 13 September 2019 (UTC)

I've added Hakka restaurants in Downtown East and East End. There are more in the East End and in Scarborough, but I haven't tried them. I don't think that the statement is incorrect. Ground Zero (talk) 01:16, 13 September 2019 (UTC)

@AndreCarrotflower:, I cannot vouch for these, and neither can my foodie friend, but you could look into Wood House BBQ and Shuyi Canada in North York, and in Thornhill there is Hunan Restaurant and Bar (my friend has heard the Hunan beef is good). And in Scarborough is Hunan Style Restaurant. Bon appetit, and please report back if you try any of them. Ground Zero (talk) 01:49, 13 September 2019 (UTC)

Ground Zero - thank you for the recommendations! I forgot to mention that I'm meeting a friend in Thornhill on Sunday afternoon before the show, so the restaurants there and in North York are in the right general direction. I'll be sure to report back in a couple months! -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 15:49, 13 September 2019 (UTC)

I just returned from my visit to Toronto and had a lovely experience at Hunan Restaurant in Thornhill. My thanks again to Ground Zero for his assistance. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 01:00, 5 November 2019 (UTC)

I'm glad to have helped. Thanks for the report back. Ground Zero (talk) 15:25, 5 November 2019 (UTC)

Looking for applications or services that offer shipping by travelers

What are the applications or services that offer shipping by travelers? ׂFor example people from Europe can buy thing in ebay USA (which in many cases don't let buyers from other countries to buy there and they limit the purchase to the USA) and the travelers can bring it to them for some money so both sides enjoy (the traveler and the buyer). At the moment I know only one: Grabr which for a long time it seems to be not much active. Maybe you know others services like this one or better...? ThePupil (talk) 15:33, 14 September 2019 (UTC)

The legal complexities of such an arrangement are significant. The traveller might be considered to be an import agent. The goods will have to be declared at customs, by going through the red channel, and the duty paid - the free import limits would not apply to a commercial transaction. The traveller would also have to be sure that the goods were legal in the destination country, eg having the paperwork to support CE marking an electrical item in Europe. The traveller would also have to take steps to ensure that nothing was hidden in the goods (illegal drugs etc). AlasdairW (talk) 14:21, 15 September 2019 (UTC)

what events are scheduled for the week of August 8, 2020? Marathon? Hot air balloon race?

Asked by: 151.196.33.39 02:09, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

Scheduled where? --76.69.116.4 08:00, 20 September 2019 (UTC)