Queen's Park / University of Toronto

By Marilyn MacKellar, SLA Toronto Chapter

If you take the subway to the Queen's Park station, you will emerge in front of a large reddish sandstone building. This is the Legislative Building, the heart of the Ontario government. This historic building dates to 1893 and was built in a 'Richardsonian Romanesque' style, which is particular to Toronto (Old City Hall is another example in the downtown area, and 149 College St. is also in this style). Tours are available. You will also be standing just north of University Avenue, which is one of our most impressive streets and the home of many of our major hospitals. On the southwest corner is an impressive curved glass building, which houses the electricity provider for the province, and its two predecessors are next to it on University Ave. To the north of the Legislature is a large and pleasant park, and if you walk north through it you will arrive at the Royal Ontario Museum and the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, both of them worth a visit.

To the west of the subway station, you can walk down College Street where the University of Toronto buildings line the north side of the street and the residential area to the south is typical of the Toronto neighbourhoods, with many trees, a variety of house architecture, and small streets of shops and restaurants.

The University of Toronto is extensive and, if you turn north at St. George St., you will walk through the centre of it. You will pass the Robarts Library whose architecture is typical of the 70s and whose satellite buildings contain an impressive rare book library and the Faculty of Information Science (ex-Library School). St. George St. has recently been modified to make it more pleasant for pedestrians and calmer for traffic. To the right as you walk north is the older part of the campus, with King's College Circle forming the focus for many of the original buildings. University College, on the north side of the Circle, is the oldest of these, and a wander through it will show you an impressive staircase, nice interior details, a chapter house, and a cloistered walk at the back.

If you are hungry while you are exploring this area, there are a number of places worth investigating. At 177 College St., Woodlands provides very good Indian cuisine. South of College, you can follow McCaul St. to Baldwin St. with its nice small shops and a choice of ethnic delights including Chinese, Malaysian, Mexican, Italian, and French cuisine. To the west, on Spadina Ave. south of College St., you will find Chinatown (which includes Vietnamese cuisine as well) and on the way you can pay a visit to the Toronto Public Library's Lillian H. Smith Branch (239 College St.). This is an interesting building architecturally, but it also houses one of the best historic children's book collections in the world and an equally impressive science fiction collection. And if you follow St. George St. to Bloor and walk west past Spadina Ave. there is a thriving restaurant area which feeds the university population as well as the residents of The Annex.

A non-inclusive list of restaurants by location:

Baldwin St.:

La Bodega
30 Baldwin St., (416) 977-1287.
French cooking, nice ambiance, reserve.

Mata Hari Grill, 39 Baldwin St.. 416 596-2832. Very good Indonesian, Malaysian food.

Yung Sing Pastry, 22 Baldwin St. A university institution, with cheap puffy buns filled with curried pork or fried rice or chicken. And rich custard tarts, too. May be lineups. Picnic tables outside.

College St.:

Woodlands, 177 College St.. 416 593-7700. Neighbourhood restaurant with South Indian food

Spadina (Chinatown):

Swatow, 309 Spadina at Dundas West. Chinese noodle soup in many variations.

Happy Seven, 358 Spadina Ave. 416 971-9820. Chinese seafood restaurant.

Bloor west of Spadina:

Dooney's Café, 511 Bloor West. 416 536-3293. Nice atmosphere, good cooking, terrific desserts.

Country Style Hungarian Restaurant, 450 Bloor West. 416 537-1745. A remnant of what used to be in this area.

Ghazal, Bloor St. beside the Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor W.). Lebanese take-out of high quality. A few seats, but not deluxe.

Greg's Ice Cream, 750 Spadina Ave. at Bloor. All-natural and delicious.

University of Toronto Campus:

The Gallery Grill, Hart House. Lunch only, Mon-Fri. Reserve (416 978-2445). The room is terrific (and the building, too).

Radical Roots, International Student Centre, 33 St. George St. Cheap organic vegan food in an old mansion.