SpiritHouse Toronto
Photo Courtesy of SpiritHouse Toronto
Toronto offers plenty of watering holes for visitors to enjoy after a long day. Here are a few of the city’s best offerings, if you’re looking to get a cocktail, a quick Italian-style aperitif, an education on the city’s craft beer scene or a tipple of after-dinner whiskey.
SpiritHouse
For something a little stronger, SpiritHouse certainly doesn’t disappoint with its intoxicatingly fun selection. With over 150 whiskies, including more than 50 single malts, the massive liquor shelf and bar rail is a sight to appreciate and an excellent space to sit back for a tipple.
Momofuku Nikai
Hailing from New York City, Momofuku opened its Toronto location a couple years ago near Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto. Momofuku Nikai provides local and craft beers, wines by the glass, sake and a small selection of whiskies but is known about town for its exceptional collection of cocktails. The drink menu is categorized by lighter sparkling options, modern cocktails like the momo verde (tequila, cilantro, green tea and ginger) and classic offerings such as a Sidecar, Silver Sloe gin fizz or Hemingway daiquiri.
Bar Buca
From morning to evening, Bar Buca is your neighborhood Italian bar: you can treat yourself to coffee and pastries in the A.M., sandwiches and panini in the afternoon and, come 4 p.m., enjoy a wine bar with cicchetti (small bites) that pair wonderfully with your leisure vino sipping in the early evening. The bar has dozens of wines by the glass as well as Italian apertif cocktails that are filled with plenty of Campari or Aperol, naturally. Beyond the choices, we also toast to the high-end watering hole’s location — it’s just steps away from Forbes Travel Guide Recommended Thompson Toronto.
d|bar Dining Room, Photo Courtesy of Four Seasons Hotels Limited
d|bar at Four Seasons Hotel Toronto
Raise a glass — be it of the sophisticated cocktail variety or a champagne flute — at New York chef Daniel Boulud’s d|bar at the Five-Star Four Seasons Hotel Toronto. A more casual version of Four-Star sister establishment Café Boulud Toronto, d|bar presents a cosmopolitan-glam space to see and be seen. Stylish, seasonal libations like Winter Sour incorporate spiced whiskey, clove and nutmeg syrup, lemon juice, and egg white — nothing like a glass of boozy eggnog — to warm you up.
Bar Hop
Now, for beer nerds in need of a break from the cocktails, the smart play is making your way over to King Street West where you’ll find one of the largest draft selections in the city in one of the coziest bars. Bar Hop has 36 taps devoted to a wide range of craft beer plus two rotating cask options and 100 beers by the bottle or can. The extensive list is continually changing but the variety is consistently impressive — IPAs and pilsners to ciders and table beers that are sourced from local, U.S. and European breweries.
