Located in Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods neighborhood, Fresh Restaurant has been serving up modern vegetarian food since 1999. Of Fresh’s four locations, we used to frequent Fresh’s Queen Street West location, and after living abroad for 3 years, we wanted our first meal back on Canadian soil to be at one of our favorite vegetarian restaurants in Toronto, so we headed there right from the airport.
Atmosphere
Fresh Vegetarian Restaurant offers a relaxed casual dining experience where people come to enjoy the food and each other’s company. Everyone is welcome at Fresh and this is visibly noticeable as the dining room and patio were filled with families and large groups of friends as well as individuals and couples.
On the day of our latest visit to Fresh the inside dining area was completely bare as everyone had opted to enjoy their outdoor patio set to the backdrop of a typical Toronto neighborhood in the west end with big trees, street cars and bicycles.
Menu
Fresh’s menu is vast and varied offering soups, salads, wraps and burgers as well as rice and noodle dishes. Many of the meals are influenced by international cuisines, including a Malaysian curry soup, a few Thai-inspired options and a variety of Mexican-fusion tacos.
Although it was hard to make a decision with so many delicious options to choose from, we finally settled on the poutine, a traditional Canadian dish, for an appetizer and the BBQ burger and black bean burrito for the main course. Unfortunately, we were too full to try anything off their dessert menu, which included cakes, cookies and pies.
Juices
Fresh offers an array of vegetable and fruit juices, smoothies, shakes and shots and has come up with some great combinations of both. The juices are made-to-order, to which we had grown accustomed after living in Thailand for over two years, are made with the same organic ingredients that are used in the meals and are available in three sizes with the largest being a whopping 32 ounces!
Vegan
They make it very easy to eat vegan at Fresh. The vast array of vegan options is made clear on the menu and it was nice to be in a restaurant where we didn’t have to explain what vegan means as the wait staff was very familiar with the term. In short, as vegans we felt very welcome at Fresh.
After our first bite we knew we had made the right decision in heading straight to Fresh upon arriving in Toronto. The food was incredibly flavorful and immediately reminded us of why we had always enjoyed meals there.
Prices and Service
The prices were very reasonable and reflected the organic ingredients and care that goes into every dish. Our waitress looked after us very well, always making sure that we had everything we needed and that the food was to our satisfaction. She was friendly and her personable nature added to the relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant.
All in all we were very pleased to see that Fresh Vegetarian Restaurant in Toronto is still serving the delicious food that had come to know and love. Every time we find ourselves in Canada’s biggest city, we will be sure to enjoy a meal at Fresh!