Canada's sheer number of restaurants, bars, cafés and fast-food joints is staggering, but at first sight there's little to distinguish Canada's mainstream urban cuisine from that of any American metropolis: the shopping malls, main streets and highways are lined with pan-American food chains, trying to outdo each other with their bargains and special offers.
However, it's easy to leave the chain restaurants behind for more interesting options - increasingly so, as the general standard of Canadian cooking has improved dramatically in the last few years. In the big cities there's a plethora of ethnic and speciality restaurants, on either seaboard the availability of fresh fish and shellfish enlivens many menus, and even out in the country - once the domain of unappetizing diners - there's a liberal supply of first-rate, family-run cafés and restaurants, especially in the more touristy areas. Non-smokers may also be relieved to know that almost every café and restaurant has a nonsmoking area and increasing numbers don't allow smoking at all
Breakfast
Breakfast
is taken very seriously all over Canada, and with prices averaging between $5 and $12 it's often the best-value and most filling meal of the day. Whether you go to a café, coffee shop or hotel snack bar, the breakfast menu, on offer until...
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Lunch and snacks
Between 11.30am and 2.30pm many big-city restaurants offer special
set menus
that are generally excellent value. In Chinese and Vietnamese establishments, for example, you'll frequently find rice and noodles, or dim sum feasts for $7 to $10,...
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Main meals
Largely swamped by the more fashionable regional-European and ethnic cuisines, traditional
Canadian cooking
relies mainly on local game and fish, with less emphasis on vegetables and salads. In terms of price, meals for two without wine...
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Tipping
Almost everywhere you eat or drink, the service will be fast and friendly - thanks to the institution of
tipping
. Waiters and bartenders depend on tips for the bulk of their earnings and, unless the service is dreadful, you should top up your...
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Drinking
Canadian bars, like their American equivalents, are mostly long and dimly lit counters with a few customers perched on stools gawping at the bartender, and the rest of the clientele occupying the surrounding tables and booths. Yet, despite the similarity...
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