🕒 7 min read

As we roll through week eight of lockdown, fatigue of all kinds is setting in. Including food.

Whether you’re tired of cooking all day (and ensuing dishes) or bored by your standard restaurant orders, it’s time to inject some fun into dining in again.

Luckily, enticing options abound in Toronto. Take a look:

DINNER & A SHOW 

If you miss dining in restaurants, The Emmet Ray’s ‘Dinner & Show’ is the next best thing. The whisky jazz bar on College hosts virtual nights out Wednesdays to Sundays. Here’s how it works:

1. Pre-order dinner

Each meal is $19.99 and dessert – house-made chocolate chip cookies – is included. Place your order a day before delivery. This week’s menu: Roast ½ Chicken Dinner, Herb Roasted Potatoes & Green Beans; Vegetarian Lasagna, Garlic Bread & Antipasto Salad; Steak or Tofu Veg Vindaloo on Rice with Naan & Raita.

2. Select drinks 

Their extensive whisky selection is worth looking into, but there are plenty of wine, beer, and non-alcoholic options to choose from.

3. Enjoy the show

On your selected day, delivery will arrive between 1pm-4pm.  Heat up dinner (instructions are provided) in time for the show: weeknights 8pm, Sunday 5:30pm. Entertainment varies – stand-up comedy, jazz, vocals. Watch the show live while enjoying your meal. Bonus: $5 from every meal goes to the evening’s featured artist.

STAFF MEAL

If you don’t work in the industry, you may not be familiar with ‘Staff Meal.’ It usually happens prior to doors opening, though sometimes it’s after the restaurant closes. Kitchen staff whip up a hearty family-style meal for employees, composed of inexpensive and/or leftover ingredients to help fuel folks through their shift. Dishes can be anything from basic (burgers, pasta, salad) to decadent (hanger steak, fish, cassoulet). It depends on what’s available and how much time the cooks have (keep in mind, they’ve still got a whole restaurant to prep and cook for). 

416 Snack Bar at Queen and Bathurst is renowned for their delectable fare. So when they announce their Daily Staff Meal (aka ‘Special’) on Insta, make sure to include it in your takeout or delivery order. Recent dishes include: an ode to the classic Mac - The Mini Mac Max ($9) and Butter Chicken ($13). Make it a party with an assortment of cocktails, wine and beer.

KAMAYAN FEAST

There are few meals as celebratory as the Kamayan. The traditional Filipino family-style feast featuring an assortment of dishes that can include grilled and fried meat and seafood, vegetables, fruit, rice, and condiments, is served spread out atop banana leaves, and enjoyed sans utensils. Yep, you eat with your hands.

If there was ever a time we needed a joyous meal such as this, it’s now during self-isolation and social distancing.

New Filipino restaurant Tala at Dundas and McCaul offers a Kamayan Kit for one ($19) or two ($36) an array of delicious ingredients: Choice of Chicken Inasal or Milkfish (want both? Add $3/$5) with Atchara, Grilled Pineapple BBQ, Squid, Shrimp, Mussel, Okra, and Eggplant Garlic Rice, packed in a pizza box, available for pickup and delivery.

If you don’t have a large banana leaf on hand or prefer to use plates and cutlery, go for it, but scooping up delectable fare with your hands? It’s a sheer delight. 

CHEESE NIGHT IN

East-end fromanger Good Cheese has created the ultimate cheese board components, ideal for date night, game night, binge-watching your latest show, curling up with a good book, or let’s face it, the persistent snack attacks that accompany quarantine life. 

Cheese Night In ($50) boasts one soft and one hard cheese, charcuterie, crackers, jam and pickles. A vegetarian version is available (cheese swapped in for charcuterie), as is a gluten-free option (+$4). 

These adult lunchables available for pickup and delivery really only require a knife and napkins, but busting out the “good” plates, and serving alongside wine, beer or cider, will be the lift your week so desperately needs.

ALLLL THE SNACKS 

While recently resurrected and impeccably renovated Paradise Theatre isn’t either a restaurant or bar, it is home to both - Osteria Rialto and Bar Biltmore - and their epic snack combos might just be what get us though this lengthy lockdown.

All concession kits serve four, except for the Rom Com-bo (serves two), and includes your choice of candy (Junior Mints, Maltesers, Sour Patch Kids) and drool-worthy theatre popcorn. We’re talking the bright yellow, buttery, salty deliciousness that just can’t be replicated at home, freshly popped, sealed, with seasoning on the side.

The Movie Night Standard ($45)
These days, snacks and soft drinks at home are probably commonplace, but this pro-popcorn takes it to the next level:
4 x Paradise Popcorn
4 x Paradise Popcorn Seasonings
4 x Choice of Candy
4 x Choice of Non-Alcoholic Beverages (Coke, Diet Coke, Brio, Eska Flat, Eska Sparkling) 

The Brew Crew ($65)
If you find yourself muttering “Wish you were beer” every time you open the fridge, Paradise is here for you:
4 x Paradise Popcorn
4 x Paradise Popcorn Seasonings
4 x Choice of Candy
4 x Beer Selections (choose from Beau’s Lugtread, Henderson’s Food Truck, Burdock Tuesday Saison, Tawse Cider)

Paradise Party ($75)
Sweet and salty treats alongside batched cocktails? Just add infectious music:
4 x Paradise Popcorn
4 x Paradise Popcorn Seasonings
4 x Choice of Candy
1 x Batch of Paradise House Cocktail (your choice of Negroni, Old Fashioned, Americano, Cardinale)

The Rom Com-bo ($50)
Candy, popcorn and your pick of Paradise wine pairs perfectly with any John Hughes, Nora Ephron, or Jenny Han flick:
2 x Paradise Popcorn
2 x Paradise Popcorn Seasonings
2 x Choice of Candy
1 x Choice of Bottle of House Wine (Red or White)

All combos are available Wednesday to Saturday, 5:30pm to 9:00pm.

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Please contact restaurants directly for more information. Menu items, takeout and delivery options, and prices subject to change.

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