If you want to find the greatest variety of dried herbs and teas, hot sauces, oils and vinegars:…read moreLook no further. I've been shopping here for 15 years and never was disappointed. The herbs of provence are mixed in house with a perfect ratio of lavender. White pepper, chervil, marjoram, oregano, parsley are always in stock. Along with various spices from the Middle East, south east Asia, Africa and South America. Great service and prices too. :) I use a light drizzle of Toasted sesame oil Excellent with grated ginger root, white pepper, lemon juice, Himalayan pink salt, fresh ground black pepper, EVO, chervil, oregano mixed into a gem trio lettuce with cucumber and baby heirloom tomatoes.

This is spice heaven!!! Brought a ton of spices back to New York for myself and friends. Amazing…read moreselections!!!

Had a very good experiences here, been coming here for years. Excellent staff, clean, tidy, well…read morestocked, knowledgeable staff. Very professional, eloquently spoken, intelligent lady named Amanda that went out of her way to help me with suggestions. Thank you Herb Depot and Special thanks to the lovely Amanda. We'll be back!

I never really knew Chinese medicine until this place changed my life. I have a chronic condition…read morethat only a tea from here has been able to solve. They are nice people and have great customer service too.

Me and my family have been coming here for decades. Kin (the shop owner) has taken immaculate care…read moreof us, particularly in helping nurse my mother back to health when she was quite sick with hepatitis and psoriasis. She is all healed now! Truly truly good people. Highly recommend!

I ve been going there for so many years. He has so many customers and yet he remembers my name. The…read morequality of his herbs and freshness is amazing as well as the customer service. Great pharmacy. I m moving to Nova Scotia but was assured that the pharmacy will send me my herbs. Keep up the great work.

If I lived in Toronto, this would be my spice and olive go-to. They carry a large quantity of…read moreground and whole spices and work directly with the 'spice traders' that provide for them. Lots of olive and tapenade options, a whole selection of salts and peppers. I picked up black salt, but it was hard not to walk away with more! I want to note that the woman working the counter that day was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. I probably asked her about 8 different spices and she went into depth on how to use and pair each of them. I'll be sure to order from them online!

I ordered $100 worth of spices through the Spice Trader website to send to my sister for Christmas…read more Their delivery service screwed up the delivery, it was lost or delivered somewhere else. I was told it is not their policy to offer refunds unless they make the mistake, adding they were " truly sorry". Needless to say I won't be shopping at The Spice Trader again. Online shoppers beware. UPDATE After a week and six emails back and forth they gave me a refund, saying the order had been returned to them. I don't think I would have received a refund if it hadn't. Altogether it was an unpleasant experience.

I have been going to Essence of Life for years - literally probably 16 years at this point. Which…read moreis crazy! They have never lost their Kensington vibe or decent prices! You can always find a ton of products in here that are better priced then other health food stores. Staff are always lovely. I stop in here all the time even when I don't need anything. They have everything from fresh veggies, to dairy (and vegan dairy), meats (and vegan meats), drinks, snacks, oils, bulk pantry items, household cleaning and toiletries, and a large supplement section. It's amazing that they can fit all of this in one seemingly small store!

I randomly was looking for rosemary oil because I saw a trending video by a dermatologist that…read morerosemary oil is effective for hair growth?! (do your own research). A natural way to promote more hair growth? I'm down to try. I am amazed this little store in Kensington has so many essential to trendy natural products at such reasonable prices. You'll find anything from natural deodorant to vegan nail polish, essential oils, natural beauty products, cleaning supplies, and a grocery at the back. Wow! I can see why they are so busy. It can be tricky to find things you need through all the aisles of products, but the staff knows where everything is when you ask. Purchased Neem oil 100ml (Unbranded) $5.99 Rosemary oil organic 30ml (Now brand) $17.99 Their Dr. Bronner's Castile soap is a great price compared to buying online through Amazon. It's always a great bonus to save money while supporting local.

P2 Thai Chicken Wings - The chicken wings were okay, quite fragrant…read more P3 Chef Nuit's Pad Thai - The stir-fried noodles were on the sour side, not highly recommended. P4 Pad Gra Prow - The best dish! We chose mild spicy, which wasn't spicy at all. P5 Khao Soi - Golden noodles, very delicious, the coconut milk flavor permeated the noodles, and the meat was quite tender. P6 Pad See Ew - It tasted like wide rice noodles, delicious! We chose beef and extra shrimp. P7 Coconut Sorbet - Coconut milk ice cream, not bad, a little too sweet, and had a little bit of coconut meat. Mango Sticky Rice - The mango sticky rice was average, nothing particularly delicious. P8 Thai Iced Tea - A little sweet and a little too sweet. Fresh Coconut Water - Very refreshing and fresh coconut water. Compared to other Thai restaurants in Toronto, this one was the best!

Started off with the shrimp chips, which were incredibly crispy and flavorful, the portion was…read moregenerous and great for sharing. For the main course, the beef pad see ew arrived piping hot; although it was a little on the saltier side, the flavor was amazing, and I loved the chili oil on the side. The highlight of the meal was the mango sticky rice. They nailed the mango-to-rice ratio, which is something many places that have this dessert struggle with. Service was super attentive and friendly throughout the evening.

Same Same serves contemporary, modern, and fusion Thai and Lao dishes in Toronto's entertainment…read moredistrict (on King West). The location was ideal for theatre-goers, as it was right across from the TIFF building and a stone's throw away from a lot of theatres in the area. The interior was spacious and modern, with a lot of tables and seatings extending to the back of the restaurant. It was quite empty when we went on a weekend afternoon, so service was prompt. The food was excellent!! They put creative spins on classic Thai dishes that turned out very well. Review of the dishes: 1) Raw Oysters (fresh raw BC oysters with roasted chili jam, fried shallots, and house nam jim seafood sauce) - They were like raw oysters in typical Western seafood restaurants, but with a Thai twist. "House Nam Jim Seafood" is a Thai dipping sauce commonly used for steamed or grilled seafood, made of garlic, chilies, lime juice, fish sauce, and cilantro. This sauce, in addition to the roasted chili jam, created a mouthful burst of flavour when the oyster was eaten in one go. The roasted chili jam created a heat effect in the throat, which made it warming. The fried shallots added a nice crunch, in contrast to the smooth raw oyster. This was definitely a unique spin to the plain raw oysters. 2) Larb Crispy Brussels Sprouts (fried Brussels sprouts with lemongrass, cilantro, lime juice, chili flakes, toasted rice powder, fried shallots, and coriander) - I was excited to see a vegetarian version of larb on the menu! Larb is a Lao dish typically made with minced meat, fresh herbs, lime juice, fish sauce, and toasted ground rice. Instead of using meat, they subbed it with crispy Brussels sprouts. I liked the crunch of the Brussels sprouts, but found the dish to be too salty. 3) Eggplant Salad (fried eggplant with black tiger prawns, mint, shallots, Thai chili-garlic lime dressing, and sliced medium soft-boiled egg) - This reminded me of the Filipino dish of tortang talong, except the egg was served on the side instead of being pan-fried and coating the eggplant. The eggplant in this dish was fried and quite sweet & spicy, which I didn't really like. I liked the pieces of black tiger prawns, shallots, and sliced medium soft-boiled egg surrounding it though. The egg especially was perfectly soft with a bit of a gooey egg yolk. What surprised me was the presence of pomegranates in the Eggplant Salad. I always see pomegranates as a common ingredient in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines, but never in Thai dishes. It was a pleasant surprise, and it showed that the creative fusion of Thai, Filipino, and Middle Eastern / Mediterranean elements and ingredients worked well here. 4) SS Egg Fried Rice (jasmine riceberry stir-fried with eggs, green onion, and garlic) + jumbo lump crab meat add-on - This was the dish that made me come to Same Same, and it did not disappoint! I thought the fried rice tasted unique compared to the fried rice I've had at other Thai and Chinese restaurants. It had a strong wok-char look and flavour, and they used jasmine riceberry, which made it taste more chewy and nutty. They did not skimp on the jumbo lump crab meat, and there were "jumbo" pieces of real crab. It seems rare to get real crab (and a lot of it) in fried rice in Thai and Chinese restaurants, so this fried rice was a winner for me. 5) SS Pad Thai (fresh rice noodles, tofu, eggs, peanuts, tamarind, chives, bean sprouts, banana blossom, lime) + black tiger prawns add-on - The tofu and bean sprouts were the stars in this dish. Although the black tiger prawns that we chose as an add-on were really big, for some reason I really liked the tofu in this pad thai more (more flavourful). They used fresh instead of dry rice noodles, which we could tell because the noodles clumped together quickly as soon as it cooled down. 6) Wok Vegetables (stir-fried yu choy sum and green beans) - As simple as this "side dish" was, this was my favourite. We asked for it to be cooked without any sauce because that's how I like my veggies (not a fan of vegetables doused in so much oyster sauce / any thick sauce). They were able to accommodate our customization request, and the dish came out perfect. The green veggies (yu choy sum and green beans) were also still quite crisp and not overcooked, which earned them extra points.

Was so excited to try Same Same and their Samemer-delicious menu for July!…read more Came today with my plus one and we ordered: Appetizers: - deep fried wingette with ma kwen jeaw sauce: I felt the sauce was a bit too sour and salty yet addicting! I kept coming back to it. It came with 10 wings and it was deep fried really nicely, didn't feel too oily. - shrimp toast: house made brioche with cucumber relish and added the peanut sauce espuma. I love bread at baseline and this brioche was so nice and crispy. The cucumber relish was refreshing and slightly sweet. Mains - same same pad thai (vegetarian): now that I'm reading the menu it looks like they use fresh rice noodle but I found that the noodles were SUPER chewy, more chewy than other thai places I had. I appreciate the freshness of the noodles but would also liked if it were a bit easier to chew. Would also have liked if there was more veg in the meal. - ngowpochana chicken cashew: this came with crispy chicken thigh stir fried with (really SPICY) dried chilis and cashew nuts with a side of mixed purple? rice. The rice was tasty and the chicken was really crispy! Came out in small pieces and it was good but was not blown away. Desserts - mango sticky rice: so so good, love how they put butterfly pea in the sticky rice. Mango was ripe and soft, coconut cream was strong, and the jasmine riceberry puff added a great crunch to the dessert. - pandanas kaya toasted brioche: I would return for this dessert. My partner and I LOVED this dessert and how carmelized the toast was, it was divine. Final thoughts We loved the desserts and appetizers but felt the mains weren't super special. Staff were friendly. It did take us a while to get our food- appetizers came quick but took more than half an hour for our mains to come and waited more for our dessert. It was pretty busy but maybe they're still getting their groove as the Samemer delicious promotion brought in an influx of customers.

How this works is you order and pay at the counter first, then sit down. I got the Kaisen Don ($57,…read moreafter tax $64). I would say ambience is not the best, it's definitely meant to be a supermarket and not a restaurant so I found it kind of stuffy, just some chairs at a bar table along the wall and 1 table with 2 chairs. I was the only one dining in on this Sunday afternoon so I took the table. The waitress brings you a cup of water (no tea) and the wasabi soy sauce and disposable chopsticks. The food i would give 4 stars, uni was sweet and creamy and my favorites the sweet shrimp and scallop can do no wrong. The squid/octopus was also quite good. The other pieces I would say weren't quite as good as from what I'm used to expecting at Hana Don and the portion size was on the small size but it does come with salad and miso soup.

Their sushi was really good, especially for the price. I'm curious to try their uni next time. I'd…read morepass on the sweet pumpkin and try sweet potato next time. It's in a market which is an interesting concept too. Cute

This was my first time at Khao San Road, and I was pleasantly surprised. I ordered Pad Thai and…read morecurry, and the flavors were quite authentic Thai, with a good balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy--not an overly modified taste. The portions were decent, and the presentation was quite appetizing. The atmosphere inside was lively and a little crowded, but that actually gave it a more Southeast Asian street food vibe. Service was okay, but you might have to wait a bit during peak hours. Overall, it's a Thai restaurant I would definitely visit again.

My friend and I came here for dinner on a Wednesday evening. It was very busy, but we were able to…read moreget a table after a short wait. Food: I ordered the garlic tofu to start. It was breaded in panko and was very good! For my entree, I ordered the tofu/veggie panang curry. This was surprisingly not as liquid as I was expecting. However, it was very good! Service: Service was friendly but a tad slow. They were quite busy though, so it was understandable. Our server was busy running around the entire time we were there. TL;DR - good food and reasonably slower service when busy.

I want to comment on the excellent customer service I had with Olivia, she works at Happy Soul on…read moreBloor, she was very friendly and fast.

Employees are honest and informative. They don't try to upsell. Would recommend this place for…read moreanyone who is looking for spiritual help and guidance. Thank you! Liz