Templeton’s Cafe

This is an interesting place. After walking in, we weren’t sure if they had a kitchen, so we asked. They showed up the menu… and they have all sorts of food (!): Spanish, Italian, Thai, etc.
What’s also interesting is that they also give discounts to students, and on different days, they have discounts for different types of food. On the day I went last week, it was a discount on Asian food. Normally, when I see a menu with all sorts of food on it, and discounts, I turn and go to a different place. But we decided to give it a try.
We walked away pretty happy. All the different types of food were actually good. I had the fish and chips and it was good! I love it when the batter is cooked to a crisp but the fish on the inside and still soft and not overcooked! Yum… Alsas, it was way more than I could eat, though. But that’s not really a complaint, because I’d come back for sure.

Actually, my favorite place in Toronto! Low prices, nice atmosphere, good service and polite staff! Nothing to complain about!

If you are familiar with Java House, or Nirvana, or Red Room, Templeton’s is another in this genre of low cost, high value, good table service type restaurant. It’s located across the street from Supermarket at the top of Augusta Ave.
With a dark wood and well-​stocked bar staring at you as you enter, this is a classic Toronto bar/​restaurant where you can plop down, order some drinks and peruse the menu all in one motion as effortlessly as grabbing a NOW magazine on a Thursday and checking out who’s gracing the cover.
My Viet style stew with chunks of beef and more than a hint of lemongrass really hit the spot as did the glorious caesar drink with the jumbo shrimp adorning the glass. This is a nice little spot just off the beaten path.

Some of our friends helped my boyfriend move into a new apartment, so he decided to take everyone that helped out for dinner. We decided to meet at our friends’ apartment to find a place, and they live close to Kensington. I looked up places, and this place stood out because it has a cocktail menu, beer and vegetarian/​pescetarian options as well. So we walked through Kensington, found it, and went it. It wasn’t crowded even on Saturday, although it started picking up as the night progressed. The beer selection isn’t spectacular, but it’s still decent. The cocktail menu looks super interesting (the Pimms and lemonade is really good), and you can get pitchers of cocktails as well. The food menu is pretty standard, although they definitely have some interesting appetizers. Our friends said the burgers were good, but the grilled eggplant sandwich and the chicken bacon avocado wrap were a good size and pretty delicious. The best part? The price. I had two beers and a sandwich for under $ 20, not including tax and tip. For Toronto, it’s pretty great to find a place that has good food and drinks for a decent price. I’d definitely go back, even if it’s just for a cocktail.

Ever want quick eats that’s affordable and tasty? Templeton’s is a local joint that’s got a varied menu that could work for just about anyone passing by. I’ve been a frequent customer and have only had time now to review. The breakfast burger is awesome off a hangover, and their deep fried cheese appetizer is to DIE for!
Service is chill and casual, but if you can grab a spot on the patio during a pedestrian sunday, you’ve got the best seats to live music out on the streets while having a pint of Mill St. Organic to boot.
Their pad Thai has a nice kick to it, and is great if you’re looking to warm yourself up. Will continue to come back here!

I tried the chicken Alfredo and it was all fresh and good stuff. Their butter squash soup was made good in terms of quality, but not my favourite taste. I’ll keep trying more stuff here.

it was just… ok
we got a pitcher (14 bucks on thursdays) of mill street which was great. for food we got hot burgers and spanish paella. the beer was good, the sweet potato fries were yum, and the food were fairly cheap… that’s it. the burger was served with what tasted like day-​old bread that’s thick as a brick. kind of killed the whole burger cuz all we tasted was the bread. the paella was just not. anything special. it tasted of chicken, rice, tomato, and a bit of salt — I had much better flavored paellas in the past, this was not super impressive.
maybe a good spot for drinks and fries. food you can skip.

I didn’t come here because it was bookmarked or that I have ever even heard of it or noticed it on one of my many strolls through Kensington… Forgive me!
So my friend and I stopped in after have some delicious Summerlicious buttermilk fried chicken and burgers downtown. We were looking for a nice patio to enjoy some wine.
That is exactly what we got, the restaurant/​bar had a nice comfy feel to it because of the mismatched dining chairs, the dark interior walls lined with mirrors and picnic benches on the patio. There were no frills to the menu, cutlery or glasses. I think my wine glass was even a bit dirty.
BUT… where else would you find gastro pub food next to pad thai, next to paella and so much more. The brie stuffed jalapeño looks mouth watering.
The wine we ordered came chilled and was a pretty good chardonnay for house wine. I kept getting distracted from my conversation by the food that was coming out of the kitchen… i think my friend just stopped talking at one point. Its like being given super delicious and creamy ice cream when you’re lactose… i rarely regret buttermilk friend chicken.
So, next time I’ll definitely be back for their cheap pitchers of cocktails and delicious looking menu!

Great sweet potato fries with my eggplant sandwich. Fantastic service. Good beers on tap. Great music. Outdoor seating. Couldn’t ask for more.

Great patio for people watching. My friends and I had a pitcher of the peach mojito which was very reasonably priced at $ 15 and huge. Didn’t get a chance to try the food but saw the menu and everything looked good and very reasonably priced again. Would go back to try the food and more of the drinks. Service was a bit slow however for a Saturday night and it wasn’t that busy. We weren’t in a rush though.

Another great Kensington spot!
The prices are fantastic, the portions are overwhelming and the food is surprisingly delicious. While there are lots of places in Toronto where you can get a huge meal, usually it’s paired with a stomach adventure worth praying to the porcelain gods over. But this place is quite delicious and flavourful, and has a surprisingly large menu to choose from.
As the photos will demonstrate, the place has a wonderful blend of being kitschy and ostentatious in a fun way. I’ve never had a problem with finding seating and the service is not too bad. The servers are friendly but they’re not very attentive and you will find that the tables are just a bit sticky.
It’s a great evening spot to grab a cheap meal in a fun spot before heading out for drinks.

Went here last Saturday on a beautiful spring day. The streets were jammed with people and most every restaurant was packed. Not having been in the Kensington area before, we walked around and checked Unilocal out. Definitely should have done some pre-​investigating, tons of restaurants, every kind of cuisine under the sun!
This place has a funky, young vibe and the outside patio was completely full. The reason for 4 stars — no umbrellas or shade. Maybe some people can sit and bake in the hot sun while drinking, not for me. Best of both worlds is sitting inside because the entire front of the restaurant has doors that open wide.
The menu is a little bit of everything and all 4 of us ordering different things. Burger, veggies sandwich, wrap sandwich and taro spring rolls. The pad Thai looked amazing and was a huge portion. Very reasonable as well. Give this place a try.

With a boyfriend in Toronto, it’s great that I get to explore the big city once and a while! This weekend was our first adventure to Kensington Market. We loved the lively feel and the brightly coloured shops.
We decided to check Unilocal to see where would be a good place to go. Templeton’s had some good reviews so we took a chance. We were unsure where to find it at first since there is no sign from what we could see. We checked the menu outside the door to make sure we had the right place. This place is so cozy inside. With their old world flair, velvet walls, and mismatched chairs, it has a ton of character.
The menu has a ton to offer with lots of different cuisines to try. At first I was going to go for the butternut squash soup since it was kind of a cool and blustery day but I opted in for the paella instead. My boyfriend got the bibimbap.
I would say this was probably the best paella I’ve had in a long time. Everything was cooked really nicely and the spices were just right. It was hot but not enough to make my lips hurt. Lots of meat in this one too which was good!
My boyfriend enjoyed his bibimbap a lot, his bowl was completely spotless when we were finished. The paella was a good helping so I got to bring some home for lunch the next day, score!
All and all, we will most likely be back soon since there was so much on the menu we wanted to try out!

My friend and I came down to Kensington in hopes of finding good food for a student-​friendly cost. We were originally going to go to Seven Lives, however we were instantly enticed by interesting décor and a fairly trendy & «young» crowd sitting outside. We were immediately seated on antique wood benches and the menu was pretty wide-​ranging– I decided on a Greek salad with chicken and my friend got a grilled eggplant sandwich with a side of fries. My salad was amazing and I really appreciated the fact that they included the dressing on the side so I could manage how much I wanted to put on my salad, and my friend loved her sandwich.
However, the only reason I couldn’t give this place a ⁵⁄₅ is because of the wait. I understand that when we walked in there was a HUGE party of at least 8+ people which can be pretty overwhelming for a super small restaurant. The total wait time was about an hour and a half. At about the one hour mark one of the servers kindly asked us if we were «okay» and we had told him that our food had not come yet, telling us that they have 1 chef in the kitchen and that our food should be here shorty, which turned out to be another half hour. Unfortunate, but the food made up for it.

I was greatly surprised walking into this place on a Saturday afternoon at 3pm. The tiny restaurant/​bar was half full and had a great air about it. I ordered the 9 $ pad Thai — which I found to be stellar :)
My only complaint was the lack of diet coke.

We came here after hearing about this place from a friend. The food here is reasonably priced. We ordered the shrimp dumplings, which had Chinese leafy greens with shrimp.
This was tasty. The dumplings were crunchy and overly oily.
My boyfriend ordered the spicy noodle soup (similar to a tom yum soup) with shrimp. This was pretty spicy with that sour flavouring to it. The noodles were cooked well too, not too soft. I ordered the Hot Kick burger. The burger overall was really dry, both the patty and the bread. It comes with a creamy dill sauce, which the burger really need. I liked that the dill sauce, wasn’t overpowered by the dill. I really enjoyed the fries as they were the thicker kind, were golden and crispy. I think the burger could have a bit more of a kick, the jalapenos weren’t really spicy.
I liked the atmosphere here and the drinks were reasonably priced too. The décor is unique, a lot of different wooden chairs of different styles, with Asian art and many mirrors on the wall. They also have patio seating.
For 2 mains, an appetizer, and 1 beer came to about $ 40 with tip and tax for 2 people. I’d be willing to try their other dishes, but I wouldn’t order the burger again.

One of the best patios.
I’ve been here several times and each time is amazing. They have an awesome patio, awesome drink specials, and just an awesome brunch in general. I haven’t been here for dinner but I will check this place out if I’m around!
Their Peach Mojito special is sooooo good and not too sweet. Their caesar isn’t too shabby, but nothing too special.
I gotten the squash soup which was around $ 5 and LOVED it.
The décor is really cute on the patio as it over looks down Augusta. You can people watch all you want haha. The servers are friendly but not as helpful as I would like. but I’m still going to give them 5 stars because of the amazing daily drink specials and the patio.
DRINKSDRINKSDRINKS.

Ended the Unilocal Elite Tasty Tour here to grab a drink.
It was pouring outside and the A/​C was on full blast inside and the bay window wide open! They figured it out quickly enough though.
Very accommodating in terms of seating a large group. Not a huge venue so I wouldn’t necessarily being a huge group, seems beys suited to small clusters.
Washrooms are easy to find and clean.
I didn’t order any food (was planning on going out to dinner) and didn’t get to order any drinks. The tour leader ordered some pitchers and I went to the bar to try to order some drinks and the bartender/​server said she’d come grab my order later.
Later never came. :(
Didn’t stick around long due to that and other plans. Templeton’s didn’t really leave a good impression on me (which is a shame because they’ve got some good specials) — I’d rather write them off and try some other place.

We ended off our Unilocal Elite Tasty Tour here last night and it was A-​Ok. Please note I did not try any food here.
The waitress seemed very friendly and pitchers were delivered to the table fairly quickly (thanks Evelyn and Unilocal for the beverages!).
I really loved the décor and the feel of the restaurant, with the wide open windows at the front (which did have to be closed eventually due to a torrential downpour).
I will return to try the food and update my review then ;)

I love Templetons — I was initially lured in by the patio, but I’ve returned so many times since.
They have an adorable little patio, with larger picnic tables for groups and two-​people tables for smaller groups. Their drinks selection is very good and they have a daily drinks special every single day of the week — usually it’s some sort of discount on their jugs. I’ve included a picture of their weekly specials menu.
Their mixed drinks are a bit hit and miss.
The peach mojito is definitely very good, but it’s not really peachy, or much of a mojito either. It’s made with vodka, so it doesn’t really have that punchy rum flavour to it. It’s also not very minty — I definitely like my drinks a little stronger in general. I don’t think it’s very alcoholic either; the last time we ordered a jug I think I only saw 2 or 3 shots get poured into the drink. This drink is definitely very light, almost watery, and you can definitely taste that it’s mostly juice and club soda. However, it’s pretty good for a starter drink, or if you just want something cool and refreshing on the patio.
For the sangrias, I definitely prefer the taste of the white wine sangria over the red. It comes with quite a bit of fruit but I’m pretty sure those are added in afterwards — I feel like this is more of a «wine mixed with fruit juice» kind of deal than a real sangria. If you order a jug of the red, they put orange juice in the bottom half so it’s a very pretty ombré orange and red color. You’re supposed to mix it before you drink. On the weekends they have freshly squeezed orange juice!
They have mimosas on the weekends made with freshly squeezed orange juice (but they run out of the orange juice pretty quickly). It’s pretty good, and definitely very affordable — a liter carafe will run you about $ 21. Their brunch is pretty awesome too — they serve it every day until 4.