Canada Travel Guide

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