6 Must-Try Food Experiences in Canada

This article is part of a series celebrating communities, culture, traditions, and adventure throughout Canada. We’re spotlighting exciting people and places across the country’s provinces, from British Columbia in the west to Newfoundland and Labrador in the east. Read more stories at afar.com/canada.

Canada’s food scene is as big, bold, and diverse as the country itself—so it’s no wonder that Top Chef filmed its latest season in the Great White North. From partying in a Nova Scotian kitchen to tasting Inuit cuisine while cruising the Northwest Passage, here are six ways to get a true taste of Canada.

1. Enjoy a lively meal and music at a kitchen party in Atlantic Canada

A signature cultural experience in the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, the kitchen party is a casual gathering at which guests of all ages mingle in someone’s kitchen to swap stories, dance to live fiddle music, and tuck into homemade comfort food. In Newfoundland, this usually means Jiggs’ Dinner—a Sunday-style meal of salt beef, cabbage, potatoes, and root veggies, often accompanied by raisin pudding, aka figgy duff—while in New Brunswick you might be treated to a bowl of Fricot (a traditional chicken and vegetable Acadian stew). Regardless of where you are in the region, there’s almost always fish or shellfish on the table, such as oysters or a classic seafood boil.

The best way to get into one of these is, of course, to know a local, but fear not—you can get a taste of the tradition without having an oyster-farming cousin. In Baddeck, Nova Scotia, the Baddeck Gathering Ceilidhs light up summer nights with traditional Cape Breton music and step dancing, as well as tea and locally baked oatcakes. “It’s an excellent way to experience Cape Breton,” says Baddeck Gathering owner John Berk. “We showcase different local entertainers, and it’s always a blend of traditional music, history, and culture.” Over in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Trailside Music Hall hosts the “C’mon In!” series—a buzzy venue version of a classic kitchen party, complete with a seven-piece band—every Wednesday from July through September. It’s not in a home kitchen, but the energy is equally warm and lively, with sea shanties, contemporary East Coast songs, and plenty of foot-stomping fun. Make friends, and you might just score an invite to a private version in someone’s actual kitchen.

How to book

Tickets for the Baddeck Ceilidhs are sold at the door for roughly US$15 for adults and $7 for children (all prices in this story are in U.S. dollars). They go quickly, so it’s best to reserve in advance via email or phone ([email protected], 902-295-7663). Advance tickets for “C’mon In!” shows are $22 and can be purchased on the Trailside Music Hall website.

Photo by Suzy Lamont Photography

2. Sip your way through Prince Edward County’s shifting wine scene

Move over, ice wine: Ontario’s wine regions are getting a little gutsier, and we are definitely here for it. Climatic shifts—warmer temperatures leading to longer growing seasons—combined with a new generation of more experimental winemakers have expanded Prince Edward County’s offerings. The designated viticultural area is now home to nearly 40 wineries, and its climate and limestone soils draw comparisons to northern French regions like Chablis.

“I think people have long assumed that Ontario wine isn’t very good, but that’s simply not true, particularly in Prince Edward County,” says Stephanie Mercier Voyer, an expert on Canadian wine and the author of Spilled: Natural Winemakers Stories & Recipes. “I’m especially excited about producers like Mackenzie Brisbois at Trail Estate Winery, who’s working with European varietals like chardonnay, cabernet franc, and pinot noir to make both classic wines and cuvées that really challenge expectations, including skin-contact wines and pét-nats. Newcomers like the team at Stoss Lee are also making excellent low-intervention wines using European varietals and indigenous yeasts.”

After hitting the tasting rooms (Trail Estate has an on-property wine bar and bottle shop, while Stoss Lee pours tastes at the Stock & Row cidery), plan dinner at Theia, a chic wine bar in the town of Picton run by sommelier Myles Harrison and partner Margot Kenny. The menu highlights include dishes such as duck confit with spring leeks and beef carpaccio with charred radicchio, paired with a fresh chardonnay from nearby Last House Vineyard.

How to book

Most wineries in the area recommend reserving tastings online, especially in summer or early fall. If you want someone to do the planning—and driving—for you, book an outing with PEC Wine Tours.

Courtesy of Tinuno

3. Get acquainted with Filipino cuisine at a boodle fight

The kamayan feast and its close cousin, the “boodle fight,” are not actual food fights—but the food can sometimes fly at these festive, communal Filipino meals. In Tagalog, “kamayan” translates as “by hand,” a nod to the traditional practice of eating off banana leaves using your hands—a custom that’s still embraced at family gatherings, celebrations, and Filipino restaurants worldwide. A vibrant, growing Filipino community in Canada now means that visitors and locals can experience this fun style of dining without having to cross the Pacific.

Most of Canada’s Filipino population lives in the larger metro areas, so it’s at restaurants such as Jeepney in Winnipeg and Tinuno in Toronto where diners will see long tables laid with banana leaves, then piled high with sinangag (garlic rice), crispy lechón (roasted pork), shrimp, grilled squid, skewers of sweet pork, and more. Elbows bump, sauces splatter, and hands fly as everyone dives in at once, with no utensils and no formalities. It’s loud, joyful, and a little messy.

“Kamayan is memorable for our customers because it’s a break from their norm of the spoon and fork,” says Tinuno co-owner and chef Catheline Ortega. “It takes communal dining to a new level. It also engages all the senses: vivid colors of every ingredient against the banana leaves, plus the mix of aromas from the grilled items and garlic rice. It’s a truly immersive experience.”

How to book

Tinuno has two locations (in downtown Toronto and the city’s Little Manila neighborhood) that both cater to walk-ins, although groups of eight or more should reserve ahead. Jeepney offers kamayan platters by reservation; call ahead for availability, and plan to bring along a crew.

Courtesy of Swallow Tail

4. Forage your own ingredients while hiking through the forest

Why fill your backpack with Clif Bars and dried fruit when you could snack on the bounty of the forest while marching along the trail? A growing number of operators across Canada are offering foraging tours that teach outdoorsy types how to identify edible flora and fauna (and how to prepare these ingredients).

Montreal-based mushroom specialist Mycoboutique focuses on fungi on tours in the Laurentians, Eastern Townships, and Lanaudière regions of Québec. The guided hikes cost $72, last about five hours, and include a tasting. They’re for hardier types—no kids under 12—and are conducted in French.

Puck’s Plenty, founded by novelist and naturalist Peter Blush, introduces participants to edible plants found in the woods of southern Ontario, such as Jerusalem artichokes and wild leeks. (Tours typically last 2.5 to 3 hours and cost $29.) Also in Ontario, Wiikwemikong Tourism turns foraging into a cultural experience: A guide from the Wiikwemkong First Nation leads a hike on Manitoulin Island to forage for herbs and berries before a chef prepares a precontact meal over an open fire. (It costs $163 per adult, $155 per youth or senior, or $391 per family, with a minimum of four participants and a maximum of six.)

Out on the West Coast, Swallow Tail Culinary Advenures takes groups into British Columbia’s lush rainforests on two-hour, $43 hunts for chanterelles and lobster mushrooms, as well as fiddleheads, licorice ferns, and elderflower.s (The company also offers marine itineraries, with opportunities to harvest seaweed, sea urchins, clams, and more.) “We help guests reconnect with the natural world and learn to feel confident harvesting and tasting a sustainable bounty,” says chef and forager Robin Kort, who runs Swallow Tail. “Our foraging field trips cover it all—mushrooms, plants, seaweeds, crab fishing, clam digs, even foraged pop-up dinners.”

How to book

Reservations are required for all of the above tours, and they sell out well in advance, so be sure to book via the operators’ websites.

5. Meet Inuit chefs while sampling their cooking aboard an Arctic cruise

Tasting beer-braised musk ox and Arctic surf clams will already expand most palates, but doing that while cruising through the Northwest Passage and having Arctic food traditions explained by Inuit chefs? Now we’re really cooking.

On select Quark Expeditions cruises—including itineraries that begin with a flight from Calgary to Resolute, Nunavut, before a sail the Northwest Passage—the adventure travel company incorporates a one-of-a-kind Tundra to Table Inuit Culinary Experience, which allows guests to taste slow-cooked caribou stew and bannock topped with wild berry compote while hearing stories from the Inuit chefs who prepare those dishes. The meals are part culinary education, part cultural exchange.

“I’m so proud that we’re now spotlighting Inuit food and using more local ingredients,” says chef Miki Siegstad, who helms the program alongside chef Iben Lange. “We’re not only serving food to our guests. We’re showing them our culture.”

How to book

Consult Quark’s Tundra to Table page to see which voyages offer the culinary experience. Itineraries range from 12 to 17 days and start at $16,630 per person. Beyond the meal, the exclusive Canada High Arctic journey winds through the icy channels of the Northwest Passage, with stops in vibrant Inuit villages, Zodiac cruises past towering glaciers, and encounters with wildlife such as whales and walruses. Word to the wise: Arctic sailings fill up fast, so be sure to reserve far in advance.

6. Eat a bucket-list meal at a Top Chef–run restaurant

Top Chef came to Canada for the first time in 2025, but you’ll encounter alumni from the show’s 22 seasons all across the country; some of their restaurants have become cultural institutions. In Montreal, Massimo Piedimonte, who made it to this season’s semifinals, runs Cabaret l’Enfer, a Michelin-rated fine-dining spot that pushes boundaries with seasonal tasting menus (expect fermented tomato sauces and inventive combos like peaches with hibiscus and buffalo milk). Over in Toronto, Top Chef Masters Season 2 (2010) finalist Susur Lee conjures bold, pan-Asian flavors at Lee Restaurant, a T-Dot favorite for more than 20 years. His signature 19-ingredient, Singaporean-style slaw has become a legend. You don’t necessarily have to break the bank to try a Top Chef‘s cooking, either: at Calgary’s Cluck N Cleaver, sisters Francine and Nicole Gomes (of Season 20 in 2023) make irresistibly crispy buttermilk-fried chicken, with a four-piece going for less than $14.

How to book

Cluck N Cleaver is casual, but reservations are a must for Cabaret l’Enfer (via OpenTable) and recommended for Lee (also on OpenTable).