• CLOSED: Cafe 668 Vegetarian Restaurant

  • (16)
    7

    Closed

  • White Vegetarian
Vegan-friendly
Chinese
Fast food
Pan Asian

Small veggie restaurant. Sample menu items include pan fried dumplings, summer roll, salads, eggplant fried with basil, vegetarian curry, spicy pad thai, coco tofu. Cash or interac (debit) only. Reported closed, Jan 2021.


Venue map for Cafe 668 Vegetarian Restaurant
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16 Reviews

First Review by pheonix

Sebamiester

Points +40

Vegan
03 Jan 2021

One of my favourites

This restaurant is just a few doors down from me, and for years now I have been ordering from them. Cafe 668 is run by two unique and kind characters, and I have countless wonderful memories associated with almost every dish on the menu.

Pros: Great food, Large portions, Amazing small business

Cons: Dundas and claremont location closing soon, Unsure if will re-open.. will have my eyes out

noodletoboggan

Points +1204

Vegan
15 Jul 2019

Unique and delicious!

We found this restaurant thanks to a Toronto local, the menu is huge and we had trouble deciding what to order since everything sounded good.

The crispy fried tofu and fried dumplings were a great starter and each had a different delicious sauce to accompany it. For mains we chose the black bean beef and vegetarian curry, the servings were quite large and between 3 of us we had leftovers to take home. The fake meat in both dishes was outstanding and the taro in the curry was unexpected but delicious, such a brilliant choice by the chef. Since this restaurant has been in Toronto for many years we liked supporting a longtime veg restaurant!

Pros: Huge menu, Outstanding fake meats

pkitty

Points +46

Vegan
17 Sep 2018

Best summer rolls I’ve ever had

The summer rolls are so darn good, worth the trip just to try those. Rest of the menu is super yummy too, great dumplings, mock meat dishes (loaded with veggies), veggie wonton soup... my only complaint is they should put on a little music, give it a bit more “vibe”. It’s actually pretty nice inside, way nicer than their old location and great for a date, dinner with friends, but just needs that little something that makes you feel “good vibes” when you walk in. The food is so yummy that it makes up for it, but why not have it all!

Pros: Lots of vegan options , Super yummy , Tons of fresh veggies in all dishes.

andrewf12

Points +13

Vegetarian
17 Jun 2018

Great authentic Asian food

This was honestly a really good place. I’ve been to more than a dozen vegetarian/vegan places in Toronto, and this is definitely Top 5. We were a group of 7 and tried a bunch of dishes, including the pad thai, fried rice, chow mein, sweet and sour chicken, wonton soup, and spicy noodle soup. Everything was delicious and authentic, except for the fried rice. Couple of us weren’t too fond of it, but we are pretty picky about fried rice. Definitely recommend this place for authentic Asian food.

Pros: Authentic, Savoury, Filling

shirley1

Points +340

Vegan
13 Jul 2017

the best food ever

We eat here often . It's the best food. Menu is quite extensive and caters to gluten free as well.
Love the soups and the duck and the noodles and the rolls ! I've never had anything I don't like.
The owner is a very nice gentle man and always remembers us when we are there.

Pros: big portions, very tasty, can do gluten free

mirandaconnelly

Points +61

Vegan
26 Mar 2017

Fresh and filling

I hadn't been here for a number years because I didn't care for it back when it was located at Dundas and Bathurst, but boy was I pleasantly surprised when I came back. The rice noodles are actually made fresh which is awesome. Also, loved the Vietnamese soup, the fresh soy sheet appetizer rounded out with an order of simple mixed greens, this was a memorable meal! Oh, and LOVE the fried mushrooms.

Pros: Fresh, Simple, Fast

Cons: Cold bathrooms

AK

Points +13

Vegetarian
11 Jul 2015

fantastic food

This is one of my most favourite restaurants. Try 'veg duck' and 'summer rolls' for appetizer and black bean eggplant for the main.

Pros: amazing food, great service

Cons: location hurts the bussiness

heywood100

Points +334

Vegetarian
25 Mar 2014

A Little Disappointed

I'd been meaning to go to this place for ages, as probably the closest veggie restaurant to my house - I guess you always ignore the most convenient, close-to-home option in favour of something more exotic. Having finally made the decision to breach its shiny glass exterior...well, it was kind of average, really. Nice and cheap, and decently sized portions, but the food was rather bland (admittedly, my girlfriend complained hers was too spicy, so they may just have mixed up our respective orders...). I'd go again if I had the itch for cheap, convenient Asian food - but it's not somewhere that will be in my regular rotation.

vallonicka

Points +195

Vegan
25 Jan 2014

Very good food

We've been going to 668 for years, and while we have noticed a slight fall off in quality since moving to their new location, they still produce some amazing summer rolls and fried dumplings that are better than any other vegan restaurant's summer rolls or fried dumplings, from NYC to Phoenix.

The bathrooms are nice, the problem is the hallway down to the bathrooms is dark as hell, you'll need to turn on the light immediately, but the place is clean, in a great location, and the staff, while not the most personable, they do have a sweet demeanor once you get use to their personalities.

Pros: World's best fried vegan dumplings, Amazing summer rolls

Cons: Not the most outgoing staff

Ken4057

Points +1200

Vegan
27 Apr 2010

The old Cafe 668 was much better

The new digs are beautiful: it's a great place to take a date to. But the portions are much smaller than the old restaurant down the street and the prices are higher. While I'm happy that the owners, a lovely husband and wife team, are more successful, I'm disappointed that they've abandoned their demographic.

We had the mock duck, and it was such a tiny, sad thing, maybe 6 bites, and 6-7 dollars. I've had the same dish at many other places, including the old Cafe 668, and never paid close to this for as little. The other dishes were as consistently good as before, but barely enough for a child to eat.

I wouldn't go back, as there are plenty of other restaurants with similar cooking in the city.

Pros: beautiful interior, consistently tasty

Cons: tiny portions, way overpriced

melskunk

Points +94

Vegetarian
10 Apr 2010

Lovely look, not-so-lovely food

I was taken here on a date and was pleasantly surprised by the decor of the room, but worried as I was told the place was good value, but it definitely looked like it was aiming for a higher price bracket. My date had gone here at the old place and I believe they were surprised as well.

The server was very hard to get the attention of, which was a little much given there were only two other tables when we arrived, and everything had to be flagged down. We ended up chasing him down for a bill, and I really felt like he'd rather hide than serve table.

The vegetarian cuisine was okay, but nothing outstanding, and didn't seem worth the price that was being charged. The spring rolls were small and expensive ($4.50 for two)!!, and we got that and the taro rolls (these at least were good), and by that point had spent over $10 just on starters. I ended up paying twice as much as I am used to for this style of cuisine, and I can only assume it's to pay for the lovely stone wall.

As previously noted, the meat substitutes aren't very good, I wasn't happy with them, after being spoiled by Graceful Vegetarian and other Chinese Buddhist places. I'd avoid it myself but it takes up a good chunk of the menu, be warned.

Except for the service, I'd call this a good date place, since it looks GREAT and the food is nice enough. It's not expensive but neither is it a great value. If you aren't trying to impress someone(like a non-vegetarian friend, an out-of-towner, a girlfriend), then I'd stick to someplace cheaper, of which there are more than a few in the city, and suck up poorer ambience for it. And don't get fake meat.

Pros: Beautiful room, Good selection

Cons: Little pricey, especially on apps., Not-there service, So-so food

veggiewoman

Points +374

Vegan
19 Nov 2007

how nice!

Cafe 668 has a really nice atmosphere (somewhere between Fresh and Fressen). Good place to bring a date or your family (although not a large group and probably not really young kids).
Really delicious food, good portion sizes (not too big or small), terrific soups. Lots to choose from on the menu, quick and friendly service, even when it's a full house.

Pros: great prices, great taste, variety!

dkingdesigndotcom

Points +88

Vegan
12 Sep 2007

Clean decor but small bland servings

My wife and I went to this restaurant (885 Dundas Street West) which has a clean modern decor which may appeal to some people. My meal included a small mound of white rice which was rather dry and lacked taste. White rice should be a bit stickier (especially if you use chopsticks) instead of dry as this was. The peas in my meal appeared to be colder than the rest which seems like they were frozen and thrown in without proper cooking.

My wife's meal was the hawaiian rice which was rather tasteless. My wife said there was a strange smell to her meal too. There was not any salt or pepper at all on the tables so we couldn't even add some taste that way.

The price was quite high for the quality and size at around $22 CAD (before tip) for our two meals.

There was no free pot of tea like in the various Chinese vegetarian restaurant we had gone to but maybe we have been spoiled by such things.

We think they need to work on spicing up their meals to be more unique and have a bit more quantity for the money.

Pros: clean decor, modern looking, lots of ice water

Cons: small portions, bland taste, dry white rice

veggiewoman

22 Feb 2013

$22 for 2 meals is not expensive, especially in Toronto. That is a really silly critique for a nice restaurant. Maybe at McDonalds that would be too much....

Why should there be free tea? It isn't a strictly Chinese or Japanese restaurant. Even if it were, that is a highly illogical complaint to make about a restaurant. That is just a gripe pulled out of thin air. They had tea on the menu if you wanted to pay for it.

justin

Points +222

Vegan
14 Aug 2007

the best veg chinese in T.O. is moving

This is the best veg Chinese I have ever had. They have a good variety of spicy, sweet, and savory dishes. You don't have to worry about all of the dishes tasting the same. For those who were not impressed with the setting, the restaurant is moving down the street to 885 Queen St. West.

Pros: large portions, excellent food, easy access by street car

philjdomm

Points +945

Vegan
11 Apr 2007

really good immitations!

impressive. poor ambience

pheonix

Points +59

Vegan
11 Mar 2007

Dissapointed

My girlfriend are not from Toronto but happened to be in the city recently and decided to try 668 since it got so many good reviews. First of all, the place was obscenely small and we were lucky to get a table. The decor really wasn't very good but hey, some of the best restaurants I know are ugly. Anyway, when we sat down there was only one menu for the both of us so we had to pass it back and forth. I didn't really mind too much but it's still kind of annoying. My biggest first impression was the smell of the restaurant. I almost instantly got a headache and felt sick. I did my best to overlook it and ordered anyway. We got a #7, pan fried dumplings. They were really good and I was impressed. We were also given complimentary tea and it was also good. I ordered the sweet and sour veggie chicken with soft noodles and my girlfriend ordered the same thing but with rice. We didn't wait too long for the food and our server was fairly nice. The food though was not very good. The sweet and sour sauce was really overpowering and sadly the food tasted like the heavy odour i first encountered. Also, the veggie chicken bits were perhaps some of the worst faux meat I've ever been served. My gf, who's not at all veg didn't really like it but that was for other reasons, such as she doesn't like veggies too much. All in all, it wasn't the worst meal ever but I don't think I'll ever be heading back there again. Maybe I'll try Buddha's next door or the Full Moon.

Pros: pan fried dumplings, complimentary tea, a little pricey

Cons: noisy, small, really bad smell




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