The magic word that will let you order beer after closing time in Toronto – just don’t expect it in a pint glass
Some Chinese restaurants will serve you alcohol after last orders - from a tea pot! But only if you know the name of the secret menu item
TORONTO'S night life can compete with London or New York on any day of the week, just so long as you don't plan on drinking past 2am.
That's when last orders are called so you won't get served another drop - unless you know the magic word.
Look a little closer and you'll see guests enjoying a slap up meal with a side of “cold tea”.
Order the secret menu item, and like something from a 1930s speak easy, a beer will be decanted into a tea pot from which you can pour out your illicit hooch without being bothered by the law.
Finding one of these enterprising joints isn't too hard - just head to China town and look for the restaurants full guests who look like they've just wandered out of the nearest bar.
But it's not just the nightlife where Toronto competes with the Big Apple.
Canada's largest city has a lot in common with New York – only it smells a whole lot better.
It is a cosmopolitan financial capital with a thriving theatre district, world-class restaurant scene and buzzing night life.
Unlike its pungent neighbour to the south, Toronto is well known for its squeaky-clean sidewalks.
Unlike the pungent Big Apple further south, Canada’s largest city is well known for its squeaky-clean sidewalks.
That was lucky for me as I was spending a lot of time hauling my shopping up and down the tidy streets.
It was my first time exploring the city and I kicked things off with some serious retail therapy.
A shopping trip to the States doesn’t have the same appeal since Brexit turned our hard-earned Pounds into scrap metal.
However, in Toronto your sterling will stretch a little further because the Canadian dollar has seen a slump in the past few months.
I started in the gift shops and thrift shops of Kensington Market, a trendy arts district of immigrants that could not be further from its London namesake.
Kensington was settled by Scottish labourers, then Jewish emigres who began a tradition of setting up shops on the front porches of their homes, which continues to this day. Nowadays, the district is a United Nations of delicious grub.
There is everything from German kebabs at Otto’s Berlin Döner to Venezuelan arepas — a sort of ground maize bread — at El Arepazo.
Eating your way up and down Augusta Avenue is a tasty way to absorb Toronto’s multicultural vibe.
With a full stomach and a stuffed shopping bag, I returned to my room at the Chelsea Hotel.
The 1,590-room monster is Canada’s biggest and situated in Downtown Yonge. The area is best known for the huge Toronto Eaton Centre shopping mall.
Just around the corner is Yonge-Dundas Square, the city’s own miniature Times Square.
Canada has the largest English-speaking theatre district outside of London and New York.
Many of the world’s most successful shows get their preview run in Canada before you can watch them elsewhere.
I got to see the Tony and Grammy-winning musical Kinky Boots live at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, which is the longest continuously operating theatre in North America.
After the show I stepped back in time to the Seventies and ate at the world’s most famous revolving restaurant.
GO: TORONTO
GETTING THERE: Book return flights from London Heathrow to Toronto with Air Canada from £393 per person. See .
STAYING THERE: Rooms at the Chelsea Toronto are from £93 per night based on two adults staying at least two nights (room only; free WiFi) and booking 90 days ahead at .
MORE INFO: Visit
The CN Tower was the planet’s tallest structure when it was completed in 1976.
And after a dizzying 40 years, the experience hasn’t lost any of its magic. The ever-changing skyline gives you a great tour of Toronto while you relax over a meal at one of the city’s top restaurants.
Toronto megastar Drake paid homage to his home town by getting his picture taken sitting on the spire for the front cover of his 2016 album Views.
An insane photo, until it emerged he had Photoshopped himself into the shot.
On my last day I explored Toronto’s museums, starting with the Royal Ontario Museum then on to the quirky Bata Shoe Museum, where they were showing an exhibition called Standing Tall: The Curious History of Men in Heels.
The collection traces the invention of the heel from horseback riding in Asia, through Ottoman and European royalty, on to cowboys in the Thirties and all the way to John Lennon’s Beatle boots and beyond.
If the previous night’s show had piqued my interest, the exhibition had me sold that every bloke deserves at least a pair of cowboy boots.