Best Bars: Big Trouble (Toronto)

There's Big Trouble in Toronto's Little China(town) and it's about dang time. Big Trouble fills a gap in Toronto's busiest Chinatown by giving it a cool bar outside of Kensington Market.

There's no denying I love a good secret bar, and while Big Trouble isn't exactly a secret it's also not in the most obvious spot. When you're in Asia, it is all too common to see a bar address prefaced with 2F, 3F, 4F, etc. to indicate what floor it's on. Here in Toronto, that's a bit unusual. But Big Trouble is on a second floor, upstairs from a hot pot restaurant and that already makes me feel a little bit like I'm on vacation back in Hong Kong.

Once inside, you're greeted with a casual atmosphere that is distinctly Asian flavoured; Chinese lanterns hang from the ceiling and Chinese fortunes hang from plants that make an industrial looking space feel cozy. There are murals painted inside, and plenty of old Chinese movie posters plastered to the walls. The hallway to the bathroom is my favourite homage to China, you feel like you're walking down a dimly lit alleyway complete with laundry hanging to dry.

Sitting in the bar, you have a choice of embracing Toronto, or pretending to be far away. If you face the giant windows, you get a view of the CN Tower overlooking Chinatown. But facing away is where your imagination can soar because it's way too easy to pretend you're in Hong Kong, or at a hip fusion bar somewhere in San Francisco or LA. There's an eclectic crowd that fills up the place; usually starting with young business pro's coming for the after work Happy Hour and stretching into a more casual club going crowd who come for the DJ who starts a little later.

The music was mostly 90's chill hip-hop, nothing abrasive and I saw most of the customers tapping their feet along with their drinks and conversation. Snacks and libations were on point; with inspired fare like won-ton chips and guac, spicy coconut firecracker shrimp and dumplings that disappeared from my table as fast as we could order them. I was thrilled to see (and taste!) Chinese beer and Baijiu, which translates to "white liquor".  You order a bottle; and are brought shot glasses to drink it with because it's that strong.

Without failing to live up to it's name, I managed to get myself tipsy enough that I could have gotten myself into Big Trouble if I didn't live so close to the bar. Needless to say, I'll be returning. If anything, in hopes for a better fortune than I got last time I was here.