Indigo at The Well

Indigo at The Well aimed to be the go-to spot for every book-lovers in downtown Toronto with the 40,000 curated books that are on display on the library shelvings that are in and around the 16,000² ft space. Not only they sell an extensive collection of books, they also sell lifestyle products, home décor, toys, stationery, music, audio equipments and gifts. Indigo is Canada’s only major English-language national bookstore chain with now over 200 superstores and small formats stores all around Canada.

“The store’s innovative design, crafted by the UK-based brand innovation studio Dalziel & Pow, promises to be a visual delight. It will revolve around a curated selection of Indigo’s books, with a newfound emphasis on lifestyle products and immersive in-store experiences,” shared the brand. —retail-insider.com

The massive store is designed with different sections and seating areas that are well spread out through out the space. The layout is very pleasing with ample rooms in between each shelves, making browsing the store a delightful experience. One of the coolest area of this store is their all-red manga section which they self-proclaimed as “The coolest manga shop in the city with a manga-inspired lighting installation”.

There’s also Propeller Coffee Co., a Toronto-based gourmet coffee roaster that sells beverages, pastries, and snacks that you can enjoy inside the store.

With the copious amount of books and lifestyle products that they sell in store, Indigo at The Well makes it a perfect place for visitors—book-lovers and non-book-lovers alike—to do some retail therapy or window shopping.

 

Indigo at The Well

Address: The Well Upper Ground UG04 | 486 Front St W, Toronto, ON M5V 0V2, Canada
Telephone: +1 647-254-2169
Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-8pm | Sun 10am-7pm

Instagram: @indigo.thewell
Directory: Indigo at The Well

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Mr. Surprise at The Well

Mr. Surprise is a specialty toy store where you can find various high-quality blind boxes, designer toys and trendy collectibles. They also work with local and international artists for collaboration projects as well as providing them with a space to exhibit and sell their artworks. 

“Founded in 2019, Mr. Surprise has grown to one of North America’s leader in designer toys, art, stationary and lifestyle goods. We are dedicated to continuously bringing you happiness, entertainment and amazing surprises everyday. We have collaborated and will continue to work with many Canadian and International artists to create phenomenal pop up events in order to cultivate the designer products market.”—thewelltoronto.com

Free Drop Off / Pick Up Service 

Mr. Surprise also offers 14-days free in-store storage for customers to do a Drop Off / Pick Up service for the toys they sell on social media platforms. How it works is if you’re a seller, after you find a buyer for your toys on social media, you can bring the sold toys to the store for storage. They will provide clear bags to pack you your toys in and labels for you to fill out. 

For the labels, you can write either ‘Paid’, ‘Unpaid’ or ‘Trade’. If the toy is unpaid, the store will make sure that the person picking up the toys show proof of payment before the hand off. If the toy is a trade, the store will make sure that the person picking up the toys must do a drop-off in return.

After you packaged everything, take a picture of the package and send it to your buyer. The staff will then store the package for you until the buyer come to pick it up by showing the picture you sent over to them as proof. 

If for any reason your buyer cannot pick the toys up within 14 days, storage extension is possible as long as you notify the store via text or call. 

So essentially, Mr. Surprise is playing middle man for these transactions, making it a little safer and convenient for the community to buy, sell and trade toys. Plus, it is a good marketing strategy for them since it gives them additional foot traffic of people who’s highly likely to buy something from the store.

The main reason I visited Mr. Surprise at The Well was exactly for this reason. My friend bought two Labubu from a seller on Facebook Marketplace and the seller has dropped off the items at the store. We came in, she showed the picture the seller sent over to the staff and they located her packages soon after. And since she only paid for half of the transaction, she then paid the remaining owed amount and showed the proof of payment to the staff before they handed both of the purchased Labubu boxes to her. On top of that, she also ended up buying a DIMOO Bear Dad from the store. So the complimentary service is really beneficial for the customers and the store as well. 

If you’re looking for toy collectibles and blind boxes like the currently internationally hyped Pop Mart collections in Toronto, certainly check out Mr. Surprise at The Well or at their Scarborough location.

 

Mr. Surprise at The Well

Address: 486 Front St W LG08, Toronto, ON M5V 0V2, Canada
Telephone: +14379831823
Hours: Everyday 11 am - 7 pm

Instagram: @mrsurprisethewell

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The Well Toronto

The Well is Toronto’s biggest mixed-use downtown development that was opened November last year. Located in between Front, Spadina and Wellington, you can find retail shops, food services, office space, and residential units in the massive 7.6-acre mixed-use complex they occupy. The 11-years in the making project is a joint venture between two top urban developers RioCan REIT and Allied Properties REIT and recently has become the newest addition to Toronto’s iconic landmarks.

The architecture of the The Well is nothing short of impressive. Seven different world renowned architecture firms were responsible for designing three condominiums towers, three residential rental towers, one office tower and a 3-level retail area nestled at the bottom of these towers. Their goal was to create a a people-focused property that foster human connection and community building which resulted in this huge pedestrian-centric and easy to navigate complex. 

One of the most stunning part of The Well is the glass-covered passageways that are connecting the seven towers. This German-engineered glass canopy was shipped piece by piece from Germany to Canada which then assembled at The Well.

“Follow the light and you enter the The Well’s namesake space: the three-story deep, block-long concourse, crisscrossed by bridges, lined with shops and topped with a diamond-mullioned glass vault. Bridges aside, The Well’s form references that of urban arcades built from the 1850s, including the most famous, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. Since the dawn of the department store era, that combination of dark compressed entry and soaring glass roof has unleashed spending dopamine.” —Bloomberg.com

“The most literal inspiration for The Well’s covered mall can be found in many parts of the U.K. “This idea of having a roof like an umbrella, rather than an enclosed space, is something we’ve done in the U.K. a lot,” says Adrian Price, a London-based principal at BDP.

The canopy—designed collaboratively by Hariri Pontarini, BDP, and Adamson, working with RJC Engineers—extends between seven buildings. It is held aloft by V-shaped supports, relying on what Price calls a “continuous walk-in gutter” that extends around the edge of the structure to provide stiffness. The supports, in turn, are designed to have enough give to accommodate building movement, while the panels of engineered glass sit atop the lattice. “It’s the largest structure of its type in North America,” says Price.” —canadianarchitect.com

If you are a visitor, you can find plenty to do around The Well. For dining, there are 12 curated restaurants and bars as well as the recently opened Wellington Food Market with 50 F&B vendors serving cuisines from all around the world you can choose from. For shopping, you can find local brands as well as world-class brands around their 320,000² ft open-air retail walk. Or even if you don’t want to do either, you can always come to just see the impressive architecture and walk around the complex. 

 

The Well

Address: 486 Front St W, Toronto, ON M5V 0V2, Canada
Telephone: +1 416-203-7777
Hours: Sun-Tue 11 am-8 pm | Wed-Sat 10 am-8 pm

Instagram: @thewell_to

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St. Lawrence Market

St. Lawrence Market is the oldest market in Toronto that has been around for more than two centuries. Built in the 1800s in Old Town Toronto, the market has become one of the city’s iconic landmark and is now home to more than 120 merchants and farmers that sell various local and international fresh produce and gourmet food. With the abundance of food choices that are available, St. Lawrence Market has also become a culinary hotspot for food enthusiasts. During weekdays, you can find local craftspeople and artisans selling their crafts in the market. On weekends, there are Saturday Farmer’s Market and Sunday Antique Market going on where you can do more shopping.

For a cosmopolitan market, I think St. Lawrence Market is really nice. The place is clean and well-maintained, and the layout of the market is not too cramped in-between vendors (at least on the upper level. On the lower level, the space is a bit smaller), making exploring the market an enjoyable experience. If you’re a tourist or a local who is looking for a ready-to-eat food, there are plenty of choices available at the market. Western options such as meat sandwiches, cured meats, cheese, pizza and fresh seafood to name a few are easy to find but international cuisines are also available such as Chinese food, Greek food and French desserts.

One notable vendor is Buster’s Sea Cove, one of the legendary institutions in Toronto that has been selling the freshest and most delectable seafood inside the market since its flagship opening in 1992. Their house special—the East Coast Lobster Roll—is apparently a crowd’s favorite and ended up making my friend joining the long line in front of the counter to order one to try. 

East Coast Lobster Roll with Salad $25.03 | 7/10

Their East Coast Lobster Roll with salad is served with pickles and a slice of lemon. The chopped up lobster meat is served cold on a grilled bun. The lobster meat is fresh and seasoned well, but I personally think the meat was chopped up too much. I think I just prefer bigger chunks of lobster meat on my lobster roll in general. But overall, it was alright. 

If you want to avoid the crowd, maybe go during odd hours like I did. I went there around 3 pm on a Saturday and the place was not super crowded. There were still a good number of people in the market so you can definitely still experience the market vibe. 

 

St. Lawrence Market

Address:
Farmer’s Market / South Market
The Market Lot
Front & Jarvis | Front & Church | Jarvis & Wellington
St. Lawrence Hall
The Market Lot | Front & Jarvis

Telephone: +1 416-392-7219

Hours:
South Market
Tuesday to Friday 9am-7pm | Saturday 7am-5pm | Sunday 10am-5pm | Closed on Mondays
Farmer's Market
Saturday 5am-3pm

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Ido Gomtang • 이도곰탕 계동 직영점

Ido Gomtang (이도곰탕 계동 직영점) is a Korean restaurant that specializes in Korean beef soup (한우곰탕). If you’re not familiar with this particular Korean dish, gomtang (곰탕)—or beef bone soup—is a Korean hearty soup made by slowly simmering various beef parts on a low flame. The result is clear beef broth with a rich and hearty taste and served with thinly sliced beef and rice. Gomtang is commonly eaten with kimchi and kkakdugi (깍두기 or cubed radish kimchi).

The secret recipe that Ido Gomtang uses is supposedly made by a Doctor of Oriental Medicine who was the 18th grandchild of King Sejong and has been passed on through three generations (at least that’s what’s written on the ‘About Page’ of the restaurant on Naver). As a result, the soup of their signature Hanwoo Gomtang (한우 곰탕) is a clean and rich broth with deep flavors.

Located 175 meters away from the famous Cafe Onion Anguk, Ido Gomtang’s entrance is quite hidden from the main Gye-dong street. But after you turn left on the alleyway where it’s located, you’ll immediately see the entrance to the restaurant in front of you (see the last photo of this post).

The interior of the restaurant is pretty simple and modern. The kind of place that office workers frequent for a quick, no frills, healthy lunch where they can just come, get their food quickly and go back to their busy day. And I’ve actually encountered many people from this certain group during the multiple times I was there. 

Their menu is pretty straight forward too. There are only 3 items on the board:

1. Gomtang (곰탕) :  Thinly sliced beef served in clear beef broth with chopped onions.
   Regular Gomtang with Rice (곰탕) ₩13,000
   Large Gomtang with Rice (특곰탕) ₩16,000
   Regular Gomtang with Rice Noodles (쌀면곰탕) ₩13,000
   Large Gomtang with Rice Noodles (특쌀면곰탕) ₩16,000
   

2. Beef Suyuk (수육) ₩49,000 — Thin boiled beef slices served with mushrooms, chives, and Napa cabbage in a pot of broth. Served with a side of the Spicy Raw Pollack Salad (명태회무침).

3. Spicy Raw Pollack Salad (명태회무침) ₩9,000

*There has been a ₩1,000 increase in price for each menu since I took the photo below.

Gomtang (곰탕) ₩13,000 | 9/10

The menu that I always order is the regular gomtang. The regular portion is pretty generous and enough to fill my stomach for one meal. The broth of the gomtang is light yet savory with that deep beef flavor you get from boiling beef for a long period of time. It’s very comforting with subtle hints of the chopped onions mixed in the soup. 

Unlike seolleongtang (설렁탕 Korean Ox Bone Soup) which you have to seasoned the soup yourself before eating it, gomtang’s soup is already seasoned when served. It’s more like galbitang (갈비탕 Beef Short Ribs Soup) but without the hassle of taking the meat off of the bones. And Ido Gomtang’s soup is always nicely seasoned and served pipping hot with soft and tender sliced meat and well-cooked rice. They also provide you with dipping sauce and wasabi on the side for you to dip your meat into (and yes, you should dip it if you want to add another layer of flavor into the dish).

Also, a little bit of disclaimer, if you came from Southeast Asian countries, the flavor of gomtang might not be as strong or bold as soups in your country since Southeast Asian food tend to have bolder seasoning and flavor profile in my opinion.

Their kimchi and kkakdugi are also really good. They are on the spicier side for my personal taste, but the flavors are wonderful and they give a nice acidity to the bite when eaten with the gomtang.

Ido Gomtang Gyedong is probably one of the restaurant I visit quite often every time I’m in Seoul. Due to its location, I usually ended up frequenting this place when I have to meet up with family or friends who are visiting Seoul for the first time since it’s close to Anguk Station (안국역) and Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을, a popular tourist spot for first-time visitors in Seoul). This restaurant has also become one of my go to place every time anybody ask me for a restaurant recommendation around Bukchon Hanok Village. And pretty much everybody—both adults and kids—who I’ve taken or recommended this place to said they like the gomtang. If you go with a big group, I would also recommend the suyuk since it’s also delicious.

If you’re looking for a simple, hearty and comforting meal around Anguk Station, Cafe Onion Anguk or Bukchon Hanok Village, I would definitely recommend you to check this place out. 

 

Ido Gomtang (이도곰탕 계동 직영점)

Address: 서울 종로구 계동길 33-8
Telephone: 02-762-0524
Hours: Mon-Fri 10:00-22:00 | Sat & Sun 10:00-21:00

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