Ayla Upstairs: What's the vibe?
Fans of Craig Wong's Jamaican-Caribbean spot Patois will already be familiar with the iconic establishment at 794 Dundas Street West, which has been around since 2014, minus a year-long hiatus while they dealt with the aftereffects of a fire in 2017. Ayla Upstairs, the new kid on the block (or more accurately, the second floor), looks set to become another Toronto classic.
The restaurant was dreamed up by a quartet of culinary Avengers. Chefs and life partners, Kevin Shawcross and Danvee Kwok, spent years working in restaurants from Vancouver to Barbados, but relocated to Kwok's native Hong Kong during the pandemic.
When their social circles crossed with Patois owners Craig Wong and Ivy Lam, the seed to bring back a taste of Hong Kong to Toronto was sown. Then, when Bar Mignonette, the wine bar above Patois, closed its doors, nothing stood in the foursome's way.
"Toronto’s multicultural vibe drew us in," explains Danvee Kwok. "The city has such a vibrant culinary scene — everything is concentrated, just like in Hong Kong. You can find different cuisines everywhere, all within arm’s reach."
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Head through the doorway to the left of Patois and you'll find a corridor that feels like the entry to a speakeasy in Hong Kong's trendy Lan Kwai Fong district. Pass by the collages on the wall, underneath the pink lights and up the stairs, where you'll step right into Ayla's stunningly curated dining room that feels a lot like someone's eccentric living room.
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From tear-away calendars and whimsical, mismatched artwork to wooden alcoves housing trinkets, doodads and glassware, Ayla is part vintage boutique, part speakeasy and utterly charming. The design is subtle, but there are touches of Hong Kong everywhere.
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"The space is filled with memorabilia that takes you back to the Golden Era of Hong Kong — small decorations that every household in HK had in the 70s and 80s," says Kwok. "The colour palette is very Wong Kar-wai-esque [a famous Hong Kong film director and screenwriter]: romantic and playful."
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As you trot across the tiled floor and slip into a wicker chair, you can't help but notice splashes of auspicious red and pops of foliage with each turn of your head.
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Ayla Upstairs: What's on the menu?
With a total of nine menu items (10 if you include dessert), guests at Ayla are encouraged to order a lot to share. Plates can be portioned up or down to suit, but as one half of a party of two, I find most of the items to be neatly divisible.
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We start with the Prawn Toast Okonomiyaki, which forfeits the classic triangle, instead cosplaying as a Korean corn dog. It's lightly battered, rolled up and criss-crossed in bulldog sauce and Japanese bonito flakes, which flutter seductively in the breeze. This is the first indication that we should expect the unexpected at Ayla.
"A lot of the flavours come from what I grew up eating in Hong Kong, blended with my travels," says Kwok. "Influences range from Japanese flavours I loved as a kid to more recent inspirations from the Caribbean and even the local Vietnamese spots I frequented in HK."
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The ChaChaan Teng Risotto is an absolutely mind-boggling symphony of global flavours, that shouldn't work — but does. Hong Kong-style borscht, an Eastern European beetroot soup, certainly wasn't on my 2025 bingo card. Yet I find myself wolfing down the rice dish at an alarming pace, the tartness of the pickled beets too beautiful a bedfellow for the rich and savoury oxtail to slow down.
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Salads usually feel like the price of admission, but even Ayla's leafy greens are a delicious conversation starter. Chrysanthemum Salad is a caesar salad mashup, which trades lettuce leaves for chrysanthemum greens, adding popped buckwheat for some crunch and a creamy sesame and miso dressing for a delightfully moreish plate we leave spotless.
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Though the char siu is part of what enticed me to come, it's a tough sell knowing that at least five nearby Chinatown restaurants are serving it at a fraction of the price. So how will they give this classic a spin? For this dish, Ayla looks to the Caribbean for inspiration: the pork is glazed with cassareep, a Guyanese marinade somewhere between molasses and BBQ sauce, and placed on the Bajan equivalent of chimichurri.
Ayla Upstairs: The drinks
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Ayla's food menu might be punchy, but the cocktails aren't exactly lightweights either. With Caribbean, Mediterranean, Japanese and Cantonese influences, there are endless flavour combinations to mine. "It’s inspired by our travels — the best flavours from around the world, all chosen to complement the food."
You'll find sake in a martini, Appleton rum in a negroni riff, and a smoky matcha, mezcal number with egg white thrown in (why not?).
I kick things off with a light and floral cocktail with a stiff egg foam up top, which slips down easily before the food arrives. For more pairable sips, the drinks menu is flush with European wine by the glass and local beer from Toronto faves Avling.
The drinks slap, but just wait until Ayla's rooftop patio launches, a.k.a the thing Kwok is most excited for. "Patio season! It’s been a long time coming. We’re also looking forward to future collaborations with local chefs and getting involved in summer events around the city."
Dinner and drinks for two: around $100 before tax and tip
