As Durham Region grows and welcomes more people, it is seeing an increase in food diversity and an appetite for experiencing different cultures through their cuisines.
This has not just given the region a boost in economic activity and job creation but also broadened the palette of what is considered ‘Canadian’ food.
Cindy Tran, a second-year Video Production student at Durham College, says food is significant to her identity “as an Asian person.” She says her family operated a pho restaurant, The Sprout, for eleven years at Toronto’s St. Clair Avenue.
Tran says she has seen Vietnamese food grow from a “few select restaurants” to being “everywhere” now. Her experience tracks with the increased visibility of culturally diverse restaurants and retail outlets in the region.
“Food is a conversation,” says Tran. “Food is a vehicle for friendship and family. We can’t live without it, and it’s an embodiment of the relationships and connections we have together in our culture.”
According to Durham Region’s 2024 Business Count, 12 per cent of businesses and nine per cent of jobs are in the accommodation and food services sector, making it the fifth-largest sector by both business and employment share.
The food guides published by the cities of Ajax, Oshawa and Whitby reflect not just the variety of dining options but the presence of the peoples and cultures that make it possible, with Ajax’s food guide including more than 80 restaurants under ‘Flavours Around the World.’
Residents have also welcomed the “boom” in diverse grocery stores and a growing culinary culture, providing a strong foundation for its growing food diversity.
Restaurants experimenting with ‘unauthentic’ flavours
Experimentation is part and parcel of Durham’s food diversity. Restaurant owners such as Shabi Thiru of Nathan’s Jerk on Simcoe Street North are blending different cuisines and creating a space for different cultures to meet.
Thiru acquired Nathan’s Jerk in 2023 when the brand already had “customer loyalty,” but needed an update to its design and food.
“And then we adjusted it for the community because the community tried the food [but] it was way too spicy for everyone … So we adjusted all the recipes, just to ensure the community enjoyed it.”
Thiru owns two other outlets, Gomuku and Not So Shabby, run from the same kitchen. While Nathan’s Jerk describes itself as “unauthentic” Caribbean and Mexican food, Gomuku serves Asian fusion where “east meets west,” and Not So Shabby is a South Asian burger joint, says Thiru.
“Since most of our food is fusion, we get every single culture in here, [and] they’re always trying different things. Just as you know, nothing is authentic. Everything is mixed,” he says.
Drawing from South Asian to Korean and Western cuisines, Thiru’s kitchen serves dishes like butter chicken burgers, spicy bulgogi beef sandwiches and jerk chicken sandwiches with coca bread.
Suraj Sigdel, manager at Balti Indian Restaurant in Whitby, says the ‘Indo-Chinese’ items on their menu are popular among their customers. Also known as ‘Desi Chinese,’ it is a “fusion of Indian spices and the Chinese base,” Sigdel says.
Navigating challenges, competition
Sigdel says he has seen a growing appetite for Indian food in the region, and the competition has heated up since they opened in 2020.
“When we opened the restaurant, we had maybe three or four [Indian] restaurants in the Whitby area. Now the Indian cuisine restaurants [have] grown big. It’s almost 15 to 16 now,” he says.
Thiru says while there will be “a bit more diversification” over the next five to 10 years, “this is a challenging industry to be in.”
In a 2020 report, Invest Durham found 85 per cent of hospitality and tourism businesses “had to lay off staff, representing almost a third of all layoffs” in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Six years on, the industry is still recovering, and owners such as Thiru are also having to contend with increased rent, labour, input and living costs.
“Just to juggle all four of them, it is a little bit of a challenge. At the same time, you know, we are in the middle of a recession, so one of the things people like to hold back on is splurging on luxury foods,” he says.
Despite these challenges, new and diverse restaurants continue coming up in Durham Region.
Buffet outlet India’s Taste opened a new restaurant in Oshawa in January, while USOK, a well-known Filipino BBQ stall in Courtice, announced a brick-and-mortar store in Whitby.
In recent years, the opening of Lena’s Rotis and Doubles (2025), Banban Korean Fried Chicken (2023) and Churrasco of Portugal (2023) have underscored Durham’s changing food scene.