Cafe 668

i’ve been going for
favourites are the Café 668 salad and the two cold rolls… really great!

Quaint patio, tried the Singapore noodles which for me were over sized and had far too much sauce in them. Don’t think I’ll be ordering them again

We have been going to Café 668 for the last 14 year! The food is amazing and the owners are great people! Their curry eggplant, spicy pad Thai and black bean tofu dishes are the best!!!

I have been coming to this place for about 6 years, and it never disappoints. The food is excellent. Décor is pretty great too, and the patio is fun to sit on because of all the unusual plants.
The service is great and very friendly. Hon is awesome and a real character, and yes, he is the only server. It’s only a small family restaurant so don’t expect your ass to be kissed the whole time.
Recommendations that never disappoint: Mango Salsa, Summer Rolls, King Mushroom Special, Curry Delight, Veggie Duck with Oyster Mushroom Sauce.
Portions are huge, so come hungry.

The veggie obsession is fabulous. Killer soups — you can’t go wrong — order the noodle version and you’ll have enough soup for two. Oh man, I forgot to take a photo of the amazing fried bananas! Friendly host, nice ambiance. Check it out!

My boyfriend and I love this place! They have an extensive menu. I’ve been many times, and have never been disappointed!
The ambiance is lovely, and the service is good. Plus they have a wicked fish-​tank.
Some of my favourite dishes include the ‘Veggie Duck’, the Water Chestnut Salad, the Coconut Ginger Soup, the Vegetarian Dumpling noodle soup, Veggie Obsession noodles, and the Crispy Fried Tofu (under main dishes) with option B) Spicy Black Bean Sauce (spicy) — carrots, celery, cabbage, green/​red peppers and mushrooms.
Highly recommended… now I’m hungry!

The food just wasn’t very good – not bad at all, just boring. We were the first ones in the place for dinner, having arrived somewhat early, so I was surprised that the service was slow. The server was friendly though, and the windows are good for Dundas West people watching. I won’t be rushing back, but it was passable.

How on earth is this place a 2.5 star on here?
I am not a vegan, nor a vegetarian, yet I love Café 668, gone here probably 4 – 5 times and really really liked the food each time.
Good service, good ambience, good prices and great food. Seriously the 2.5 rate here totally is not deserving at all. I’d rank this place right up with King’s Café, Hogtown Vegan, Fressen, Fresh, etc as some of the tasiest vegan food in the city. If not better than those places in other regards.

this asian vegetarian resto has what must be the most original creative menu in the city. there are dozens of great choices and the ambiance is what we’d call ‘cool’.
Hon, the owner, and his wife run the place and they are friendly and very eficient. i would give this place 5 stars!

I love this place; not sure there are not more favouring reviews. Café 668 is my go-​to for yummy vegetarian asian fusion eats! I love their cold spring rolls. Their soups are comforting and divine; watch-​out portion size are huge.
Curry pad thai is absolutely delish. Get the stir fried vegetables, they are a must — fresh, crunchy and tasty.
Plates are served family style so bring a friend or two. Price point is descent under $ 20 per person for a fully dinner.
Make Café 668 your vegetarian go-​to spot as well!

This is my favourite restaurant! It is Asian fusion style vegetarian food. They have a pretty big menu with all sorts of dishes that contain a variety of vegetables and fake meat. I usually get the Satay Veggie Beef on noodles. I love the flavour, and the textures of the fake beef and the crispy noodles.
Last time I decided to switch it up, and I got the Spicy Fried Coconut Tofu; it was amazing. I also got spring rolls to start, and they were so good too.
The atmosphere is nice too. It’s got a modern style, very clean (the bathrooms too), and they have an aquarium, which i love! (and no, they aren’t fish to eat haha).
I have been here quite a few times over the past few years, and I will keep coming back. The food is always well made and so delicious.

I’m not a vegetarian.
But, I grew up in a vegetarian household, so I can appreciate good veggie food. I like good food, and good food can definitely be vegan, vegetarian, Kosher, etc.
Tip: sit next to the aquarium. SUCH cool fish and shrimp and stuff in there. When your dining companion becomes boring, you can stare at the fish. (N.B.: my dining companion picked the table and actually told me that’s why he picked it. «Now when we have nothing to say to each other, we can talk about the fish.»)
We had some soup. The guy I was with keeps Kosher, so he doesn’t realize it, but that soup was bland as heck and really REALLY needed shrimp. The server brought things out in an order that didn’t make any sense (plain white rice after we’d finished everything? uhhhh). Everything was pretty standard «meh». If everything was $ 3 – 5 a dish, I’d be behind it. But overall, all the tastes were the same one-​note, and I absolutely HATEHATEHATEHATEHAHTATHEAHTIEHTEIOARUAIODJSAKDJ cilantro, and I thought the rolls could use cilantro and was shocked I wasn’t avoiding them like the plague.
Conclusion: lots of caps lock, and MEH.

I am surprised by the bad reviews. To be honest, this place has the best vegetarian, pan-​asian food ever. The food is full of flavour. I have come here many times and always enjoy it here. I have had the following dishes:
Spring rolls — Very crunchy and tasty. The sauce was bursting with flavour. The best spring rolls I have ever had.
Veggie Duck– You will not be disappointed. So full of flavour. Better than real duck.
Phat Thai– It tastes great, but let me warn you, it is really spicy.
Hot and Sour soup– So delicious, you must try it.
Mushroom Lover’s — One of my favorites, nice crunchy noodles that are in a shape of a nest (I call it the nest. hehehe) embedded with mushrooms, and other vegetables in a tasty sauce. If you have not tried this dish, you are missing out.
Vegetarian Phở– I could not believe how delicious this was. It is quite filling so make sure you save you appetite for it. This one is also my favorite. The portion size was perfect and it was not too salty which is excellent. I give this one a A++++.
Mango Heaven– I cannot leave this place without having this wonderful dessert. You have to try it. Plus, it is not a heavy dessert and not heavily sweet too. Just perfect. It is a spring roll pastry with mango slices inside. It is fried and then they pour some coconut sauce (made with coconut milk) on top. The sauce has some tapioca or sago in it, garnished with some sesame seeds. I love this dessert.
Next time I go, I want to try the dumplings, Vietnamese spring rolls, and won ton soup.
In terms of the service, it was excellent too. The man that works there is very friendly and is always attentive. Overall, the best experience.

The food was fine but I probably won’t go back.
Good:
Fake duck — crispy and fatty like duck, but tofu!
Lots of vegetables with the dishes.
Tea pots to share.
Bad:
Some kind of bean paste in the wontons and the curry spring rools — it was mushy, not at all what I want in either of those dishes
Good service but I agree with the other reviewers that the restaurant was cold.

No, no, no. Café 668 you’ve got it all wrong. The place was freezing, the service was just as cold, and the food was remarkably bland. It saddens me to write this because I really wanted and expected to love this place but it quickly diminished from one-​sided attraction to aversion.
I ordered from the large menu with anticipation, finally deciding on the spicy vermicelli soup while my companion opted for ‘veggie duck’. We waited hungrily before the soup arrived five minutes before the duck. On first impression the enormous bowl of vermicelli looked beautiful with colourful vegetables and cascades of tofu on top. But appearances can be deceiving, once I plunged into the bowl I realized it was just a big pile of noodles without any discernible flavour; all I could taste was salt from the faux meat that had been added in (without mention on the menu). I added some sriracha to make up for the lack of spiciness, it was still pretty bland but I was grateful for the hot soup since I was still shivering even with my coat on inside. The duck portion was smaller and also required an additional purchase of rice. The texture of the gluten duck was interesting but the sauce was slimy and much too sweet; I was glad that I wasn’t the one who had to finish it. Blah.
Even if the food had of been decent, the prices are too high and the restaurant too cold to sit back and enjoy your meal.

I’m a fan (hence the 4 stars!) Minus 1 star because the place is FREEZING cold and we all had to wear our coats!
I have been here a few times and I’m usually impressed. They have a very large menu selection.
I went here last night with a group of 15 people and the service was great (separate bills — yesss!!!)
I’ve said before that I’m not a fan of fake meats but I ordered the curry delight and to my surprise it did come with tofu AND fake meat and to my surprise it wasn’t that bad! As long as the fake meat isn’t the star of the dish its actually quite nice. The whole group was happy with their food.
I am for sure going back! The décor is also date appropriate (if you know what I mean, because I’m not sure I do…) ha ha. ok this place has a modern clean look. How’s that?

I’ve eaten at Café 688 many times, but never before the move from 668 Dundas W, when I can only imagine it was one of the hippest little veggie joints in town based on the buzz I was hearing about it circa 2006/​07, mostly fueled by hype from Now magazine.
These days things are pretty lacklustre at 668, which is now located at 885 Dundas, but kept the name. It’s certainly not as bad as people are making it out to be on here but the days of having a constantly packed house are definitely gone.
The food is decent enough but don’t expect to be blown away by anything. There’s a large menu, but very little stands out. I’ve had the veggie phở on more than one occasion and I’m not wild about the broth they use or the chewy bit of tvp (I think) that float in it. It’s huge though and makes 2 meals for me.
The décor is completely lacking warmth. Not only are there a lot of cold elements like floor-​to-​ceiling glass windows, a grey-​white stone wall and a watery tank full of sad fish but the temperature inside is always cold, summer and winter. They blast the A/​C when it hot out to the point of shivers and in the winter you need to keep your coat on, especially if you’re sitting near the windows. I think this a major factor for why you don’t really ever see more than one group dining in.
The dishes I’ve tried have always been somewhere between okay and good in the taste department. Nothing awful, nothing spectacular. I’ve generally had good service but the man who owns the place can sometimes be a bit rough around the edges, like someone who is in too deep denial to acknowledge that their business is now failing, in part because they decided to change it. I find the prices generally reasonable compared to your average asian joint, but at the same time there’s better value and larger portions at other nearby veg spots like Greens Vegetarian.
The later incarnation of Café 668 represents the sad reality of poor business decision making. When you have something successful, you don’t need to revise it. Right in the height of 668s popularity, they moved out of their smaller space on the edge of Kensington Market, near where Buddah’s and Greens are today to a location several blocks west near Trinity Bellwoods. They changed the atmosphere and tried to make it more upscale and it’s really seemed to killed their business even though the product is apparently the same.
I am actually amazed this place continues to survive off year after year with such slow business. The only time I’ve ever seen it half full is when I brought 20 people there to eat. I’d like to see it stay afloat but I definitely don’t count it amongst my favourites. Strangely, I know a few people who do and I guess they are keeping it in business.

Considering the other reviews, I guess i’ve been lucky with the couple of visits i’ve had to Café 668. Both my visits (to their new location further west on Dundas) have been weekday evenings when the restaurant’s been quiet, so service has been quick & unobtrusive, and the meals are served promptly — steaming hot!
There’s a decent range of apps (and not all fried if you want something light) — the taro dumplings are especially tasty, and the deep-​fried veg dumplings were great too.
I’ve had a regular main, and also a noodle main — both were packed with a nice and fresh range of veg, and the sauces were tasty. My only complaint is the small portions of protein. The size of my dishes was extremely satisfying.
The restaurant itself is clean and the décor is nice without being too much. When it’s quiet, it is a great place to go and catch up over dinner — but can get a little chilly in the winter thanks to the big glass windows.
A solid 3.5, I think. Prices could be a little lower, and while the food is nice I think I would head to Loving Hut or Vegetarian Haven on a more regular basis. But if i’m out that way, I will drop in.

As an enthusiastic vegetarian, I can pretty much name any veggie and vegan place in town, but going to eat at them is another story. After two years of hearing about Café 668, I decided to drag my mom along for a nice meal.
We were impressed by the décor. We were impressed by how the place was absolutely freezing. We were impressed by the menu (which is only Asian food, unbeknown to me at the time, not that it matters).
We were impressed that our food was disappointing. How could that be?
We both had an appetite to satisfy and found that our meals lacked a single item to give it umph.
I felt like my tofu was too soft and too doused in coconut sauce, the way your fingers start to get wrinkly and annoying to touch when you’ve been in the tub for too long.
My mom basically got a plate with some beautiful looking crispy noodles that was basically the equivalent of ordering ramen noodles’ super attractive older, classier-​looking sibling. In the end it was just served on a prettier plate.
All in all, for $ 40 (cash only!), totally not worth the hype.
PS It’s not even at 668 anymore!

This is another one of those places that uses their «we’re a fully vegetarian restaurant» claim to pull weight in the city. Again, like my review for Fresh, these places are definitely needed, and it is a decent place to down some typical Asian chow. Great for vegetarians who like their Asian food.
I had the «House Special». The vegetables are crunchy and the made me feel super healthy. Patrons, prepare to feel good about yourself. However, I think this is stuff that I could’ve made at home by myself, and to pay these prices to go out and have «meh» service doesn’t excite me.
Maybe my mind would change if I sampled the different protein options, but for the simple purposes of flavour, I really have to pass. Because the cook time is minimal, the sauces don’t really infuse themselves into the actual veggies.
Again, can someone open an all-​veggie restaurant that’s actually tasty? You know, the home-​cooked comfort food sort of thing? I’ve had some great chow in other cities; Toronto is falling behind.