I'm a big fan of
Hogtown Vegan on Bloor near Ossington-- the menu of "vegan comfort food" is unpretentious but not "earnest" (in other words, it actually has flavour). The nearby
Disgraceland also has an extensive menu of vegan fare (although it is not exclusively vegan), but I've never been so can't give a direct recommendation. Out on the east end on Danforth,
Jean's Vegetarian Kitchen is a favourite of mine, and does very good Thai/Malaysian food that is largely vegan (although it does do a lot of mock meat, so if that's not your thing, you may not like the place). I've heard
The Porter House is good if you're looking for pubby-type fare.
Of course, these kind of recommendations overlook the
vast number of various "ethnic" restaurants whose cuisines natively have a lot of vegan items. There are plenty of vegetarian/vegan Chinese restaurants, for example, and in most Indian places you can find vegan fare (at least if you're not too picky about ghee, and even then you might be accommodated). Most Japanese places will serve up vegan sushi rolls, seaweed salad, tofu, and other items. I've eaten vegetarian at Sri Lankan places, and again those dishes were (as far as I know) vegan. Ditto for Ethiopian cuisine (one of my favourite types of food, especially
Ethiopian House just off Yonge north of Wellesley), although again, I don't know if they use niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter) that is in some traditional dishes.
If one is very strict, then I would limit myself to the places that are explicitly vegan.
