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Best Bars 2026 No. 26

Laowai


Behind the faux-garage front of the modest Chinatown dumpling shop Blnd Tger is a freezer door (also fake). If you know the open-sesame password (hint: order dumpling No. 7), the door will swing open to reveal a glorious speakeasy evoking 1920s Shanghai with peacock shades of teal and gold. Discover 50-plus baijiu bottlings here (the largest selection in Canada) and sample the Chinese spirit in tasting portions, alongside brilliantly original cocktails or gussied-up classics, like the Beijing Bikini — a Piña Colada riff made with strongly aromatic baijiu. Oh, and do not pass on the dumplings — they’re first-rate.

Feeling lucky?
Sunday through Thursday, during happy hour, roll the dice. If you score a seven, the house picks up your food bill.
Dasha Charuk behind the bar.
Eat
Snacks — like Sourdough Shrimp Toast and Smoked Eggplant Mapo Tofu — make excellent tablemates for the cocktails.

Photography by Josh Neufeld


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