Go Here, Not There: Vacation Alternatives for the Budget Conscious

The sprawl of malls that encompass Houston’s Chinatown, for example, the only tip is that you are still in Texas. Today, restaurants with Chinese, Hong Kong, Vietnamese, Thai and other Asian cultures fill these shopping plazas.

If you want to channel France, go no further than the cafes and green markets of Montrealincluding Jean Talon Market and the Atwater Market†

Toronto has a virtual United Nations of food districts, from Little India until Little Jamaica† Suresh Doss, a food from Toronto author which caters to the multicultural pockets of the city, grew up in the suburbs of Scarborough where he takes small groups to Sri Lankan restaurants among others food tours in the greater Toronto area (250 Canadian dollars, or about $195).

“The food has a ephemeral quality because you don’t know if it will be there in 10 or 12 years,” said Mr Doss, referring to successive waves of immigrants over the past 80 years who have established Greek, Hungarian and Italian establishments. enclaves, followed by Vietnamese, Chinese and Sri Lankans and, most recently, Syrian.

For DIY enthusiasts, he recommends a progressive feast along Toronto’s Danforth Avenue, home to Trinidadian, Venezuelan, Japanese, and Ethiopian restaurants, among others. “It’s not fully gentrified yet and has a welcoming feel to it,” he said.

Among the affordable accommodations in Toronto, try the Hotel Acht near Chinatown, where a recent search found rooms worth 209 Canadian dollars.

Perhaps the safest way to explore Ukraine right now is to eat in Cleveland, which has strong Eastern European roots and a concentration of Ukrainian shops and restaurants in the suburbs of Parma.