to qualify my views, i consider downtown toronto (given i actually live downtown), to be south of bloor and between Spadina and Church...[i might actually go so far to say that the northern boundary, at least for me, is probably college/carlton...]

so TLP http://www.blogto.com/restaurants/tl...e-pigs-toronto

King Palace for insanely good Pakistani cuisine - neighborhood is downright terrible...but don't let that take away from the place - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/try-i...cleId=16749010

Bannock....

http://oliverbonacini.com/OurRestaur...ock/About.aspx

I would second Momofuku and also throw in http://zakkushi.com/raijin/ and also http://www.santouka.co.jp/en/ but i tend to prefer raijing...sadly, their 10$ sapporo pitcher of beer promo is done now that summer is over.

http://www.paramountfinefoods.com/locations/Toronto Paramount is pretty cheap and good for middle east fare.

i think http://japango.net/ may be a litte pricier and also yutaka

http://www.yutakarestaurant.com/

have a look and see if these are more expensive than you expected or more casual etc. and i can suggest more once I get an idea what you consider cheap etc.