Located on the ground floor of Toronto’s oldest luxury hotel, The King Edward, the atmosphere is calm and refined. The design – dark wood, patterned wallpaper and golden chandeliers with hats – is a tad dated, but still has charm. Waiters pad about between the armchairs in the small, carpeted room, serving cocktails and fine wine from the polished wooden bar.

It’s the usual clientele of a high-end, no-nonsense hotel, but there is an unusual cosiness to the ambience. It has a comfort food bar menu that appeals to those going solo, and its large windows looking out towards King Street East make for a mesmerising bout of people-watching. It’s not going to set the night on fire, but sometimes old-school is cool.