'Lord of the Rings' stars raved about a Toronto Chinese restaurant hidden down a hallway

"You guys... it rips!"

Lord of the Rings cast members sitting at a panel. Right: Chinese food at a restaurant.

Lord of the Rings cast members at Fan Expo in Toronto. Right: A Chinese restaurant in Toronto.

Madeline Forsyth | Narcity, @sunnyschinese | Instagram
Lead Writer, Travel

Move over, second breakfast! These Lord of the Rings stars indulged in a dinner out in Toronto, and it looks like The Green Dragon Inn has some competition.

Actors Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan, known for their roles as hobbits Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, were in Toronto over the weekend to attend Fan Expo.

During the event An Evening With the Hobbits: In Celebration of 25 Years on Saturday night, the stars sat down to discuss their friendship, filming, and, in typical hobbit fashion, food.

It seems the hobbits have expanded their palates from po-ta-toes to Chinese cuisine.

"Last night we managed to go out for dinner again, and we went to Sunnys Chinese," Wood, who starred as Frodo, said. "You guys... it rips!"

"That's a good thing," Astin (a.k.a. Sam) chimed in. "In this context, that's a good thing!"

"That hallway you walk down, where you're like, 'Where is the restaurant?' And then you open the door, and there it is — beautiful!" Wood continued. "Such good food."

The Bib Gourmand restaurant, tucked away in Kensington Market, serves a range of Chinese homestyle dishes, from orange chicken to Hong Kong French toast.

The co-stars also visited Toronto restaurant Kiin while in the city, where they celebrated Boyd's (Pippin's) birthday. According to an Instagram post by Monaghan (Merry), they had the "most incredible night" with "amazing friends and memories."

"We love this city," Wood said during the Fan Expo panel.

In 2023, the stars indulged in a multi-course meal at Alo, which they called "artwork."

Who knows which Toronto restaurant the four hobbits will journey to next!

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

  • Lead Writer

    Madeline Forsyth is a Toronto-based Lead Writer for Narcity Media. After earning her B.A. (Hons) at Queen's University, she spent a year travelling much of the world as a flight attendant. Now, she uses her experience in the travel industry and passion for writing to share stories about buzzworthy events and adventures across Canada and the globe. Madeline has been published in PopSugar and has interviewed sports and entertainment personalities for Narcity. She has covered and photographed restaurant openings as well as event launches such as the world premiere of the Dr. Seuss Experience. Some of her favourite things to write about include charming small towns and anything to do with Harry Potter.

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