Restaurant that started out as pandemic lockdown project just opened physical location in Toronto
Published August 11, 2025 at 3:16 pm
A restaurant that started out as an online concept during the pandemic has finally swung open the doors to an IRL physical location.
Sambal describes itself as a modern Indonesian bistro, serving items like sate ayam (chicken skewers), a flight of the sambal they’re named for with prawn crackers, nasi goreng and beef rendang. They’re also serving desserts with Indonesian influences like a panna cotta with toasted coconut and pandan leaf as well as a sundae with jackfruit, and drinks such as Indonesian jasmine iced tea and passion fruit or soursop juice.
There’s also a selection of beers, mocktails and classic cocktails on the menu, along with Indonesian-inspired cocktails like a sambal margarita and a coco pandan daquiri.
Previous to opening this new physical location, Sambal’s offerings could only be accessed through food festivals and pop-ups at places like The District Kitchen at Food District at Square One, and they had been laying low for a couple years prior to 2024.
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Social media posts about Sambal’s physical restaurant opening have been getting hundreds of likes on Instagram, with several posts garnering around 500 likes.
“Sambal began as an online restaurant during the pandemic, a passion project born from a craving to share the food we grew up with, in a city where Indonesian cuisine was hard to find. What started as delivery-only quickly gained momentum,” reads the Sambal website.
“Encouraged by the response, we opened a pop-up in Mississauga, where we saw our food connect not just with Indonesians, but with a wider community of curious eaters. Now, we’ve found a permanent home here on The Danforth to make it even more accessible to all.”
Sambal is currently soft open at 463 Danforth Ave., with plans for a public grand opening on Aug. 18.