Oshawa sits at the eastern end of the Greater Toronto Area and was built around the automotive industry. Its food follows the waves of workers who came for it — Portuguese, Italian, Polish and, more recently, Caribbean and South Asian.
The downtown holds the older bakeries and delis; the Caribbean and South Asian restaurants are spread along Simcoe and King. It is inexpensive eating, and considerably less crowded than the equivalent neighbourhoods in Toronto an hour west.
Durham Region’s farmland begins immediately north of the city, with orchards, dairy and a good run of farm markets through the summer and autumn. Lake Ontario is at the city’s southern edge, though the fishing is recreational rather than commercial.