JaBistro

Unlike most Asians, I'm not overly crazy about Japanese food. A raw piece was fish over a bed of rice just doesn't entice me all that much. That is probably due to the fair amount of AYCE sushi I had in the past 10 years. I completely stopped eating AYCE in the last 2-3years. I had decent fresh sushi and sashimi from Le Cafe Michi and Aoyama but it did not bring me back on the Japanese food craze. JaBistro has been highly talked about and highly recommended by various food blogs I have read.

I'm usually not a fan of smoked salmon but this in house smoked salmon was a surprisingly nice start to the meal. The salmon was fresh and the smoked flavour wasn't overpowering in your pallet. The dressing for the salad was light and just coarsely drizzled. - smoked salmon salad 14

I was not able to taste every piece of the torched sushi platter, but every single piece I had was DELICIOUS. The fishes were fresh and the taste was exquisite. No soy sauce or wasabi were needed. Each piece of sushi is packed with flavour. These aburi sushi melts in your mouth in one bite where all the flavour and texture blends beautifully together. I'm not going to try to explain the texture and taste, you will just have to try it out yourself. - aburi 27

This was my least favorite dish of the night. It was a lightly battered chicken with a mayonnaise tartar sauce. The chicken was not crispy because it was plated on top of some broth. It paired well with the julienned cabbage as it provided a good texture in contrast to the "soggy" chicken. It was good but I would not order again and I would not recommend it.  - tori nanban 16

The shrimp toast that accompanied the seared cod was incredibly crisp. It tasted familiar yet I was not able to recall what it reminded me of. The cod was seared to perfection. The first bite literally melted in my mouth and had a buttery smooth texture. It was the best cod I ever had. It was seasoned just right without overpowering the taste of the cod. Perfectly executed, highly recommend this dish. - gindara 22

Now on to the famous JaBistroll that everyone is talking about. Nevertheless, this roll lived up to its hype. It was nothing I had before. The rice and all the ingredients in the roll blended beautifully together. It was a full bite of flavour and it just worked together. You taste all the ingredients yet it's all unified. There were salmon, uni, snow crab, fish roe with refreshing cucumber to balance everything out. No soy sauce is required here. Must try. I have to say, if you ate at JaBistro, you are probably not able to have sushi elsewhere. - JaBistroll 22

The sakura puff for dessert was average. Couldn't taste the sakura, maybe it was the pink foamy thingy on the side. Not sure. The green tea ice cream tasted store bought. I do not expect them to make it in house anyways. On the menu it said it's red bean custard cream? It's just whipped cream to me. Maybe they forgot the red bean part. Hahaha - sakura puff 10

I say skip ordering dessert as you do get a complimentary rosemary truffle =)

Can't wait to go back again!

Final Verdict: Above Par

NAMI

The whole purpose of me visiting NAMI is to have sukiyaki. NAMI is probably known for its fresh sushi and sashimi but I only wanted to have sukiyaki. I was first introduced to sukiyaki in Taiwan back in 2009 at Mo-Mo-Paradise specializing in AYCE hotpot. It was probably not authentic but it tasted really good. Sukiyaki is basically thinly sliced beef cooked with a sweet soy sauce. In other words, it's Chinese hotpot, Japanese style. If I ever craved for sukiyaki, I would usually go to Ematei. I discovered that NAMI also offers the same at a slightly more expensive price of $33/per person, whereas Ematei is priced at $60 (enough for 2 people or 3 girls, hahaha). Nonetheless, I wanted to give it a try.

 All the delicious ingredients being cooked in the sweet soy sauce. Taste wise, they taste the same but ingredient wise, there is a ever so slight difference with Ematei. NAMI provided udon noodles and Ematei provided yam noodles. It comes with a raw egg where you dip your beef that will give it a very tender texture.

Service was excellent as the server was informative and provided attentive service with privacy. However, it didn't seem like the server did not know to the assemble the raw ingredients on the hot pan. Ematei does a better job in that area. In end, it was a delicious meal. If I was craving for sukiyaki, I think I would go back to Ematei since it's cheaper and the service for the sukiyaki was better.

Black sesame icecream with a sesame crisp for dessert. A nice end to the meal. 

Final Verdict: Slightly Above Par

Chou Izakaya

I'm not a huge fan of izakaya but I always like a good place to chill with friends. I read a couple of reviews on Chou Izakaya  and it seemed pretty decent. I'm not a fan of Guu due to the crowdedness and the wait issue. There was a Groupon for Chou Izakaya for 50% off, so of course I had to snatch that and try this place. Finally.

We made reservations for 5:30pm, thus the quietness in the restaurant. The crowd starting coming around 6pm. The environment was nice and spacious, unlike Guu. We are all greeted upon entering the restaurant in the usual Japanese manner.

The takoyaki were okay. The octopus meat was small and close to none existence. I think the best place in Toronto for takoyaki is at Manpuku.

takoyaki 5.5

These cute little round deep fried balls are deep fried curry mashed potatoes. Not sure what the sauce was but it didn't add anything to the flavour. Wasn't too crazy about these either.

curry korokke 5.5

The deep fried sweet shrimps were big, a very good deal for $7. No need to peel the shell, you can just eat everything together. They were perfectly fried. However, I wasn't too fond of the greasy oily taste upon first bite but my friend loved them.

amaebi karaage 7

The sweet shrimp sashimis were my favorite! They were fresh and sweet and the house-made soy sauce was just so good. The soy sauce was not overly salty and tasted just right with the sweet shrimp. I'm in awe just reminiscing about it...

sweet shrimp 7

I sucked the brain out of this poor little guy. So cruel yet so good.

All the blogs I read said the pork belly skewers were really good so I had really high expectations of them. They turned out to be alright for me. I like the teriyaki flavour better than sea salt. They were tender and had the right balance of fat and lean meat.

pork skewer in sea salt and teriyaki sauce 2.5/ea

The grilled squid was a little overcooked with a chewy and rubbery texture. I didn't like them.

ika yaki 6

Tofu steak may sound bad but they actually turned out to be pretty good. The sauce and the soft tofu tasted really nice together along with the bonito flakes.

yaki tofu steak 4.5

The scallops were the most expensive item we ordered and it didn't tasted good. Scallops were overcooked. The combination of wasabi and soy sauce was not complimentary

hotate yaki 9

Final Verdict: Par

RAIJIN ramen (Toronto)

Okay... I know... I been posting way too many ramen posts, but I promise this is the last one because I have officially been to all of them =)

RAIJIN definitely did not get the press of Sansotei or Santouka. I only figured that this place was opened through reviews on Yelp. The news regarding this ramen joint dated back months ago. No official website is available, all information are found on Yelp. From previous news article I read, RAIJIN is from Vancouver. I arrived at location around 5:25pm and was told they open at 5:30pm and to wait outside. They are very persistent on this 5:30 opening time. It's fine that you open at 5:30 but if your door was open and you even greeted us, is it too much to sit us down while we wait the 5mins?

Spacious interior with more seating along the kitchen bar. Most comfortable seating of all ramen places. 

 Ordered the below ramen with less salt which I regret. I found the broth to be a little bland. The noodles had a good springiness. The black dots you see are house-made black oil which I'm not sure what they are exactly. Flavor wise, I wasn't able to taste anything special The "pork shoulder butt" was tough and lacked in flavor. It was too lean in my opinion. First time seeing cabbage and canola flower as toppings. They were just blanched vegetables. I like the egg, the most flavorful topping. All in all, it was an average bowl of ramen. Nothing particularly stood out for me.

Tonkotsu Shio Ramen

There are currently NO LINEUP as the words have yet to spread. RAIJIN ramen provides attentive service and decent ramen. Would I return? Probably not.

Please see below for my ramen ranking in Toronto.

1. Sansotei
2. Santouka
3. Raijin
4. Kenzo
5. Kinton

Final Verdict: Par

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka (Toronto)

This post is fresh off the grill! I literally just came back from visiting Santouka and I want to be the first
to blog about it! I have to say, Toronto is on a ramen frenzy! Following the tail of Sansotei (please read review here and here) and Momofuko, here is Santouka. A ramen chain originated from Japan has various locations around the world. This is Santouka's second franchise in Canada, the first one being in Vancouver (they always get first dibs, not fair). Santouka opened last weekend with a soft opening and is building anticipation for it's grand opening Nov 23rd. During the soft opening, only a limited selection of the menu is available. The place is small like all ramen joints, seating only 23 hungry patrons.

Around 5:15pm, no lineup, yay!

Window display of Santouka's ramen replica. 

The below are the menu pages available during the soft opening. What's special about Santouka?Customers are given options. The option on the hardness of your noodle, the saltiness of the soup, the amount of lard and your portion size. +/- $1 you are able to go up a size or go down a size on your bowl of ramen. 

 

Another interesting aspect is that waitresses does not take your order on the plain old pen and paper but on an ipod touch/iphone 3 type of device. I'm interested in seeing if an order taking app is developed for use only at Santouka.

By the way, they provide little folders laundry type of baskets for your personal belongs since the space can get cramped.

Pigeon hole of chef assembling our delicious ramen. 

I order Shio Ramen with less salt. I don't tend to like Shoyu or Miso as I have low sodium tolerance. When the bowl of ramen came, I took a sip of the soup. Perfect level of saltiness and just the way I like it, creamy and flavorful. As for the noodle... it was PERFECT as well! It wasn't the white soft noodle Sansotei offered, but it was more like the noodle Kinton offered but better. However, I did find the the amount of oil floating on top to be too much, thus I will request for less lard next time.

Shio Ramen is our signature ramen which is mild and creamy soup seasoned with salt. Shio Ramen is our only ramen that is topped off with a Japanese pickled plum. (from website)

As for the 2 slices of pork belly, I found the cut to be thick and uneven. I prefer my cut of pork belly to be thin where I am able to savour it all in one bite. The side toppings of the ramen needs improvement. I missed my soft boiled egg and julienne sliced black fungus and bamboo shoots. The bamboo shoots at Santouka appears to be the re-hydrated bamboo shoots and not the fresh ones.

Kara Miso Ramen

The review for the below ramen will be updated by the occasional contributor of this blog, RY. Please see review here.

Toroniku Ramen is our signature ramen which has the toppings served separately. Toroniku Cha-shu is simmered pork cheek (jowl) meat. Pork cheek meat is very rare and only 200-300g can be taken from each pig. It has a very rich flavour and it is tender like fatty tuna. (from website)

As of now, the fight for the king of ramen in Toronto is definitely between Sansotei and Santouka. Kinton, please step aside. Sansotei's tonkotsu broth is no doubt the best of Toronto with Santouka a close second. However, Sansotei's noodles are in the needs improvement department, and seems like the owners heard our voices and is now offering a choice noodle. I have to go back to try that option. Sansotei and Santouka are neck in neck in ramen race. To be honest, without having try Sansotei's new ramen option, overall Santouka is a winner for me. The soup, noodle and topping was good. It's a well executed bowl of ramen, the most well rounded bowl of ramen in Toronto.

***Update: 11/21/2012 - Revisited Sansotei, tried their thick noodle option, and I have made my decision. In terms of broth, noodle, toppings and value, Sansotei wins the ramen race in my book =) *** Please see here for update review on Sansotei.

Lineup at 6pm.

Anyways, Toronto's ramen frenzy doesn't stop here. Two more ramen joints are just around the corner and I will definitely try them all~

***NOVEMBER 23, 2012*** Passing by at around 6pm and this is what I saw...

Final Verdict: Slightly Above Par