647 748 4272  |   $5-13 Small Plates

I’ve read some polarizing things about Hapa thus far. Before it opened, people lauded it as another hiqh quality izakaya in the mold of Guu, but more recent opinions have labeled it more pedestrian and used the dreaded word: ‘fusion’. I decided to drop-in anyways and give it a shot.

Food

The menu is basically split into three parts: cold tapas, hot tapas and the fresh sheet, an assortment features, rolls and desserts. There’s a ton of variety and you could probably eat all fried things or all sushi if you felt like it. Naturally, I mixed it up for the sake of the review.

Before eating, I began with a Shiso Mojito that sounded like a clever shift from the usual. I’ll say it might be tough to pick it out blindfolded, but I think it’s good value for $9. There’s also a heck of a sake selection (if that’s your thing) and some good beer if you’re a fan of Blanche de Chambly and Amsterdam brews.

Our first dish was the Salmon Yukee (above) topped with a raw quail egg and some nori chips. The tartare was clean, the egg for richness and moisture, and a nori chip that added a unique twist. It’s definitely fusion, but it worked for me.

Next up was the scallop tartare with bacon, mustard mayo, and some wontons. I think the bacon, mustard, scallop flavour combo made sense, but perhaps a bit heavily dressed for something that’s generally a little more delicate.

I think this was my favourite dish of the night. Beef tataki, quickly seared, sliced thin with an addictive sesame-chile topping, crunch, lemon for acid, and a good amount of raw red and green onion. It’s clearly not rocket science, but it’s well executed and hits on all the things I was looking for in a bite.

One of the few hot tapas we ordered was the Ebi Mayo: a very simple preparation of tempura prawns and some ‘spicy mayo’. Outside of the fact I’d call the mayo more ‘zingy’, that was a perfect tempura prawn. Really juicy and tender with a nicely crisp batter made me wish we’d ordered two.

This next plate, the Aburi Saba, is what everyone will tell you order - both for the show and the taste. Your server will bring out a blow torch and give the raw mackerel a quick 5-10 seconds over top. Mackerel is already fairly fishy and the torching brings that out, provides some novel temperature contrast and a slight char flavour. If you like mackerel (I do), you’ll really enjoy this. If not, steer clear.

If you had to nominate one dish you’d find at Joey’s, this halibut taco dish would be it. It’s tempure halibut with bacon bits topped with shoestrings served with a roasted jalapeno tartar sauce. I know it sounds pedestrian, but the sauce packs a good punch,the fish is ruined and the grilled taco is actually tasty. I didn’t want to like it, but I couldn’t help myself.

The last dish we shared was the tuna carpaccio with yuzu dressing. It looks simple, bright, moist and pure, and accomplishes all those things when you drop it in your mouth. Another successful fish preparation.

QUICK NOTE: This is a tapas restaurant, so if you’re not looking to spend big, you’ll likely come away hungry if you entered with an appetite. Luckily, it’s surrounded by super cheap pho places, so keep that in mind.

Service and Ambience

One thing you’ll always get at Guu is an unrivaled ambience. It’s buzzing, borderline too loud, and the kitchen greets you with joy and fervor. Something about the room feels less authentic and more ‘Milestones’ (flat screen TVs will do that), so even a similarly joyous greeting just seems out of place.

Service throughout the night was attentive and helpful, with our server recommending sake for the newer drinkers at the table and delivering all the dishes promptly and as ordered. No complaints here.

The Reco?

Like a lot of pretty well-executed ‘Asian fusion’ restaurants, Hapa probably has taken more heat than it deserves. I almost think of it more as upscale comfort food in some ways, and try not to hold it to the standard of other ultra-authentic alternatives. If you walk in with the same mindset, I’m pretty you’ll come away feeling similarly satisfied.

Other Reviews? 
 Globe and Mail  |      Kat Can Rawr

 Posted by: Jacob, Visited Oct 28, 2012

416 979 6763   |   $2-$12 dishes

I eat in the The Village by the Grange at Dundas and McCaul pretty frequently. If you’ve never been, the food court inside this ‘mall’ is full of independent vendors serving mostly ethnic-specific foods and very few chains. What I learned recently is that there’s actually a sit-down Japanese restaurant inside called Manpuku that’s supposed be pretty tasty. So in I went. Here’s a mini-review.

Food

The menu here is separated into noodle dishes, rice dishes and specials. There’s also a separate ‘assorted menu’ for some reason. Not really sure why it’s not part of the main menu…guess they don’t fit nicely into a category? I don’t know.

Since it was lunch and cold, most of us had bowls of udon noodle soup. The niku soup (above) with a good portion of tender sliced beef is tasty and a good deal at $5.99 given the big bowl. The kake udon is an even better deal at $3.99 coming with fishcakes and diced scallops in a slightly smaller bowl. Both good noodle soups.

I ordered the negitama gyudon, a rice dish topped with sliced beef, lots of green onion and an almost barely cooked egg. I was expecting a taste closer to bibimbap but for some reason, the beef seasoning kept bringing me back to shepherd’s pie. It was warm, hearty, and filling. Win.

I also started with some Ohitashi (cold spinach in a light dressing with bonito flakes). It was pretty bitter, chilled, and the bonito flakes added that fishy flavour. I’d classify this as an acquired taste, meaning I didn’t really like it.

We ended with what everyone says to try: Takosen. Apparently this is a popular Japanese street food, whereby Takoyaki balls (octopus dumplings) are squished between two crackers with mayo and a sweet sauce. Texturally, it’s pretty interesting and squishing the dumpling is just plain fun. You also get three of these for $3!

Service and Ambience

When you walk in, it looks kind of like a diner, with a big bar and the kitchen right behind it. Seating is also pretty limited, so get here a bit early during lunch hour. 

One of the great things about our brief drop-in was the service. Our server was really pleasant and attentive throughout and she helped accommodate the four of us during the busy lunch hour despite needing to move around some tables. Much appreciated.

The Reco?

There are two main reasons to drop in here: good value and unique dishes. The menu presents a few choices that appear to be quite authentic and difficult to come by, and you can try a bunch of them on a budget. Enjoy.

Other reviews:
 Where Jess Ate   |    Amy’s Food Adventures

 Posted by: Jacob, Visited Apr 27, 2012

416-599-4200    |    45 Baldwin St.

No website that I can find for menu details and haven’t sampled anything other than the sushi here (well, unless sake counts) so I’ll go with a mini review here.

Food

I’ve had a bunch of sushi at this spot before and always come away very happy with the value here. It’s not super cheap, but very reasonable for above average Japanese and Korean. I’ve heard good things about the Korean dishes, but since all I’ve had is the sushi, I’ll focus on the three rolls we sampled today.

The two featured above are the caterpillar (no need to point it out) and Rick’s Roll. These are two favourites on the special roll menu. Each is around $10, quite big, and are delicious. The caterpillar has BBQ eel (unagi) inside with creamy avocado layered on top with some garnish and sauce to make it look like it’s animal relative. Could use more eel given the size.

The Rick’s Roll has - I’m probably gonna mess this up since there’s no website to double check - tempura shrimp, softchell crab, and tobiko with a variety of toppings and a distinct ginger finish. This was the table favourite. Had the spider roll as well, but that fell a little flat.

Of course, topped it off with an 8oz bottle of sake between the three of us for really cheap as well.

Service and Ambience

Warm and pleasant servers with frequent refills of the tea/water always appreciated. Also spoke to the owner as we were heading out and he let us know there’d be a new Taylor roll (his name’s Taylor) with different preparations of prawn. Good to know. 

The inside is long and narrow but the tables are very spacious and the chairs are quite comfortable. Also large prints of Taylor’s unique photography grace the walls and add some quirky character to the joint.

The Reco?

Easily the best place on Baldwin for sushi and probably the best in the general area before you hit Chinatown. Will continue to come back here for sushi lunch and recommend the same to you should you be in the area. Cheers.

Other reviews:
 blogTO  |     Toronto Life    |   Sushi Toronto

 Posted by: Jacob, Visited Nov 23, 2011

416-205-9808    |    $10-25 entrees

Walked by Yuzu a few times at Adelaide and Duncan (just beside Crocodile Rock). Was a little concerned it might be one of those pseudo-upscale sushi places with disappointing food, but luckily gave it a shot for lunch.

Food

Wasn’t entirely in the mood for sushi/maki and was freezing my ass off coming in from the rain. Also found the lunch specials a little pricey and opted for a bowl of Nabeyaki Udon. I didn’t know what Nabeyaki meant.

The dish is described as a noodle soup with ‘shrimp tempura, egg, and vegetables served in hot pot’. I’ll say now that it was woefully under-described. So now I’ll over-describe its contents to compensate.

Came with mussels, flavourful pieces of whitefish, a few scallops, Japanese mushrooms, tofu, nori, tender leeks and cucumber slides, a perfect over easy egg and a large piece of tasty tempura shrimp on top. All these elements created a captivating broth that smelled and tasted wonderful. Accompanied by thick, hearty square-cut udon, this soup hit the spot on so many levels.

My friend had the tempura udon with more battered shrimp and vegetables to accompany the soup and said that both the crunchy sides and broth were delicious.

We finished with sake cheesecake (how do you say no to this?). The sake taste is very subtle, but the impressive part of the cake is its lightness. It’s almost a panna cotta texture without the jell-o/rubbery mouth feel. Really clean and simple dessert with fresh berries.

Service and Ambience

Nothing of too much note with the service. Fast enough, no mistakes, good tea refills.

Photo Credit: Toronto Life

The room looked great with hundreds of backlit sake bottles around that add character to the place. A lot of exposed break and well-positioned lighting probably makes this a good looking spot when the sun goes down as well.

The Reco?

I can’t comment on the actual rolls (other reviews have and loved them), but if the chefs apply the same care as they did with my dishes, I’d absolutely recommend Yuzu as an excellent choice for Japanese downtown.

Other reviews:
Sushi Toronto    |   Toronto Life  |    dine.TO

 Posted by: Jacob, Visited Oct 26, 2011

416-599-3868    |    A la carte small dishes $2.50-6.50 for sushi bar

I’ll make this a mini review since we didn’t really sample the menu, only had the sushi bar so that’s what the review focuses on.

Service and Ambience

Starting off here first because the big feature of the place is a conveyor-like sushi delivery system around the bar. Seen it in movies, but this one has floating sushi boats on a circular-flowing river. Definitely gets cool points.

It’s also a good option for a quick lunch if you’re looking to power through your meal. Each dish off the boat is priced in relation to it’s colour/design, so it’s easy to see what you’re racking up. Your total gets tallied at the end based on your plate stack.

Service is very polite and speedier than you average Japanese restaurant. Quick on the waters and the mess clearing.

Food

Didn’t have anything exotic, but the maki and sashimi options were plentiful and fresh. Good ratios of filling and topping to rice. Also had a pricier 6.50 plate with two pieces of wagyu beef (wouldn’t expect it to be kobe) that was very tender.

On flavour, nothing stood out in particular. A spicy crab roll was nice as was an avocado and mango mix. Other more mild fishes were definitely tender but it was all about texture. Found this with many of the plates.

The one beef I have is that you pay for the novelty of the boat setup and variety of your selections. $30 after tax/tip on a sushi lunch yielded about 12ish pieces.

I felt a little jipped given the number of very reasonably priced sushi choices downtown. The main menu’s not too bad for lunch though. I’ve heard the udon and soup dishes are really good.

The Reco?

Go here for a fun first date. The novelty is appealing and rolls are above average, but be prepared to splurge for what you’re getting at the end of the day.

Other reviews:

Couldn’t find any others.

 Posted by: Jacob, Visited Oct 12, 2011