The Kinka Family has added another successful restaurant to their food empire earlier this March. Yakitori Kintori opened a little more than a month ago, and specializes in yakitori (grilled skewered chicken). The restaurant is housed on the second floor of Kinton Ramen 2 on Bloor in Koreatown. Additionally, the space is small so reservations are highly recommended if you're planning on heading there on the weekends.

 Prior to our date night to watch Captain America II: The Winter Soldier; my bf and I decided to eat here before the movie. I made a reservation a week earlier for a seating at 8:30 pm. When we arrived, there were a few people waiting upstairs for a seat, so I was glad that we had reserved two seats.

We were seated at our reserved table (reserved card on top), and were each given the menu to peruse. The menu was a stand-alone, and printed on both sides with items such as skewers, vegetables, beef, pork, desserts, and drinks. I liked that the menu clearly illustrates the many parts of a chicken that customers can order to consume. 

 

 We started the night off with the tofu & kaisou salad ($7) [tofu & seaweed with ponzu jelly]. The portion was more than enough for the two of us to share. The salad was refreshing, and I really enjoyed the chewy seaweed in it. However, I am not a fan of tofu so naturally, I didn't eat any of it.

 

We also ordered the butabara [pork belly] ($2), negi shio gyu [beef with scallion sauce] ($3), and yakiniku gyu [beef with BBQ sauce] ($3). The negi shio gyu  was included in the Chef's Selection, but I liked it a lot that I re-ordered an additional skewer of it. Out of the three, my least favorite was the pork belly as it was fatty but wasn't as flavorful as I'd have liked.



Our last two orders of skewers before dessert was the mentai mayo tsukune [cheese meatball] ($2.30)  and enoki bacon [bacon with enoki mushroom] ($2.30).

 

The kitsune udon ($7) [deep fried tofu & udon noodle in dashi broth] was a creative dish, and arrived in a small bowl with three tofu-wrapped pockets. When you remove the sticks holding the tofu together; inside reveals the cooked udon. I absolutely loved the dashi broth as it was light, and perfect for after eating the skewers.

The night ended with Houji Cha creme brûlée [roasted green tea] ($5). It was a wonderful treat as the texture of the custard was creamy and explosive with the flavor of green tea.

The reservation indicated that if they're extremely busy, then you are allotted a 2 hour seating limit. I would say that is more than enough as we only took 1.5 hours. The washroom was clean, and they even provide mouthwash to rinse, and toothpicks.

Although the skewers are priced very well; it can really add up once you order the other items off the menu. Our bill for two came up to be around $77 (with tax and tip). Yakitori Kintori is a great addition to Koreatown, and I will definitely be back to try out the other items on the menu.

This is going to be a very quick review! I met up with a friend at Yorkdale Mall a couple of weeks ago for some girl time. After walking around the mall; we decided to grab a quick dinner at Milestones Grill & Bar. I am not particularly a huge fan of chained restaurants, but I am okay with it when there are no other options nearby.

I was surprised as to how busy they were on a Thursday night around 5:00 pm. We arrived at the restaurant and waited to be seated by the hostess.

I was craving for some pasta that day. So as I was looking over the menu; the seafood fettuccine ($17.99) caught my eye. I decided to order the dish and was pleasantly surprised that it was rather good. I have ordered a few pastas at several chained restaurants before, and a majority of the time, I have been disappointed with the quality. This particular pasta dish at Milestones Grill & Bar

consisted of several pieces of shrimp and tender chunks of salmon. It was topped off with fresh spinach and spicy chardonnay cream. I thought that the sauce provided a very creamy texture to the pasta, which was quite good. Despite the restaurant being a full house that night; our server was very attentive and quick to provide refills. 

If I am ever at Yorkdale, and looking for a place to eat, I'd definitely return to try out their other dishes. 

RATINGS:

Quality of Food: 3.7/5

Service: 3.7/5

Overall Dining Experience: 3.7/5

Price: $$$

Address: 3401 Dufferin St, Toronto, ON M6A 2T9

Pho Con Bo is a Vietnamese restaurant located across from Sheridan Mall in North York, ON. The decor is not exactly their focal point but the restaurant itself was decently sized, and clean looking. Additionally, the affordability and the good food pretty much make up for their lack of service. The waitresses are not rude by any means; they just don't check up on you throughout the entire meal or really say anything (except bring the menus, take the order sheet and then bring out the food). Then again, Vietnamese restaurants are not exactly known for their great hospitality (not all of them though).

I usually like to try out new restaurants, but there are a few establishments where I am a regular customer, and Pho Con Bo is one of them. A majority of the dishes are under $10, so it is very budget friendly. 

The chao tom (grilled shrimp paste on sugar cane) ($4.00 for a small) ($8.00 for a large) is one of my favorite appetizers; besides the spring rolls. What is it? Chao tom is pretty much shrimp paste wrapped onto a piece of sugar cane, and then seasoned and grilled. The shrimp paste at Pho Con Bo was very flavorful as it was well-seasoned, and soft.

My usual order is #74 which is vermicelli with grilled beef, grilled pork and grilled chicken ($6.75). The dish has been consistent as I have ordered this same dish numerous times. The meat was perfectly grilled, and there was a good amount of meat in my bowl. The vermicelli tasted a lot better with the accompanied fish sauce (with pepper) which adds a tangy flavor to the noodles and meat.

Another dish that I have ordered is #75; vermicelli with grilled beef, grilled pork, shrimp on sugar cane, grilled meatballs, and spring rolls ($8.25). It is a good dish to order as it has a little bit of each item from the appetizer lists. The grilled meatballs are juicy and the spring rolls are crunchy.

RATINGS:

Quality of Food: 4/5

Service: 2.9/5

Dining Experience: 3.5/5

Price: $

Address: 1625 Wilson Ave, Toronto, ON M3L 1A5

Bloor Street West has a plethora of Korean restaurants on the long street. So I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon this unassuming establishment serving both Korean and Japanese. It was a decently busy Saturday night as a majority of the tables were filled with customers.

We were offered green tea and given the menus to look at. The menu has a variety of selection of dishes, and I found the prices to be quite reasonable. 

We started the night off with complimentary tea, congee and tofu. The congee was rather decent, but it could have used an additional bit of seasoning to give it more flavor. 

We ordered the sashimi appetizer ($7.99) [9 pieces mixed sashimi] to share, and it was a pleasant surprise. It arrived neatly presented on a wooden board and the quality of the fish was rather good.

The vegetarian stone bowl ($9.99) [cooked vegetable, deep fried tofu, glass noodle on rice and served in a stone bowl].



My kalbi meal came with complimentary miso soup and green salad.

The kalbi ($14.99) [traditional Korean barbecued beef ribs on a hot plate] was delicious. Additionally, the portion was more than generous and I was full after my meal. 

Service was good as our waitress was friendly and didn't rush us at all throughout the dinner.

 I usually get their chicken teriyaki dinner or beef ribs teriyaki ($9.75/dinner). This time, I got the later, and they have changed the presentation of the plating slightly. Everything is now on one giant white plate, and they have swapped out lettuce for the salad. For the price, I thought that there was a generous portion of beef ribs teriyaki which were tender, and rarely with any fat on them. Each dinner comes with white rice, side salad and also a bowl of miso soup.

The chicken teriyaki ($8.75) dinner also comes with comes with miso soup, salad, and steamed rice.

I absolutely love their tropical roll ($7.95) and thought that it was beautifully presented. The usage of mango and avocado in rolls may be common, but this roll does it for me. It's a light and sweet roll that went perfectly with my meal. The crispy texture of the tempura bits in the roll provided a nice crunch to it.

RATINGS:

Quality of Food:4/5

Service: 4/5

Dining Experience: 4/5

Price: $$$$ || Online Menu

Address: 325 Queen St W, Toronto, ON

A couple of weeks back, my friends and I decided to go for drinks after an early dinner at Grill Time. We decided upon seeing W Burger Bar as the weather got colder, and we didn't want to walk any longer. The modern establishment on Yonge and College offers a variety of burgers, alcohol, and other bar items.

One of my friends and I decided to share the WBB signature sauce chicken wings (double dusted and fried to perfection) ($10.99/lb). I love the wings, and unfortunately these wings are one of the worst wings that I have ever tasted. The wings were of a good size, but the sauce made them so overly bitter and salty at the same time. I really had a hard time eating them, and downing them down with milkshake didn't help with the bitter aftertaste.

RATINGS:

Quality of Food: 3/5

Service: 3.5/5

Overall Dining Experience: 3.5/5

Price: $$

 

Address: 10 College St, Toronto, ON M5G 1K2

Sushi Garden is a budget friendly sushi restaurant located in Delisle Court at Yonge and St. Clair. I was in the area visiting a friend, and we decided to go for lunch nearby. It's rather nondescript from the outside as it's quite tucked in the corner, but my friend recommended the place. We walked inside, and were approached by the server to be seated. It was a Sunday, so their lunch menu wasn't valid for the weekend.

After perusing through the menu, I opted for the following items. The chicken teriyaki (white meat) ($6.99) was cooked well, moist, and the sauce was delicious. Additionally, it was rather well portioned, and they give you a lot of rice with the meal.

Unlike other sushi establishments, each meal does not come with a salad or miso soup. Rather, it can be added onto the meal for an additional $3.00.

Lastly, I also got the Salmon Lover (16 pieces) ($12.99) which came with sashimi (6 pc), sushi (4 pc), and maki (6 pc). I think that if a place cannot serve salmon right, then it's not worth going to as it's one of the most basic fish. Anyways, I am glad that the plate that this plate that Sushi Garden served was tasty and seasoned well. The quality of their fish was great, and the rice was compact, well flavored, and didn't fall apart.

 The interior was clean, and I believe that many of their customers are locals in the area due to its semi-hidden location. I saw quite a few customers ordering take-out while we were dining. Our server was rather quiet, but he was quick and courteous.

RATINGS:

Quality of Food: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Overall Dining Experience: 4/5

Price: $$

 

Address: 1560 Yonge St, Toronto, ON, M4T 2S9

Mihwa is one of the many Korean restaurants on Bloor St W, or otherwise known as Koreatown. We wanted to try out a different place other than the nearby Owl, and JangWon; two establishments that my bf and I frequent a lot while in the area. 

The restaurant is relatively small with a few seats. The decor is that of the typical Korean restaurant, and provides a very homely ambiance. We were quickly seated, and given the menus and a water jug. After ordering our food; the server brought out the complimentary bachan (beans, kimchi, seaweed and bean sprouts).

 Mihwa serves a variety of Korean dishes for reasonable prices; on par with several restaurants on the block. Honestly, there's nothing about this particular establishment that sets it apart from the rest. We ordered three dishes to share between the two of us for lunch.

 First up was the spicy rice cakes; one of my favorite Korean dishes. The tteokbokki (boiling rice cake, vegetables, egg) ($6.00) had a nice chewy texture, and the sauce had the right hint of spiciness. Additionally, the portion was generous enough with the good amount of both rice cakes and fish cakes. However, I thought that the fish cakes were sliced quite large, and could have been smaller in size.

 The kalbi (seasoned marinated beef short ribs with steamed rice) ($13.00) was one of the more expensive items on the menu. Many of the other items were well priced and portioned for under $10, so it makes for a filling lunch or dinner. The ribs were marinated in a sweet sauce, and were quite tender. Although, it's not the best kalbi that I have ever had; I still enjoyed the dish.

 Lastly, for our third dish, we chose to try out the kimchi jjigae (kimchi stewed in hot spicy broth with pork) ($8.00). I was slightly disappointed with this dish as despite it being labeled as "spicy"; I didn't think it was spicy at all. Rather, the broth was rather mild for my taste. However, this traditional dish does contain a good amount of noodles, kimchi, and tofu so it does fill you up.

RATINGS:

Quality of Food: 3.6/5

Service: 3.5/5

Dining Experience: 3.5/5

Price: $

Address: 623 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON, M6G 1K8

JaBistro is a modern Japanese restaurant known for their beautifully presented sashimi platters, and blowtorch sushi. It sits right in the Entertainment District of downtown Toronto; making it very accessible by both TTC and car. Additionally,  JaBistro is run by the Kinka Family who also owns Guu Izakaya, Guu Sakabar, Kinton Ramen, and the newly opened Yakitori Kintori. 

 The restaurant is easily recognizable for its logo of the fish with the luminescence in front of its face. Walking into the establishment, you'd be greeted by a hostess, and most likely be asked to sit at the bar while you wait for your table. The interior was tastefully designed with its sleek use of wood, and it's also windowless. Due to the nature of having no windows; there is no natural lighting (even during lunch time).

Normally, we would have dinner around 6-7 pm, but on this Sunday, the earliest available slot was 8:30 pm. I usually have dinner slightly about 1-2 hours earlier than our reserved time, so I made myself a sandwich at home. Probably not the best idea as I immediately regretted not waiting as I saw our neighbor's sashimi platter (oh well, there's always next time!). The bf prefers nigiri to sashimi, so I guess I'll need to bring in some reinforcements who loves sashimi to get the platter. Anyways, JaBistro doesn't offer a plethora of traditional sushi dishes; rather they have opted to have both tradition and innovative dishes.

Started the evening off with the usual drinks; coke and green tea. The green tea arrived in a large mug with a bigger-than-norm tea bag that was reusable at least twice. 

The both of us got our own order of salad (cucumber, greens) ($8 x 2). I enjoyed the salad very much as the dressing was light, and the thinly sliced cucumbers added a nice refreshing touch. 

We also got an order each of miso soup [lobster broth] ($5 x 2). I believe that the miso soup used to come with a lobster claw, but I guess they have changed it up since they first opened. It's now presented in a mug sans claw.

 The ika [calamari, tosazu vinegar] ($10) was lightly coated in batter, and wasn't too overly greasy. Although, the sauce might be a little sweeter than one might expect for calamari. It was still rather tasty nonetheless, and the portion was more than enough for two people.

One of JaBistro's signature roll is their JaBistroll (blowtorched aburi) [salmon, snow crab, uni, cucumber, tobiko] ($22), which we ordered. Apparently, by blow-torching the sushi, it helps seal in the flavor of the ingredients. I absolutely loved the smoky flavor, and how the creamy texture of the uni went well together with the salmon and snow crab. This particular dish is highly recommended!

The bf wanted to try out the kyukyoku that night, but our server informed him that they didn't have exactly 12 different kind of fish that night (so it was unavailable). He ended up getting the sushi (nama) [classic nigri 7 pieces] ($27) instead. This board arrived with a selection of 7 different nigri, and they all just melt in your mouth. I loved how the nigri are already flavored with both wasabi and soy sauce underneath the pieces of fish.

 The ebi nanban [battered tiger shrimp, tartar sauce] ($14) was six pieces of battered shrimp coated in tartar sauce. The shrimps themselves are very sweet in flavor, so the tartar sauce actually made them a lot sweeter than I would have liked. In all, the shrimps were crispy and well made.

The bf forgo dessert, but since I love sweets, I got the choco cream puff [choux pastry filled with chocolate whipped cream] ($8) for myself. As you can see from the image, it was beautifully presented and tasted wonderfully creamy and chocolatey.

As for service; it didn't start off very strong as we had to wait well over 25 minutes past our reservation. Apparently, the customers at the table were finishing up their desserts, and just called for the bill. Anyways, they paid for their bill but resumed chatting. I am assuming that JaBistro prides themselves for great service, so they didn't want to ask the customers to leave until they're ready. I am not too sure how I feel about this, as service is important, but we were just sitting at the front waiting ... and waiting. Eventually, another table freed up, and we were seated around 9 pm. I know that the staff are mainly from Japan, so they might follow the customary of always being polite (aka not kicking someone out).

However, once we were seated, the service was rather quite professional and really good. Our server(s) were friendly, knowledgeable of the menu, and courteous. The food also came out at a reasonable time, and spaced apart well. They also refold your napkin when you're away from your table (washroom, phone calls, etc ...) so I thought that was nice. Overall, JaBistro is a great place to dine for its quality food, good service, and I had an enjoyable dining experience.

RATINGS:

Quality of Food: 4.5/5