Foodaholic!

I first introduced Jacobs & Co. Steakhouse to my bf in late 2013, and he's been back twice for business meetings with his partners since then (without me in tow nonetheless -__-). So after some constant bugging from me; we're finally going to return for dinner sometime next month. So I am happy about that as I haven't had a good steak since returning to Toronto. I am no steak connoisseur but I do enjoy a delicious steak dinner once in a while.

Jacobs & Co. Steakhouse has a very sizable steak selection which are visibly displayed in a glass container at the front. The glass contains dry-aged beef with information tags on them (name, date, etc ...) for customers to choose from. We arrived for our dinner reservation at 8 pm, and was escorted quickly to our table for two. I find that atmosphere can either make or break a dinner, and I enjoyed the dinner here very much because of it. Its dimly lit dining room with soft music playing in the background provided a very intimate ambiance.

We started the night off with complimentary cheese popovers fresh from the oven. The pastry was perfect to start the evening off with as it was light and fluffy on the inside. It was served warm and the butter spread made the popovers taste even better.

Our waiter arrived and asked us for our choice of water and beverages. We ended up getting the
Smeraldina sparkling water ($8.00) and as per usual two cups of Coke ($4 each).

As for an appetizer, I decided to order the Jacobs Caesar Salad ($15.00) which was prepared table side. Our server brought over the ingredients, and made the salad right in front of us. I originally thought that the portion was only enough for myself, but I was wrong. As there was more than enough to split between two people so the price tag wasn't bad at all.

Jacobs Caesar Salad (this plate was mine).

As for him, he chose four of the freshly shucked oysters (MP) as his starter.

As for the main dish of the night for me; I opted for the (N.S.W., Australia) Wagyu California Cut Striploin (8 oz) ($92.00). Honestly, the 8 oz was more than enough for me, and I really wanted dessert as well. Their steaks are all charbroiled at 1800 degrees and brought out in a cast iron pan. I ordered mine medium-rare, and it came out full of flavor. I loved it, and ate it all happily.

One of the servers brought out a plate of raw dry-aged beef from Japan since my bf was having a hard time deciding. This was prior to our trip so I guess he just wanted something from Japan.

My boyfriend ended up getting the A5 Nagasaki Prefecture Ribeye ($170) and ordered it medium-rare. He loves steak more than I do!

We were given two plates containing various seasoning for our steaks (if you want more seasoning on it that is). I thought that the steak was already flavorful and juicy, and I didn't put too much additional seasoning on mine Anyways the selection for the first plate was chimichurri sauce (green), blue cheese/bacon sauce (white) and ponzu sauce (dark brown). The selection for the second plate was different kinds of salt; sea salt (white), volcano salt (black), and smoked sea salt (light tan).

I wanted some additional greens with my steak so we ordered green beans [brown butter, toasted almonds] to share ($13).

The dessert menu also changes daily, so this might be not available all of the time. Everything sounded quite sugary and delicious, but I ended up getting the vanilla cheesecake with strawberries ($12.00). The presentation was quite lovely, and the cheesecake was the perfect way to end the meal.

We asked for the bill, and were given two individually-wrapped chocolate muffin and cookies as a complimentary treat. We were both very full from our meal, so we saved the muffins for the next morning.

I had a fantastic dining experience at Jacobs & Co. Steakhouse, and loved every minute of it. Additionally, the staff are knowledgeable of the steak cuts, accommodating, and friendly to boot. Depending on what you order; it can get very pricy but it definitely warrants a visit for special occasions or if you just like steaks.

RATINGS:

Quality of Food: 5/5

Service: 4.7/5

Overall Dining Experience: 5/5

Price: $$$$ || Online Menu

Address: 12 Brant St, Toronto, ON, M5V 2M1

Guu Izakaya is an izakaya located on Church St in downtown Toronto. It is highly recommended that you don't come here if (a) you have a massive migraine or (2) you're hungover. Why? Cause it's extremely lively and loud inside as the staff constantly shouts out welcomes and goodbyes to their guests.

I made a reservation for five people on a Saturday two weeks ago at 5 pm. Note that the only time available that you can reserve on both Fridays and Saturdays is 5 pm. The seating limit is 2 hours and they hold your reservation for only 15 minutes after your reserved time.

The food menu and drinks menu.

We were given the menus and the server took our drink orders. For those who are drinkers; they have a pretty decent selection of alcoholic drinks.

We decided to make it simple and ordered from the party menu; ended up getting five of the [B] course (which was $35 per person) ($35 x 5). This menu is great as it offers the top ten popular items from Guu and is ideal for sharing.

One of my favorite starters at Japanese establishments is the edamame (boiled soy bean). The ones here tasted pretty good with the right amount of saltiness.

The sashimi salad (assorted sashimi & greens) was really delicious. The fresh greens surprisingly went well with the sashimi and was a refreshing starter. Additionally, the sashimi that was used had a nice texture to it (not mushy or super soft).

The mauro tataki (seared BC tuna sashimi) was dressed in ponzu sauce, and sliced decently thin.

The first time that I tried takoyaki was in an izakaya in Tokyo; it had an interesting taste. Takoyaki (deep fried octopus balls) is a battered cover ball filled with diced octopus, and then deep-fried. The takoyaki at Guu tasted very similar to the ones that I had in Tokyo so it brought about memories of my trip. The dish was well-presented and topped off with flakes and shavings of bonita.

Another favorite of mine was the ebimayo (deep fried prawn). The lightly battered prawns were of a decent size, and drizzled in a sweet mayo sauce.

The dish came with five pieces of gindara (grilled black cod) for the each of us (second dish not pictured). However, some pieces were a lot smaller than the others. The buttery black cod was grilled nicely, and marinated in a sweet glaze. I believe that if you order this dish on its own; it's one of the pricier items on the menu.

I wasn't a particular fan of the kaki mayo (baked BC oyster topped with cheese) as it was a lot more cheesy than I would have liked. However, the others did like the odd combination of mushrooms, spinach and cheese mixed in with their baked oysters.

The lightly battered karaage (deep fried chicken) was a hit at our table as we quickly devoured them one by one. The deep fried chicken was very crispy on the outside, yet succulent on the inside. It tasted even better when dipped into the accompanied buttery mayo.

Honestly, the two bowls of kinoko bibimbap (rice, mushroom & cheese in sizzling bowl) didn't look that appetizing at first. However, the combination of rice, mushroom & cheese actually tasted pretty good.

The last item of the night was ice-cream. We were given the choice of black sesame, green tea or coconut ... naturally I chose green tea as I always do at Japanese establishments.

Overall, I had a great night as the food was delicious and the company that I was with was wonderful. The only slight hiccup was that one of the servers kept on reminding my friend (who was sitting on the outside) of how much time we have left, and she did this roughly 5 times. That was about once every half an hour. Although she politely reminded him; we thought that it was unnecessary as we were aware of the 2 hour limit and were going to be done on time. Other than the constant reminders, she was friendly and efficient as were the rest of the staff.