[Toronto] Ja Bistro

Location Review
222 Richmond Street West
Toronto, Ontario
647-748-0222
Website



After hearing so much rave for this modern Japanese eatery, I finally took a visit to Ja Bistro (@JaBistro222) in the financial district of Toronto. Boasting a menu of ingredients shipped from all over the world and delicately crafted sushi by Chef Koji, the place has racked up a list of loyal customers as well as red carpet celebrities including Scarlett Johansson during TIFF!

Ja Bistro

[Toronto] Cafe Bar Pasta

Location Review
1588 Dundas St W
Toronto, Ontario
(416)534-4794
Website


Cafe Bar Pasta (@Cafebarpasta) is located just at Dundas and dufferin, in a welcoming little space. Just as the name would lead you to believe, their modus operandi are coffees, pastas, and drinks. Luckily for me, I got to experience all three at a media preview dinner!

Passed around before dinner were sample offerings of on-menu appetizers. The Two Tartar consisting of an Ostrich and Seabream tartar were particularly memorable.

Tuna Tataki - grapefruit chilli marinade, lemon aoili

Two Tartar - citrus, frisee, puffed caper ostrich, grainy mustard, toasted walnut, wild boar crisp

[New York] Morimoto

Location Review

88 10th Avenue,
New York, NY, United States
+1 212-989-8883
Menu







Morimoto Restaurant, eponymously named after it's creator Masahru Morimoto (@chef_morimoto) of Food Network's Food Network's Iron Chef , was near the top of our dining establishment hitlist during a short trip to New York City. Most popular with their Omakase menu, Morimoto also offers an a la cart menu that would please anyone looking for an Asian-fusion dining experience.

Morimoto Restaurant

A quick glance at the menu, and regular followers of Food Network's Iron Chef would recognize many of the dishes as ones Masahru Morimoto has prepared for the show. And then there are others which are an untraditional collision of of Asian, Japanese, and fusion cuisines.

[Toronto] Harbour Sixty Steakhouse

Location Review
60 Harbour Street
Toronto, ON
(416) 777-2111



Habour Sixty has been on my list of restaurants to try for a while, but seeing as it's not an inexpensive meal I've been holding off. To a point where I almost forgot that I wanted to try it. That is until a month ago when I wrote up my review on Jacobs and Co. People started asking me how it compared to  Habour Sixty, and it was like a lightbulb lit-up in my mind. I thought to myself "I must make time to try this!" And so I did, and the rest is history.

[Toronto] The Black Hoof

Location Review:
938 Dundas St. W.
Toronto, ON
416-551-8854


So I haven't been very diligent in the past month with this blog, and as a result I've had a backlog of restaurants to write up. So much that I ended up visiting the restaurant of today's review:  The Black Hoof (@theblackhoof) twice before I got a chance to review it. But the good news is, that is a good indication of how much I liked it.

When I went to Chicago, I visited a restaurant named The Purple Pig. My brother in law Nelson mentioned that it reminded him of  The Black Hoof, with both restaurants serving the most obscure parts of the animal. It's pretty ironic how these internal organs and far-fetched body parts which I thought only Chinese cultures would consume are so mainstream in Western cuisine now a days. But when you have someone like Jenn Agg (@theblackhoof) behind the restaurant and Brandon Olsen as head chef (@King_of_ginger), it's no wonder how the most obscure ingredients can become such a culinary delight. It's also been highly regarded as one of the best restaurants in Toronto!

So anyways, for simplicity's sake I've just decided to dump both of my visits into one post.

[Toronto] Auberge du Pommier

Location Review:
4150 Yonge Street Toronto, Ontario

Auberge du Pommier

I have been to Auberge du Pommier on several ocassions, and have loved the experience every time! Belonging to the Oliver and Bonacini Restaurants family (along with Canoe, Jump, and LUMA,  to name a few), this French restaurant is located just north of york mills on Yonge Street. From the outside, the restaurant resembles a cozy little courtyard house complete with a garden, white picket fence, and a very charming cobblestone walkway. While it looks like a small on the outside, it is deceivingly spacious on the inside! The decor is simple and quaint with its neutral colour theme, fireplace, and stone walls. a romantic ambiance coupled with excellent food makes this the perfect date night spot!