[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] 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.

[Richmond Hill] Inatei

Location Review
9021 Leslie St., Unit # 7
Richmond Hill, Ontario

I always get excited when I find a good sushi spot in Richmond Hill (Flashback to the first time I tried Tomo Sushi). To find a Japanese restaurant that isn't all-you-can-eat is hard to come by, and to find one that is half decent is even more difficult. Recently I've heard many people tell me  Tomo Sushi has gone somewhat downhill. I unfortunately have not been able to go back recently to testify the validity of these statements, but true or not, it never hurts to another option to the rainy-day restaurant list. 

Enter Inatei (@InateiJPCuisine). A Japanese restaurant juggling an extensive menu within a modern-chic decor. Aside from just the sushi rolls and bento boxes, they offer a selection of appetizers, robata-yakis (Japanese charcoal grill), whole fish sashimi, and fresh oysters.

[Toronto] Lucien

Location Review
36 Wellington Street East
Toronto, ON, M5E 1C7



I'd like to think I'm pretty honest about my reviews. I usually just say things as it is, so I'm going to come right out at the beginning of this post and express my dissatisfaction about this restaurant. In fact, If I had a list of most disappointing restaurant experiences, this one might be a chart topper.

The beginning of this story begins with a Groupon purchase. $60 of food from  Lucien (@LucienToronto) for $30. What an amazing deal! It has received praise from many recognized magazines saying that it is one of the best wine and dine restaurants in Toronto, so I snatched up the deal without even thinking twice.

[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] Fin Izakaya

Location Review:
55 Eglinton Ave E
 Toronto, ON M4P1G8

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Whenever I think about going to an izakaya, there really is only one place that consistently pops up in my head: Guu Izakaya. And so when someone suggested  Fin Izakaya (@FinIzakaya) in the Mount Pleasant area of Eglington as an alternative, I was delighted when I finally went with Carmen (@carmenhungry), Justine (@foodigatorJ), and Vickie (@kiki_BFF).

[Chicago] Joe's Seafood, Prime Rib, & Stone Crab

Location Review:
60 East Grand Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611

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The story of Joe's starts in Florida almost 100 years ago in 1913, when Joe Weiss opened up a small lunch counter on Miami beach. This iconic beach-side spot established its claim to fame through their Florida stone crabs. In fact, before Mr. Weiss, nobody even knew that stone crabs were edible. With it's huge success, two more locations have surfaced, one being in Chicago. Drawing its reputation from the original location, the menus are almost identical, allowing patrons to experience the Floridian jewel of a restaurant without the long flight down south. Anywhere there is great seafood, count me in!