Restaurants
Don Don Izakaya
Don Don Izakaya is a recent entrant to Toronto's growing izakaya scene and offers an immersive experience in the culture of the Japanese-style tavern. The journey began as I entered via wooden arches on the street, headed upstairs to the bamboo-covered hallway, and passed through the hanging curtain. It lives up to its name as each entering party is greeted with a brisk don! don! on a taiko drum.
I've spent a lot of time in izakayas in Japan, and braced myself for a pale imitation but instead was overwhelmed with nostalgia. The staff, dressed in traditional uniforms, trade a constant stream of casual Japanese over the heads of the patrons. The menus are brightly coloured photos of each item, labelled in Japanese and English. Guests sit at communal tables in a well-lit room. There are private alcoves, and one large room for private dining in which you take off your shoes. Wooden placards above the kitchen innumerate menu items in Japanese.
The first round of food came quickly. A favourite was spicy grilled shrimp tossed with crispy okra ($6.50). The surprise hit was the Cherry Tomato and Friends salad ($6.80). Peeled cherry tomatoes are soaked in honey and tossed with bocconcini and raisins.
I loved the kimchi Tokyo Style Hot Dog. The kimchi is fresh and thick, and the bun crispy. The dog itself is sweet, which is normal for Japan but perhaps strange for Canada. It was kindly sliced into sharable pieces.
The show piece is the wood-smoke grill used to flash-sear cuts of sashimi. Flames leap up as a beat is drummed out on the taiko. The staff cheers the chef on as he toasts the fish, and it's quickly sliced up and plated with a line of salt. We tried the salmon ($11.50) and found it soft as butter with elegant smokey flavour.
I loved the avocado croquette ($4.50). A whole avocado is pitted, filled with corn and frittered. Once cooked, the peel is like that of an eggplant and adds pleasant bitterness.
Unfortunately as the place filled up service became scattered and inattentive. We waited half an hour for water, and part of my order was forgotten entirely. Dishes came out of order and I received my croquette at the same time as another guest got his dessert.
We waited 45 minutes for the Eggplant and Chicken Au Gratin ($6.80). It was a solid dish when it did arrive, but by that time people had already finished dessert and were impatient to leave. It is of course a menu of small plates, all of which would serve as appetizers at another restaurant.
The prices aren't low, and ordering enough food to fill a belly adds up quickly. We left feeling that we would be hungry again in an hour, which isn't a great sign when you've paid decent money for a meal. The menu and ambiance call me back, but the service was so scatter-shot that I think I'll explore the city's other izakaya options before I make a return visit.
Writing and photos by Angelina Purpura
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They weren't opened yet but there was no sign on the front when I was passing by it last November (2011). The door can be opened but seemed like the restaurant was still renovating. Of course the restaurant was not ready to open yet.
Yesterday (Jan 17, 2012), I saw the decoration flags outside the store and the door was open, so I went in and upstairs to the restaurant. No one was there with chairs on the table and all lights were on.
If the restaurant is not ready for opening or not during the store hours, please put a "close" sign or a notice to notify customers! Don't make your customers guess when you are going to open!
I am not impressed and will not again make an effort to check it out.
Thank you to Aya our friendly server and Don Don Izakaya
I'll be back very soon,
Can't wait!
A few comments:
Izakayas in Japan typically don't have people screaming and beating drums when you walk in. This is something that is fairly unique to Guu, and having the staff do that here feels like it's kind of a ripoff. I think that a place like this can stand on its own.
The food was decent (not great, but decent). I'd say not as good as Guu (though that's not amazing, either. However the portions are too small. It's one thing if it's a buck or two, but over $6 for a piece of mackerel (a cheap fish) that you can eat in two bites? I've been to a lot of izakayas in my life, but these were SMALL portions. Plus our chazuke was cold and we had to send it back.
I think this place has a lot of potential, and the fact that it has private rooms makes it really attractive. Hopefully they iron out the kinks and improve the size of the portions and I'll be back.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58706236@N02/sets/72157629267832855/
We beat the Friday evening rush by getting there early (just after 6 pm). The energy of the restaurant was high, helped by the banging drum and staff yelling out a welcome (or goodbye). The menu is quite large, with photos to help guide you. Portions were on the small side - definitely more like japanese tapas vs. what I understand izakaya to be.
Unfortunately, I'd say the quality of the food was mediocre and there really weren't any stand-out dishes. We must have ordered at least 10-12 dishes to share between the four of us including Seared salmon sashimi, Potato croquettes, Edamame, Japanese hot dog, Beef & onion over rice (sorry I can't recall the actual dish names).
Including a pitcher of beer, the total including tax and tip came out to $60 per pair. May not seem expensive...but to be honest, I left the restaurant starving (as did my husband). Overall, not great value and a disappointing experience.
so true! having lived in japan for 5 years in kanto and kansai, in cities and countrysides, i have never encountered such screaming.
We were seated at one of the more private tables where you have to take your shoes off which was cool, but I left with a huge sliver in my foot from the wood bench - I would recommend socks if your seated at one of these tables!
Overall it was fun, I'm glad we tried it but not sure I'll go back.
Because they have an open kitchen, you’d think they’d try their best to practice proper health code practices, but nope: I watched one of the “chefs” cough all over everything and even into her hands and then proceed to NOT wash her hands and touch a whole bunch of food.
Along with this, I watched the person making our soup SLURP out of the ladle he was stirring the soup with! Talk about double dipping! Needless to say, I did NOT eat the soup. I don’t care if the germs dissipate because of the heat…use a different spoon to taste please! Lastly we also ordered teppanaki which was barely cooked and basically flavourless.
I would never ever go here again and recommend others to stay away. Worst experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant.
this place is pretty decent.
This is only very best of freshest fish and seafood. Devour your senses in endless tranquility. You will enjoy it very much!
So go to them today. This is best Japanese food in Toronto. Everything is fresh and delicious. Just like in Japan. Very excellent prices too. Don't hesitate and eat there.
Overall, it was merely OK. Service, which was a major complain for a lot of reviewers. was actually good and prompt, green tea refills came in frequently. Food was OK, nothing was better or different from the legion of sushi places around Toronto. Sushi wasn't cut particularly well, pieces of darker meet or lining were still visible on some pieces - this wasn't the knife work one expects at sushi restaurants but I suppose it wasn't the guy from Sai Woo behind the sushi counter.
The decor was nice, service adequate but the food needed more work.