Witches Table
591 Yonge Street
Phone: 416.925.3560
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Update: Thanks to a reader tip I have confirmed that since my visit two weeks ago the restaurant has changed its name to Witches Table.
Soban'sWitches Table's sign - Wednesday Special: enjoy seafood tempura and one beer for $3.50 - was enough to lure me in.
As I entered Soban Japanese and Korean Restaurant Witches Table, thinking wow, what a deal , I suddenly found myself in Anyplace, Asia. The room was metallic and minimalist with a touch of cute absurdity provided by accents like a large smiling giraffe sculpture. There was a scattering of customers, all youngish, dark-haired girls in bubble-gum tones, sipping bulbous bubble teas in soft beige booths to a soundtrack of easy-listening hip pop. The scene was reminiscent of your typical cafe that can be found all over East Asia.
The menu however, was more typical of the multitude of casual Japanese-Korean establishments in this city; those that offer a large menu with as many bibimbap as there are katsu-don choices. As a fan of such K-J places like, Hosu, I dig being able to order maki as much as I do getting those complimentary little starters.
On this occasion, they were a trio of cold dishes: pickled pink daikon, soft tofu sitting in soy sauce, sesame oil, scallion, and kim chee cucumbers. The tart tastes sure spurred my appetite.
We did order the "special" seafood tempura ($9.95), which turned out to be a sizable portion. Hot out of the fryer slices of golden battered salmon and white fish were tender and flaky - without any vegetable filler - arrived in an edible basket of deep-fried shreds of tubers.
The bacon cheese bibimbap ($8.95) piqued my p-i-e's (partner in eating) interest and had to be tried. It came to the table dolsat-style (hot stone pot) and was basically rice coated in a mild red sauce, covered with processed cheese, and no sign of bacon. After one bite I was glad that I wasn't the one who had to finish it.
My order of crunchy roll ($6.95) and spicy salmon roll ($5.95) came out together gloriously plated with veggie flowers and saucy splashes. The first roll had a center of purple crisps (similar to what the edible basket was comprised of) and was topped with avocado. The combination of rich avocado, al dente rice, and crispy tempura bits was highly addictive and surprisingly filling. Spicy salmon was also a hit. The silky salmon filling was generous with a hit of heat and the dusting of that same crunch added a nice contrasting texture.
When the bill arrived we realized that the special had been misinterpreted (an order of the seafood the tempura brought the regular price of one bottle of beer down to $3.50 and wasn't the total price for the two). I didn't mind. Finding yummy crispy avocado rolls made up for it, and perhaps too a lesson learned in skipping any future cheesy Korean combos.
Comments (12)
When did you visit this place? I could've sworn it disappeared weeks ago, to be magically (hah!?) replaced by a place called Witches Table with a weirdass crystal ball decor theme. Or have I got it mixed up with somewhere else?
ha - yup, first & last time I go for a sidewalk board special... LB, I went there about 2 weeks ago and to be honest, I didn't pay attention to the resto name - I got it off my receipt after leaving - it might well have changed names. look for the giant metal giraffe :)
You're right. We've just confirmed the name change. Apparently the menu is basically the same though. The post has been updated.
Sounds interesting, but in my two years in Japan I never ate avocado, never had orange salad dressing as a garnish on anything, and while I did eat tempura it was made correctly, and served with warm sauce and ground daikon. This is con'fusion' food if you ask me.
You might not get avocado in your maki in Japan, but you won't get ham, egg and mayo rolls in Toronto either. I've had tempura at a restaurant in Tokyo that was almost 200 years old, and wasn't much impressed by that. Either way, I enjoy both the Japanese take on pasta and curry as much as North American/modern sushi.
I had abakado ebi maki several times my 2 years in Japan, but I suspect that they were trying to embrace the California style. I've since gotten over the differences between what's found in Japan, and what's found here. You have to expect it to be different, and embrace it rather than bitch about it. :)
i've been there twice and had the worst service!
if you want really good korean food and good service try toko. it's two blocks north of soban.
trust me!
I have to agree with the above comment. If you're looking for a good Korean/Japanese restaurant along downtown Yonge street, go to Toko. It's right across the street from House of Lords.
I wasn't really satisfied with Witches' Table (when it was Soban). Service was an issue for me too.
As a side, my Korean friends tell me that the Korean food in Toronto is spicier and sweeter than the Korean food in Seoul, generally speaking. If that is true, i'll probably prefer Toronto's Korean food (i like my spicy tofu stew from Book Chang Dong to be spicy as hell)
I tried the cheese-bacon-KIMCHEE (which this review fails to mention, not sure if that's a recent change) bi bim bap tonight.
I feel like the cheese and bacon weren't too over the top and complemented the spicy rice. The fact that the rice was mixed with kimchee helped make up for the that that none of the three complementary dishes include bi bim bap. I was kind of disappointed though, kimchee should be THE standard freebie.
Then again this is coming from someone who views every weird combination fusion dish she sees on a menu as a personal challenge.
I feel like this particularly strange combination is the thing that could bring me back to The Witches Table and make it a regular eating spot.
Believe it or not, this place has changed hands / names / themes again. Its latest incarnation as "Sushi Hana" or something like that seems to have dropped most of the Korean food (not to mention the glowing blue orb decor). I went out there specifically for bibimbap, and had to settle for BibimQ down the street instead.
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