Restaurant Review: Yasu

Like many of the restaurants that I write about, Yasu has been on my must try list for a while now. I found out about them last September but held off on making my reservation in lieu of a special occasion. I finally got my seat at the counter last December, making Yasu the last Toronto restaurant I visited in 2014. What a way to end the year.

Located indiscriminately on Harbord and Spadina one could easily walk past Yasu and not realize it (I almost did). The interior is simple, barring the beautifully decorated Christmas tree I’m sure won’t be around too much longer. A pearly white counter top separates the diners from the open kitchen. Clear ornate plates twinkle under direct light, waiting to hold the delectable gifts from the sea. Like many sushi restaurants, dinner guests are seated arm’s length away from the chefs. But you won’t find glass fridges filled with saran wrapped fish here. The night’s delicacies can be seen stacked in the center of the kitchen on glass ice box, waiting for their turn at the knife.

I have fond memories of Japan, having been lucky enough to visit the country a few times in the past. There is a reverence for food that permeates the country and that same respect can be seen at Yasu. Chef Ouchi and his staff exude an admirable care for their craft that starts even before service begins.

Yasu’s Omakase changes daily depending on what’s available. The 18 piece meal (plus dessert!) is priced at $80, a steal for the quality of food you receive. Yasu has two seatings on weekdays and three on weekends. Dinner begins once all diners are present, including other parties.

Stepping into Yasu was like leaving the cold streets of Toronto behind and ending up in a dream, if only for a few treasured hours. The atmosphere is surprisingly relaxed and you can see the blending of cultures in more ways than one. Although the fish is traditionally prepared, they are internationally sourced. Fish from Spain, Boston, Nova Scotia, Greece, Sri Lanka and Japan lined our bellies that night. The staff was also extremely friendly and fluent in English, answering any questions we had about the meal. You get all the great food you would normally find in a quality sushi place in Japan combined with an approachable and warm dining experience.

My favourites for the night were the Amberjack, Sea Bream, Bonito and the Yellowtail. Normally I enjoy the meatier red fish but the aforementioned  pieces of sushi were refreshingly delicate yet had amazing flavour. The Otoro was a bit of a let down, not as buttery smooth as ones I've had in the past. I've also made it a point to start avoiding Blue Fin tuna as much as possible due to the species being forced close to extinction. As consumers and patrons we have a surprising amount of sway just purely with our choices. As more and more people stop choosing the eat Blue Fin demand will wane and the species might just be saved. The most memorable piece of the night was definitely the Shirako. I had my suspicions on the contents of this nori warship when the staff maneuvered around our inquiries of what type of fish this was (after answering all our questions previous). Instead they simply said that Shirako meant "White Children" in Japanese. That confirmed my doubts but it was still delicious. Similar in taste and texture to Uni crossed with raw oysters, Shirako is another word for cod milt or cod testicles. We all had a laugh about that one with the staff, but genuinely I would probably eat it again haha. The makeup of the nigiri itself was definitely on point, with all pieces holding together well through my clumsy chopstick skills but melting apart once consumed. Great sushi is an art often lost in the sea of AYCE that plagues Toronto so I always love it when I get to enjoy some done right.

Fish aside Yasu serves up some of the best sushi I've had anywhere. For the value, execution and just sheer convenience of having a place of this calibur just a stones throw away; Yasu is definitely a must try for sushi lovers in the GTA.

Recommended

Amberjack

Fluke from Boston

Scallop from Hokkaido

Golden Red Snapper from Portugal

Monk fish liver from Boston

Sea Bream from Greece

Toro from Sri Lanka

Shirako or "White Children"

Sea Bass from Greece

Ikura!

Uni from Vancouver

Yellowtail from Japan

Bonito from Portugal

Mackerel from Norway

Otoro from Spain

Anago or Salt Water Eel from Peru

Tamago

Black Sesame Ice Cream

Green Tea Panna Cotta

Summerlicious 2014: Paese

After the disappointing start to Summerlicious with my visit to Fred's Not Here. I really hoped that Paese would not just be more of the same. Paese Ristorante on King St. is the younger brother (or sister) of the storied Bathurst location. First opening its doors in 2010 (almost 21 years after the original!) Paese on King has quickly become a local favourite for Italian fare. It goes without saying I was very eager for my first visit and Summerlicious was the perfect excuse to make it happen.

We started off the night with Calamari. Now considering we ordered this at Fred's I was a little weary about ordering it again. Paese was more than ready to aleviate my fears with a fantastic appetizer that really highlights how to correctly execute a dish. Expertly seasoned but light, intensely smoky without being burnt, just perfectly cooked. The tender calamari was accompanied by lemon mayo, capers, red onion and a little bit of greens. All the ingredients served to elevate the squid without covering it up.

The second appetizer of the night was Meatballs. Now meatballs fall into two camps, ones that have a soft tender texture due to liberal use of breadcrumbs and wet ingredients and ones that have a coarser texture due to being predominantly meat (its a constant battle between finding the ideal texture and making sure the flavour of the meat comes through). The ones we had at Paese fall on the meaty side. The flavour was decent, Paese uses three different cuts in their ground: short rib, sirloin and brisket. Many places (especially burger places) will experiment to get the perfect ground that gives you the best combination of flavour and texture. The real highlight of the dish for me was the tomato sauce; vibrant and bright. The pecorino on top was kind of tough and was difficult to cut so it was hard to incorporate it into mouthfuls but the cheese itself had a mild nutty flavour.

For our first main, we had the Ravioli with Lobster. The lobster was expertly cooked, perfectly tender. The ravioli itself was delicious with the cheesy polenta combining well with the tarragon butter sauce. Cherry tomatoes were strewn throughout to help cut the richness of the dish. The pasta skin itself also had an interesting peachy flavour that I had trouble identifying. If anyone has experience with how this dish is traditionally made and can give me some insight, I'd love to hear from you!

Now the next dish really highlights how Paese does a good job of letting their ingredients shine. I ordered the Semolina Crusted Chicken that was accompanied with Panzanella. Panzanella is a Tuscan bread salad; the one at Paese included cherry tomatoes, cubed English cucumbers and some leafy greens. If you appeciate fresh vegetables that are not covered up by complex sauces then you will really enjoy the dish. The crust on the chicken has a nice crunch due to the slightly cheesey semolina and a ring of chili oil encircles the plate as a garnish for those who like a small kick.


Before I start on the desserts I feel like I should point out that the portions at Paese were extremely generous. I'm not much of a stickler in terms of portion sizes but my meal at Paese genuinely had me wondering if I'd be able to finish, haha. Good thing I have a different stomach for dessert because the dessert here was exquisite.

To finish I ordered the Lemon Semifreddo and boy was I happy that I did. The semi frozen lemon custard was topped with shortbread crumble, blackberries and mint. The superbly light but deliciously lemony custard went so well with the crumble and blackberries. The texture of the crumble plus the little bite of the blackberry seeds all on the canvas of custard was heavenly. I really can't stop going on about how lemony the custard was, in my head I imagine a poor chef's apprentice being tasked with zesting 1000 lemons just to achieve this mind blowing result.

The final dessert of the night was the Cioccolato. Sooooooooo much chocolate. I'm a huge chocolate fan (check out the blog title *cough*cough*) but regardless of my unhealthy addiction to cocoa, this dessert was fantastic. The cioccolato had two layers of moist chocolate cake sandwiching a delicious white chocolate mousse, all upon a bed of warm nutella and topped with hazelnut brittle . It goes without saying that the dish was sweet, but not overpoweringly so. Even the white chocolate was airy and light. One the best desserts I've had in a while.

Paese was a breath of fresh air for my Summerlicious escapades and I look forward to a return visit in the future to try things off their regular menu. If you enjoy great Italian fare with fresh ingredients that doesn't over complicate then you should definitely swing by Paese.

Recommended

Summerlicious 2014: Fred's Not Here

This past weekend marked the beginning of Summerlicious 2014! In the past I have often been critical of Summerlicious restaurants as I feel that not all restaurants handle the influx of customers well, which hurts the consistency of their food and hurts the overall dinning experience. Nonetheless Summerlicious is a great event for people looking to try restaurants that they otherwise would not be able to, whether that be due to price, exposure or simply not knowing whats good on the menu.

Spanning two weeks in the month of July (4-20th) over 200 restaurants will participant in Summerlicious and provide 3-course price fixed menus for patrons who visit. Lunches will be fixed at either $15, $20 or $25 while dinners will range from either $25, $35 or $45. If you haven't yet made a reservation, do it soon, as many restaurants have had their bookings filled tight since last week. But enough of the chit chat, lets talk about some food!

Fred's Not Here is located at 321 King St W. (Right across the street from TIFF/Bell Lightbox!) and specialize in steaks and seafood. During my visit we ordered off the Summerlicious dinner menu. A fellow beef eater had suggested the restaurant and after looking at their offerings I eagerly agreed.

For appetizers we started with Fred's self-proclaimed "Famous" Lobster & Crab Soup. The dish certainly built anticipation as we quickly saw these buttery domes fill the servers table and make their way around the restaurant. The soup itself was exquisite. Intensely flavourful and creamy but not overwhelminly heavy. The flavour of the shellfish is front and center, lifted by the creamy base. My only qualm with the dish was that one of my friend's pastry did not cook all the way through. Fantastic start nonetheless and definitely the best dish of the night. Sadly Fred's strong start to the meal did not last.

The second appetizer was the Wood Grilled Calamari & Chorizo Sausage with Arugula. Unlike the first appetizer this one was poorly executed. Unevenly cooked squid; some parts were overcooked while others were undercooked and a lack of proper seasoning (seriously where was the salt?) plagued the calamari. The plainly sliced chorizo on the other hand had an abundance of flavour. It had a slight bitterness that went well with argula and offset the sweet mustard based sauce beneath. Despite this, the lack of seasoning would foreshadow more execution problems down the line.

The first entree of the night was the Wood Grilled “California Cut” New York Strip Steak
with Sautéed Garlic Mushrooms, Duck Fat Frites & Vegetables. I'm just going to get this out of the way now and say the steak was NOT SEASONED.  Now if you thought I ranted about this enough when I was talking about the calamari than you should prepare yourself. There is nothing, I mean NOTHING more blood boiling than seeing someone ruin a steak without properly seasoning it. The only dressing up a good piece of beef needs is an adequate amount of salt. This is a rookie mistake and seeing it from a restaurant that considers itself a steakhouse makes it even more ludicrous. Not only that, but a large portion of the outside of our steaks were burnt, which lead to an overwhelming carbon taste with. I've made better steaks at home with inferior cuts of meat. To make matters worse even the fries were not salted enough and we had to liberally apply it ourselves at the dinner table. Now people will tell me that the latter part regarding the fries was not a big deal, but anyone who knows good fries will tell you that the reason you season right after frying is so the residual heat from the fries dissolves the salt. By the time we realized the fries needed salt at the table there was no residual heat.

Praise a higher power that the Roasted Prime Rib of Beef with Celeriac, Yukon Gold Mash & Vegetables was good. The meat was seasoned well, although the black pepper crust was a little overwhelming for my taste. Doneness wise it was a perfect medium rare and the accompanying gravy tasted great without overpowering the meat. I also thoroughly enjoyed the mash and thought that the green beans (the same ones featured with the steak) were cooked to a perfect doneness; tender but still holding a crisp snap. Now this wasn't all smooth sailing as my cut of meat was not trimmed properly. There was a tough piece of tendon that could not be cut with a knife running along one side of the prime rib.

Now it was one of those nights where the stars aligned and everyone in my party ordered a different dessert. Which meant I got to steal little bits from each! To begin I had the Caramel Pop Corn Chocolate Hazelnut Sundae. The flavour combination in and of itself was quite good. The chocolatey ice cream had a hint of hazelnut that mixed well with the sweet caramel and fudge. Sadly the ice cream was half melted when it made it to my table and cold popcorn has a tough almost stale texture that is chewy in a stick all over your teeth type of way, probably not the greatest idea in hindsight.

Next we had the Fresh Fruit Ice. This was probably the most forgettable dish of the night, decent enough without any weaknesses but nothing to make it memorable. Similar to the sorbet, the Daily Selection Cheesecake (which in our case was creme brule cheesecake) was not memorable either, so much so that I even forgot to take a picture of it.

The Mixed Berry Shortcake however was the best dessert of the four. The cake itself was a moist backdrop to the tart and sweet berries on top.

Overall my visit to Fred's Not Here was mired with disappointment. I know I often tell people to not be overly critical on Summerlicious outings; but improperly cooked food and multiple lapses in seasoning are not acceptable from any establishment. The food at Fred's Not Here simply didn't make the cut on my first visit of Summerlicious 2014, I guess Fred really wasn't there that night.

Not Recommended.

Restaurant Review: The Fry

Address: 6012 Yonge, North York, ON M2M 3V9 (North of Cummer)

Hours: Dropped the ball on restaurant hours, will edit in after a return visit

I have been a fan of fried chicken ever since I could remember. I'd be willing to go out on a limb and say you'd be hard pressed to find a child in North America whose eyes wouldn't light up at the sight of the famous Colonel on a greasy paper bag and I was no different. Now I'm not knocking the Colonel (actually scratch that I am) but my fried chicken preferences have since evolved. I've learned to appreciate a good seasoning, a great batter (or lack thereof) and of course a great sauce. So although I am very familiar with KFC, I only recently experienced the Colonel's Asian counterpart, Korean Fried Chicken.

The Fry is one of a growing group of establishments in the GTA that specialize in Korean Fried Chicken and out of the ones I've tried they are definitely my favourite. Located on a strip mall (Man I eat at a lot of strip malls) north of Cummer on Yonge, The Fry is a small establishment, with probably only six or seven 4-seat booths (you already know the takeout option is well exercised). The menu is also small, which is usually a sign that you serve something worth eating (because why order anything else amirite?) so it didn't take us long to pick out things to order.

To start the dinner off we were brought two sets of appetizers. The first can be seen above, a simple plate of pickled radish, lettuce salad and macaroni salad. Definitely selling the East meets West theme with this one, as the first two appetizers are frequently seen in Korean and Japanese restaurants in Toronto while the latter is a fried chicken staple. Although the radish and the carrot-ginger dressed salad were typical (enjoyed them nonetheless) the macaroni was a nice surprise. Maybe it reminded me of the Colonel, for better or worse, but I like it either way.

The second appetizer was oiled hot plate of sweet corn. The corn itself had a sweet almost nutty taste due to the carmelization that was happening on the hot plate. I've never had corn served like this and it was a pleasant surprise to tide us over before the main course.

The first of the fried fowl to reach our table was the green onion fried chicken tenders. This was my favourite dish of the night; the tenders were extremely crisp and crunchy that held up well under the sweet soy-based sauce drizzled over neath. The spring onion strips impressed me by retaining their bite despite being extremely thin. In addition to this they were tossed in the aforementioned sauce which solved the issue of watery tasteless green onion ruining my chicken (an issue I had at Home of Hot Taste). I still can't get over how crispy and crunchy they were, the coating wasn't even overly thick. All in all it was an extremely satisfying dish, something I would order again.

Next up was the Korean fried chicken that we came for. We decided to get the half-half version which meant half of the chicken was smothered with sauce while the other half had the sauce on the side. I am pretty sure we were given the non spicy sauce by accident (we failed to specify and assumed we would get the spicy version) since this was not spicy at all. Like some of the KFC I have tried before the sauce was very sweet although this was less of a problem here than at other places. I would have enjoyed more seasoning in the breading as the lack of seasoning really shines through in the sauce-less basket. The coating was a standard thin Asian breading as opposed to the thicker craggy Western one that is often seen with fried chicken. Although both baskets were juicy on the interior the sauceless basket I would not order again. However I did enjoy the sauced basket and would come back again to try the spicy version.

The last dish of the night was spicy chicken with cheese. I love Korean dishes that feature cheese so prepare for some bias (if you're a return reader you would know that I'm hugely biased anyway :P). The dish contains pieces of chicken marinated in a gochujang based sauce (Korean chili paste) over a bed of cabbage, onions, and a variety of other shredded veggies. The whole thing is then baked with cheese (mozzarella in this case) until everything is goey and melty. The mozzarella was stringy and delicious, offering a rich accent to the spicy and sweet gotchujang. Like a true Asian I felt like this dish would have gone great with rice which is as good of a compliment as you can give to something you taste at a restaurant.

In the end I enjoyed my visit to The Fry. Whether or not you will enjoy yours will hinge on how you feel about sweet and spicy Korean dishes or juicy fried morsels of chicken.

Yea, I thought so.
Recommended