Review: Kelsey's (Cinemart Drive)

Kelsey's. Click to enlarge.

First off, I apologize for the lack of updates! I'm currently in summer school (one of the many awesome perks of being in a co-op program) and, as such, a lot of midterms/assignments got in the way. I have a bunch of reviews lined up, so stay tuned!

My dad, youngest brother, and I decided to go to Kelsey's for lunch just for the heck of it. The franchise is visited often by friends of mine and this particular location was close to my house. I was hoping for a pretty good experience since it had been about 2 years since I stepped foot in a Kelsey's and I couldn't really remember it that well.

Water, Molson, and Root Beer. Click to enlarge.

We were promptly seated in the bar area. It seemed like the restaurant had a decent amount of people there during lunch hour, which is a pretty good sign. We were offered the lunch menu which guaranteed to have your meal at your table in under 15 minutes as long as all parties at the table ordered from the lunch menu. The selection was pretty decent, but since none of us were in a rush to eat, we just decided to order from the regular menu.

The interior of Kelsey's. Click to enlarge.

The interior of the restaurant/bar area was nice and featured a lot of appropriately-located TVs to watch sports. It was a bit dark, but then again, we were in the bar area after all.

Jalapeno burger with fried onion rings. Click to enlarge.

Monterey Jack burger. Click to enlarge.

After about 15 minutes, my dad's and my brother's orders came in. They both ordered burgers that were about $15 each. My brother ordered a jalapeno burger with fried onion rings in it and my dad ordered a Monterey Jack burger. You could technically find very similar burgers at Jack Astor's. The first thing I noticed right off the bat: the serving size is tiny! They thought that the flavour was decent, but way too pricey for the portion they gave them. My dad even added, "I'd rather eat a burger and fries at Wendy's." You might think that it's a bit of a diss to Wendy's, but my family actually really like Wendy's burgers since the flavour is good and it's priced a heck of a lot better than Kelsey's. Of course it's very unhealthy, but that's another story...

What I ordered: 16 Hot Wings + Fries (~$12-14). Click to enlarge.

I decided to be adventurous and order 16 wings with hot sauce ($9.49), since it was a Thursday and wings were half off. I didn't just want to eat wings alone, so I added a side order of fries, which was about $3-4 extra. About 5 minutes after the burgers came in, the manager-on-duty (I'm assuming) served me my wings and fries. The wings were also pretty tiny...but at least I got a plate full of fries. I felt bad that my youngest brother (who has a massive appetite) was still hungry after scarfing down his burger and fries, so I gave him some of my wings.

The wings themselves were okay. The texture was pretty crispy and it wasn't drenched in hot sauce. However, I've had better wings at other places. Not even the discount could really make this more enjoyable. For a place that decides to heavily market its wings, it's a pretty big disappointment. If you're a "wing place", then you should deliver with the best wings you have to offer. To me, it's pretty clear that Kelsey's is not a wing place, so maybe they should consider bank on their other dishes.

Even though the food was a big disappointment, the service was amazing. Our server was nice, cheerful, and wasn't afraid to start up a conversation with us. The service in the restaurant overall seemed excellent since the servers seemed to always follow up with the patrons with big smiles on their faces.

The ratings for Kelsey's is as follows (detailed ratings system here and out of 5):

Flavour = 2
Value = 2
Atmosphere = 4

OVERALL RATING: 2.7 / 5

The only real saving factor of this restaurant was the service. Other than that, I think it might be better to skip out on this place if possible or cook your own food at home. I understand why I didn't remember this place when I went two years ago: it really isn't that good.



Type of cuisine: North American / European / Asian
Price Range: $10-25 (Entrees)
Atmosphere/Attire: Casual

Questions? Comments? Leave them below!

Review: Seoul Garden

The interior of Seoul Garden. Click to enlarge.

Although part of the reason we go to restaurants is to let other people to cook for us, sometimes it's pretty fun if you get to do the cooking yourself (to further confirm how your food is prepared...in a way). My parents and I decided to eat lunch at Seoul Garden, a Korean BBQ restaurant at Pacific Mall. It's very hard to miss where this restaurant is as it is in the front, between Pacific Mall and Market Village. My brothers were unfortunately MIA for this food trip...so if you guys are reading this, this is what you guys missed out on!

Of course, the main selling point of Seoul Garden is its BBQ, probably the number 1 thing people think of when you say "Korean cuisine". There are other options if you do not feel like having Korean BBQ; their menu also had standard Korean dishes such a bibimbap and kimchi jjigae. In case you are wondering (or if this does matter to you), Seoul Garden is run by Koreans, so I guess you can say that this is an "authentic Korean BBQ experience". As I said before in my Toko review, I don't think this matters very much.

The interior of Seoul Garden is really nice, albeit it looked very...European. The ways you'd be able to tell that this was a Korean restaurant was through the copious amounts of Korean posters advertising Hite beer and soju, the grills themselves, and the fact that they were blasting KPop.

After we were seated, we already pretty much knew that we were all going for the all-you-can eat BBQ (which was around $10 for lunch). I did note that the servers did take a bit to come to our table and take our order, which was quite strange considering there wasn't that many people when we entered the restaurant. In addition to ordering the meat, we added a $3 plate of lettuce. "$3 for lettuce?", you may ask. "You must be crazy! What are you going to do with lettuce?!" You'll see in a bit.

The amazing amount of side dishes. Click to enlarge.

So about 5 minutes after we ordered, the servers brought out all of these side dishes! I haven't been here in a while, so I forgot that they do offer their patrons with all these delicious side dishes. It's pretty amazing since we paid around standard price for Korean BBQ lunch; other Korean BBQ restaurants do not give nearly as many side dishes. Another big difference between Seoul Garden and other Korean BBQ restaurants is that the side dishes are ACTUALLY delicious and taste fresh. It was certainly a great start to the meal. If you're wondering, the side dishes were: kimchi, seaweed, pickled radish, kimchi pancake, fermented beans, glass noodles, bean sprouts, spicy green onion salad, and sweet potatoes. They also refill the side dishes you want!

The two soups that were offered to us. Click to enlarge.

In addition to the side dishes, we were also offered two types of soup. One was a type of seafood congee that tasted pretty good, quite mild. The other was a meat, fatty broth soup which was okay, but I could've done without it.

Starting to BBQ. Click to enlarge.

After about 5 minutes after our side dishes arrived, the meat came in. From what I remember, Seoul Garden offers bulgogi (details here), kalbi (beef short ribs, my absolute favourite), chicken and spicy pork for their BBQ lunch menu. They also offered squid, but we passed on that. I loved this offering since whenever I think BBQ, I think of meat. You can probably order a dish with seafood in it off of their menu if you want some seafood. However, I'm an avid fan of not having seafood at all whenever I eat Korean BBQ.

Mmm...BBQ. Click to enlarge.

I did notice that Seoul Garden did change their grills from a charcoal to a infrared grill, which was quite disappointing. Not too sure why since I do not know anything regarding the difference of cost between charcoal and infrared. Maybe it's to allow more even distribution of heat among the meat? If you know, please comment!

More BBQ. Click to enlarge.

The meat was okay. I really liked the taste of their kalbi, however my parents and I did notice that they could've seasoned all of the meat a bit more. Everything except the kalbi was a bit bland. Quite the disappointment considering that the side dishes were really delicious. The spicy pork wasn't even spicy!

One of the ways to enjoy grilled Korean dishes. Click to enlarge.

Remember how I added on $3 extra for lettuce? Well, this is one of the ways to enjoy grilled Korean dishes. What you do is put the grilled meat on a fresh piece of lettuce, add a piece of raw garlic (it's better than you think), add ssamjang (details here), and add some rice (which I did after I snapped this picture). You then basically wrap it all together (basically making a lettuce wrap) and eat it! It's very delicious and I suggest that you try it whenever you have the chance. You can pretty much add whatever you'd like to this lettuce wrap, however I believe this is probably one of the most common ways of how this is done.

The service was quite fast and efficient after you got the attention of the servers. We did notice that the servers had absolutely no smiles on their face whatsoever and seemed a bit bored. They weren't mean to any of the patrons, but it would be nice if they smiled or at least looked like they somewhat enjoy being there.

So...here are the ratings for Seoul Garden (detailed ratings here and out of 5):

Flavour = 3

Value = 3.5

Atmosphere = 3.5

Uniqueness = Not applicable since there are numerous Korean BBQs in Toronto

OVERALL RANKING: 3.3 / 5

Being completely honest, the ratings could have been lower if it weren't for certain aspects. In terms of Flavour and Value, the real saving points of the meal were the numerous and very delicious side dishes that we got and they gave us a ton of lettuce. This score would've been much higher if I had started this food blog last summer because Seoul Garden actually had charcoal grills. They are most likely what the meat needed to add an extra dimension of flavour.

In terms of Atmosphere, the decor really sleek and very summer-y. The place is kept really clean and it feels like you're actually dining on a patio; a big plus if you wanted to enjoy that patio feeling during rainy weather. To improve in this category, the servers could definitely smile a bit more. Employee overall mood is another aspect of the meal that contributes to the patron experience. I guess restaurant employees tend to overlook this.

However, this would still be one of my go-to spots for Korean BBQ in Toronto (i.e. I still like the place). I've still found the food here much better than other places...and they do not charge you if you leave leftovers. 

Please note that on Urbanspoon, the menu pictures posted on there are out of date. It definitely was not $16 for lunch when my parents and I went there and the menu we saw was more specific (ex. they actually wrote "bulgogi" instead of beef).

Type of cuisine: Korean
Price range: ~$10 per person (for all-you-can eat BBQ lunch)
Atmosphere/Attire: Casual

Questions? Comments? Leave them below!

Review: Caffé Demetre (Uptown)

Caffé Demetre. Click to enlarge.

After lunch, my friends and I decided to hit up Caffé Demetre, the Uptown location on Eglinton/Mt. Pleasant, for some awesome desserts. Caffé Demetre is probably one of the most popular dessert cafés in Toronto...and there are a lot of reasons as to why it has received so much hype.

The interior of Caffé Demetre. Click to enlarge.

When we first entered in, the café had a sizeable number of people in it, not surprising for the early afternoon on a weekday. The décor of the place was nice, modern and definitely very relaxing. Definitely the perfect place for either catching up with friends or a date.

The staff greeted us and showed us to our table, allowing us to choose the nice corner area, and then gave us the menu. Although Caffé Demetre's website does not display its menu (to prevent internet piracy, apparently), you definitely won't feel limited with the café's massive selection. A big chunk of their menus is dedicated to their signature waffle and crêpe desserts, however if you're not in the mood for these, you could always order ice cream (which they make!), coffee, and cakes (which were displayed at the entrance of the café). After about 10 minutes of scrutinizing the menu, we finally placed our orders. I ordered Caffé Demetre's version of a café mocha and a "Livin' La Vida Mocha" waffle while my friends ordered their own custom waffle (white chocolate ice cream, strawberry sauce and white chocolate chunks) and a signature waffle with a name that I can't really remember (it had some type of special chocolate ice cream with brownie chunks, white chocolate chunks, and chocolate sauce).

My drink (~$4). Click to enlarge.

After about 2 minutes after ordering, my café mocha was immediately served. I was quite surprised at how fast they got this out! On the menu, this has a special name which I don't remember (I should really write these down for you guys next time...), however it's basically a café mocha (coffee + hot chocolate). It tasted really good! The coffee portion was definitely prominent, but didn't overpower the whole drink. I actually ordered a hot drink to try and "expand" my stomach so that I could have a better chance of finishing my waffle.

My "Livin' La Vida Mocha" dessert waffle (~$10). Click to enlarge.

A couple minutes later, our waffles were served. I had the "Livin' La Vida Mocha" waffle, which consisted of Tiramisu ice cream, Oreo cookie crumble, and chocolate sauce. This was absolutely amazing! There wasn't anything I didn't like about this dessert. The waffle was nice, warm and crispy and the ice cream was nice and rich (you could definitely taste the Tiramisu inspiration). I thought that there would've been a chance that the waffle under the ice cream would turn soggy, but it didn't. I was actually quite surprised that I managed to finish this all by myself! Last time I visited Demetre with my friends, we all struggled to finish our desserts. Something must've come over me this day...

What my friends ordered (both ~$10). Click to enlarge.

My friends also had no complaints about their waffles. They actually all got quite full, even though the 4 of them were sharing their waffles (2 per waffle). In case you don't really like any of the signature waffles Demetre's has to offer, you can make your own custom waffle (as what my friends did with their white chocolate and strawberry waffle) for the exact same price as their signatures! Pretty awesome, isn't it?

The staff in this location were very friendly and courteous. We had no problem giving them a very good tip after having our desserts.

The ratings for Caffé Demetre are as follows (detailed ratings system here and out of 5):

Flavour = 5
Value = 4
Atmosphere = 5
Uniqueness = +0.5 (They make their own ice cream!)

OVERALL RANKING: 5 / 5 (Of course, you can't get anything higher than a 5!)

The only reason I gave the restaurant a 4 out of 5 on value is that the food is still a tad pricey for a patron such as myself who did not share their food with anyone else. However, it's perfect for two people and I understand that they also charge a bit more since their ingredients are of high quality.

If you are coming to this café, you should know that the signature desserts that we ordered actually initially list the price for the crêpe option. If you want to have Belgian waffles like we did, you need to pay about $2-3 extra (it's totally worth it; the crêpe becomes soggy and chewy really easily with the ice cream). You should also know that if you want fresh fruit on your desserts, you should also be prepared to pay a little bit extra since Demetre's does change the price of the fruit desserts depending on the season.

I would also recommend that you should also come to the café with your friend or date to share the dessert. The portion size is pretty massive and are definitely made for sharing. I still have no idea as to how I managed to finish my waffle. If you're feeling greedy and don't want to share, then I recommend getting one of their hot drinks like I did, or don't eat anything before you visit the café.

With excellent food and service, it's no wonder Caffé Demetre is one of the most popular desserts spots of Toronto. In case you're wondering, they do have other locations in the GTA and surrounding towns, which is definitely another great aspect of this franchise. If you're looking for waffles + ice cream, this is the place to go.



Type of Cuisine: Dessert (European/North American)
Price Range: $4-15
Atmosphere/Attire: Casual
Website (check for other locations): Caffé Demetre

Questions? Comments? Leave them below!

Review: Joons Korean Restaurant (North York)

Joons Korean Restaurant. Click to enlarge.

I was first recommended to Joons by a friend when I asked her where she thought I could get the best ddukbokki (spicy rice cakes, the dish I reviewed in the Toko review). Ever since then, my friends and I visit the restaurant often whenever we are in the area.

One of the unique things about Joons compared to other Korean restaurants is the table-top cooking (and no, this does not include Korean BBQs). It's pretty fun to watch your server cook the dish right in front of you. Plus, it takes out all of the suspense and (possible) anxiety when it comes to waiting for your food. Of course, the table-top cooking only comes with a couple of their offerings.

Click to enlarge.

So, we entered the restaurant and were promptly seated near the window, which was good since it was a sunny day. After about 5 minutes of looking at the menu, we had all made our decisions and ordered. The server then brought out cups and cold water for us to drink. Although I like having water with my meal, I would've preferred having some hot tea instead. I'm not too sure if you could request this from the servers; maybe I'll try next time.

The menu itself offers a good amount of variety and is easy to follow. The table-top cooking dishes are actually the first dishes to pop up as, presumably, it is their specialty. They even have nice pictures to go along with the dishes, which is a nice touch especially if you are new to Korean cuisine.

The interior of Joons. Click to enlarge.

The interior of the restaurant is very plain, but could probably use some changes in order to breathe some new life into this place and bring it into the 21st century. They tend to play some classical and oldies music in the background which is okay, though it would be kind of cool if they actually played Korean pop (sorry, I had to add that in since I'm a fan of KPop). I'm sure people won't mind if KPop was playing in the background; it sounds similar enough to North American Pop.

Two of my friends ordered dak galbi which is basically chicken, stir fried in gochujang with a bunch of veggies (more information here). This is actually the first thing on their menu. I believe you need to have a minimum of two "orders" of this (~$8 per order) in order to actually select it; an order can correspond to one person, or if you're really hungry, you can put in two orders for yourself. It is highly recommended to put in add-ons when ordering this. Joons' preparation does not automatically come with dduk (rick cake). Some other suggested add-ons are mozzarella cheese and ramyun noodles (if you're feeling really indulgent). You also get to choose what kind of sauce you'd like for them to put into your dish, which I believe is either: "Mild", "Original" or "Suicide". A word of caution when selecting "Suicide" sauce; according to my friends, it is VERY hot and could render the dish uneatable, unless you are able to withstand really spicy food.

My friends ordered this with 3 add-ons of dduk and 1 order of mozzarella cheese (bringing it to ~$15 per order, ~$30 total). Another recommendation of mine when you order this: make sure to only have 2 orders in each pan. One time we ordered 3 and decided to put it in one pan and it ended up not really filling any of us up. You get more full if you only put in 2 in a pan. I'm not too sure why, but just remember this rule! About 2 minutes after we got our water, the table-top stove already arrived and the dak galbi was already being prepared!

Table-top cooking of dak galbi. Click to enlarge.

After about 5-7 minutes after the dak galbi started cooking, the side dishes (pickled radish, sweet potato, broccoli and kimchi) and the remaining orders came in (since the rest of us decided to try something new than our usual order of dak galbi).

Side dishes. Click to enlarge.

The side dishes were quite flavourful. The radish had a really nice crunch and tang to it and the sweet potato had a nice, fluffy texture. The kimchi was nice and not too sour, definitely a lot better than other restaurants that most likely get their kimchi from jars that one can easily buy from an Asian supermarket. The only disappointment to the side dishes was the lack of bean sprouts! They're always a favourite of mine whenever I go to a Korean restaurant and I was sad to see it MIA in this case.

My friend's dolsot bibimbap (~$7). Click to enlarge.

My other two friends ordered dolsot bibimbap, a very popular Korean dish (details here), which was about $7. Trust me, whenever you have the opportunity to get dolsot (stone pot), take it! It's much better than the regular version. According to my friends, the dolsot bibimbop was good. However, one of my friends thought there was too much gochujang. She could handle the spiciness, but she felt that the spiciness was just overpowering the overall flavour of the bibimbap. Although Joons version of dolsot bibimbap is definitely a bit bigger than other places, I did find it quite surprising that they didn't give us a squeeze bottle of gochujang as what other restaurants do. They actually just put their own amount of gochujang in the dish, leaving the customer at the mercy of whatever was given to them. This is actually a bit of a disappointment since it would be nice if the customer could actually control how spicy they want the dish to be according to their taste buds.

My gamjatang ($5.65) with rice. Click to enlarge.

I ordered the gamjatang (pork bone soup, more details here) which was $5.65. When the server came in with my order, she warned me that it was really hot. This was courteous of her since some servers in other restaurants don't really warn you at all if they serve you some piping hot food. Anyway, in terms of soups, I usually order galbitang (beef short rib soup) since it's much easier to get the meat off of the bones, but I was feeling a bit adventurous today. The soup base had a nice, pork flavour to it (as how it should taste), not too fatty and had just the right amount of spice. The pork itself was very tender (almost fall-off-the-bone) and salted perfectly.

My friends' dak galbi with dduk and cheese (~$15 per order; $30 total). Click to enlarge.

A couple of minutes after our food arrived, the dak galbi was ready to eat. My friends who ordered it described it as "excellent, as usual". The chicken was nice and the balance of flavours were just as how they liked it. In fact, they both got really full and couldn't finish the whole pan, so we all got a chance to eat some of the dak galbi. No complaints about this dish whatsoever on my end (though, I personally would've added more cheese since I really enjoy cheesy dishes).

The service was pretty fast and efficient, though it would have been better if the servers were at least smiling or expressed some type of enthusiasm in their job. Nonetheless, they are still pretty nice though and won't give you any attitude. Some people on Urbanspoon stated that they thought the service here was terrible. I'm not too sure of the contexts of these complaints, but I have personally never noted any terrible service during the numerous times I have visited this place (and this did include a busy dinner service).

The rating for Joons Korean Restaurant are as follows (detailed ratings system here and out of 5):

Flavour = 4
Value = 4
Atmosphere = 3
Uniqueness = +0.5 (Table-top cooking)

OVERALL RANKING: 4.17 / 5

Overall, Joons is a restaurant that offers very flavourful dishes that you'll most likely recommend to your friends. To improve, they could adjust some aspects of their dishes (ex. giving the customer a squeeze bottle to adjust the amount of gochujang in their dolsot bibimbap to their taste). Also, this place needs an interior designer to dress up the place as the decor is too plain and a tad aged. The servers should also smile and be enthusiastic as this can also add to the customers' experience. However, I feel that these are quite minor and won't really detract from the awesome food they serve.



Type of Cuisine: Korean
Price Range: $5-18
Atmosphere/Attire: Casual

Questions? Comments? Leave them below!

Review: Toko Bistro & Bar (Lunch)

The interior of Toko. Click to enlarge.

So for my first review, I went to Toko Bistro & Bar with some friends. Toko is a Japanese/Korean restaurant and, I believe, the only restaurant that offers conveyor belt sushi service in Toronto (according to Google), which is similar to all-you-can-eat (AYCE) sushi service, but instead, you pay for each plate you take (and each plate has different values). If there are other "sushi train" restaurants in Toronto (and I actually mean Toronto, not the surrounding areas such as Markham or Richmond Hill), please let me know!

I suggested the restaurant to my friends, excited to try out conveyor belt sushi for the first time. I should've thought about it beforehand as we showed up and found no conveyor belt sushi whatsoever! It makes sense since lunch service is usually not that busy in downtown sushi restaurants and would probably be very costly to run conveyor belt sushi during this time. Although we were disappointed at first, they did offer a nice lunch menu and we decided to give it a try.

Now before I start, I'm informing the readers that even though it is listed as a Japanese restaurant, it should actually be listed as Japanese/Korean. There is a large chunk of the menu dedicated to Korean cuisine and the servers and (presumably) the management are Korean. So, if it really matters to you, for an "authentic" Japanese experience, there are other Japanese-run restaurants such as the super popular Guu Izakaya and Manpuku. However, I don't think this should be a deciding factor of where you eat; as long as the food and service is good, that's all that should matter.

Anyway, the lunch menu contained standard fare typical of a Japanese/Korean restaurant: Bento boxes, tempura, and bulgogi. Most of my friends opted for bento boxes, one ordered some sushi rolls (both around $8), while I, being the rebel, decided to venture into Toko's full menu.

The menu contained quite a lot of selection, typical for an Asian restaurant. I personally find this to be a good thing because it means you don't have to settle for anything you're not 100% sure of. However, this can also be a disadvantage because: a) the menu could be a difficult to get through with all the choices presented to you and b) it could slow down service since chefs would have to account for all of these different preparations, rather than focus their efforts on just a few dishes. I'll leave this up to you. I did note that the menu did state that you could change the side dishes for brown rice or salad instead of having the white rice and miso soup. This could definitely be a plus for those of you wanting to dine healthy.

I ended up selecting the ddukbokki ($10), a Korean rice cake dish (a more detailed description here) and a personal favourite of mine. Although I usually order this dish with chicken whenever I eat at other Korean restaurants, Toko prepared their ddukbokki with seafood.

The decor and atmosphere of the place was very nice. It was very casual and definitely a nice place to sit down and catch up with friends while enjoying some lunch. As the name implies, there are definitely elements of a bistro and a bar in the decor, all with a Japanese theme to it. The seating seemed to be perfectly fine for us, though if you prefer cushioned seats, you may want to request this with the server before you enter.

Although we were pretty quick to order, the service seemed a bit lacking. There appeared to be only one server for the whole restaurant, which was actually about 3/4 filled. There were many people in the kitchen that could have easily helped out our server so that he didn't need to run back and forth between all of the tables. I had a clear view of the kitchen and the chefs seemed a tad too relaxed for my liking considering how many orders were coming in.

Miso soup. Click to enlarge.

We first started off with miso soup. I personally found it a bit too salty for my tastes. However, some of my friends thought it was perfectly fine ("Miso is supposed to be salty!"), so I guess it's all a matter of how you like your miso soup prepared.

My friend also ordered an Alexander Keith's as he did note that it was pretty cheap considering what it's usually sold for in other restaurants. Something to keep in mind for all of you beer fans.

What my friends ordered (~$8 Bento Boxes and Sushi Rolls). Click to enlarge.

Not surprisingly, my friends' orders came in first. They thought that their food was good; no major complaints across the board. Toko even includes shrimp tempura in their tempura portions of their lunch menu! I thought this was really nice since a lot of restaurants usually charge you extra if you want shrimp tempura. The rolls definitely seemed a bit bigger than what most other restaurants serve.

My seafood ddukbokki ($10). Click to enlarge.

After about 5-7 minutes, my ddukbokki finally came with a bowl of rice. The portion size was just right, the ddukbokki was very tender and had just the right amount of spice to it. You could definitely feel the kick of gochujang (red pepper paste) but thankfully it wasn't overpowering the dish. When Korean dishes are too spicy for your taste, it can definitely wreak havoc for the rest of your meal. One time I ate some really spicy kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) and I began to sweat profusely and literally turn red; of course, Cyril, one of my friends accompanying me on the trip, just pointed and laughed at me, mocking the fact that I had decided to order something so spicy. What a great friend he is...anyway, I digress. The dish also contained a good amount of mozzarella cheese and nice amount of veggies. The seafood was just okay for me; I could've done without the mussel. Ddukbokki is a tad more enjoyable with some meat.

Takoyaki ($5). Click to enlarge.

Some of us still felt hungry after our meals, so we decided to order some takoyaki (Japanese octopus dumplings). The price seemed a bit standard ($5) for 6 pieces, though I was definitely let down by Toko's version. The takoyaki seemed a bit overcooked and lacked the awesome mayo dressing and bonito flakes that give a punch of flavour. This has just further solidified my belief that the best takoyaki Toronto has to offer is at Manpuku.

After we finished our meals, I noticed that the server seemed to have...disappeared. While I didn't really mind as I was looking to catch up with all of my friends, if patrons wanted to leave ASAP after finishing their meals, they certainly wouldn't like how long it takes for the server to appear and get their bills. Anyway, once the server finally appeared and took away our plates (about 10-15 minutes after we finished), we got separate bills (which is amazing since Asian restaurants do have a nasty reputation of refusing to do this if you don't tell them at the beginning of the meal) and paid.

So, the ratings of Toko are as follows (detailed ratings system here and out of 5):

Flavour = 3.5
Value = 3.5
Overall atmosphere = 3
Uniqueness = None in this case since conveyor belt sushi service is not offered for lunch

OVERALL RANKING:  3.3 / 5

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Toko. It's nothing amazing, but it's not as bad as what people on Urbanspoon or other websites make it out as. I firmly believe that one should better judge a restaurant on its dinner service because the restaurant is put under more pressure to perform well with an increased crowd. So, I would definitely visit again for dinner to try out their conveyor belt service. However, Toko should try to improve on its speed of service, which I thought was the worst part of the meal. They could've have easily pumped out bento boxes a lot faster than they could have and it's important to check up on your patrons during their meal so that they aren't left there stranded, wondering where the servers have disappeared to. That being said, Toko does offer some tasty food and a casual atmosphere perfect for catching up with friends or a date.



Type of Cuisine: Japanese/Korean
Price Range (Lunch): $5-15
Atmosphere/Attire: Casual

Questions? Comments? Leave them below!

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