KINKA IZAKAYA ANNEX

We came here for a Friday night dinner at 7:30 pm, with a reservation for zashiki seating. I love this branch of Kinka Izakaya because of this seating option. You can see it in my photos. It's no extra charge for this experience. A large party of people were hanging around the entryway of the restaurant waiting for the rest of the party before leaving. Despite the number of people, the servers were able to see us and direct us. They offered the coat rack for our coats and told us to wait for this party to leave before entering the zashiki area. After they left, we were instructed to remove our shoes and store them in a cubby before being seated. The restaurant offers a variety of sake options, Chu-Hi (Japanese Highball cocktails), Japanese inspired cocktails, and wine. They also offer Sapporo on draft. We ordered a pitcher between 2 people, which was more than enough. The server brought the pitcher over promptly and poured the first round for us. We ordered the Kinka set ($39), which comes with soup, salad, sashimi, aburi sushi, mini rice bowl, and sorbet. We also ordered the wasabi octopus and spare ribs. The miso soup was excellent. You could taste that they used a dashi broth as the base along with miso. Most American/Japanese restaurants only use water and miso. The dashi broth gives the soup a rounder flavour. The salad was lightly dressed. The wasabi octopus can be off-putting for people who are sensitive to textures, but we loved it. This appetizer prepped our palette for the next course. The sashimi and aburi sushi came next. There was yellow fin, scallop, and chu toro sashimi along with shrimp, salmon, and mackerel aburi sushi. The quality of sashimi was AMAZING! I'd highly recommend getting a sashimi platter here because the quality is so high. My partner doesn't like tuna normally, but he enjoyed the chu toro. All aburi sushi options were tasty. Our ranking was shrimp, mackerel, and salmon. Mackerel can be a hard fish to eat because of its strong taste. The spare ribs came on a sizzling plate with sautéed onions, shoshito peppers, lemon, and a dipping sauce. The beef was super tender, pairing well with the onions. The portion size was excellent. We ordered both of the mini rice bowl options. The curry beef rice bowl was leagues better than the eel rice bowl because it had more flavour. The eel rice bowl came with avocado and cucumber. The avocado felt out of place. The eel was seasoned well with tare (ta-re) sauce. The rice was cooked perfectly. The curry beef rice bowl came with cheese and medium rare slices of steak. The curry flavour was Japanese style with a bit of kick. It tasted great. We added the left over rice from the eel bowl into the curry to stretch out the meal. The set ended with a yuzu sorbet. It was cool and refreshing. There were jellies and a creamy element added around the sorbet. We liked the texture contrast. The zashiki area filled up during our dinner. The servers were less attentive to our table towards the end as there were some very large groups dining. It's understandable. The process to redeem a gift card here is done through the POS machine. You input tip first and then select gift card when prompted. The server inputs the gift card number. You can select the method of payment once the gift card is redeemed. The washrooms are downstairs. Each washroom is large and is equipped with toothpicks and mouth wash.

This place is pretty cool. It has a nice vibe inside that's simple and not overwhelming. The waitress was really nice and friendly. The food is a bit pricey, but the presentation and quality makes it worth it! I mostly got appetizers to share. They also have some damn tasty drinks. My friends and I were there for almost four hours. Oops. Side note: the washrooms are really nice. 😂

Came here with a group of girlfriends and we had a good time despite some of the issues including poor service and food. I’ve been to the church location and expected the same quality of food but was so disappointed. When I compared their nori hand roll dish to the original location, the annex location had much less seafood (although the price was the same). The waiter was also rushing us to pay and leave 5 minutes after we ordered dessert (but why let us order dessert? 🤔🤷🏻‍♀️). Would not recommend for these reasons, you’re better off going to the one on Church street.

The food is always tasty and fresh. Last time we were there, it took 15 min before someone brought us menus... and 30 min before we were able to order. Aside from that, the place is fun with good food and great atmosphere.

Absolutely fantastic place to sit down and have a good time. The location is spacious and quite nice and the service is great. I was quite impressed by the quality of food and the drinks were fantastic. Definitely a worthwhile place to kick back and relax with a smooth drink and a delicious meal.

Amazing restaurant! We ordered the Kinka Set and really enjoyed it. Everything was delicious, and the service was awesome — always checking on us and seeing if we needed more water. The set was also very well-paced. (Although it was a bit heavy with the fried and chicken). My favorite items I ordered were the salmon carpaccio, the nigiri, the yogurt sorbet, and the lychee juice.

Really Amazing restaurant! Everything we ordered was delicious and the service is welcomed! Recommend for party and dates:)

Older review from my Yelp: Bar food tastes good -- and that holds true for Japanese bars. If you aren't fond of noise, this place is not for you. Or come here earlier and not on a Friday or Saturday night, to try to avoid the drinking crowd. Went here at 8pm on a Friday and everyone's merry. If you don't drink alcohol or if you are the designated driver for the night, their "virgin cocktails" don't disappoint. The price point is sort of in the expensive side, but the servings are reasonable and the flavours are exquisite. Service is fast and the servers are nice. Try their karubi (beef short ribs). It can go well with rice, or just with your drinks. Their ovsters on rice and udon are have complete flavours and are both filling. There's a tatami seating (floor seating) area in this location.

welcoming service. expect a pricey menu with small dishes. i got the salmon which was very much on the lighter flavoring side. it was extremely light but a bit bland for me. the salmon itself wasn't fishy at all (opposite of my personal preference). the prawns were perfectly fried - crispy, juicy, LARGE!!! flavoring was on point. the beef udon was pretty impressive and gave a decent amount of beef! juicy and flavorful as well.

The lychee mojito was yummy!! Ordered the beef udon and raw beef. The broth in the beef udon was good and flavorful. The raw beef was very different from what we were expecting. What they brought out looked completely different from the menu photo that I thought she brought the wrong dish. She let me know it's their newer version but would've been nice if she'd informed us before we put the order in. I really enjoyed the playlist! It was jazz covers of hip hop songs. Nice atmosphere overall.

Kinka izakaya was my first meal in Toronto and we came late at night around 930-10pm. This was definitely a great way to start my weekend in Toronto! We came to this location since the original kinka izakaya location showed a 1 hour + wait. When we had arrived there were only a couple other parties at the restaurant. The lighting is a little bit dim which makes it harder to take good photos of the food but this is a great place for a date or to eat with friends. We got a number of small bites including the short rib, various nigiri, hamachi yellowtail sashimi which we actually ordered twice because it was so good. We also had a salmon sizzling bowl and everything we had was really tasty, fish was fresh, galbi was cooked well and marinated well. I think everything you get off the menu is well worth it and delicious. Would definitely recommend this place on a visit to Toronto!

There are several locations for Kinka Izakaya, I visited the one at the Annex with a party of 5. Reservations can be made on their website and is very easy to use! I would recommend making one if you plan on coming on a weekend in the evening! We arrived close to 7 and the restaurant was packed! There is a separate food and drink menu. A karaage bucket is also available for take-out only. It helps to write down everything you want on your phone and then the server will use a tablet to take your order which makes the transaction smoother. In the restarant, there are two sides once you enter. On the left is the dimmer area with plenty of tables and chairs (almost feels like you're at a club!). There's good hip music playing as well so the atmosphere is lively for those looking to have a good night. You can also see the chefs in action as the bar seating and open kitchen is just across on the other side of the area. On the right side is where diners need to take off their shoes as it is more of a traditional Japanese seating area where you could sit with your legs crossed on a cushion. The place is great for both shareables and drinks. The sake bombs are always popular and gets the staff involved in cheering. Shareables were also delicious - my personal favourites were the original karaage and the prawn tempura. I also really liked the salmon oshizushi.

I'm not sure how to rate this. 4/5 stars pre-COVID because everything I ordered was amazing and the menu selection was huge. But I came once indoor dining was open and the menu was considerably condensed. The explanation was a lot of the items were not in season (like the baked oyster with cheese, almond tofu dessert). And a lot of my favourite items weren't there. I guess with COVID, ingredient prices have gone up but I feel like the whole reason I enjoyed kinka in the past was the wide variety of flavourful items. Anyways, today we ordered the ebimayo deep fried shrimp, takoyaki, takowasabi, karaage, salmon & scallop pressed sushi, special items menu. Things I'd order again: takowasabi - strong wasabi flavour and a classic nose punch burn. Very flavourful. Yummy). Aburi buta bara (grilled pork belly with garlic sauce) - nice smoky bbq taste. Good flavour. Tokyo fry (French fries with garlic mayo)- mc Donald's like French fries. Tasty. Nama grapefruit cocktail- you get to squeeze your own grapefruit. Picturesque. Tasty! Things that coasted in the middle: Salmon oshizushi (blow torched pressed salmon sushi)- salmon was tasty but the rice a little too mushy but held it's shape. Things I wouldn't order again: salmon nattoyukke (salmon sashimi/seaweed/onsen tamago)- the lightly cooked sunny side up egg mixed with the salmon sashimi seaweed salad just didn't suit my taste buds at all. I found it very unappealingly bland. My least favorite dish of the night. Kamo tataki (sous vide duck breast)- okay taste but dry. Hotate oshizushi (pressed scallop sushi)- bland Karaage - nothing special. Ebi mayo - all I could taste was fried batter doused in mayo. And I'm sad because I swear this used to be one of my favourites. Batter was quite thick. Takoyaki- good texture but the sauce was overly ketchup-y. Overpowered the overall taste. My server was nice and I enjoy whenever they greet you upon entry. I look forward to the day they bring back their usual menu that I loved so much. I'll update my review then.

The food was delicious, definitely comfort food! We had the: oysters, shrimp tempura, cheesy curry, carbonara udon, and brûlée. The drinks were also delicious!

Definitely has the Japanese authenticity and vibe. Takes me back to Japan. Food quality is up there and I can maintain a good connection with the waiters/waitresses as they understand Japanese as well. One thing to point out is the price and it's a little on the high end for me. However, it's understandable because of current inflation in Canada (nothing that I can do there). Worth going back to the restaurant especially for special occasions. Also easy access from universities, for those young college students out there!

The set menu is updated also it has a price increase I would recommend this place and the set menu

I've been at Kinka at the Church location but was looking for an izakaya while in the Annex. I feel you can't really go wrong with Kinka but the Annex location really surprised me. I like the menu at this location more than the others and the seating is also much nicer. It is smaller in comparison to the Church location but the floor seating provides a different type of experience. We ordered the Matcha Negroni, Pork Chashu lettuce wraps, Salmon Natto and Pumpkin Croquette (from the Fall menu). We were disappointed when we couldn't get the Matcha high ball at the Church location so this Negroni was to make up for it - and i'm glad they had it available! It was quite strong but we enjoyed it. The Pork Chashu lettuce wraps were so good! I haven't seen it at other Kinka locations so I was curious to see how the portion sizes were. It was listed as a hot sharable, and it is indeed sharable. You get large lettuce wraps, with a couple pieces of really well seasoned pork belly (that's not too overly fat) and some garnishes on the side. The Salmon Natto was also an interesting cold sharable that I'd reorder next time as well! The server did warn us about the interesting and more acquired taste of Natto, but being quite adventurous with food, we went ahead and ordered it. It comes with natto on the side and the server mixes in the contents of the salmon, natto, egg, okra and onions in front of you. If you want a nice picture, make sure to take it beforehand becuase it becomes a slimy mess afterwards. If you're a textural person who doesnt like slimy foods - skip this. With the okra and natto combination, it does get quite slimy but the flavours are wonderful. You wrap the contents in seaweed that they provide and its quite a flavourful bite each time! The pumpkin croquette was very crispy on the outside but nice and soft on the inside. It comes with a piece of fried pumpkin skin on top and has a mayo-like sauce on the platter. Food and service was good, so will definitely come back again :)

I was looking for a good izakaya spot in Toronto and was really glad to find this spot. The udon were sooooo good highly highly recommend. We got both the beef and the kimchi and love love love both. Unfortunately we had to drive back to London right after so we did not try the drinks, but will definitely for our next visit!

SOOO SO SO SOO SGOOD. this place truly revived us after a 12 hour drive up. friendly servers, delicious food, pretty bathroom .. cant ask for more

Amazing Japanese tapas, fabulous bar and great service! What really stands out to me is their willingness to accommodate my allergies and make everything with sauces on the side! The atmosphere is fabulous without being too loud!

I came here with a group of friends mainly for their kinkalicious $29.99 set meal special and was slightly disappointed for a number of reasons: 1. The noise. I've been to the Yonge location before and thought it was a good level of excitement. I did see a lot of the warning reviews for this location but wasn't expecting that level of noise. It's not a good exciting type of noise, but the kind where you have to yell to talk and constantly repeat yourself. It gets super loud with the sake bombs- it's only (kinda) nice when you're the ones doing them. They shake these tin sounding things and it pierces your ears. 2. The service was not impressive. We had to ask our server for refills of water. Also, after the 6th course she asked if we were ready for dessert before we received our bibimbap. After we asked about it, she told us that the kinkalicious doesn't come with the bibimbap, as it only applies to their regular set meal. We pulled out the menu and showed her. I don't get how a server can't know their own menu to that extent, especially when the kinkalicious is such a huge special going on. Had we just took her word for it, we would have been skimped out on the most filling dish... 3. They ran out of matcha ice cream. We were finishing off our dinner around 9.. maybe that's a bit late but when any restaurant runs out of a main component it def doesn't impress me. Especially when they have a special going on, they should prepare and overstock to ensure there will be more than enough to meet demand. 4. They didn't allow us to split bills... just the full bill for the table. This is super inconvenient when you're coming in a group, let alone a large group. 5. For the set meal, they don't serve the dishes individually. They bring you dishes and say "this serves 2/3" and you have to figure out how to divvy it up yourselves. This isn't ideal unless you have a s/o to partner up with... considering you're paying an individual price per person, it would be nice to get individual portions. Those unimpressive points aside, the food was okay. The set meal is a cool experience because you get to try things you might not normally try. Izakaya foods are typically on the pricier size for the portions you get... but personally I wouldn't pay the normal $35/person for the set meal, as I was still kind of hungry after. Overall, I much prefer the Yonge location because the atmosphere and noise level is more reasonable there.

Decent place for Japanese food. Lunch set about $15, you get small bowl of ramen with 2 pieces of meat, few scallions, nori, bean sprouts. Choose the side of omelette (2 mini rolled up egg thats sweet and spongy), seaweed and tofu salad (which is much bigger than I imagined, miso soup, karaage chicken (2 medium sized chicken pieces; not the crunchiest but okay) and side of miso soup. The menu is slightly different than the one online. They had individual sides as well as customizable set lunches. Not many options if you're just looking for ramen, but I think the lunch sets are the way to go. Not many people because it was a holiday. It's all paid parking around, $2/half hour.

Authentic food. Service was great. But a little too crowded. Would have liked more variety from the menu

Delicious food. Portions are not very big, prices are reasonable. Great place to get drinks as well

Once again another enjoyable and affordable meal at kinka izakaya annex location! Never had a better miso soup in my life.

I always love coming to Kinka, especially this location and the Yonge location! The Kakimayo is almost always sold out so you should order it if you go! The 2.0 comes with bread and is definitely shareable. 5/5

So I decided to give this place another shot. It has since changed the name, but the menu and concept are the same. This time I had a much better experience. We were in a group of people, so we got to try different dishes. All the dishes were all tasty, if not very big. The standard menus is not very extensive, but there were many daily specials on offer. Here's the rundown: Yakoyaki - Deep Fried Octopus Balls Price: $5.50 Rate: 3/5. Crunchy on the outside and nice and soft inside. But flavor was not big enough. Karaage - Deep Fried Soy Sauce Marinated Chicken Price: $8.30 Rate: 5/5 Gorgeous nuggets of deep fried chicken goodness. Perfectly cooked, nice and moist inside. Rivals any Korean fried chicken. Ebimayo - Deep Fried Prawns with Spicy Mayo Price: $8.90 Rate: 3/5 Nice dish, but somewhat standard. The spicy mayo is the best part of the dish. Saba - Grilled Mackerel Price: $9:50 Rate: 4/5 Very tasty and flavorful. From the specials menu: --------------------------------- Oyster Agedashi - $7.80 Rate: 3/5 Deef fried oysters, tofu and eggplant. Not bad. Seaweed roll of beef carpaccio with uni Rate: 5/5 There were only two pieces, but those were two perfect bites of deliciousness. Outstanding dish, the best of the entire meal. Taco Carpaccio - $9.50 Rate: 5/5 Outstanding dish of thinly sliced octopus with nice and smoky flavor. Delish. My second favorite dish. Miso Katso - $9.80 Rate: 5/5 Beautifully deep fried pork cutlet. Excellent dish. Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms Rate: 4/5 Very rich and tasty risotto. Who know you could get a nice risotto in an izakaya? Pumpkin Pie Rate: 3/5 The pie itself was alright, but not the best pumpkin pie I had. It also lacked some sweetness. But, the coconut ice-cream on top was delish! We shared the above between 4 people, and payed $27 per-person, after taxes and tip. It wasn't a lot of food to completely satiate us, but the price was reasonable. For drinks we had a sake. They do have a house sake ($6.5 for 150mL or $10 for 300mL), but we opted for the Izumi draft sake (from Toronto's Distillery District) at $20 for 300mL. It was served cold and was pretty tasty. There are other selections of higher-end sake as well.

TIP#1: Check out the floor seated traditional room! But you HAVE to reserve & request this in advance! TIP#2: Their $5 Sake bombs are super fun! How to do the Sake bomb... 1) balance the Sake shot glass between the chopsticks on top of the cup of beer 2) once you're ready, the staff will make a ruckus and do the 'Sake bomb' chant with you & your friends 3) after the chant you immediately use your hands to rumble the table to make the Sake shot glass drop into the beer. 4) CHUG CHUG CHUG! //SERVICE// This was my 2nd time at the Kinka Izakaya chain, but 1st time at this Bloor location. The servers were super great. Since it was my friend's birthday, they helped me hide the birthday cake. The energy from the Kinka staff is seriously unmatched whenever we have a birthday celebration or ordering Sake bombs ! //THE FOOD// Their izakaya pub foods are consistently great. I got my old favourites of Okonomiyaki (4/5), chicken karaage (5/5), ebi mayo(4/5), takoyaki (5/5), & karubi (4/5). It can add up to be very expensive but when you're sharing each dish with 2-3 people, it's much more reasonable ! Be careful with ordering their alcohol though! My friends ordered a small bottle of Mikan Shochu & didn't realize it was $41! Since Shochu is a liqueur similar to the alcohol content of vodka, sip it slowly ! //OVERALL// Kinka offers pretty great izayaka in Toronto, but not as amazing as its sister Guu (in Vancouver). Just some of the dishes like their Sashimi Salad just doesn't compare. HOWEVER, the spaciousness, floor seating room, & energy is what makes the Bloor Kinka still a 5/5 in my books :)

The food was amazing. The fried oyster dish and the Rapini dishes were BOMB. The drinks were amazing and the atmosphere was the best. Would definitely go back again. Overall, excellent experience.

Usually come here for group dinner, the place gets super loud but the food and drink varieties are good. My favourite go-to dishes are Kakimayo (baked oyster) and Ebimayo (deep fried prawns). I highly recommend the mix-and-match lunch set. For $15, you get to pick your own salad, appetizer, side dish, main dish, and it comes with a soup. The food is delicious, the selection is great, service is faster and the ambiance is much quieter than dinner time. Bonus: If you post a pic on IG with hashtags #kinkaizakayato and #kinkaizakayabloor, and show your server, you'll get free ice cream.

Came here with a friend on Friday night. They were at almost maximum capacity. It was super loud in there and the servers are very enthusiastic when cheering and chanting. Service on the other hand is very poor. We asked for water twice but our server never brought it. My friend asked for a beer but that was also never given to her. I wanted to order a lychee high but could not get the attention of servers so I just gave up. I ordered the unagi bibimbap which was delicious!! So yummy!! Not sure if I'll come back to this location, as I've received better service at the North York one. The North York location seems to have better service than the church street one as well.

Kinkalicious! Came for the special promotion after a friend recommended. Made a reservation for 5:45 on a Saturday and was seated promptly. Server was friendly and introduced certain items and drinks. If you're going for the Kinkalicious event, it requires a minimum of two orders (29/person). It was a 7 course meal so here goes..... Sashimi sampler: My fav - lobster tail, salmon and scallop. Was nice, cold and fresh. Seaweed & tofu salad: Light and not too saucy. Fry plate (karage & takoyaki): didn't try the takoyaki, but karage was fried nicely and had a good crunch Grilled pork cheek skewers: A bit chewy for me, but the taste was decent. Baked oysters: Nice and cheesy! Had potatoes mixed in as well which complemented well. Mushroom & Cheese bibimbap: Was quite big considering the size of the other dishes, more toppings would have been nice. Matcha ice cream: nothing too special, but at least its a dessert! Service: expected the almost non stop shouting and enthusiasm, did not expect to be that rushed for time. We were told it was a 2 hr limit (understandable) but were promptly given the bill after 1 hr and 15 min. Will return to try the other locations as well!

A great late night spot for snacks and drinks! I had a reservation for four, late on a Saturday night. I really enjoyed their Lychee Mojito cocktails, and I put in numerous Salmon Oshizushi orders. I think the best sharing snacks though were the okonomiyaki pancake and takoyaki, both of those orders were well loved by our table. Service was good, our waitress definitely gave our table some space and time between orders, and we didn't feel rushed or timed during our stay. Kinka Izakaya is a fantastic spot for post-pandemic catch-up and drinks, and I highly recommend them for large groups or parties!

One of the better izakaya in town! Very friendly staff and excellent restaurant atmosphere. It gets little loud but its amazing experience. Everything I ordered tasted so good! I got Takoyaki (octopus balls), Ikapiri (calamari), Ebimayo (deep fried prawns), Buta Kakuni (pork belly), beef sushi (today's special) and two Mentai Kimchi Udon as this is my favourite dish. I only had party of two and this was too much food but definitely worth it!

I have been to Kinka Izakaya a few times over the years, and have always enjoyed my dining experience here. Instead of ala-carte, I tried the Kinkalicious menu last week. It's their take on the long-running Summerlicious, where they offer a set course meal for an affordable price. It's a great way to sample the menu without breaking the bank. The 8-course menu offers a range of popular dishes that can be shared among friends and is only $29 per person (minimum of 2 people). If you're not into a tasting menu, then you will find that the menu offers a variety of traditional and modern specialties made for sharing. Course #1 - We started our meal off with the Gomaee, which was blanched rapini in black sesame sauce. The black sesame sauce really added a nice kick to the veggie dish. Course #2 - The second course was the Sashimi Platter. It was beautifully plated and came with a variety of fresh fish. Thickly cut too! Course #3 - Gyu Shabu Salad Course #4 - The third course was the Angus Beef Yukke, which was angus beef tartare topped with scallion, raw quail egg yolk, and nori. It was a dish that I would never order as I don't eat raw beef, but my friend really enjoyed it. Course #5 - The Fry Platter was my absolute favorite of the night! It consisted of the three items that I always order whenever I am at a Kinka Family establishment including Kinton Ramen. Their gyoza is one of the best I've ever had, especially with the accompanying sauce. The takoyaki was plump and wasn't overly battered. Course #6 - The Kakimayo is very popular amongst diners. It's baked oysters with spinach, mushrooms, garlic mayo and cheese. A deadly (if you're lactose intolerant), but a yummy combination. Course #7 - Next up before dessert was the Kinoko Bibimbap, which is a hot stone with rice, mushrooms, cheese, and seaweed sauce. It's a vegetarian dish, and you can mix it yourself or ask one of the servers. This dish was really good! Course #8 - We ended the night off with a scoop of Matcha Ice-Cream. Nothing special, but good. Kinka Izakaya also offers an everyday set menu with 10 courses for $35 per person. Overall, Kinka Izakaya is a very solid izakaya option in Toronto. However, I would not recommend going there if you have an aversion to loud sounds, or headache, as its atmosphere is very lively.

Wanted to post a quick updated review for this location of Kinka. It's becoming one of my favs for weekend lunch. They have a wonderful build your own lunch combo that is priced very reasonably, and you get to pick one salad, one app, one side, and the main (the kaisen don, or seafood rice, is my favourite pick). The value is absolutely fantastic for $15 (it used to be $13 but alas... price increases) On top of that, they have a lunch stamp card. Kinka is a lot less crowded during lunch time so you won't be getting the same energy and crowd as you would at dinner, but I actually enjoy that it's a little quieter. The value just can't be beat!

Guys - give yourself the gift of KINKA's lunch Teishoku before you die. Do it. How KINKA isn't jam packed between noon and three is a mystery to me, but one I ultimately have little interest in solving. Knowing I can walk into KINKA on any afternoon and have an affordable, delicious, thoughtfully conceptualized lunch box without having to wait a minute in line is a joy I carry with me constantly. That being said, It also feels like a crime that more people aren't aware of this. The concept is simple - it's a bento style meal (plus soup) where you choose 1 food in four 'categories'. I've been making a point of eating less red meat and more fish, which means that my path to success is clear: sashimi salad, octopus takowasabi, grilled mackerel, and salmon don. Trust me when I tell you that everything I've listed tastes phenomenal. Having all of that on one plate is mind boggling - even more so when the bill comes. $13 pre tax and tip. That's it. As I mentioned, everything is delicious. The dressing on the sashimi salad combined with the crunchy fried garlic and peanuts is a perfect compliment to the sashimi itself, the takowasabi is gooey, strange, spicy, and perfect. The mackerel - served with what I think is minced radish with soy sauce and lemon - is yummy, and the salmon don is super fresh (gotta love that salmon roe too). I'll sum it up this way: as Toronto becomes more and more expensive, I've been on the lookout for things that make it worth the cost. Food experiences like this are certainly on that list.

In A Nutshell: -If you are looking for a fun night out w/ friends go to Kinka Izakaya! -This very energetic Japanese restaurant located in K-Town Toronto has great loud music, food and drinks. -The baked oysters are highly recommended, they even come pre-cut so you won't have to slice anything. -You should also order the big bamboo sake. -The sake comes in a big section of bamboo and you can pour it right into your bamboo cup. Overall, the vibe here is FUN, the food is GOOD, the drinks are STRONG.

Came here on a cold Monday night for a dinner for two. We had a reservation but it wasn't so busy on a Monday night that you couldn't walk in without one. Ordered a 1L mug of Sapporo for myself and a Matcha au lait for my girlfriend. For food, we got a recommended Shima aji (striped jack) sashimi from Japan, which was OK, not my favourite fish, but a nice start. We also had tako wasabi (her favourite) and the salmon natto yukke. I was interested to try the yukke cause I hadn't tried natto before. Not sure how much it came through, the taste was more of the garlic and it was the textures that stood out. Interesting though. We also had the unagi bibimbap and karaage. These were both good and flavourful but I thought our plate of karaage seemed kind of small compared to our neighbours'. Finally we had a almond tofu as a light dessert, which was nice, light and sweet. Altogether ~$80. Service is good, the waiters/waitresses and atmosphere loud but friendly.

We ordered Uber eats for their 3 course meal as their website was down and not accepting my credit card :( The food and portions at their locations are excellent - they definitely hold the same standard of service. I really appreciated them punching holes into the Karaage box so steam can escape and reduce chances of sogginess. The pieces of chicken were large and lightly battered. A lemon wedge to reduce the oiliness also came along the mayo dip. Their bentos are really filling and has a good variety of meats, and side dishes including tamagoyaki, bamboo shoots, tomato, spinach. I genuinely hope that Kinka stays afloat as I'd love to celebrate another exciting and lively birthday/drinking session with friends. Definitely missing the izakaya atmosphere.

Bar food tastes good -- and that holds true for Japanese bars. If you aren't fond of noise, this place is not for you. Or at least come here earlier and not on a Friday or Saturday night, to try to avoid the drinking crowd. Went here at 8pm on a Friday and everyone's merry. If you don't drink alcohol or if you are the designated driver for the night, their "virgin cocktails" don't disappoint. The price point is sort of in the expensive side, but the servings are reasonable and the flavours are exquisite. Service is fast and the servers are nice. Try their karubi (beef short ribs). It can go well with rice, or just with your drinks. Their oysters on rice and udon are have complete flavours and are both filling. There's a tatami seating (floor seating) area in this location.

This was my first time in Toronto and was looking for a dinner spot to eat with some friends. You're greeted by all the waitstaff yelling greetings the moment you walk into the restaurant - unexpected, but fun. We got the group set meal that came in seemingly endless waves of food. We were started off with a couple appetizers which included a Oysters Rockefeller type dish, Karaage, and beef salad. Then followed a number of entrees: salmon, black cod, beef short ribs, and bibimbap. The meal was topped off with the choice of black sesame or green tea ice cream. All this for under 40CAD which translated to about $30 USD. We left very full and happy. Their drinks are also affordable and fun to order. We got a few rounds of sake bombs and a kamikaze bomb, which is essentially 3 cascading sake bombs stacked atop one another. Each time someone ordered these, the entire restaurant crew would crowd around your table and lead a sake bomb chant. If you celebrate a birthday here, you get the person's name decorated on a blackboard with more chanting and singing. The most unique part of the experience was that every time someone entered or left the restaurant, the staff would all yell in Japanese. Anytime anyone ordered sake bombs, the staff would yell. Anytime anyone did anything, the staff would... you guessed it - yell. We were trying to figure out what action would elicit yelling, but it seemed like it was protocol to yell as much as possible. Imagine all this yelling layered on top of throwback 90s, 00s R&B and Hip Hop they would play in the restaurant. Very interesting. Overall, this was a very fun eating experience where you'll get the bang for your buck, especially in a large group. I would be cautious of bringing people sensitive to noise here, but otherwise enjoy!

This place has been on the bookmarks forever. I am used to original location as am quite familiar with the menu and the wait times. This spot apparently isn't as busy and has slightly quieter tatami area. Anyway this was an unplanned visit. We decided to go with the tasting menu and added a takowasabi for good measure. Here is a play by play Rapini with sesame sauce OK I guess. Salmon Tataki: decent as well. Though I think I prefer sashimi style a bit better Beef Salad; Good with a nice zesty dressing Chicken Karage: Good as always. Nice batter with the dark meat standing out as tasteful. Baked Oyster: below average as was difficult to eat as well owing to the small plates Gindara:dependable as always though I have had better Beef rib: poor version of the dish or maybe I am spoiled by Kalbi Bibimbap: Quite good and a dish I don't usually order at an izakaya Black Sesame ice cream: decent as well This was good amount of food for what they charge Service is a lot better than the original location. 3.5 Stars all said and done.

My boyfriend took me here for my birthday in December and it was SO MUCH FUN. For sure not your average dining experience. As soon as you walk in, the place is lively and energetic! The staff welcome everyone by shouting something in Japanese (I wish I knew what!!). I forgot to take pictures of majority of our food because everything looked so delicious I wanted to eat right away. However, everything we ordered was amazing. We had deep fried brie, gyoza, karubi, gyu carpaccio and a soup they had on special that had cheese, mushrooms and other goodies in it. We didn't end up ordering any seafood as my boyfriends allergic and I didn't want to order a whole thing myself, but this place has lots of options for everyone!

On the fringe of 5-Star rating for me. Could so slightly be just 4-star rating for me based on the grounds of value for food price. It is on the more expensive side. Serving portions are small, and taste is not special. What pulled up the overall score is the unique experience which was such a treat. It is very loud and lively with a lot of shouting around which I understand is the thing they are intentionally going for. Right as you enter there will be a welcome response. A loud welcome response at that. The Sake bomb drinking is also such a unique and fun ritual. A definite must-try experience. The Japanese food offered is something you can definitely try from a lot of different Japanese places, but the Sake bomb is an immersion you get only here and a few other select places.

Kinka Izakaya Bloor is located near the south east corner of Bloor and Bathurst in the Annex/Koreatown area and borders a now named alley called Loretto Lane. This business name is all in CAPS, how appropriate... As with most Izakayas there's that general greeting that is loud and welcoming. If you don't know about this it may catch you off guard. Generally speaking the interior of this place can be noisy and it can definitely become elevated at any given time. At the area near the front there's a sunken area where shoes are not allowed and they'll even supply flip flops for you. There's a compartment for shoes to the right of this area before entering. For a table of four we ended up getting a couple cold bottles of the house sake to share as well as some small plates. Salmon tataki, edamame, fried brie, karaage, kakimayo (oysters), and yaki udon. To end things we each had a sake bomb. The sake bomb is basically a small shot of sake resting on chopsticks and the thing is an entire ritual. "When you say sake, we say bomb!" Eventually the table is pounded and hopefully the shot falls into the beer and then you drink it. It's all in good fun with some small plates on the side. Izakayas are fun but if you've not been this is not a modest sit down Japanese restaurant. Consider it a party place or a place where you'd be allowed and encouraged to make as much noise as possible.

Can't believe how cheap the lunch set deals are! for $13 you can choose 3 appetizers, 1 main dish , and comes with miso soup, for this price I don't think I've seen it anywhere else, at least in the downtown area. We were expecting a smaller portion and maybe less fresh sashimi.. but nooooooo, everything was fresh and tasty, and about 1/2 size bigger then we thought! Service was great too since its way less busy during lunch time. We be coming back next week : )

Lively spot for drinks and tapas. Love the gong haha. Food is good and the vibe is fun.

Very cool place to hangout with friends. The food quality is very good. It is a loud place and if you want to have a convo it is not a good choice haha.

I've been here numerous times and never reviewed it...oh my! One of my favourite restaurants from waaaay back in the day (used to be called Guu), it's held up pretty well to all the stiff competition the city has to now offer. Typical in the Izakaya style, you are greeted by all the servers/staff with a loud and enthusiastic cheer/greeting when you walk in. This by no means is a quiet restaurant. If you are looking for something quiet and intimate then I would save this place for another time. If you are looking for a loud, fun and all over good time with good food, hit this place up! The space is large and set up in 2 styles - up the stairs to the right is the section where you talk off your shoes and sit close to the ground. If that is not your cup of tea, just ask for the more traditional tables. Our group ordered a bunch of items to share - yaki udon noodles, karaage, salmon tataki, edamame, and of course, their famous sake bombs! Everything was delicious, presented well and the portions were pretty good size for sharing You say sake, I say bomb! This place is definitely the bomb :)

Decent food. Decent atmosphere. Decent service. Decent location. Decent cleanliness. Decent price.

Such an amazing experience here - the food was superb and the service was even better. Be warned: this is a very loud establishment and people will yell enthusiastically in Japanese every time someone comes and leaves. It's a very upbeat atmosphere. We ordered a bunch of dishes, and I was impressed by all of them: Pressed salmon sushi (5/5) Sashimi platter (5/5) Okonomiyaki (5/5) Karate chicken (5/5) - this is REALLY amazing and stole the show Baked oyster (5/5) Beef udon (5/5) Cod (4/5) - the only dish I did not give 5/5 to and that is simply because it was less than what I expected. Still delicious. Our server was extremely attentive and helpful. Our table was small, but she was very efficient in clearing away dishes and replacing our side plate regularly so we always had a clean plate. Despite how busy it was, she was always on top of the ball. Our total came to about $130, which was fair considering how many dishes we ordered. They have a 2 hour dining limit, which wasn't a problem for 2 of us but I can imagine may be difficult for larger parties (the table beside us had 8). Overall a tremendous experience and I look forward to returning!

I cannot recommend the Udon noodles enough, the service was great, and the quality of the good in general was very high. Our group of four people were able to sample lots of fun stuff, and one of us had two beers, for about $100 after tip - a good deal! Plus there's the fun of the recessed seating half of the restaurant, which I highly recommend. A++, will definitely be returning.

Ever hear the line "If you're looking for a good time, call..." Well, call Kinka. I had the chance to eat at 2 great izakaya in Toronto back to back and both were very good. I prefer Guu a little more just cause the food quality and presentation is just amazing ... BUT Kinka is definitely the more energetic and louder fun bar with still very good food! I came in smiling the moment they started yelling and left with a bigger smile. Making reservations here is easy through Yelp and I highly recommend it. Even on a weekday night, this place constantly had people come through non stop and though the tables do turn over quickly, there were many BIG groups of birthdays just doing sake bombs. I think we saw at least 4 birthdays being celebrated in a little over an hour. If you're by yourself or just a twosome, try to grab the bar especially near the chefs. It's LOUD but damn its fun to be near them as they constantly yell and shout. It's not obnoxiously loud music thats being played but the 12+ staff just zooming around taking care of EVERY table and yelling with the chefs in response. I've never had faster and still concerned service in a place like this. The service here is 5+ from everyone... it's fast and fun. It's never boring, cold, or disinterested. I will say that the food here comes out just as quick as the service moving around ... we got our first 4 plates in less than 15 minutes. Thank goodness we were starving so we can eat through the dishes quickly... regardless if you can use chopsticks or not! They do provide knives and forks here for those who aren't expert at chopsticks or needing a hand to cut. Gomaae - This looks a little like "the thing from the swamp" when it first arrives with a black tar looking sauce covering the chilled spinach. Just mix it up and let the bold sesame flavour hit your tongue. The instagram trendy black carbon foods need to be sit down to this dish. This one is a great even you think vegetables are not good. 4/5 Salmon Tataki - Solid sashimi dish with several lightly seared salmon pieces with lots of crisp garlic and light tasting ponzu sauce. I think it could have use a heavier dose of wasabi mayo as it was pretty lightly applied. It needed that extra pep of wasabi heat 3.5/5 Tuna Tataki - Similar to the Salmon tataki, this is another solid sashimi dish. The fish was good if not a little light on flavour. The garlic chips did add some but it could have use a bit more wasabi mayo perhaps. 3.5/5 Okonomiyaki - This is a solid okonomiyaki but I found the Guu one still the best one in the city. Kinka's version was tasty but it missed the flavour hit that makes you go wow and it was not as crispy as Guu's. Kinka was definitely more 'pancake' like with it's softer dough. It wasn't sauced evenly with the okonomiyaki sauce and perhaps thats why it wasn't as flavourful. 4/5 Ikapiri - This was the stand out dish of the night and better than Guu for me. Large but still tender pieces of freshly fried squid are nicely sauced up with a bit of heat and then topped with crunchy pieces (looks like shredded potato and wonton wrappers). The sauce was nicely balanced and not really spicy to be honest. Someone enjoyed this more than me because I couldnt cut it up fast enough to keep up with them eating it! (Disarmed ... riiight). 4.5/5 Karaage - Generous pieces of chicken deep fried and served crispy. I thought the crust was nice and crunchy while the meat was cooked fairly well. I think it could the karaage crust bit seasoned more as the mayo didn't have a lot of seasoning in it to flavour the entire chicken bite. 4/5 Sweet Almond Tofu - This reminds me of all the dim sum versions of the almond tofu. It has a bit of a chew instead of a soft texture. Its tasty and light dessert but I would want to try another dessert next time. 3.5/5 Peach Compote - This came off their special menu. It's a generous big peach that was poached in a sweetened syrup, cored out, and then filled with some cheesecake. On top of all that, throw in some coconut ice cream. I liked the peach and the overall flavour but just found each component not quite optimal... icy bits in the ice cream, generous peach size but very little cheesecake. Cool looking dessert through 3.5/5 Kinka is definitely one of those places that you keep on your mind when you want good food and a loud fun place to go with friends. I LOVED the service here and the atmosphere is so great. I'd be happy to return to try other dishes.

I am giving Guu SakaBar a second chance.. not because I have such a good experience the first time, but my Yelp Blogger Friend has never been to any Guu??!! How can that be? This has to be corrected and change! I willing to risk not getting any of food like my first visit just to make sure YBF has a taste of Guu. Sunday 4:30 pm..coming in when it opens, I think I can for sure get in without waiting and have fast services since we would be the first and the few that would eat that early! Services excellent!! Our waitress speaks perfect English with a cute Japanese accent and everything I said she would said FOR SURE with a big big smile.. For Sure I am impressed!! Ume Mojito ($6.50) - still weak.. Sake Mojito ($6.50) Magutata ($6.80) Okonomiyaki ($6.20) Uzurano Tamago ($1.90)X2 Salmon Natto Yukke ($6.80) Amaebi ($6.80) - Fresh sweet shrimps! Renkon ($1.90) Matcha Cheese Cake ($4) Goma Zukushi ($5) - yummy!! Everything we ordered came in a timely manners..and all delicious but not too memorable. Since we were here when the restaurant was only 1/4 full, it really lack the atmosphere of Izakaya but it is not really Guu's fault... But I should be used to be eating at half empty restaurants...

This place is just...wow. From right when I entered, all you hear are all the employees (literally ALL) shouting welcome (presumably) to me. I expected a grand entrance, but that just blew me off. I got a seat in the counter, as the table section was relatively full (although by the time I arrived at around 6:30pm there were more people leaving than arriving, and the place was never really full even when I left at 7:20pm). As I was sitting, all the chefs started shouting at us, presumably welcoming us to the counter. By all means, thank you. Since we weren't that hungry (hence why we came here!), we only ordered 4 dishes: Tacoyaki, okonomiyaki, carbonara udon, and yaki udon. The tacoyaki was about as par as Kenzo (which had the best tacoyaki in my opinion), but cheaper at $5 and one less piece. The okonomiyaki satisfied me, although my friend said Okonomi House does it better. The udons, however, were our favourite dishes. The udon was very chewy, the sauce was just good enough for both of us, and the ingredients were overall very delicious (except the fact we kinda cracked the egg yolk before even attempting to eat it). I'll definitely come back here, though I wonder how electric the Izakaya place is...PS: Guu is open for lunch now! Bonus!

I have returned after visiting Guu Sakabar more than two years ago. Service continues to be good with overly enthusiastic Japanese servers. We made a reservation for 7 on a Saturday night, which was absolutely necessary as it was very crowded. Everyone at the table opted for the tasting menu. I should mention that there's no either or option - if you want the tasting menu, your DC's have to be cool with that. For $30, you get a lot of small dishes to try. By the end of the meal, I was completely stuffed. Some of the very memorable dishes were: the karaage (them again, who doesn't like fried chicken?), black cod with miso, and sake flavoured foam cake. I would say skip the baked oyster as it was too cheesy and couldn't taste anything else. Can't wait to return and try other items on the menu. Good for: groups, tourists, night out