I don’t exactly remember when was the last time I visited Cabbagetown but I will definitely be back because of Kingyo (Twitter: @Kingyotoronto / Facebook: Kingyo Toronto). I can’t believe its taken me so long to visit this izakaya. I messaged a few friends during my dinner to arrange our next trip to Kingyo (this rarely happens!)
Kingyo Izakaya is located at the corner of Parliament & Winchester (a little bit out of the way for me but totally worth the trek). This trendy Izakaya offers a broad selection of Japanese sharing dishes, cocktails & sakes. I enjoyed most of the things we ordered and regret not ordering a few items from their specials menu.
Jasmine Tea
Tako Wasabi ($4.80)
- Diced Octopus marinated with wasabi stems and sea kelp.
- Served with “nori” seaweed paper
- Choice of having Octopus raw, cooked of half half
Red Tuna and Black Tiger Prawn Avocado Tar Tar ($11.80)
- Wasabi flavoured tar tar, with tuna, black tiger prawn, tobiko, avocado and tomato.
- Topped with lotus chips and Kingyo’s home made special sweet sauce.
- Served with Garlic Toast
Salmon From East Coast ($11.80 for 7 pieces)
KINGYO’s Appetizer Jewellery Box ($13.80)
- Chef’s Daily assorted appetizer box that includes eight various small dishes.
Garlic Tuna Tataki & Ponzu Jelly ($8.20)
- Seared ahi-tuna tataki served with onions, scallions, crispy garlic chips & ponzu jelly
Beef Tataki Salad with Ume Dressing ($12.80)
- Seared beef sashimi salad topped with “ume” plum dressing & crispy garlic chips
Deep Fried Chicken Wings ($9.80)
- Deep Fried Chicken Wings tossed in their special house blend vinaigrette sauce
- The mellow sweetness in the sauce makes it a great pair with Beer!
Pork Tantan Ramen ($10.80)
- Kingyo’s original version of the very popular tantan ramen
- Served with spicy ground pork sauce that blends well into “tonkotsu” prok bone broth
Aburi Toro & Avocado 2 Tone Battera ($16.80)
- Flame seared “med-fatty” toro tuna & avocado “battera” boxed style sushi
A Big Kingyo Short Rib ($21.00)
- Grilled “Kurozu” balasmic vinegar beef short rib.
- Simple yet stunningly rich in taste!
Hot Stone Bowl Unagi Don ($14.80)
- BBQ Eel, seasoned kelp, pickled mustard leaf, diced eggs, and diced cucumbers, topped with scallions served with a hot-stone bowl.
Some of my highlights of the evening were: The East Coast Salmon, The Jewellery Box, Tuna Tataki, Chicken Wings, Short Ribs, Beef Tataki Salad. The Jewellery Box is such a neat concept – I love how the Chef just surprises you with 8 various dishes without having you to choose. The Salmon sashimi, Wings and Tataki Salad are just simply amazing. I highly recommend the short ribs. I have no idea how they made it but the ribs literally fell off the bone and melted in your mouth. It was incredibly tender, juicy and of course -fatty. But oh so good. Despite the amazing service, I can’t say I loved our waitress. I’m not one to usually complain but her responses with us were a bit short. We noticed she acted similar with other tables – perhaps an off day for her.
This restaurant is quite the busy one and fills up rather quickly. Reservations are highly recommended.
