Renown for serving an upscale affair of modern Japanese offerings, JaBistro strives on using the finest & freshest ingredients around the globe. Luckily enough for me, I enjoyed a lovely dinner at JaBistro’s newly renovated rooftop patio. They are managed by Kinka Family – who also manages Kinka Izakaya, Kinton Ramen and Kintori Yakitori.
Prior to this visit, I’ve only ever visited to JaBistro once (around 2-3 years ago for my birthday) so I was quite excited for this dinner. Lately, I think I’ve been on some sort of weird aburi obsession because I even considered eating aburi for breakfast too! So yes, I did come back for an aburi visit shortly after this dinner.
The thing I like most about this rooftop patio space is how its on a slightly lower elevation compared to its neighbours. Meaning that you can still enjoy your food with a nice breeze but having no directly sunlight pour heat on you whilst you eat. Given that its a rooftop patio, there’s a more casual vibe to this area of the bistro. The rooftop follows a similar pattern to the other Kinka restaurants with its exposed wood theme.
Cava Sparkling
Sashimi Sampler
- Blow torched Wagyu Japanese Beef
- Tai seabream from Japan
- Medium fatty Tuna belly chutoro from Nova Scotia
- Ocean Trout from Australia
Appetizer Platter
- Tai Seabream Kama (Fish Collar) with gold flake
- Ebi nanban with house made tartar sauce
- Ika Calamari with Rosazu Vinegar
- Lobster broth miso soup with seven spiced and scallion
Sushi (3 Nigiri, 4 Aburi)
- Ebi (tiger shrimp) with house basil sauce
- Saba (Mackeral) with scallion and daikon raddish
- Ebi (Tiger Shrimp) with house basil sauce
- Kanpachi Amber Jack
- Chutoro
- Lobster with Ikura ontop
- JaBistro Roll – salmon, snow crab, uni, cucumber, tobiko
Dessert
- Matcha Moussecake layered with chocolate spongecake and chocolate crunch with vanilla ice cream on the side
Our meal ended with a lovely matcha mousse cake that was subtle and not too sweet (just the way I like it!) All in all, it was a solid meal. I slowly savoured every bite of the aburi pieces & jabistro roll. I love how the blowtorch brings out that delicious fattiness in the fish. I actually came back during lunch service a few days later just for the ebi aburi & jabistro roll. My highlights from the sashimi platter included the blowtorched wagyu Japanese beef & the ocean trout. The silkiness, clean flavours and melt-in-the-mouth texture of the sashimi truly highlighted the quality. Last but not least, the Tai Seabream kama (fish collar) left me in aw when it was brought to our table. To be honest, I’ve never completely finished a fish head before but I certainly did this time. From my picture of the fish collar above, I didn’t realize how much fish meat there was in the head. We enjoyed every bite of the fish collar minus the eye balls. I’m not sure how I feel about eating eye balls (yet).
Although JaBistro is on the higher spectrum of price point, it goes without saying ” you pay for what you get”. It’s not exactly in my everyday price range but I’d leave it for a special occasion. I am actually itching to go back to get my Aburi fix & JaBistroll Roll =) P.S. special thanks to Stella for having us!
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This meal was complimentary but Foodinthecitytoronto.com remains unbiased in our content.