Edo Japan: 4.5 / 5
Canoe: 4 / 5
Are you tired of living the life of a poor student, unable to afford the pleasure of fine dining? Well, have we got a treat for you! Winterlicious is a two-week culinary showcase during which many of Toronto’s top restaurants offer prix fixe menus. What does that mean to the average student? You can find a really good deal on some amazing food.
Our first adventure was an event entitled Far Beyond Sushi, hosted by Edo Japan (484 Eglinton Ave W). This experience was especially exciting, as we took in the restaurant’s beautiful adornments and settled in to learn everything we wanted to know about Japanese cooking.
The main message was that those of us who only thought of Japanese cuisine as “sushi” need not make that mistake any longer. Sushi is a staple of Japanese food (like pizza to Italians), but their haute cuisine comes in many other forms. Our dining experience included five courses and three types of sake. To start, we had a choice of Onsen Tamago Tori Oyaka Salada (shredded chicken and steamed egg salad with sesame sauce) or Edamame Japa-Imo (cream miso-shiru). The cream soup was a flavourful twist on the traditional miso, and the salad burst with refreshing flavour, except for the rather bland steamed egg.
The sushi course followed, with a small sample of a few delightful pieces. It may interest you to know that sushi is meant to be eaten in one bite, with your fingers, and melt in the mouth. We learned that ginger is a palate cleanser, and sake should not accompany sushi as they are both made from rice, making their tastes clash.
The main courses were Shake Ho-Iru Tsutsumi Yaki (foil-wrapped roasted salmon) and Tori Wagyu Tsumemono (kobe beef and mozzarella stuffed chicken). The salmon, dipped in a special ponzu (vinegar) sauce with green onions, was exquisite, and the succulent kobe beef inside exceptionally tender chicken breast was matched only by the decadent sauce drizzled on top.
For dessert, we tried the Choco Ichigo (Belgian dark chocolate mousse) and the Matcha Azuki (green tea cake roll). Both were good, but we preferred the mousse. Our strongest impression of the evening was of the pride taken by the pleasant restaurant staff in the beautiful presentation of each course, a signature aspect of Japanese cuisine.
Our second Winterlicious excursion was to Canoe, a restaurant located atop the TD Bank Tower at Bay and Wellington. Given the prime location and poised professionalism of the staff, Canoe is an ideal hotspot for the downtown business crowd. As students, we stood out a little, but we were welcomed by friendly, relaxed servers sporting genuine smiles. The shrimp paté was a heavy but fresh appetizer highlighted with sweet beets, but there was nothing extraordinary about the alternative, standard mixed vegetables with cheese dressing.
The mains included a broiled salmon, cooked perfectly and with enough flavour of its own that a horseradish crust pushed the taste too far. The pork tenderloin was succulent and tender, with the true genius being the choice of red wine cabbage as a pairing, because the tartness of the cabbage contrasted with the sweet pork. Dessert was a choice of chocolate steamed pudding or pear and hazelnut tart. There was no competition-the pudding won hands-down.
After anticipating the Canoe experience for two years, our verdict surprised us. The food was excellent, but ordinary. We preferred Edo because it intrigued us with every course and in general created a remarkable dining experience.
If you feel like sampling a cuisine you might not have tasted before, try Edo. If you want a stunning view and the best quality “normal food” out there, try Canoe. Whichever restaurant you prefer, we highly recommend taking advantage of Winterlicious next year.
