Honestly everything slaps. Meals are a bit small, but pricing is fair. Fried cheese, eel, pork belly, and the star of the show is the udon. Soju specials right now for $15. Come here, and drink and eat delicious food. Charles stamp. Make sure you don't drive :) read more

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3.5/5, +.5 for service Pretty good izakaya place, I'd say it's a bit more low key compared to the likes of Kinka and Nome further south on Yonge. The menu options definitely aren't as diverse compared to other izakaya places I've been to in the city, but that could be a good thing as the quality of a smaller menu could be higher. I had the tako wasabi, shrimp cream croquette, buta, and a grilled butter squid. The buta and the grilled butter squid in particular were excellent. The tako wasabi was good, though not spectacular. The shrimp cream croquette was average, though I understand it's a new item so they're trying to work the kinks on that. I noticed many folks order udon soups here. I know Mikaku has an udon bar as well, but my mom isn't an udon person so we skipped on that. Service was excellent here. Seeing how the OG Kenzo location being converted to this made me quite happy. I'd happily add this to my list of izakaya places I'd recommend. read more

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Ordered takeout as the wait time would've been 2+ hours (Christmas Day). Despite an hour car ride back home the food was still delicious. Surprisingly the garden salad was so good we wished we got more. Tako Wasabi and Spicy Cream Udon are also must try's! read more

A small izakaya located north of Yonge-Steels. It has a tatami, booth, and bar area - limited seating but functional. Food was pretty good, large quantity too. Beef Tartare and Pork Belly (Buta) were recommended. Fish Cake Soup was so-so, I'm not a fish/rice cake person so it's not my type. There are chillies in the soup which added some spicy kicks to it. The service was really nice. They accommodated our request of switching from the bar to the booth. Nice staff but there were only two of them at shift so seemed busy. Food (quality, presentation) - 4/5 Drinks (quality, variety) - NA/5 Ambience (interior, cleanness) - 4/5 Service - 5/5 Value - 5/5 read more

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3.75/5 Was pretty excited seeing that the overall rating was 4.5/5, had high hopes. Decided to come here since Nome Izakaya was closed today. The restaurant was pretty empty around 7 pm, but quickly filled up after I was seated. The waitress was very nice and there was no problem with the service. We ended up getting the spicy creamy udon, the buta (sliced pork belly seared), beef tartare bowl on rice and chicken karaage. The udon was flavourful and creamy as promised. You could see the base layers, starting by frying off pork belly (similar to bacon) and then layering that with vegetables, whole garlic gloves and then cream. I tasted a little bit too much umami, so I think that they do add a little MSG but there's nothing wrong with that. Only thing I would say is that the whole cloves of garlic were a little unpleasant and would do better with sliced garlic to perfume the dish instead. The beef tartare rice dish unfortunately was pretty unsatisfactory. I was expecting literally just beef tartare and an egg and a little sauce to make the dish more coherent. However, all I got was a heaping mound of box salad and gochuchang. All I could taste was gochuchang. If I closed my eyes and had I not see that there was beef there prior I would only be able to taste a leafy texture, and gochuchang only. I think that a little less gochuchang would go a long way. The chicken karaage had a nice texture and you taste the aromatics in the marinade. The only downside was that half the plate was filled with salad. It is understandable for plating decoration and to have less karaage to place on the plate as well. But if you look at one of my pictures, I'm able to make a full plate of salad from the salad from the buta and the karaage alone. The buta was the most disappointing dish of all. It came out when we had already finished everything. I was hoping they had forgotten my order but it came out so I decided to eat it anyways. The dish itself is too charry. This is due to incomplete combustion of the gas because they are holding the torch too close to the item being torched. The perfume of char was nauseating and was almost too hard to swallow. Even after finishing the buta, the smell of char still lingered on the plate. Overall, it was a decent experience but could use some tweaking here and there. read more

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This small izakaya restaurant is the sister restaurant to @mikaku_udon_bar. They are more of a bar style spot with an Asian fusion sakebar. Their menu is quite large with lots of shareable starters, deep fry, soups and mains. We ordered: 1. Fried Cheese This had an assortment of cheese - Gouda, Brie and Camembert - deep fried and paired with a berry sauce. We enjoyed the crispness from the fry and cheese paired well with the sweet flavouring. 2. Taco wasabi Typical dish. This can never go wrong and is our go to item for Izakaya. 3. Beef Tartare One of the popular dishes, this was served with a house sauce and a side of greens. We found this super flavourful and enjoyed the greens as a refresher. 4. Buta A grilled pork belly dish that was paired with a house sauce and greens. We found the flavourings similar to the beef tartare sauce, but enjoyed it. 5. Spicy Cream Udon This was our favourite dish of the night. Not our first time trying it, but a must have. We enjoyed the creamy flavour and hint of spice. Overall, this spot is great for drinks and food. We enjoyed most of our dishes and would come back again. read more

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This is such a hidden gem. If it wasn't for the reviews I would have never discovered this tiny snuck up izakaya restaurant in north York. I ordered the udon, beef tataki rice bowl, kaarage, grilled butter squid and pork belly! Let me say that all these dishes are GOOD! I especially loved the pork belly dish and this was recommended by the server as one of her faves. I enjoyed eating here and definitely the customer service, everyone was super friendly and nice. read more

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Service was great! They gave an explanation and tips on how to eat every dish. Nice interior and amazing food! Grilled pork belly (buta): marinated well, loved the flavour and the crunchy bits on top. Best way to eat it is taking a slice of pork belly and topping it with lettuce of pickled cucumber. Their tip was to make sure each slice was well coated with sauce before eating. Cream cheese rice cake: this was AMAZING, definitely my favourite dish of night. I'm not sure what flavours I expected but it exceeded my expectations 10x. Doesn't taste like cream cheese, more like a cream based french onion sauce. Comes with lots of sweet onions, shrimp and mussels. It comes in a big "bread" bowl, but it was more of a thin pastry shell. Their tip was to rip the bread, dip it in the sauce, and eat with the rice cakes. I would go back here just for this dish tbh and have craved it multiple times in the last few months Spicy chicken (+ extra cheese for $2): this dish is way too spicy for me it was on a hot plate too, and the heat amplified the spiciness. My fault for not taking the descriptor "blazing" seriously it was so spicy that I was coughing, nose running, was sweating.. not a good look during pandemic Also I've never had acid reflux before but I had 2 episodes of it that day due to this dish Very filling but I'd recommend to get the other dishes instead!!! Beef tongue: It's sliced very thin and has a bit of a chew to it. Sauce has a slightly sweet kick. I can't remember well but I think they said most places torch the beef tongue but they BBQ it instead? Overall really great experience! Definitely want to come back. read more

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Stumbled upon this izakaya spot when looking for a place to go to for food and drinks after work with coworkers. Izakayas are always a fun time so we decided to check out this spot and the atmosphere was so lively and service was great! Our server recommended some dishes to share and we were impressed with how good the food was. Ended up getting chicken karaage, takoyaki, spicy creamy udon, buta, and maze udon. Our favourite dish would have to be the spicy cream udon for sure, the creamy sauce was so good we had to order a second! Topped off with some beer and soju and friendly service, this izakaya spot is definitely worth a try! read more

Mikaku Izakaya - Chicken karaage/ takoyaki - Japanese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

It's a Surprise!!! I didn't have any expectation when coming to this restaurant. I came at about 9-ish pm or kind of close to 10 pm with three others. My party was seated in the outside because it was full inside of the restaurant. There were patio heaters at the patio and it functioned effectively. I could stay warm throughout my 2-hour stay. We ordered karage, beef tartare, squid, buta (pork belly), pork cutlet and beef brisket. All of these dishes were extraordinarily delicious!! I would like to highlight the karage dish. Other than the deep fried chicken pieces, there were salads and two spoonful of mashed reddish on the side. Usually I would not pay attention to the sides but yuzu juice was added to the mashed reddish to bring out the refreshing flavour. It was so good that I repeated this order. The second one I would recommend would be the beef tartare. It was fresh and so smooth to mix it with the quail's egg on the side. Every single dish I ordered has not disappointed me. Need to come back again!!! read more

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Amazing customer service & delicious food!! The outside patio was warm even during this Fall season. Highly recommend making a reservation as this place is super busy during the weekends. read more

Mikaku Izakaya - Beef tartare & cream cheese rice cakes - Japanese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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3.5 Stars The ambience is great for group of friend drinking and eating. The choice of music is great and I enjoyed all the Kpop they played. The service is very friendly. There are only two staff on the floor yet attentive. It took awhile for the food to be served. Mikaku has a wide selection of Sake and a few choices of beer. Food menu is limited yet has a good selection of meat and udon to enjoy with sake. We ordered chicken cartilage Karaage. Chicken knee soft bone is crunchy and nicely deep fried. The sauce is sweet and has little spice. Grilled butter squid is very delicious with the sauce. Buta the thin sliced grilled pork belly served with the smoky sauce which is nice done. Spicy Creamy udon is very cheesy and creamy. We asked for no spicy. You can order extra bread to finish the sauce. The seafood they used was frozen seafood though. Nagasaki udon is a spicy broth udon. It was okay. The broth is very flavourful yet the seafood again is just okay. I would come again with friends to drink and eat. read more

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Pleasantly surprised! This Izakaya specializes in sake, so they have a wide selection. We tried the seasonal yuzu sake and it was incredible! Really bright and yuzu forward, very tasty!! Beef tartare - this didn't look like much, but it packed a ton of asian flavour and I would definitely order this again Pork belly - this dish was also good, but I felt it the sauce was lacking - I wanted more of it! Yuzu fried chicken - rated as a favourite on their menu, however, it was missing salt! The yuzu bits that you put on top were great but missing in the salty and savoury notes, very underseasoned! They were nicely fried though. Spicy creamy udon - just the right amount of spiciness to balance with the creaminess, this dish was really good! Lots of seafood and a bit of bacon, noodle texture was chewy and perfect. Would order this again! Good service and cute interior, they have booths and walls decorated with empty sake bottles. read more

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Place is good, environment is good, small store but they have patio with heater, very warm. Lots of parking spots. We arrived at 7 on a Thursday and it's full. No reservation so you might need to go early or else you'll have to sit at the patio. Very warm no a problem for us. Mackerel is good, very nice cut with ginger on top, I like this dish. Their udon is also very delicious, chewy type. Sometimes they like to add chilli in the dish so please mention to the waiter if you can't eat spicy food. We ordered 2 non spicy udon (no chilli symbol on the menu) and they're mild. Portion is izakaya portion, not too big. Two people might need to order 4-5 dishes and drinks if you like. Service was good. The waiter was very busy walking in and out with food and when we asked about the last dish we ordered, he quickly apologized and cleaned up our table and take out the dish for us. Slightly pricy but it's the general izakaya price. They don't have in house sake. Warm sake was too hot that disrupt the flavour of the sake (my friend is a pro so he told me that) Very thirsty after dinner, keep drinking water but still thirsty when I get home. Overall this is a good place for small party to chill and catch up. Prepare your wallet though :) read more

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Located a bit further away from the bustling scene at Yonge/Finch, Mikaku is a great Izakaya to visit! Great ambience, food and service! I would literally come here just for the spicy seafood cream udon! Tons of flavour that accompanies the nice bouncy udon noodles. You have some slices of baguette to soak up the sauce when you are done. Also ordered the pork belly which is salty and smokey. Staff are super sweet and accommodating. The restaturant space is really small so you might have to wait during peak times for a table. read more

Mikaku Izakaya - Grilled Pork Belly + Sapporo - Japanese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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I was blown away by the seafood cream udon here at Mikaku. Even though I had it months ago, I'm still reminded of the taste from time to time. I was going to write a review but forgot the name of this place. Earlier today, I craved it again, so here am I, minutes after googling 'toronto izakaya seafood cream udon'. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the place or the food, but I do remember it as a tasteful, dimly lit izakaya with an extensive collection of sake and shochu. They also have rare flavoured Sojus like pineapple. Menu items are priced higher than your average izakaya, but then this place had a fancier vibe with crowds consisting of local Koreans, atmosphere almost like one of those bars that are invitation only. Now to the seafood cream udon...oh so good. The server said it wasn't very spicy, and she was right - it's the perfect kick of spice. It came with two slices of baguette to soak in the sauce - which we gobbled up very quickly. Surprisingly they put generous and fresh seafood in (mussels, shrimp from what I remember). And not the frozen ones usually found in seafood udon dishes in other places, but real, big juicy shrimps, and mussels still on the shell. Udon itself completely absorbed in the flavours, and wow as I'm writing, my mouth is watering and I think I might drop by tomorrow to grab some (edit: ok i just checked their site and its temporarily closed :/). As someone with no visual imagination, food cravings are extremely rare, so if my tastebuds are calling for it, I know it's a keeper. read more

Korean | Japanese fusion | LLBO | Opens late | Limited seating Came on Boxing Day evening (Dec 26) and they were opened. Service Lovely hostesses/ servers. They were energetic, welcoming and hospitable. They and the environment gave me a 'good vibes' feel. They greeted me promptly and made suggestions as it was my first time visiting. They always answered with a smile. Food Yuzu Chicken Karage Fresh and hot karage paired with grated yuzu flavoured seemingly radish. Accompanied with some veggies. Should try! Beef tartare Similar to yukhwe but instead of real pear they use pear juice. Just as delicious and fresh. Spicy creamy udon The sauce is to die for! But once you have a few more bites it does get spicy. Not a whole lot of ingredients inside but definitely a heart and stomach warmer. New Brunswick "Sex on the bey" oysters Not bad, minimum 6 per order. Small and flavourful. Comes with Korean sauce or cocktail sauce. Environment Fun, live, positive and young. Clean and chill. Overall, I'd definitely come back and visit again! read more

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Love their creamy udon and takowasabi here! Paired with some sake and it's perfect! Their heated patio is also nice and warm, perfect for a cool night read more

Mikaku Izakaya - Japanese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Food is great and I like the their vibe. Very chill. We sat at the bar the server was attentive and caring. It's a small Izakaya so might need to join the wait list! read more

Mikaku Izakaya - Pork belly - Japanese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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I personally liked most of the food while my guest thought everything was "alright". We both thought the service could be better. Pros: - Spicy seafood cream sauce udon was delish! Definitely a very heavy and guilty pleasure item. Price and quantity are good for the portion too. This is a dish I would get over and over again. - Ebi Shrimp had a nice sauce (this dish was recommended to me by another foodie friend) - Bread bowl in the cream cheese rice cake dish was surprisingly really thin (and thus crispy)! - Best maze noodle dish I've had in Toronto so far (not the best ever but still tasty) - Many unique and refreshing drink options Cons: - We were not a fan of the service, they quickly took away things before we were done eating and did not ask us.This happened several times. For example, I was packing away the leftovers and the server took away one dish that still had a lot of food in it. I was going to pack it but was packing another item at the time. They also took away the pickled veg side dishes before we got to eat it. We didnt eat it because we didn't have utensils yet. - Shrimp in Ebi Mayo (Deep Fried Shrimp) was not deveined (I find this very off-putting), very overcooked, thick batter, expensive ($13 or $14 + tax for 5 shrimp) - Food is not next day or reheat for later friendly. Maybe half a cup of oil came out of my reheated leftovers for the cream cheese rice cake dish , which I poured out. The maze noodle also has a raw egg in the sauce which I did not want to take home. read more

This was a very busy place, which is always a good sign. Tried this place late at night and we were pleasantly surprised. There used to be an Izakaya along Hwy7 that serves the same kind of food, unfortunately it closed down. So I was glad to discover Mikaku. Lots of Japanese Sake options, though there is no House sake. Service wasn't the greatest as the food and drinks took awhile- they were probably understaffed, but the good food made up for it. I can't wait to go back read more

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Ichi, ni, san... Gārikku (garlic), Batā (butter), Chīzu (cheese)... those are the three primary taste and ingredients central to pretty much all dishes at this Korean operated Japanese Korean fusion izakaya. Mikaku means taste in Japanese and unfortunately at Mikaku you will realize that's all that you will taste. If you are coming for drinks (I guess it's ok since drinking is the main purpose of an izakaya) I suppose the grease and the one dimensional taste is adequate. But if you are here to solely enjoy your food, I'm afraid that you will come away at least somewhat disappointed. The beef tartar was cut into very narrow strips. Texture felt a bit like as if it had been purposely frozen before. Taste wise was very dominant in sesame oil flavour which I was not a fan of. A quail egg had been provided but I think it may be a good idea to provide a much bigger egg to give the tartar a much smoother and fuller texture. Butter grilled squid was very heavy on butter. The sweet bbq sauce was alright but the garlicky mayo dip that accompanied it didn't particular complement the appetizer well. The seafood cream cheese rice cake was very appetizing at first. But as you continued to work on it the less you wanted it. Again the primary tastes were butter, cheese and garlic. The stir fried cabbage was slightly burnt so tiny part of the burnt flavour did manage to carry over to the sauce which made it less pleasant aside from the heaviness. Mushroom can also be found but the flavours cannot be found in the dish at all. I would say it's ok but they desperately need to find a way to maintain the creaminess of the dish while managing the weighing down factor. I do have to compliment them however for using pretty fresh mussels. The pork belly was over torched and quite burnt in some quarters. Burnt and blow torch gun is all you can taste here. Eating it with the accompanied salad would definitely be optimal. The deep fried chicken wing was nothing special. The slightly sour and sweet bbq sauce again did not complement the wings all that well. The vibe of the izakaya was also quite weird. In between some typical pop English songs, and Korean songs, they squeezed in some kids songs. And at some point a rendition of 'If you are happy and you know..." started blaring over the speakers. At an izakaya, really? If you need a place to drink and have greasy food to line your stomach before that, I guess Mikaku is ok. My wife liked it the last time she was there and that's why she brought me. Maybe I went on an off day? read more

They don't take any reservations, so we were a little worried that we wouldn't be able to get a table. The restaurant is pretty small, but thankfully they have a heated patio in the front as well. The food and service was great! The waitresses would explain all the different items on the menu. We tried the: 1) Spicy Cream Udon - little spicy, but so creamy and so good 2) Shimesaba - the grilled mackerel was NOT dry AT ALL & very surprisingly good. I was imagining a whole mackerel where you have to pick at it and pick out the bones, but it was just the filet ?? which made it easy to eat and share. 3) Pork Belly - good as well Lastly, they all came with a little bit of salad that was also very tasty! Overall, great dishes and I would come again! read more

We checked this place out and dine outside their small patio. The servers were friendly and will mention some description of each dish that were brought out. We ordered the following: Apps: Takoyaki ($10.99)- 6-8 pieces with bonito flakes and mayo. Having had great takoyaki in Japan, and quite a few in Toronto, Markham, Scarborough area, i'd say this was okay. Beef Tartare ($16.99)- Its definitely not your usual tartare style. This had more of an appearance of minced meat that you see in the supermarket...Its sashimi like rawness and may put off some people...It comes with a side of spring mix salad and fried onions along with one small quail egg for you to put on top and mix it up... Texture wise it was not a dish i'd be highly in favour of. Deep Fried Kaarage Chicken ($11.99)- Server warned us that these apps are bite size portions and may disappoint some people b/c of the price tag...You get about 6 cut up pieces about the size of popcorn chicken from KFC...Some were a bit bigger, and some were about that size. Its complimented with a wasabi mayo like sauce. A lot of Japanese, tapa style izakaya serves kaarage and this place doesn't exactly measure up in taste, texture, and portion unfortunately. Mains: Buta ($14.99)- Grilled pork belly pieces with their marinade sauce served with spring mix salad and fried onions...This was one of their better dishes... Grilled Butter Squid (Large-$14.99)- Didn't really have that grill flavouring on the squid. Had a watery sashimi like texture...Again, this one was alright, but can take a pass on it. Spicy Cream Seafood Udon ($18.99)- This dish may be their staple b/c I see it ordered by the tables around us...This is likely their star dish out of all...Ironically, server mentioned when we inquired about recommendations that all the items that has a 'star' on it is popular and highly recommended...Comes in cream sauce with udon noodles and a few mussels, shrimp, calamari ring and cabbage possibly... Overall Service is 3.75/5 Food Overall is 3/5 $$$ Value 2.5/5 (note this is izakaya style) There are lots of food options elsewhere to spend your $$$...For us, its a nice try, on to the next... read more

Came here on a Friday night for a 5:30 pm reso. They initially told us they had another reso coming at 7 or 7:30, so time was tight, but we were actually looking for a quick outing after work since most of us had other plans later. We were the first group to arrive when they opened. Other parties slowly started to trickle in and fill up the Izakaya. Food: Chicken karaage $11.99 - Didn't get to try this or take a picture, but it's because everyone ate it up so quickly. I'm sure it was sooo tasty since I didn't even get a piece! Oysters - Got the winter special; sex on the bay, New Brunswick, 6 pieces, $12.00. Flavour was nice and light. The oysters were shucked very clean, no grit or broken pieces. We didn't order too many since they only had two sauces and thin lemon slices (no horseradish either). If they had more condiments, I probably would have went on an oyster binge. Salmon tataki $15.99 - This was very yummy! Thinly cut, fresh tataki! Surprisingly my third fave dish of the night. Buda (grilled pork belly) $14.99 - Second favorite dish. I felt like this was seasoned just right. The pork was grilled to perfection and the fat rendered down so nicely. Delicious. Grilled butter squid $14.99 - Holy, buttery goodness. If the price point wasn't so high, I probably would have made a second order for this. Heck, I might order two the next time I come anyway. So tender, easy to chew, squid goodness. Don katsu $13.99 - Good, but forgettable for me. The pork was juicy, the curry wasn't anything special. Nice option to have on the menu for ppl in the group who don't eat seafood. Fried chicken cartilage $9.99 - I always like to order this whenever I see it on the menu. It was good enough where I would order it again. Came with a side of mayo, but it didn't necessarily need it. Shime Saba $15.99 - mackerel sashimi. I don't eat mackerel, but my friends really like this dish! Cuts were very uniform. Lasting impressions: I liked that there was free parking right in front of the shop. Especially since I'm used to paying for parking when I visit other izakayas just south of here. I did feel like the prices of the dishes were more expensive for what I was getting, but since there's free parking for everyone and they have limited seating, I get why they're charging the higher prices. The decor was also nice. Restaurant and bathrooms were really clean. Service was better than average. They were always ready to ask us if we needed to order, needed another pitcher, if everything was okay. They even recommended some dishes, we didn't bite since we knew what we wanted and felt right on time at first. If they wanted to put service over the top, they might want to consider giving new dishes mid service. They also told us we could stay longer since the people with the reservation after us cancelled. However, we already rushed through eating and drinking. I wonder if they do have a seating time limit. Recommendations for the restaurant to push them to five stars: - Add happy hour deals for food and alcohol. - Add more grilled dishes as I felt they did this so well. - Since the price point is a touch higher than usual, it would be nice if they had a couple more free food items and toiletries in the washroom (mouthwash, q tips, etc). Overall, I will be back for the stand out dishes. read more

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Really enjoyed the food here. The two dishes we ordered were recommended by the waitress because of their popularity. And she was totally right! They both had great flavours, were pretty good quality, and the portions are pretty decent. The shimesaba was fresh and marinated in vinegar and contrasted the rich grilled butter squid well. It was really easy to keep eating the mackerel because the way it was marinated made it taste much less fatty than plain mackerel. The beer tasted really fresh too, if that makes sense... But they also have a long and interesting sake list that we'll have to explore next time. We came here for a snack and a beer and thoroughly enjoyed our experience. Super friendly service from everyone we encountered! We'll definitely be back...just wish the booth had a tiny bit more light! read more

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There is a lot of different type of sakes. Premium and non premium. Even better than some downtown locations. The pork belly was pretty good and the shrimp was relatively tasty. The spicy seafood soup was not bad. But overall I do find the drinks better than the food and a wonderful place if you are into sake. I love sake so this place was a good find for me near home! read more

This place is sooo good! And the owner is the sweetest lady! We went with a huge group (about 12 of us) and everything we got on the menu was delicious - you can't go wrong! The pork belly dish was good, but the standouts you should definitely try are: - Shimesaba (grilled mackerel with wasabi and ginger) - I am NOT normally a mackerel fan (way too fishy), but this was SO WELL DONE! Very impressed! - Spicy cream udon (you need to share this though - it's pretty heavy 'cause the cream, udon, and seafood but it's so worth it!) They don't cheap out on the seafood either! - Cream cheese rice cake - very unique! They serve this in like a wonton wrapper bowl so you can break it and dip it in the sauce. Again, they don't cheap out on the seafood! So good! They have a sparkling mio sake that is also DELICIOUS ! Yumm I wanna go back just thinking about it! read more

Never heard of this place until a friend recommended it and we decided to give this place a try. We couldn't choose so we asked the server for a recommendation and she recommended the spicy cream udon or the cream rice cake, we ended up getting the spicy cream udon since I don't really like rice cakes. It was really good, you should eat this before it gets cold because then it doesn't taste as good and the cream seems heavier. The shrimp in the udon was over cooked, did not taste fresh. But the dish was really good and not very spicy. Just a hint of spice which was nice. I must say the chicken karaage and takoyaki balls were really good, it must have been the sauce a combination or soy sauce and sesame and mayo? I just know that it was bomb! I noticed that it was a great place for drinking Japanese sake / alcohol as there was so much variety. We did not opt for this as we were both driving. Overall: 8/10 would recommend. read more

Mikaku Izakaya - Spicy cream udon - Japanese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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We had a seat at the bar because all the other seats were full but we like sitting at the bar anyways. There were a lot of typos on their menu but that's okay I'm just glad the products I order were not "out of stuck" :) I found the karaage to be a little tough but the yuzu was a nice touch. I think that having the yuzu flavour incorporated into the batter is better but it complimented the chicken nicely regardless. The scallop skirt had a nice flavour and was chewy, good to drink with beer. I found all the sakes to be expensive there wasn't a great "cheaper" option for sake/soju so we just ordered sapporo, which was 9$ each pint. We also got tako wasabi which was done well. The service here was really really good and from the moment we sat down she gave us a full rundown of menu and specials, we appreciated that! They were super pleasant the entire time and we were eyeing a few udon dishes that came out but we had already ate dinner before coming here. Next time I want to try the seafood pastas! read more

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The vibe here is amazing & so is the food. FOOD: Deep Fried Chicken Cartilage The cartilage was great with the sauce, however portions are small. Beef Tongue The tongue is quite chewy and tough but very juicy. Spicy Cream Udon This dish is absolutely a game changer. Its so good and creamy. You must try this if you're into a creamy and hearty dish. Fish Cake Soup This is one of the most flavourful broths we've ever had. Portions are generous as they give huge pieces of fish cake. This restaurant is definitely a hidden gem!! read more

Amazing food. Sadly took an hour for food to come and 30 minutes for beers to arrive. We sat beside the kitchen and saw all the dirty plates and bowls thrown on the ground. Not sanitary!! read more

Really enjoyed the udon here! Wish I took a photo here to share. Definitely would come back. Everything tasted good. read more

Mikaku Izakaya - Soju - Japanese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Wouldn't come back here again even if it was empty.. my wife and I just came back from Japan and we were craving izakaya. Unfortunately, the guy that works there was really unfriendly. The waitress was nice though. We were meeting family there, and called ahead to book a table - no reservations, couldn't give an estimate on wait time, which is fine. We got there and parked a 7 minute walk away. There were two tables of 2 and one table of 5 in front of our party. Restaurants seats maybe 30. After standing there for a few minutes, the male staff member told us to leave because we weren't allowed to stand at the entrance. He said it would be "a verrry long wait. Over an hour". We ended up going across the street to eat, and never got a call. It was 7:30PM when we got there. Super snobby imo. read more

Came in for a quick drink and stayed much longer than we expected. The setting was just right to tuck into some drinks (check out their exclusive Saké menu) with good company. Beef tartare was really silky and the flavour wasn't muddled like other Asian-style tartare we've tried. Service was great and considerate! read more

Mikaku Izakaya - Japanese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I love this place. Servers are friendly and attentive. We ordered the grilled butter squid, Buta (grilled pork belly) and mikaku uni beef tartare... sooooo good! Food is good but i find the serving really small for the price you're paying. read more

Mikaku Izakaya - Japanese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Went on a weekday in the early evening before the place got busy. Ordered 3 items to share between 2 people: grilled buttered squid, pork belly and a small udon. All items were delicious and done well. We got seats in one of the right side booths and that was comfortable. However I do think they should consider adding a couple of hooks on the wall inside the booth so people can hang up a bag or even coats so there's more space in the actual seats. Service was quick, attentive and really friendly. read more

Purely based on service and a sample of food It's a small..cozy place if you wanna take a conversation with your friends....seats fewer than 30 and that's including 6 bar seats Owner by the bar is really nice who gave me and my friend something to eat and was willing to offer more if we stayed (we just chilled for a bottle of sake ) Would return read more

Surprised to see this business not claimed on Yelp or on Foursquare yet. Came here with friends on a Saturday evening at around 7:00 PM. It was relatively empty, but it got busier as the evening progressed. I don't visit izakayas often - mostly because their menus can sometimes be intimidating for someone who isn't very familiar with sakes or Japanese food (that isn't sushi), so when we reached out to the waitress for menu recommendations, I was really pleased to hear how knowledgeable she was with the menu. She had recommendations for both food and sake brands. For sake specifically, she was able to describe each bottle's texture, flavour, and taste. Really impressive! I don't recall which sake we ended up going, but we did end up ordering a few food items: Takoyaki, cheesy rice cakes bread, and fried squid. All three tasted beyond our expectations. Takoyaki tasted super authentic and was topped with lots of bonito flakes. Most restaurants cheap out on the bonito flakes! The cheesy rice cakes bread was a recommendation from the waitress. It's a fusion dish of some sort, blending rice cakes with cheese, served it a bread bowl. Absolutely delicious, and probably my favourite of the three. I highly recommend it. The third dish was the fried squid, which was sliced so thinly, everybody at the table was able to get a serving to taste. The sauce they gave you is a perfect match with the squid too. The standout moment of the evening though happened about two-thirds into our stay there. (We stayed roughly between 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM. As mentioned, the restaurant was not busy.) We sat in a booth at the restaurant, and one of our friends sat closest to the wall. At one point during the evening, a dark black liquid dripped from the ceiling and fell onto his shirt. Of course, we were all worried about his shirt because it could be anything (e.g. grease, oil, etc). We waved the waitress over, and she rushed over to help him. This same waitress with the recommendations earlier ended up escorting him to the basement-floor washrooms to try and wipe it off. When they returned, she apologized profusely for the incident, saying that it was their first summer season since opening and it was the first time this had happened. (The drop of black liquid did end up getting cleaned up from his shirt.) She was super apologetic! 20 to 30 minutes passed by and we hadn't given this incident much other thought. To our surprise, this waitress came around again with a free dish and a free bottle of sake as a gesture of apology. That's at least about $50 worth of freebies! Excellent, excellent service. I ended up leaving earlier, but from my experience at this restaurant, they should be far more popular than what Yelp is suggesting at the moment. Hopefully with this review, they'll get more business. read more

Hated this place. The waiting between each order is unbelievable. I would get hungry in between each order. I think it took me like 2hours to get all my 5 orders. Ridiculous. Won't be visiting this place at all. Food wasn't that great either. It's simple snack food for drinking and yet they can't really get that on time? Portions are so small too! So what's the reason for the holdup? I would never know. The picture on the yelp compare to the real size portions are not true. It's way small. Way way way. read more