BOTTOM LINE: Still, such a hidden gem in town! Sakai Bar's been around for a while so I don't if it's all that hidden per se, but it's definitely still a gem of a place in a recent spate of what seems like paint-by-numbers-aesthetics in the food scene. No resos available, and with seating for maybe, I reckon, 20 customers, it's best to come right when they open or when you think the "next seating" might start. The staff are friendly and definitely knowledgeable about their sake, and I've noticed some staff consistency, which is a good sign. And sake is where it's at - with their wide and changing selection that you won't find in the LCBO, I've tried some special bottles that have quickly made it onto my favourites list. The menu is straight up elevated comfort food and changes from time to time. The GRILLED BEEF TONGUE is essentially a must order, and it's been a fixture of their menu for a while. I was a fan of the CABBAGE SALAD, WARM POTATO SALAD and - when available - anything with PORK BELLY. I'd also recommend leaving the CHAWANMUSHI as a finally pre-dessert palate cleanser. My only nit picking isn't so much that an automatic 18% service charge is added (that's a whole other discussion...), but that it's added on the post-tax pricing, which seems mathematically disingenuous at best. That said, as long as you know what's what, I wouldn't let that get in between you and a fantastic dining and drinking night out. read more

Food 5/5 Service 5/5 Vibe 5/5 Def my new favorite sake bar and Japanese food restaurant in Toronto! I fell in love with everything I had and i LOVE the VIBE I will def com back to the more different kinds of sake and their beef tongue is to DIE FOR! Also, they offer JIKON Sake, which was on my list for a long time, so lucky to finally tried it! read more

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This resto bar has such a great vibe, feels like you are transported to Japan. We were a party of 5 and ordered several apps and entrees on the menu, portions skew a little small but perfect for sharing. Definitely recommend! read more

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Sakai Bar was just shy of 5 stars for me. Small but intimate spot with a unique variety of Japanese sake. Great service, very attentive. FYI: debit card and cash preferred, 2% fee for credit card payments. The top dishes of the night were: the tonkatsu (order the side curry), beef tartare (combined with the pea shoots and mussels, every bite was heavenly), cabbage salad (I want to sip the last bit of the dressing) and the buckwheat cake for dessert (amazing). The miso soup was on the saltier side. I ordered our dishes shortly after being seated and I regret not asking about the specials (I over heard there's a pork belly dish that wasn't on the menu). Will return to Sakai Bar! read more

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I've been here a few times and have always enjoyed the food and intimate ambiance. Most recent visit was for the reserve-ahead hotpot on the outdoor patio, $50 a person. We were sat in the back patio. Very cute, small intimate space, we're thankful our small dog was allowed to join us! A hotpot setup was already awaiting us! They first began by serving the dashi broth - allowing it to heat up, while we decided on cocktails. Once heated, some beautiful cuts of beef were brought. Ample slices and very good! After, came the vegetable plate and noodles! It was quite filling and we didn't need to order anything additional. Aside from the dessert which doesn't look like much, but was a really delicious buckwheat cake. Not too sweet! Always enjoy my visits here and hope to come back to toronto again for another meal! read more

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Came here for dinner with a friend on Friday night and we were seated right away. We ordered a lot of items to share and they were all very tasty - especially the oyster shomen, katsu sando, and the dessert! Very intimate space, reminds me of sake bars in Japan, would definitely come back to try other items on the menu! read more

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March 26, 2023 - so excited to go back here.. the server asked what we wanted to drink and I answered with 4 orders of dessert... lmao Well after having dinner at a restaurant close by, I asked my friends if we could go here and get dessert.. but I think it's kinda awkward to go to a restaurant and just order dessert when they don't specialize in just desserts. So we also ordered food. We ordered: 2 BBB cake 5/5 2 Parfaits 4/5 (preferred the seasonal one with persimmons) Sando with gravy $3.00 extra 5/5 The BBB cake was sweet but so yummy! Love it. The parfait was very good too but I didn't like the grapefruit as much (I hope I have the right fruit). This bar is small so you may have to wait a bit before getting a seat. It has nice ambiance and the server was great. read more

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Sakai bar has been on my list for forever. I love these hidden Japanese snack bars and glad we finally got to try it. This ones unique because of their extensive list of quality sake. So if you're a sake lover this is for you! We had: Rice with soy cured yolk: the soy cured yolk was tasty except it was just one small yolk for a whole bowl of rice, so I would recommend ordering multiple Steak tartare: this was my favorite item we ordered; even though it was a tad salty the flavors were on point and I liked how there was plenty of dill and served with nori (aka seaweed) instead of bread Udon: Full of umami flavors and noodles were deliciously chewy, but a touch salty again. I also wish there was more toppings than just a few mushrooms Sweet potato: this had nice flavors from sitting in a miso (?) sauce, except I found there were these hard pieces. Perhaps it was from the skin curling up and hardening during the cooking process. Minus the hard pieces I would have enjoyed it alot more Seabass: This was very light tasting yet almost too light (bland) Sticky toffee pudding: The sticky toffee was served warm with a caramel and lime (?) sauce. The portion was pretty big and there were crunchy bits which added texture. However I found the lime to be a bit too tarte for my liking. I went with a friend who was pescatarian and we realized the menu had quite a bit of meat on it. I wouldn't recommend for people with dietary restrictions. So I'd come back for any try of their other meatier options in the future and obviously their sake (which I didn't have this time) read more

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Cute little place on Dundas. I don't even drink sake but they seem really passionate about it. The food is amazing. Lots of small dishes that are tasty and creative. (Can kind of add up but worth it) One of the places that I need help with the menu and I like it. Definitely the kind of place you want to gate keep but they're too awesome read more

This is probably the best sake bar in the city, and it's all in the details. Stepping into Sakai is like stepping into one of those nice, low-key basement bars in Japan. The lighting, the decor, and the way the bar really does make you feel like you're in a place that's not quite Toronto. My partner and I wanted to try a couple flights, and he nicely asked us if we could start with three instead of all six. Why? Because the temperature of the sake influences the flavours and experience of it. That way we were able to experience each sake in its most optimal state. This is the only place I know of that's had Jikon, which is a renowned wondrous sake that is super hard to source here in Toronto. The Shuhari Yamada Nishiki from Kyoto and the Tengumai Jikomi Junmai Yamahai were the highlights of the night there. I would say that this is izakaya-style tapas. Japanese influenced (but not always necessarily Japanese food) food with local and imported ingredients. My favourites here were the Katsu Sando (best in the city that I've tried thus far and the Tsukemono, which goes absolutely great with sake. The duck was pretty nice too. We ordered some rice with a soy-sauce marinated yolk as well, but I do feel there could have been a little bit more soy-sauce flavour/colour in that yolk -- a small small misstep for an otherwise excellent experience. If you're into sake, you owe it to yourself to go here. This man is an expert and there are a lot of very esoteric sake that you'd be hard pressed to find normally. read more

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What a great find! Mr. H and I tried this place for date night and we ended up finding a gem of a place! We were keen on trying a Japanese place that did not only serve sushi and Sakai is just that. Run by a brother-sister duo, Stu and Tammi who bring to you the authentic Japanese izakaya feel. They have one of the best Sake menus in town and they are extremely knowledgeable about it as well. We learnt so much about the different types of Sake, we tried a floral one called Okanamatsu which was our favorite (slightly sweet and floral in taste) followed by a savory one called Tedorigawa which was equally good, we also tried the Dassai (ended it with a floral one) which too was very unique in taste. For food we tried the pickles (delicious!!!!) along with the Mackerel (the best Mackerel preparation I've ever had), Tonkatsu (fried pork sandwich... please get it with the gravy... it's the best gravy we've had outside of Japan!). We also got the Teriyaki Trout which was amazing and some rice with pickles to finish off the gravy. We ended the meal with some Vanilla ice cream served with caramelized bananas. I'm going to regret writing this review cause now more people will discover this place and I'll have to wait in line... but anything to get the word out about this fabulous new spot in town! Ps: The chef is only 22yrs old! So talented! read more

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I don't take it for granted that I can walk 15 minutes from my apartment and dodge the rain in a place like Sakai Bar. I've never had the opportunity to go to Japan, so I won't compare this to there, but I will say that Sakai Bar speaks directly to my fantasy in terms of how I imagine Japan. Tasteful, focused, explosive. I'm generally weary of 'tapas'-styled restaurants. People fetishize dainty foods, but my feeling is that if the portion is that small, the experience has to be that big. This does that, really, really convincingly. Each dish I had was entirely unique and thoughtfully - even scientifically - conceived of. Stuart did a fantastic job pairing me with a sake I loved, but stopped short of recommending specific dishes. Instead of a dish, he recommended balance. As the owner of the restaurant, I can understand why, but by the time I was done I definitely had a favourite: the mackerel. Funny that Stuart recommended balance, because the mackerel was exactly that. A perfect balance of flavours and textures. The sweet tomato was somehow more meaty than the mackerel, which was wonderfully soft, but the tomato was also sweet, which balanced out the sea-flavour of the mackerel. The cucumber added a satisfying crunch and reminded me of what fresh cucumber is supposed to taste like. The fact that I ended up with a favourite was unexpected. Everything was delicious and unique. Will definitely be back. read more

Sakai Bar - Japanese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

This is a really cool spot and I'm so glad we went off the beaten path a bit as tourists and had dinner here. We had a lot of really great food here, with my favorites being BY FAR the tonkatsu sandwich (better without the curry, which is too sweet for me), the yakiudon (which is basically like incredible Japanese-inspired mushroom alfredo), the gyoza, and this absolutely insane warm, chewy buckwheat cake with a warm white chocolate sauce on top that had some kind of bizarro "fermented" ingredient in it....that doesn't sound good, I know, but it was honestly *INCREDIBLE* and I wanted a second order (the guy next to us had also partially come to have dinner here just to eat this cake). Some of the food, on the other hand, I didn't love...like the pickles and the souped-up rice. I was also a little ZOMG about seeing horse meat on the menu that night, but I can appreciate that the U.S. and Canada are culturally different on this matter, what's the difference from eating a cow, etc. etc. etc. I find their selection of and knowledge about sake to be very cool, even though I don't really enjoy sake, and very unique from pretty much anywhere I've been to in Toronto or in my home city. They even managed to find me a sparkling option that was pretty OK! I would come back for the tonkatsu sandwich and the cake alone. They need to make the cake a permanent fixture, for sure! read more

Reminds of being at a little bar back in Tokyo something of akin to a few places Ive been to in Golden Gai in Shinjuku. Came with a few friends and tried the entire menu, definitely recommend it if you are hungry. Food: Typically everything is small plate sharables. Recommend ordering the entire menu if you are in a group of 4. I thought the portions were perfect that everyone could try a bit of everything with the value being there. It would be hard for me to talk about the entire menu, but my top hits were definitely the teriyaki trout, yakiudon (special of the evening), chicken & mushrooms, and their pickled vegetables. Drinks: Sake bar so definitely come by if you into sake. Meanwhile, I don't have much of a appreciation for sake so I opted for cocktail instead. Do recommend possibly revamping the cocktails a bit, while it is sticking with certain traditional drinks, I would have liked to see some more plays on modern classics with typical Japanese whiskeys and liquors. Whiskey collection was great tho. Ambiance: love it, calm and chill. It's very reminiscent to my memories of Japan in which it definitely made me kind of long to go back again this year. Recommendation: Definitely recommended if you are in the area. They are very experimental in the menu so you might have a nice surprise the next time you head in. read more

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Love the attention to detail at this fantastic Japanese sake bar. I highly recommend this place if you're trying to get into sake, as the owner's passion for sake clearly comes through. Makes you want to learn more! Each and every dish has its own unique flavours. Loved the mushiness of the eggplant, highlighted with delightful notes of ginger; the crispiness of the cold cabbage, a perfect break from the hotter dishes; the crunchiness of the gobi kimpira; and the buttery nature of the trout. Try their dumplings or their pork Sando if you want something a bit more filling. Love both but find the sandwich a bit more consistent. The addition of curry gravy was absolutely genius! Can't really go wrong with any order. Just expect the bill to add up quick. read more

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Recommended by a new Japanese expat I randomly started talking to at ontario sake, this place is truly quality and authentic. Inside is dark and elegant with a large bar and a few tables. Excellent sake selection and the wait staff were so helpful in finding me one I would like. Food is small but delicately prepared. My favorite dish has to be the vegetables surprisingly! The sauce is heavenly. I can eat it everyday!! Gyoza were juicy, skin not too thick, tender and crisp on the outside. The mackerel was actually by least favorite, a little too fishy. We ordered 4 plates for two people and what struck us the most was the tiny portions, especially for the price. There are some expensive places that are totally worth it but I'm not sure this would be it. I may come back for sake and vegetables and get Thai food after down the street :P. Tip - they will charge 2% fee for credit cards!! read more

What a great new addition to the neighbourhood. A super tiny but comfortable sake bar with amazing food to boot. There are only 4 tables and a small bar, but they didn't try to rush us out (we were drinking lots of sake and Asahi super dry out of tiny glasses and ordered everything on the menu). Favourites from the menu: the steak and onions, duck, the curry gravy sandwich, and I can't remember what else because I was too drunk, but I'm sure it was all fantastic. Will be back read more

You can eat here and forget you are in Toronto. Behind the translucent shoji doorway is a cozy, intimate restaurant with excellent food and drinks. We tried the homestyle pickles, miso grilled eggplant, gyoza, duck, katsu sando, and dessert. The duck and katsu were our favourites. It didn't matter that I had white wonder bread clinging to my upper teeth, the sando was a delicious experience. The curry beef dip was nice too, but there's no lack of flavour without it, so it was probably unnecessary. I actually preferred my dining partner's plum soda to my Suntory whiskey highball. I would love to return and sample their sake menu. read more

Sakai Bar - Japanese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Lots of care and effort goes into this place. You can trust Stuart to show you the way but definitely get the tartare. Can't wait to come back for hot pot. read more

Great addition to Toronto's food scene. Friendly staff and great selection of sake and small plates for snacking. Lovely interior and definitely a chill place to hang out, relax with friends, and indulge in some umami for a few hours. Will be back again soon! read more

Sakai Bar - Welcoming and warm interior. - Japanese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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We had a lovely dinner at Sakai Bar. We were sat at the bar which was great because we could see all the action! This place is very knowledgeable about their sake, we tried a few glasses to share not knowing anything about sake and enjoyed them all very much! The food was really nice too. Small portions but very tasty. Meticulous service and lovely place settings/decor. Highly recommended! read more

Sakai Bar - Japanese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Love love love this place! The food is delicious, no misses on the menu. Make sure you order the steamed veggie as the sauce is out of this world. Other highlights in include the tuna, the gyoza and the sando. The atmosphere is wonderful and they have an amazing selection of sake by the glass. The service is also really fantastic. I have been here a few times and the first time we came it was pretty jammed (it is very small) and the staff kindly asked someone to move to the bar so we could sit at a table. If you live in the area you have no excuse and if you don't this place is worth a trip to Brockton village. read more

Beautifully balanced flavors in every dish we ordered. The staff were very attentive and helpful. Loved every bit of the experience.

Incredible, super fresh sake. Creative, simple, surprising, and delicate food. Japanese inspired but very Ontario somehow. Unreal pickles! How were the pickles this good! Everyone in the room was visibly having a blast thanks to the warm decor, friendly service, unpretentious vibe. Special spot. read more

Super awesome. Amazing and extensive sake selection. Great food menu. Pickles, hand-made goyza stellar.

This place is incredible. We ordered a few different plates to share and while they were not traditionally shareables, we were able to have a decent amount of Items from the menu. And I wanted MORE. The food was so delicious, and cooked with such care and attention. The chef cake over to explain a lot of the dishes and the server/sake expert was so well versed in their products. Due the size of the menu, it's not someplace you'd go to frequently but when you do go, you want to savour every single bite. I wish I took pictures to post but I couldn't stop myself from eating everything right away. I can't wait to go back. read more

I really truly loved my experience here. Everything that I love about food and drink, is at Sakai. Service is friendly without being pushy. Dishes are creative and fresh. Fave thing is probably the gomae right now. Had a nice twist on an old fashion too. Minus one star because I found the dishes just slightly too small, especially for the price point. Ended up paying a lot more than I expected and kept ordering more food because I wasn't getting full! Will definitely be back but I hope they make their dishes ever so slightly larger portions. read more

An amazing date and hangout spot on Dundas West! Super unique interior and vibe. A restaurant design which I've never seen before in Toronto. Very elegant and the perfect vibe for tasty japenese snacks and plates. You'll discover some new favorites like the teriyaki trout and white negroni! read more

We live right around the corner and wanted to try a tapas/snack bar around us. This place really hit the mark. We started with the bifujaki (fresh beef jerky) which was season and tender. Really flavourful. The gyoza has a seared crispy bottom in a delicious broth. The chicken had a thick gravy with a bed of crispy mushrooms. This was a favourite. The duck and spinach had a beautifully thin layer of crusted fat and the spinach picked up all the flavours. The staff are all very friendly and knowledgeable. Will definitely come back!! read more