The Best Japanese Restaurants in Toronto

The best Japanese restaurants in Toronto are where to go for food beyond sushi and ramen and dig into favourites like yakitori and donburi. Each of these spots have their own unique little twists, but there’s one thing you can count on all of them to have: sake.

Here are the best Japanese restaurants in Toronto.  

3 - Miku

Famous for their flame-torched aburi sushi, this Vancouver transplant has consistently been a city go-to since it first landed on Bay St. by Harbourfront. Whether it's for a power lunch or evening date, Miku is a hot spot any time of the day.
4 - Kinka Izakaya (Bloor)

Making its claim to fame as the popular izakaya franchise Guu, this chain has since gone off on its own to become Kinka. Any location of this lively izakaya is perfect for group outings, made better with sake bombs.
5 - Imanishi Japanese Kitchen

This friendly Little Portugal spot is a homey destination for small Japanese dishes with an American flare. Dishes are comparatively affordable to other places, with must-have staples like their katsu curry rice meal.
10 - Zakkushi Toronto

Enter this Cabbagetown spot to the scent of freshly grilled yakitori, cooked over real Japanese white charcoal. It’s the perfect pairing with sake and pints of Asahi, hence their Banshaku sets, which lets you bite and imbibe all at once.
11 - Onnki Donburi

It’s all about Japanese bowls of rice (a.k.a. donburi) at this simple Yonge and Bloor eatery. You can have a bed of sushi rice topped with ingredients like salmon sashimi, pork belly, and kalbi for one of the most affordable and filling meals on this list.
9 - Omai

This minimalist, neon-lit restaurant in Baldwin Village specializes in temaki hand rolls made to order, along with other Asian-style dishes. There’s a sizeable list of sake here, like Tradition Junmai served in traditional cedar Masu boxes.
6 - Kingyo Izakaya

Located in Cabbagetown in the basement of the old Winchester Hotel, this popular spot offers a killer menu by chef Koji Zenimaru. Refined dishes like the makunouchi bento box make this place a one-of-a-kind haunt, plus their Japanese movie projector is pretty cool too.
7 - Yukashi

Expect to be wowed by the unreal dishes at this Mount Pleasant omakase spot. A cozy interior meets the unmatched skills of chefs Jin Lee and Daisuke Izutsu, who’ll prepare you a beautiful meal based on the seasons.
8 - Hanmoto

Squeeze into this tiny 30-seater in Dundas West and be rewarded with delicious Japanese-style snacks like the Dyno wings. As always with projects by Leemo Han, the signless space has a dive bar kind of feel, meaning cocktails are aplenty and strong.

by Tanya Mok via blogTO