Okinomi House

http://dine.to/okonomihouse

Have been planning to try this place for some time now. My sister makes great Okonomiyaki at home, so I was curious what a commercial one in Toronto would be like. I tried the one in Japan too long ago to remember, so I had to go with her - a japanese culture enthusiast.

APPEARANCE

cold, plain

A lonely corner house on a small street off of Bloor or Young. From the outside nothing special, even a bit cold and cheap-looking.

It is rather deceiving, because as soon as we entered we were greeted, seated and realized the restaurant is not as big as it looks. As a matter of fact if it would have been a longer space, as I suspected from the outside, it would have lost its feel and turned into a cold cafeteria.

NOSE

intimate, herbaceous, a bit nutty

Inside it was all wood. The red paper lanterns and the red highlights add a warm vibe. Almost all walls were windows and most had their charming logo in the middle - a kids' face inside two round plates, with a tall circular red hat. There was a main bar-like area and the rest was short tables - blue tops. It was somehow cozy - the warm sunny spring weather definitely added.

SWIRL

grassy, bouquet of citrus 

You are given a menu as well as acheck-in-the-box sheet, probably to make sure there are no miss-understandings but it starts feeling machine-like. Our waitress seemed more than capable to take down our order, judging by the way she answered our questions. We decided to share a noodle soup, a sunomono salad and go for 2 okonomiyaki plates - beef and pork.
So what is Okinomiyaki? A kind of Japanese pancake, made from cabbage, flour, egg, meat, hints of ginger and topped with special sauce. As we waited, we were impressed to see a girl next to us drinking Calpico juice - a white milk-based juice, favoured in Japan.

PALATE
lovely complexity, acid balance
Our soup and salad came quickly. The noodle soup was light and simple. The sunomono was very nice - rice noodles, cucumber, shrimp, sesame seeds in a light vinaigrette. That is the way appetizers should be - light and small. I hate it when I get stuffed before the main dish. The okinomiyaki plates came, they were selves in small frying pans. As they came darker with dark okinomi yak sauce and a big spot of mayo, we realized we forgot to tick off the menu option saying - Dried Sea Weed and Bonito Flakes ($0.50) - a must.
The lady brought it as soon as we asked, no questions asked. We loaded them with these two on top. They were very good. The beef one, I was not too crazy about as the meat dried up the dish, while the pork one was perfect. They only part I was not crazy about was the ginger, but I am just not used to having it in there. I was kind of glad they did not give us forks instantly, once they noticed we are not japanese. It looks like a challenge to eat with chopsticks but it is really not that bad, plus it helps us savour the food.

FINISH
refreshing, light
I would definitely be back here. The food was too filling and the choices of okonimiyaki dishes is wide - chicken, bacon, vegetable, shrimp, scallop, squid, seafood deluxe..on top of that there is a specials part of the menu we did not even look at. And more importantly sake and japanese beers are offered!

Overall.. a light and refreshing Semillon

Yellow Cup

http://yellowcupcafe.com/

I had no idea we were going anywhere special on our way to Burlington. To my surprise, this place really brightened up my Friday morning.

APPEARANCE
rich pear yellow
Wood and brick front, a nice patio and an energetic yellow cup logo. To be honest, the cup by itself would be enough.. The screaming letters through the elegant cup of balance plus they remind me of Texas for some reason. Perhaps embracing the concrete flat plaza, lots of empty space for parking.

NOSE
floral tones, lots of variety (a bit overwhelming)
It was kind of chilly so the patio wasn't open. Inside, yellow, yellow and some more yellow! Ever though it's relatively a big space, it's homey. We started reading the boards with the menu. The are quite a few - crapes, waffles, wraps, soups, sandwiches, and ahh breakfast! A lady interrupted us saying this line up is for after we have ordered. I felt incompetent but there is so much clutter than I didn't notice any signs to help us newcomers out. So we ordered to a lady who was by the kitchen. They had a wide variety of loose-leaf teas. By the cash, the credit machine is inside a cup cut in half hanging on the wall like a holder. We lined up to pay, took our teas and number to sit down.


SWIRL
backed pear, hint of walnut
I would say these guys paid a lot of attention to details but it's more like this place has to many details to begin with, the big picture can be lost. It feels like you are in the house of a lady who is into arts and crafts. Its cute, don't get me wrong. We were lucky to see an open table and quickly took it. The tables and chairs were simple, wooden and tall. I guess they helped create some order in this place.

PALETTE
smooth, sweet, complex
Cheri was convinced these guys are famous for crapes so he had taken a Ham and Asparagus Crape, while I decided to give their Benedict a try. While we waited, he showed me the ceiling - each square plank was covered with a different coffee bag - that was probably my favourite part of this place. Overall the food was good, nothing out of the ordinary apart from the fact that they used parsley in everything, possibly because the owner is polish. My benny was decent, the hollandaise was a great texture but lacking in flavour. The fires had quite a few spices on them.. i quite enjoyed them. Cheri's crape was good, but the marinade on the asparagus was a bit too overwhelming. 

FINISH
good acidity at the finish, surprisingly refreshing and light
I wished we had more space to take a dessert. I am leaving this for next time, as I am bringing my sister here for her birthday, she'll love this place.

Overall.. a Vidal Icewine - fresh but with a unique history.