Dining Out: An All-You-Can-Eat Wagyu Early Birthday Dinner at Shinta Japanese BBQ

When we came across an IG reel for 20% off all-you-can-eat wagyu at Shinta a few weeks ago, Minji, Daniel, and I immediately made plans for dinner to start off my birthday week properly.

Australia M9+ top sirloin steak
US Gold Grade brisket short rib
US Gold Grade brisket short rib
Australia M9 toro beef
Australia M9 toro beef
Chef-selected wagyu cuts 
Chef-selected wagyu cuts and pineapple
Garlic scallop and shrimp, enoki mushrooms, and cheesy butter corn
King oyster mushrooms, asparagus, and zucchini
Takoyaki
Bibimbap
Desserts: Crème brûlée, mango pomelo sago, mango pudding, and deep fried buns with condensed milk

Not pictured (because there was just too much food on our table and we had to keep eating to make room for more): baked sweet potatoes with cheese, Japanese-style tofu salad (to keep it healthy?), chicken karaage, Korean cold noodles, and tempura udon. We ended up getting double servings of all the wagyu, and then triple servings of the chef-selected wagyu cuts and brisket short rib (Daniel and I are serious pigs). It would've been churlish not to take advantage of the 20% discount, after all. (Note: This discount is only applicable when paying in cash.) It was still $100 per person after tax and tip, but I thought it was totally worth it just for the sheer amount of wagyu we ate. 

Shinta Japanese BBQ

Jubilee Square

280 West Beaver Creek Rd., Unit 37 - 39

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3B1

(905) 597-0305

Dining Out: Japanese Tapas at Akoya Izakaya

When deciding where to go for dinner with my friends Ronsee and Val, I suggested the newly-opened Akoya Izakaya, which I'd been wanting to try out for the last few months.

Chicken cartilage yakitori
Wagyu beef tataki
Tako wasabi
Bara chirashi don
Mentaiko udon
Wagyu katsu
Grilled miso black cod
Matcha and black sesame Hokkaido ice cream

Highlights for me were the beef tataki, bara chirashi don, and wagyu katsu, but everything we tried was genuinely excellent. Quality, flavours, and presentation are on point; decor is simple but sleek with a Japanese aesthetic; service is polite and efficient. Frankly, the only disappointment was the dessert, and not because it wasn't good (it's very creamy and incredibly flavourful — not like your typical mass-produced green tea and black sesame ice creams that you would find at AYCE restaurants), but because the portions are absolutely dismal, they are pre-scooped (you can tell because the matcha one looked like it had already melted and was re-frozen), and presentation really left something to be desired — it was especially jarring since everything else we had ordered was amazing. 

Like most "izakaya" outside of Japan, Akoya is more akin to a quasi-fine dining restaurant rather than a cheap and casual drinking establishment, so everything is expensive for what it is — our bill was about $230 after tax and tip without any drinks. Akoya does have a one-up on other izakaya I have visited in the GTA in that they have traditional Japanese-style private rooms where you have to take your shoes off and sit on individual cushions (they're on benches here rather than the floor), so the experience is more unique. Overall, Akoya is definitely worth visiting, but given the pricing, I would keep it for special occasions only. And skip the dessert. You're better off getting vanilla soft serve at the McDonald's in the same plaza.

Akoya Izakaya

Markham Town Square

8601 Warden Ave., Unit 13

Markham, ON L3R 0B5

(905) 917-1615

Dining Out: Premium Hot Pot and Sushi Feast at Gourmet Tribe

Took Minji out for her 30th birthday at the newly-opened Gourmet Tribe, an all-you-can-eat hot pot and sushi restaurant. The premium menu is $20 more than the regular menu, but includes a bigger variety of soup bases, meats, seafood (with lobster and crab!!!), and sushi. The regular menu only includes hot pot — no sushi — and has a much smaller variety to choose from. Needless to say, we went for the premium menu.

Shrimp, scallops, bean curd rolls, lotus root, quail eggs, tofu, and tripe
Winter melon, abalone, enoki mushrooms, bean curd sheets, quail eggs, and taro
Lamb and beef slices
Corn, shrimp wontons, winter melon, and daikon
Lobster!
Sukiyaki hot pot
Sweet shrimp, white tuna, squid, and salmon sashimi
Salmon, scallop, and octopus nigiri

Gourmet Tribe is both a market and a restaurant, so you can actually just drop in to shop for a variety of Japanese seafood and meat. The market area is open and airy, and the dining area is sleek and spacious. If you're dining in, you get a dedicated cart for your table, choose your hot pot broth, "shop" for a huge variety of food at the market with the aforementioned cart, and then bring everything back to your table to cook. (Each person at the table gets their own individual pot, which I personally prefer.) Nigiri, sashimi, maki, and donburi are ordered via the QR code menu on your table. 

The food selection for hot pot is fresh and nicely presented; all ingredients are stored in wall-to-wall, transparent-doored fridges that are well-stocked, incredibly clean, and properly labeled. The sauce station comes with a huge selection of condiments, and liquids are stored in pourable bottles so everything is neat and tidy (and, most importantly, avoids contamination). I was incredibly impressed with the quality and presentation of the food. The service was also lovely — super friendly, helpful, and attentive to our needs. Frankly, the only thing I regret is not leaving enough room for sushi. By the time we got through all of our hot pot selections, we were already quite full and I only had room left for a few pieces of sashimi and three pieces of nigiri. So, yes, I would absolutely make a return trip and do the premium menu again, but will need to be far more strategic with stomach space next time. A rookie mistake.

Gourmet Tribe

7500 Woodbine Ave., Unit 201

Markham, ON L3R 1A8

(647) 368-7732

Take Out: Original Takoyaki at Master Tako

Master Tako takoyaki box
Original takoyaki

FINALLY!!! A place that specializes in freshly made, authentic takoyaki in the Greater Toronto Area! That actually taste like the ones in Osaka!!! Crispy on the outside, lava hot and gooey on the inside, with big chunks of octopus on the inside and generous amounts of sauce and bonito flakes on top. The original ones are $9.99 which is two times more expensive than the ones in Japan, but IT'S TOTALLY WORTH IT BECAUSE THEY'RE FREAKING DELICIOUS. Plus, they come in the cutest graphic box with matching toothpicks, chopsticks, and carrier bag — by far the fanciest packaging I have ever seen for takeout takoyaki. I will be back ASAP; they have eight other flavours that I have to try.

Master Tako

New Kennedy Square

8360 Kennedy Rd., Unit 52

Markham, ON L3R 9W4

(905) 305-9998

Dining Out: Japanese BBQ and Sushi at Gyuyaki

Went with Minji and Daniel to check out the newly-opened all-you-can-eat Japanese BBQ and sushi restaurant, Gyuyaki:

Japanese BBQ spread

Prime kalbi

Spicy miso beef brisket

On the grill: Beef short ribs, black pepper beef brisket, mixed mushrooms with garlic, and clams with sake and butter

Smoked salmon tataki with tamarind sauce

Smoked beef tataki with ponzu sauce

Torched box sushi: Squid, scallop, salmon, and wagyu

The big draw here is that their menu includes AYCE sushi along with Japanese BBQ, so it's kind of like if Shinta and Ichiban had a baby. The only thing is that Gyuyaki doesn't really do either as well. The BBQ-sushi concept is great in theory but not so much in execution. The food is still decent, but we found that their cuts of meat aren't as fresh as Shinta and their sushi options aren't as well-prepared as Ichiban (or another similar AYCE sushi restaurant). That having been said, they do have a great variety of food on their menu, as well as a salad bar (the mango salad and spicy marinated bean sprouts are great as refreshers in between courses), a dessert bar (where, along with the usual ice creams and puddings at AYCE sushi places, you can make your own bingsu), and a self-serve fountain pop dispenser so you don't have to wait for a server for refills. 

The space is a little too cramped for my comfort, to the point where you might as well be sitting with your neighbours. (And hear all of their conversations, too.) Unless you get seated at a booth (which we were not), the tables are separated by plastic partitions on one side and about a foot of space on the other, so bear this in mind if you're a bit claustrophobic. Or want to have a slightly more private conversation. I might come here again once the hype has died down and we don't have to wait an hour (YES, AN HOUR — we literally watched over half of KPop Demon Hunters in Minji's Tesla) for a table. (Again, if you're interested in coming here, don't be stupid like us and MAKE A RESERVATION.) For now, though, I think I'd still go to Shinta for my Japanese BBQ cravings and Ichiban for AYCE sushi. 

One thing they do have over all other Japanese BBQ and AYCE sushi restaurants, however, is their operating hours — they don't close until 1:00AM. In case you have those late-night barbecued meat and sushi cravings.

Gyuyaki

5328 Highway 7, Unit 3

Markham, ON L3P 1B9

(905) 320-9988

Dining Out: Mango Yuzu Gelato Daifuku at Savorology

Mango yuzu gelato daifuku

Mango yuzu gelato daifuku

Went to Savorology to try their new viral gelato daifuku, which is made to order. Matcha is their signature flavour, but I decided to go with mango yuzu because it is so goddamn hot out and I wanted something more refreshing (which, in my mind, equates to fruity and/or citrusy). It certainly hit the spot and the mango yuzu flavour is incredible, but I do wish the mochi wrapper was thinner and softer to make it easier to dig into (as you know, mochi gets significantly harder and tougher once it gets cold). That having been said, it does provide an excellent barrier for those who want to bite into their ice cream but have sensitive teeth, so I digress...

Savorology

3621 Highway 7, Unit 120

Markham, ON L3R 0G6

(905) 470-8898

Dining Out: A Yakiniku Feast at Shinta Japanese BBQ

Minji, Daniel, and I took our friend Samuel out for his birthday at Shinta since he had never had Japanese BBQ and wanted to try it. Since it was his first time having Japanese BBQ and it was his birthday, we decided to spring for the Silver Wagyu AYCE menu and quite literally ordered every single item off of it:

Chef selected wagyu cuts
Chef selected wagyu cuts
Chef selected wagyu cuts
Chef selected wagyu cuts
Rack of lamb, miso toro beef, and pineapple
Australia Mg+ top sirloin steak and foie gras
Prime kalbi short rib
Toro beef with tare sweet soy sauce
Thick cut ox tongue
Berkshire pork belly and sous vide pork belly
Sukiyaki beef
Thin cut beef tongue, scallops, and shrimp
Hazelnut chocolate mochi jelly cake from Savorology

I didn't even include the non-meat items we ate: clams in sake, baked sweet potatoes with cheese, cheesy butter corn, vegetables, takoyaki, cold noodles, or bibimbap… Honestly, there was so much meat that we couldn't keep track of every single cut we ate. I can only tell you that there wasn't a single one we didn't like. That having been said, I think after you eat like, 12 different types of beef, you can't even really tell which one is the wagyu, so I can't say that the $53 price jump from their regular menu to the Silver Wagyu menu is worth it. Still, Samuel loved everything and had a great time, which is what really matters at the end of the day. And we even got him an adorable hazelnut chocolate mochi jelly cake from Savorology which is just as delicious as it is cute.

The only thing I have to complain about here is how much they rush you to leave when your seating time is almost up. They have a 2-hour seating limit, which is reasonable, but they come by the table to ask for "last call" orders about 30 minutes before your time is up. Of course, by the time your last call orders arrive and everything is grilled, you only have about 10 minutes to eat. So not only were they hesitant to bring out the birthday cake with only 5 minutes remaining in our seating time, they were also reluctant to bring out a knife or plates for it. And when we finally got a knife to cut the cake, our server lay down the bill on the table and got a bus boy to start cleaning up everything off our table and even asked if we wanted to get the cake we were IN THE MIDDLE OF EATING to go. I get that you want to get the next table seated, but you can give us an extra 5 minutes to eat a cake that was clearly for a birthday. Especially if we're spending over $100 per person. Again, I understand that it's apart of your policy, but it is somewhat unprofessional and ruins the vibe of what is clearly someone's birthday celebration. Seriously, your next party can wait 5 minutes. They can accommodate it at every other restaurant.

Shinta Japanese BBQ

280 West Beaver Creek Rd.

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3B1

(905) 597-0305