Expressing my disgruntlement to Robin during our meeting about how the city seems to only have one Izakaya he informed me of another place called Fin. Shocked over how I did not know about this place after living in Toronto for so long I decided to give it a try tonight for dinner.
Unlike Guu, Fin was much larger and was definitely a lot quieter. The menu was diverse offering grilled, fried, signature, hot stone and raw dishes. Like all Izakaya's the portions are small allowing us to order a wide number of dishes.
Takowasa
This dish consist of chopped raw cuttle fish tentacles tossed in a wasabi based dressing. The cuttle fish had a crunchy texture but the wasabi dressing might be too strong for many people.
Goma-Ae
Goma-Ae is usually boiled spinach with Sesame Sauce. However at Fin they served it with Green Beans.
Seaweed Salad
The Seaweed Salad was good. It was had a much lighter flavor profile with the seaweed not drenched in sesame oil.
Sashimi Goten
The sashimi here was very fresh. I particularly like the Salmon which seemed as if it was salted a little bit. The last time I had such a flavor in Salmon was at Hama.
Chicken Kushiyaki
Unlike Yakitori which is grilled with sauce, Chicken Kushiyaki is grilled with just salt. The chicken thighs were quite tender and seasoned just right.
Tri-Color Miso
This was one of my favorite dishes. There were three different Miso's that went on top of an Eggplant, Tofu and Rice Cake. The Tofu's miso had a citrus flavor to the miso which was unique and good!
Ika Sugatayaki
According to the menu the squid was suppose to be marinated in Fin's special sauce and then grilled with salt. I didn't taste any marinade but the squid was cooked perfect maintaining a nice bite but was tender at the same time.
Chicken with Miso
The miso marinade went well with the chicken giving it a sweet and salty flavor. It was quite unique how it was served with the waitress stir-frying the mushrooms with the chicken on the sizzling pan.
Gyutan Ishiyaki
This was another good dish. The tongue had a nice bite and went well with the thick slices of onions.
Assorted Tempura
Their Tempura was decent. The batter was light and crispy and the prawns were quite fresh. I particularly liked their Seaweed Tempura which had a really crisp and airy texture
Unagi Don
There was nothing special about their Unagidon. It was just a simple store bought Unagi with Rice.
Buta Kakuni
The pork belly came in a nice Casserole dish. The soy-based gravy wasn't as strong as I'd like it to be and the pork belly wasn't as tender as I'd expect.
Overall I really enjoyed the food at Fin. It definitely wasn't as creative as the dishes served at Guu but most of the dishes we had were good. The total bill for all our food came up to CAD $170 including tips and taxes. This is definitely a good alternative to Guu where people would have to wait a couple of hours just for a seat.
Food: 3.8/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Price: $$$$ (Approximately USD $45 per person)
Contact Information
Address: 55 Eglinton Ave E Toronto, ON M4P
Tel: +1 (647) 347-3864
Map:
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