Best New Restaurants 2015: #4, DaiLo
Best New Restaurants 2015: #4, DaiLo
Gotta feel for Nick Liu. The young chef left the Niagara Street Café in 2012 and, for two long years, held a series of pop-up dinners, swearing he was about to unveil his own place. When it finally happened last fall, he was nearly crushed under an avalanche of hype. But he prevailed: DaiLo was an instant hit. It’s a beauty of a restaurant, a sly take on a vintage tea house with cozy teal booths behind filigreed screens. Liu went beyond his formerly gimmicky gourmet riffs on fast food and tapped into his Hakka roots. My favourite dish on his menu sounds like a crime against fruit but is one of the most exciting innovations of the year: hot watermelon. He dredges cubes in cornstarch, deep-fries them to a crisp, and serves them with diced pickled watermelon rind and a salty tuft of pork floss. The watermelon dissolves on the tongue, its sweetness and acidity blooming with the heat. I could also rave about his crispy whole trout or his tart green papaya and spicy ground pork salad or his grilled curried quail, but it’s that plate of hot melon I’m craving.
Read More
- 309716
- Nick Liu is a master at combining hot, sour, salty and sweet flavours. His Thai-style salad combines shredded green papaya, chilies, pomelo chunks and ground pork, all covered by a gossamer lacework of fried egg.
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-01-150x150.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-01.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-01.jpg
- 1200
- 800
- https://torontolife.com/food/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo/slide/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-01/
- best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-01
- 0
- 0
- 309723
- Liu makes exceptionally crispy-tender pork hocks in a sweet-and-sour sauce.
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-08-150x150.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-08.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-08.jpg
- 1200
- 800
- https://torontolife.com/food/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo/slide/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-08/
- best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-08
- 0
- 0
- 309722
- The truffle fried rice is sweet and spicy and funky and rich—like Drake on a plate.
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-07-150x150.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-07.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-07.jpg
- 1200
- 800
- https://torontolife.com/food/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo/slide/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-07/
- best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-07
- 0
- 0
- 309724
- The must-order dish at DaiLo is deep-fried watermelon. It’s an intensely pleasurable textural mash-up, hot and spicy where you least expect, all married by whisper-light pork floss.
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-09-150x150.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-09.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-09.jpg
- 1200
- 800
- https://torontolife.com/food/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo/slide/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-09/
- best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-09
- 0
- 0
- 309725
- Smoked trout is rolled up with betel leaves, which add a fresh, pleasantly medicinal twang.
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-10-150x150.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-10.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-10.jpg
- 1200
- 800
- https://torontolife.com/food/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo/slide/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-10/
- best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-10
- 0
- 0
- 309717
- Whole fish are back on menus all over town. At DaiLo, the trout is filleted and deep-fried, then reassembled and presented on a wood board along with fried Thai basil, a sprinkle of fried almonds, ginger and garlic, and three dips (green curry aioli, nam jim and soy glaze).
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-02-150x150.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-02.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-02.jpg
- 1200
- 800
- https://torontolife.com/food/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo/slide/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-02/
- best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-02
- 0
- 0
- 309726
- Asian confit duck wings, on the menu at the upstairs bar LoPan, are ideal for soaking up all those boozy cocktails.
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-11-150x150.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-11.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-11.jpg
- 800
- 1200
- https://torontolife.com/food/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo/slide/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-11/
- best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-11
- 0
- 0
- 309727
- DaiLo, like just about every new restaurant these days, has a sharing menu of small and large plates. Go with a group—you’ll want to order one of everything.
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-12-150x150.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-12.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-12.jpg
- 1200
- 800
- https://torontolife.com/food/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo/slide/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-12/
- best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-12
- 0
- 0
- 309719
- DaiLo is located in one of the most pedigreed buildings on College, previously home to brunch destination Grace. At the skylit bar they make an excellent dark and stormy with five-spice-laced Gosling’s rum.
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-04-150x150.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-04.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-04.jpg
- 1200
- 800
- https://torontolife.com/food/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo/slide/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-04/
- best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-04
- 0
- 0
- 309720
- The restaurant has a vintage teahouse vibe, with gold mirrors, intricate screens and hand-painted murals of birds and cherry blossoms.
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-05-150x150.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-05.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-05.jpg
- 1200
- 800
- https://torontolife.com/food/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo/slide/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-05/
- best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-05
- 0
- 0
- 309721
- There’s a second bar upstairs named LoPan, where they serve a longer list of Asianified cocktails and snacks like Big Mac baos until 2 a.m.
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-06-150x150.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-06.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-06.jpg
- 800
- 1200
- https://torontolife.com/food/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo/slide/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-06/
- best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-06
- 0
- 0
- 309718
- Nick Liu’s dishes are creative refinements of the Hakka food he grew up watching his Indian-Chinese and South African–Chinese relatives cook.
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-03-150x150.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-03.jpg
- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-03.jpg
- 800
- 1200
- https://torontolife.com/food/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo/slide/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-03/
- best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo-03
- 0
- 0
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo/&title=Best New Restaurants 2015: #4, DaiLo&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/best-new-restaurants-2015-dailo.jpg&description=By Mark Pupo | Photography by Dave Gillespie
Gotta feel for Nick Liu. The young chef left the Niagara Street Café in 2012 and, for two long years, held a series of pop-up dinners, swearing he was about to unveil his own place. When it finally happened last fall, he was nearly crushed under an avalanche of hype. But he prevailed: DaiLo was an instant hit. It’s a beauty of a restaurant, a sly take on a vintage tea house with cozy teal booths behind filigreed screens. Liu went beyond his formerly gimmicky gourmet riffs on fast food and tapped into his Hakka roots. My favourite dish on his menu sounds like a crime against fruit but is one of the most exciting innovations of the year: hot watermelon. He dredges cubes in cornstarch, deep-fries them to a crisp, and serves them with diced pickled watermelon rind and a salty tuft of pork floss. The watermelon dissolves on the tongue, its sweetness and acidity blooming with the heat. I could also rave about his crispy whole trout or his tart green papaya and spicy ground pork salad or his grilled curried quail, but it’s that plate of hot melon I’m craving.
[gallery columns="6" ids="309716,309723,309722,309724,309725,309717,309726,309727,309719,309720,309721,309718"]){kind=link}
West: 61
East: 4