Introducing: Touhenboku, the ramen shop’s new sushi restaurant in the Distillery District
Introducing: Touhenboku, the ramen shop’s new sushi restaurant in the Distillery District
Name: Touhenboku
Neighbourhood: Distillery District
Contact Info: 42 Gristmill Ln., 416-368-8686
Previously: Café Uno
Owner: Zuimei Okuyama
Chef: Veteran sushi chef Aki Kitao, who previously worked in upscale sushi restaurants like Toshi Sushi and Ki
The Food: Unlike Touhenboku’s casual ramen shops on Queen West and Yonge Street, the chain’s Distillery location focuses primarily on sushi. Chef Kitao’s menu includes over 21 types of fish, which are sliced, rolled and torched in both traditional and novel ways. A tuna-scallop roll is blasted with a blow torch and topped with house-made sour plum paste and a sweet miso-sesame glaze. For $45, the chef will prepare a 14-piece omakase (i.e. tasting menu) with interesting options like uni (sea urchin), tarabakani (king crab), and aji (Spanish mackerel) wrapped in Japanese mint.
The Drinks: The lengthy tea menu includes hard-to-find leaves like Gyokuro, a pricey green tea from Japan. For non-teetotalers, 17 Japanese sakes are served warm, cool or at room temperature.
The Place: Owner Zumei Okuyana had always wanted to open a restaurant in the Distillery, so he snapped up the Café Uno space when it went on the market. Exposed brick walls and big wooden tables make the high-ceilinged room feel surprisingly cozy.
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- Touhenboku is located on Gristmill Lane in the Distillery District, in the former Café Uno space.
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- Seventeen types of sake are sourced from all over Japan.
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- The soba salad is the only noodle dish on the menu. It’s stopped with three kinds of Japanese mushrooms, shredded veggies and avocado ($11).
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- Blasting the fish with a blow torch enhances the flavours and adds just a hint of char.
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- The aburi (flame-seared) sampler includes, from left to right: beef, ebi (shrimp), saba (mackerel), hamachi (yellow tail) and Norwegian salmon. Each piece is topped with a different house-made condiment ($19).
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- The tuna and scallop maki is torched and topped with sour-plum paste and a sweet miso-sesame glaze ($14).
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- Veggie maki is rolled with organic asparagus, bell peppers, mango and spinach ($11).
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- The chef’s omakase menu includes interesting options like tarabakani (king crab) and botanebi (sweet prawn) (14 pieces for $45).
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- To make this dessert, thin crêpes are layered with two types of whipped cream. The cake is finished with an orange glaze ($5.50).
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- The Japanese cheesecake gets its unusually silky texture from egg whites, which are whipped together with the cheese. It’s served with blueberry compote ($5.50).
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- Gyokuro green tea is poured according to very precise specifications. Water is heated to exactly 175 degrees, then poured over tea leaves in a circular motion. When the timer runs out, the leaves are removed and the tea is poured in a circular motion, bringing the drink down to a perfect sipping temperature ($8).
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