{"id":10706,"date":"2017-05-31T16:08:02","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T00:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/?p=10706"},"modified":"2017-06-08T22:03:03","modified_gmt":"2017-06-09T06:03:03","slug":"newly-opened-yuzu-shokutei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/newly-opened-yuzu-shokutei\/","title":{"rendered":"Newly Opened: Yuzu Shokutei"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was invited by another food blogger friend to do a small tasting at Yuzu Shokutei<\/strong>. This is indeed the best type of tasting for a restaurant to\u00a0find out how foodies like their food.<\/p>\n

Here is a little background of the Japanese\u00a0eatery. It was opened as\u00a0Touhenboku<\/strong> Ramen<\/strong>,\u00a0at 854 Denman Street last\u00a0August. But the owner Jay Liu<\/strong>\u00a0decided to leave the ramen chain founded in Toronto and put his own vision on the menu for the local diners. \u00a0He teamed up with\u00a0chef Phong Vu<\/strong> from the popular Vietnamese eatery\u00a0House Special<\/a>\u00a0and relaunched the restaurant as a brand new concept: Yuzu Shokutei<\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0 The new menu now features a bigger variety of dishes with more refreshing flavours. Although they still serve ramen, they definitely come across as more of an izakaya style restaurant.<\/p>\n

We started with some drinks, including the non-alcoholic Yuzu Lemonade<\/strong>, and the whisky based Yuzu Sour,\u00a0<\/strong>whcih\u00a0were both light\u00a0and refreshing if you a fan of yuzu flavour like me.<\/p>\n

\"Yuzu<\/a>
Yuzu Sour & Yuzu Lemonade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0Chicken Karaage <\/strong>($7)\u00a0featured deep-fried chicken thigh, breaded and fried with a crispy exterior texture. And I enjoyed the seasoning on it.<\/p>\n

\"Chicken<\/a>
Chicken Karaage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Gyoza Bacon Cream<\/strong>\u00a0($8) seemed like a playing on\u00a0perogies but with Japanese gyoza dumplings. The filling was flavoured nicely. The dashi cream sauce and the bacon bits were very likeable. But I think the sauce should be a little less liquidy, or it should be served on the side. As the dumpling skin was very thin, it got a little soggy sitting in the liquidy sauce.<\/p>\n

\"Gyoza<\/a>
Gyoza with Bacon & Cream<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Visually, the Okonomiyaki<\/strong>\u00a0($8) was very enticing. The flavours were spot-on as well. But I would like the\u00a0pancake a little thicker to hold up against all the sauces and toppings.<\/p>\n

\"Okonomiyaki\"<\/a>
Okonomiyaki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Ramen\u00a0<\/strong>($14.75), we had the one with a Truffle Flavoured Broth<\/strong>. I’m never a ramen purist. So the unconventional flavour was actually\u00a0quite interesting for me.<\/p>\n

\"Truffle<\/a>
Truffle Ramen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I enjoyed the Tempura Platter<\/strong>\u00a0($as the vegetables were perfectly fried. The breading was light and crunchy. Fried avocado was pretty new to me and I\u00a0was digging its texture.<\/p>\n

\"Assorted<\/a>
Assorted Tempura<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To me, the\u00a0Gyu Steak on Rice<\/strong> ($14.75) is a good deal, with grass-fed beef tenderloin pan seared to medium rare, and the whole portion being big and satisfying. \u00a0However, I couldn’t help\u00a0comparing this to my favourite beef rice bowl\u00a0at Kingyo<\/a>\u00a0($15.80), right across the street from Yuzu.\u00a0\u00a0Although serving in\u00a0a\u00a0long oval bowl here makes the presentation impressive, the rice is not fully covered with beef and other ingredients on top, and it tends to get cold rather\u00a0quickly. \u00a0I’m not sure if using pan fried bean sprouts is a good idea either, as bean\u00a0sprouts tend to get watery when fried, making it a little messy and affecting the consistency of the rice. Basically, a bowl of warm and comforting\u00a0gyu donburi is what we look for.<\/p>\n

\"Seared<\/a>
Seared Grass-fed Tenderloin on Rice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I think it’s pretty cool that Yuzu Shokutei has a menu that’s beyond a ramen shop’s. However, I was hoping to see something more unique and bolder, as they just had a great chef\u00a0join the team. I wouldn’t mind seeing something a bit more fusion on the menu. \u00a0After all, \u00a0they need something even more refreshing to compete with all other great izakaya spots in the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

Website and menu:<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.yuzu-group.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

More reviews:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Yuzu<\/a><\/p>\n

Location:<\/strong><\/p>\n