Cafe Wanoka — Restaurant in Toronto

A cute, small, and cozy Japanese cafe. About 10 tables, and about 30 seats? Give or take. Can get pretty crowded very quick. You order at the counter, pay, and they come and bring you your food to where you're seated.

This review is for the 2 times that I've come here.

Today, I came here with my friends at around 3 pm. It was already very busy. We nabbed some seats. The menu is on the wall. The rest of the menu is in the glass display shelves.

We ordered 1x Salmon & Sour Plum Bonito Flakes Onigiri ($4.75), 1x Tuna Mayo Onigiri ($4.75), 1x Chicken Mayo Onigiri ($4.75), 1x Grilled Tuna Melt ($14.99), 1x Grilled Roast Beef Melt ($???), 1x Tofu Cheesecake Slice ($6.50), 1x Green Tea & Red Bean Crepe ($15.99), 2x Large Mango Smoothie, and 1x Large Iced Black Honey Kinako Latte.

My friends enjoyed their sandwiches that also came with a small side of salad. They really loved their mango smoothie. They both agree that this was one of the best mango smoothies that they've had ever. They also enjoyed their onigiri.

I enjoyed my crepe. Inside there was this soft cakey cake thing with whipped cream and granola nuts. On the plate there was a dallop of red bean, whipped cream, and one scoop of french vanilla ice cream. The crepe was thick and stacked. The crepe was very good. I was also lucky to get my hands on a slice of the famous tofu cheesecake. The cheesecake was light, smooth, and not too sweet. It was delicious. My iced kinako latte was unique tasting. Definitely something I've never tasted before... In a good way.

Overall, we enjoyed our food. Rather pricy when you add up everything per person... But definitely very delicious.

For my previous visit, I came here with family. We ordered 1x Tofu Cheesecake Slice ($6.50), 1x Black Sesame Latte ($???, I don't remember what size), 1x Green Tea Parfait ($14.99), 1x Omurice ($15.99), and 1x Onigiri Lunch Set ($15.99).

We really liked the tofu cheesecake. The onigiri lunch set was good too, filling as a snack. The omurice was warm and delicious, the egg was smooth and fluffy. The rice was perfectly flavored. The side salad was very salad (good). The parfait was very green tea/matcha tasting. The whipped cream was light, and the green tea brownies wasn't too sweet and heavy. The black sesame latte was hot and tasted very much like black sesame, which was good. Very tasty.

Overall, we enjoyed our food/drink/desserts. I made a point for me to come back in the future to try more stuff from their menu.

So... Overall overall... I'm very pleased with this cafe. The food is so damn good. The food always hits (so far)! The drinks are on point. The desserts are god tier. The atmosphere is chill and cozy. The service is good, fast, and polite. The washroom is clean and stylish. The cafe is clean and all the food displays are pretty.

The cafe is popular so try to get here earlier to a pod the crowds if you can. During peak times, there are no seats available. And it seems like you can also reserve tables too (not too sure how that works). The max amount of time you can spend there is 2 hours.

Would definitely be coming back again here as a repeat customer. Seems like my friends would be...

TLDR: There are better cafes or places to hangout. Alright food, but subpar setting, and pricey for what it is.

(Slightly) longer review for those not in a hurry:

Taste (4/5) :

Don't get me wrong, I liked the food, but it wasn't absolutely fantastic like most reviews seem to have experienced. I tried some of their most popular dishes, but none of them made me CRAVE for them afterwards. They were nice in the moment, but not impressionable afterwards. I particularly liked the silky tofu cake and the cheese toast! As a fan of tofu and also cheesecake, Wanoka struck a great balance between the two :) The cheese toast was also a thick blend, and the roe in there gave it an umami streak that tied the toast together.

But the prices. As an avid foodie, I like to shell out money for good food, but I feel like the quantity did not quite justify the price of the items on the menu. Desserts were around the $5 mark per slice or portion - which isn't too bad, I guess, but the toast and other savoury items on the menu were close to $10 for 1 - 2 slices of taste and the flavour pieces. I was really expecting much better bread for the price I was paying, but it was just regular, no-frills bakery bread I could very well by for $10 for 2 loaves at Metro.

For context, my open cheese toast as $11.50 for 1 thick slice of toast with cheese, and a small side of salad. The egg sandwich was a regular egg sandwich with a small side of salad, and that costed $7.50. I would have expected the cheese sandwich to be below $8 and the egg salad probably below $6 for what it was.

Drinks were priced as per regular though.

Place (2/5) :

From the reviews and instagram aesthetic I was expecting the interiors to be more ... Japanese-cafe-esque? But they were small booths like from regular hk cafes, and the interior design was simple to the point of being almost minimized. The only telling factor that this was a Japanese cafe was the hiragana/katagana on the menu.

The wifi is also terrible. The server did apologize for the poor wifi beforehand, but since many people also go to cafes to work or study, I felt like this was a miss (even though they explained that it was because the building is a medical building, hence they can't have their own wifi due to fear of interfering with medical equpment). The office wifi was so inadequate my friend and I had to move to another spot shortly after we had a less-than-amazing experience from Wanoka, because we needed the wifi to work.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but the only think I might be back for is a slice of the tofu cheesecake. If you're passing by, do pickup a slice of their cake or one of their desserts, but I don't recommend this spot to chill with friends.

Follow my insta @joelyho for more...

I've been coming to cafe wanoka since it first opened. I used to visit Vanta (the cafe that used to be here) because they always served good gelato during the summer.

I love cafes, desserts, and Japanese food so this opening in an area of Scarborough accessible to my house was a perfect match. Usually I avoid ordering regular cafe items like coffee, espresso. My favourite drinks to order are the iced hojicha/Sencha unsweetened, banana milk (which is my favourite among all that I've ever tried everywhere), and yuzu lemonade (I learned how to make my own because I loved theirs so much).

During every visit, I always grab an onigiri, specifically tuna mayo (I just love tuna mayo onigiri).

I also order some dessert items. I've tried almost all of their desserts, and my favourite is hands down the tofu cheesecake. It's light and airy while it sits in your mouth, and definitely doesn't taste like tofu at all. My favourite part is that it isn't too sweet. The flavours aren't overpowering at all. Can be paired with any drink.

Occasionally when I'm hungry, I will order their hot food. I've had the omurice and the onigiri lunch set. The more I eat the omurice, the more I realize I'm not a fan - it's more personal style, as I often cook eggs and have a preference. I used to think the onigiri lunch set was overpriced, but it's actually a filling meal.

Everything seems expensive, but when you think about how it's a small business and the quality and portion of food served, it's a good deal. It's always a place I actively want to visit. If there's anything I'd want changed, it's longer open hours so I can come in the evenings after work.

They started implementing a 2 hours seating limit after they gained popularity, but I don't think they'd actively enforce it unless you're really overstaying or it gets full. Usually when I visit - weekends during the afternoon after 2pm - it is not too busy, with maybe a third of seats being used. I find it tends to get a bit loud with the music and people talking. I don't think they allow third-party food ordering, but would love to see it in the future. The staff are always very friendly and helpful. Would absolutely recommend...