Kintaro Izakaya — Restaurant in Toronto

GREAT FOOD & ATMOSPHERE. HOWEVER, NOT THE GREATEST FOR LARGE GROUPS (10+).

WE BOOKED FOR 10 AND I NOTED WE MAY HAVE 1-2 MORE. THEY MENTIONED THEIR BIGGEST TABLE FITS ABOUT 12, I SAID OK, HOWEVER, WE DONT MIND SITTING AT 2 TABLES SIDE-BY-SIDE AS WE DIDNOT WANT TO BE SQUISHED. WITH THAT BEING SAID, IMAGINE BEING STUFFED INTO A TINY SQUARE TABLE THAT WOULD COMFORTABLY FIT 5-7 PPL, EXCEPT THEY KNOWINGLY STUFFED 11 OF US INTO A TINY SPOT.

WE WERE SITTING KNEES, THIGHS, HIPS, ELBOWS, ARMS AND PRACTICALLY JUST BODY TO BODY, LIKE A CAN OF SARDINES.

THEN THEY GAVE US FLAT WARM BEERS.

WE HAD NEXT TO ZERO SPACE TO COMFORTABLY EAT, AS SOME OF THE GUESTS HAD TO SIT BACK AND AWAY FROM THE GROUP/TABLE - AND HOLDING THEIR PLATE!! THIS WAS THE MOST AWKWARD BIRTHDAY FOR MY FRIEND AND EVERYONE. IT WAS OUR FIRST TIME COMIMG HERE BUT PROBABLY THE LAST AS THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE WAS NOT GREAT.

WE ALSO BROUGHT A CAKE TO WHICH WHEN I ASKED OUR SERVER ABOUT, SHE HAD NO IDEA???? I GUEST THE HOSTESS DIDNT EVEN COMMUNICATE THAT WITH THE TEAM.

OUR SERVER DID DO A FANTASTIC JOB OF FREQUENTLY CLEARING THE TABLE OF EMPTY PLATES/CUPS; THAT WAS VERY IMPORTANT AS I HAD MENTION HOW SMALL THE TABLE/SPACE WAS. I UNDERSTAND THEIR SPACE IS LIMITED, BUT MY SUGGESTION FOR SERVICING LARGER GROUPS WOULD BE:

PLEASE DONT SHOVE EVERYONE INTO THAT TINY CORNER. IT WAS RIDICULOUSLY UNCOMFORTABLE AND GOING TO THE BATHROOM WAS SUCH A CHORE BECAUSE HALF THE TABLE WOULD HAVE TO GET UP/GET OUT AND REPEAT WHEN YOU COME BACK!

ADD A SMALL EXTENSION OR SIDE TABLE WITH 2-3 CHAIRS. THIS WOULD HAVE SOLVED EVERYTHING!! PLEASE LOOK INTO GETTING ADDITIONAL CHAIRS/SMALL TABLE

WE WERE SEATED ALMOST 15 MINUTES INTO OUR RESERVATION BOOKING DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE PREVIOUS RESERVATION BEFORE OURS, WAS STILL EATING/DRINKING. I WOULD SUGGEST A) INFORM YOUR TABLE OF THE TIME LIMIT BEFORE THEY SIT. B) GIVE THEM A 'LAST CALL' ORDER WHEN THEY HAVE 30 MINUTES LEFT. C) BE PROACTIVE AND BRING THEIR BILL ABOUT 10-15 MINUTES AT THE END OF THEIR SEATING TIME. 10-15 MINUTES IS PLENTY OF TIME TO BILL OUT, BUS THE TABLE, AND RE-SET IT FOR YOUR NEXT RESERVATION.

IVE WORKED IN AN IZAKAYA BEFORE SO I DO UNDERSTAND HOW A LITTLE HECTIC THINGS CAN BE. THE IMPORTANT THING IS "TEAM COMMUNICATION". HOSTESS SHOULD RELAY ANY REMARKS OF THE CURRENT RESERVATION TO THE SERVER OF THE SECTION.

THANK...

Food was good. And came fairly quickly which is what I would expect from a tapas style restaurant.

I had the skewer Set A consisting of chicken, pork belly, king mushroom, and scallop (4 preset skewers for $16)and all the skewers were well cooked. Each skewer has a different tastes to them. I'm my opinion price for a non set of skewers (I.e. all chicken or all king mushroom) may be a bit steep for the amount of skewers you're getting; 2 skewers for ~$5-8. Whether or not you get a set of skewers or not, I'm not sure if this is a sharing dish. Even if you get one skewer you don't get to try the other three skewers that have been shared unless you're with a group that has no problem sharing skewers.

I also had the kintaro ramen which had good broth. it came with half an egg, noodle and beam sprouts (A lot of bean sprouts). Of course it came with two slices of beef but I wouldn't constitute them as two slices. I gotten more two slices of beef from ramen places that I've paid less from. Probably can't be shared.

Of course the sushi and shrimp dishes we ordered were able to be shared and I must say they tasted very good.

Our server told us it was his first day i acknowledge that he's learning, possibly nervous and won't be critical on this aspect.

Ambience was a very Japanese focused (no problem with that) and all the staff greet people as they enter the door.

All in all it the selection of food doesn't really make itself unique from all the other tapas style Japanese restaurant you can find in Toronto. They may ave the right location that wasn't serving a similar product. However, the quality is there in the food and atmosphere. so if you in the Church St area between Wellesley and College and feeling for some ramen, skewers, and/or shrimp check...

Absolutely horrible service. Looks dirty, completely useless wait staff

I came here after being to the other izakayas previously and was immensely disappointed by how unkempt the place looked. I personally witnessed the hostess (Kim Yun Su) picking up food off the floor and place it onto a dirty dishrag then USED THOSE DIRTY HANDS TO TOUCH CLEAN UTENSILS AND IPAD. I still went ahead and put myself on the waitlist and waited patiently for my call as I was sure this place would live up to the hype of the other izakayas. When I received the call I was in the washroom and EXACTLY A minute later (I have the call log to prove it) I called back multiple times to which the phone continued to ring and ring sending me to voicemail with no busy tone. I went right in to the restaurant (exactly as I was sent to voicemail once more) and told them I was called THREE minutes ago. To which they explained in the THREE minutes they gave away our table and told us if we want to eat here we would have to put ourselves on the waitlist and wait all over again. When I explained the situation the hostess stated i never called then had the audacity to say after that she was actually on the phone with the other customer when I had called, which makes no sense since I mentioned the phone called rang with no busy tone when i had called back multiple times. This would mean within the minute I had been in the washroom washing my hands, which the staff here clearly dont know how to do, I had lost my table and asked to wait ANOTHER THIRTY MINUTES to AN HOUR instead of waiting for the next table available. Frustrating and horrible experience, would not come back here to eat from dirty and...