Ohiru Cafe — Restaurant in Toronto

I think I went in with high expectations, but the food was just okay? I ordered the salmon egg benny ($19) and an ube latte with soy milk ($8.5).

I've been to lots of Japanese restaurants before, since I'm a huge fan of Japanese cuisine. The salad was solid, no complaints. The salmon benny was good, but the only thing that stood out to me were the yuzu sauce and the herb potatoes. Even then, there wasn't enough sauce to blend with the egg and salmon to the extent I would have liked. The eggs weren't as soft and runny as I expected, and the smoked salmon seemed like something I could buy from T&T. I'm just nitpicking, since the salmon egg benedict wasn't that good or bad either way. Plus I've had better from other brunch places before. The potatoes on the other hand, were so freaking good. It was salty and buttery with lots of herb and garlic flavour. It practically melts in your mouth.

As for the ube latte, I regret getting soy milk as it overwhelmed the taste of the ube, so I'd get oat or regular milk next time. I couldn't tell if the ube flavour wasn't very strong, or if it was the soy milk. My bf's hojicha latte was so much better.

BF's plate: shokupan was great as expected: milky, fluffy, and soft. I didn't try his eggs but he said they weren't as good as what he expected. As a Chinese person the charsiu was ??? It's just literal torched pork belly meat. Actually it was 60% fat 40% meat according to my bf.

Service was great despite the restaurant being particularly busy at 11am. The atmosphere was very cheery and lively (although a bit loud for my personal preferences).

As a student, I wouldn't recommend going unless for instagram photos and the vibes. It's not as budget friendly and food quality to price ratio was not what I expected. However, the plates are quite big and the food is...

Super crowded japanese brunch spot (even at 11:00 on Monday!). Amazing food overall with decent sized portions and pricing.

Here's what the 2 of us ordered: Salmon Eggs Benny ($18.50): 5/5 Came with 2 bennies, salad, and a few smashed baby potatoes in seaweed salt. The yuzu hollandaise they used was very good, but they only gave 1 strip of smoked salmon per benny. The muffin was SO GOOD: fluffy and chewy but not rubbery at all. Best part? THE POTATOES. They are SO. GOOD. especially with the seasoning they put. Highly recommend this dish.

Shrimp Mentaiko Spaghetti ($25): 5/5 The mentaiko sauce was super creamy and not overly salty but still had that strong seafood flavour. Not very generous with the shrimp, but it was good, crispy shrimp (like the ones at dimsum places). Best part: SUN-DRIED TOMATOES. They added a nice sour-salty flavour and paired surprisingly well (I usually hate tomatoes). (P.S. when we came at 10:40ish and ordered, we overheard them saying "mentaiko finished" so it might be that this dish runs out quick? So get it when its there!!!)

Hojicha Latte ($5.50): 5/5 Cute art! Not too sweet, strong hojicha flavour. Quality of the tea they used is comparable to the one I got in Japan!

Kinako Black Sesame Cheesecake ($8.50): 4.5/5 Rather small slice of cheesecake but really good. The black sesame flavour was there but not overpowering, well-balanced with the cheese flavour. We got this as a freebie for posting on social media (a promo they have going on rn).

The resto itself is really small (only seats ~20 people) so make sure to come early or you'd be waiting for a while. There's also a seating time limit (75min I think?), but the food comes out quite fast. Service is great. Deffffff...

What a lovely little gem!! Didn’t know this opened here so my partner and I decided to check it out on a whim. It was very busy when we went but service was still quick and friendly. My matcha Kyoto latte was delicious with it not being overly sweet but still had lots of real, intense matcha flavor. An enthusiastic two thumbs up from this matcha lover. My partner who loves his coffee says that his latte is great with the beans and roast being just right so his praise is something to behold.

We both got our own salmon eggs benedict. While the smoked salmon itself wasn’t bad or anything noteworthy, the composition of the entire dish as a whole was excellent and well-executed. Hollandaise was solid, the eggs were poached perfectly (the best way— easy) salad was tasty but most of all the potatoes!! These smashed potatoes were crispy on the outside while being fluffy on the inside and perfectly seasoned. We both cleaned our plates.

We also shared the azuki french toast and oh my goodness. So good. I don’t know what they did with that shokupan but that was some really good french toast. Came with a miso syrup and matcha cream and both were excellent. My partner preferred the former, I preferred the latter.

Place, although cozy, is very small and kind of cramped with very limited seating. I do not recommend coming in with more than 4 people and even 4 is kind of pushing it. Very nice spot for a breakfast/lunch/brunch date or to take a friend to catch up with. I will be back!!

Also caught a whiff of the katsu from the people sitting next to us who got the katsu sando. Smelled soooo good and made me look forward to my meal even if I wasn’t getting...