Sampo Japanese Bar and Restaurant — Restaurant in Toronto

We came here on the 1st day of its soft opening and it's already packed. Sampo Bar, a small cozy place that is a great option for date night or hanging out with friends.

What we like about this place is that....excellent service, hardworking staff, good value for both snacks and drinks. You have snacks range from $5 CDN to $16 CDN, very tasty and you get to order a number of food options as you hang out. Drinks are mainly the highball drinks ($9-$11 CDN) and serving Japanese beer such as Sapporo and Asahi draft from $9 CDN. If you like Japanese Whiskey at $14 for doubles, very reasonable price.

They serve authentic Japanese food that I never tried before so it was refreshing to try new food items. For example, we tried the El-Hire ($6 CDN), apparently dried, roasted stingray fin, I mean, I never had this before, it's chewy, nice aroma and perfect with high ball or beer. The Ohitashi spinach was our favourite dish, at $6 CDN, it's veggie, chewy and so good! And we also enjoyed the pork stew ($5 CDN).

I highly recommend Sampo Bar. And they have a cool concept going as well. In the morning, the place is called "Ohiru Cafe" that serves Japanese brunch, coffee, latte. Totally different vibes and menu. I can't wait to wake up early to try...

A must visit foodie spot with great vibes and tasty food

[Food] The food at this Japanese snack restaurant was absolutely delicious. I tried several dishes, but my favorite was definitely the karaage. It was perfectly seasoned and had a nice crispy exterior while still being juicy and tender on the inside. All the dishes were beautifully presented and tasted amazing

[Drinks] I tried both the sake and fruit sake options, and they were both smooth and flavorful

[Service] The service at this restaurant was perfect. The waitress was always attentive and made sure that we had everything we needed

[Atmosphere] The atmosphere of this restaurant was cozy and cute. The restaurant itself is small, but it adds to the intimate and welcoming vibe. The music playing in the background also added to the great atmosphere and created a...

This place is Ohiru during the day (Japanese inspired brunch) and Sampo at night. We had tried the brunch already (which was pawsome!) and decided to check out Sampo at night for some drinks and small bites.

We got: mini shoyu ramen, Japanese fried chicken, yakisoba pan fried noodles, and a braised miso fish (can’t remember if it was cod or something else).

Pros: portions were pretty generous for sharing! Everything was doglicious - broths were paw-licking good and full of umami, chicken was juicy and crispy, fish was sooo tender, yakisoba noodles were piled high with sliced meat and veggies and served sizzling hot. Dogtails were reasonably priced and tasty.

Cons: none!

Overall: 5 woofs out of 5. A great cosy spot to unwind in the evening after a ruff day at work or for a chill gathering...