Tinuno — Restaurant in Toronto

After visiting Tinuno I was surprised that I haven't heard much about it until then. My friends and I wanted to try a cuisine we haven't had before and while researching for Filipino places to go we randomly picked the place based on top 10 lists online. We knew, judging from the pictures prior to our visit, that it would be a unique experience. But little did we know that we were in for a culinary delight. It was a treat to all our senses. It was an experience that every Torontonian should part take in. The food was amazing. For the price you pay (they should and can definitely charge more) on a bed of rice (on a banana leaf), you get two types of fish cooked in different ways, shrimp, squid, mussels, two types of pork and veggies (okra and eggplant). A fine dining restaurant would have charged an exuberant price for the portion size it self. But for a mere $15, you get food that can probably be equivalent for 2 sets of meals.

The flavors were amazing, especially on the fish and pork. The fish was my favorite, particularly the one that had a good rub of spices on it. My least favorite was the squid and maybe the shrimp because I felt it could have had seasoning/spices. It was rather plain. The cook was just right, just the flavor needed some work. Maybe the chefs can look into it a bit more to make this experience an absolute winner.

Overall, we had a fulfilling time here. It's a no frills place, just one menu item (for the main course dine in), unpretentious, great and pleasant service and you just come out of it so happy. Also you eat with your hands here (utensils are available and so are gloves if you absolutely need), but just use your hands to get the most authentic experience. Eating with your bare hands just makes the food taste that much better and you feel the texture of every item on your serving. Try it, cut the fuss. There are enough soap and sinks available to cleanup later.

It was not just us but we saw every table just having a gala time here. The people just keep coming and that itself is a testament to the quality of this place. It made our summer evening just perfect. Can't wait to go back and I nudge everyone to go check this place out. It is worth it!

p.s. reservations are recommended as the place...

Finally had a chance to try kamayan at Tinuno. The Kamayan Feast ($15/person) is a traditional Filipino meal usually reserved for special occasions and consists of a variety of food that is presented on large banana leaves and eaten family style with your hands - no plates; no utensils.

I made reservations earlier in the day for 7:30pm but our table was not ready when we arrived. We were asked if we were willing to sit outside and we agreed but were still not seated until 8pm. We were told that our order had been put in before we were seated so that we would not have to wait long for our food but it was not ready until 8:30pm. The host was really nice and apologetic but I was a little irked as I saw others who had arrived later, be seated and receive their food at least a half hour before ours was ready.

For our meal, a generous portion of sticky garlic rice was spread out and shaped in a line on the banana leaves and then the grilled seafood (squid, bangus belly, tilapia, mussels, shrimps), meat (bbq pork, pork belly) and veggies (okra, eggplant) were laid out on top of it. Each person also had their own portion of mango salad laid out in front of them.

All the food here comes straight off the grill and has a smokey flavour to it. My favorite was the bbq pork skewers as it was covered in a delicious banana ketchup. Not being a huge fan of bbq myself, I found the meal to be smokey but not overwhelmingly so. However, I did find the skin on the fish to be a little on the salty side and it's probably best to eat the rice with it in order to tone down the saltiness. As well, because the seafood is grilled, it does lose some of its sweetness and moisture.

Overall, Kamayan is a fun way to share a meal with friends. The presentation is especially spectacular when you have a large party (we saw a party of over 15 people being served as we were about to leave). I would probably come back if I had friends visiting the city and wanted to introduce them to something new but personally, I wouldn't come back on my own as I found the food just ok. But for the price it really is...

Very disappointed with our last visit. We were waiting in the hallway behind 6 women, of whom made reservations for her party. She was disappointed that the menu price change was not reflected online, and made a littLe bit of a fuss about it changing from $15 per person to $18. After much debate, the waiter came back and agreed to this price adjustment. I asked if my party could have the same $15 price as the party in front of us, the waiter simply stated that someone in the party was the bosses friend, sorry I can’t do the same for you. This was disappointing, but we had a very positive food experience the last time we dined here so we decided this wasn’t such a big deal, and thought we would stay to enjoy the dinner regardless of being blatantly lied to. Most people who know the boss don’t have to make a stink with the wait staff for 20 minutes, they usually just call the boss...

The food when it arrived was disappointingly bland, I think the truck delivering flavour didn’t arrive to the restaurant before our meal was made. The seafood was boiled (seemed to run out of salt as well), the rice had specks of garlic that wasn’t enough to infused any flavour into the rice, and the eggplant was also boiled (it should be grilled likee the other veggies). The leche flan was rich and absolutely delicious thought.

I get with inflation the price hike is sometimes out of your control, but to to also cut corners to serve rice, veggies and proteins that are so bland they resemble the flavour profile of cardboard is just unacceptable. I hope this restaurant brings back the food quality it’s capable of because it’s a great addition to this neighbourhood and has been for a number of years. But it definitely took a nose dive for food quality and sets the bar high for poor service. Also it took about 30 minutes in line after making reservations to get to our table, and about another 30 for food to arrive (this is a pre set menu... it really only serves one thing...