A bit of a late review but I came here for a birthday dinner and had a great time. We tried the beef tartare, octopus crudo, tea smoked duck breast, fritto misto, terracotta Cornish hen (pre-ordered), and beef heart topokki.
The dishes were all pretty creative with a theme of modern Asian fusion flavours and ingredients. My favourites were the smoked duck breast, fritto misto, and beef tartare.
The terra cotta Cornish hen which we pre-ordered was quite fun and interactive as well we got to break open the clay and they served it up table side.
Some of the dishes seemed a bit incomplete, mostly missing some kind of carb to tie everything together. They have mantou which you can order on the side but it didn't seem quite right for the dishes we got.
Service was very good and the ambience was very cool.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
T. Mack
Great food and presentation. Excellent service. Nice interior but too cold to my liking. Ended up paying $240 for 6 ppl.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Heart Tteokbboki, Steak Tartare, Dan Dan Noodles, Braised Pork Belly
Charles
Honestly great vibes and decor but that was about it. Server was friendly as well. However the food was not good at all. Some of the food felt under seasoned and just generally bland. Or also a lot very one dimensional flavors without depth or having weird texture. Also the duck breast was dry and super bland. I would rather go next door get some bbq duck from traditional canto restaurant then pay for that again. Sooooo disappointed. No wonder there were no customers on a 730 on a Saturday!!! Basically 3-4 tables max no line up. Food looked great but because it just wasn’t good it felt so pretentious with no nuance.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 2
Helen Chen
Had a fantastic time here with a group of friends.
Standout faves: fritto misto (amazing texture), dan dan noodles (less like actual dan dan and more just tasty pasta), beef heart topokki
Tasty: century egg and tofu (century egg flavour wasn't that strong), octopus crudo, beef tartare (gochujang flavour was very strong and I prefer my beef tartare to focus more on the beef taste), brownie with yuzu and matcha, hojicha creme brulee (very helpful if you eat the pepper)
Didn't love but my friends did: deep fried maitake (I found the texture kinda oily and squishy rather than the crispiness I was expecting but everyone else thought it was excellent)
For drinks I had the accountant (11/10, never thought quail eggs would be good in a cocktail but it was amazing) and bai fa gai (8/10 tasty and enjoyably spicy, if you eat the pepper in it you get a free tequila shot)
Price was great, the food bill (not including drinks) split between 5 people was like $28 before tax and tip, and we were definitely full at the end.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Heart Tteokbboki, Century Egg & Tofu, Dan Dan Noodles, Octopus Crudo, Beef Tartare
Huang Yvonne
Love their food, their drinks ESPECIALLY. DANIEL MAKES THE BEST DRINKS. Danielle is such a good server and Tyler makes the best expresso martinis. Feels really homey. Can’t go to any other bars anymore hahaha. DRINKS ARE TO DIE FOR!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Asian Slaw, Sake Steamed Clams, Octopus Crudo
Shilpa Sequeira
Walked by this place and liked the vibe and decided to check it out. Absolutely wowed by the food and dessert! We had the truffle pork belly, Asian slaw, seafood dumpling and the pork topiki. Highly recommend them all, but the winner was the creme brûlée.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
kory Dipucchio
We decided to visit Bitter Melon on Friday right as they opened so it was completely empty and we got the whole restaurant basically to ourselves. The server was good and very professional with some explanations on each dish. The food was really tasty and delivers looking beautiful and garnished nice. The crockery was beautiful as well and accented the food perfectly. Portion sizes were large and I was happy with everything we had. The pork belly for me was the star of the show. Definately would return
Food was not good. No salt, expected better. Money down the drain and an evening wasted, please work on a different menu. People were screaming in the previous table, couldn’t enjoy the dinner.
Enjoyed a nice meal with attentive service and interesting cocktails.Cocktails: LaZi Fizz, Blushing Dragon (highly recommend) & Mirrors in A Dark Room (very spirit forward)Beef Tartare - a must! Fresh beef with gochujang, haam choy, pear, egg yolk is a revelation to the tastebuds.Octopus Crudo - the dressing is light and fresh, helps to balance a heavy dish.Terracotta Cornish Hen - very tender and filling, needs to have rice with itBeef Heart Topokki - this is another must! Flavourful yet not too heavy, despite the rice cakes and cheese.Braise pork belly - this dish should be served with rice to balance the saltiness and soak up the sauceDefinitely worth checking out!
Exceptional experience for my bday dishes flavorful space gave exotic location felt out of the country. Only issue the bartender offered buns assumed complimentary but was charged $4 for it don't mind the price but transperancy of cost would've been appreciated so that left a sour taste besides that high caliber....
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Kelly Rockliff
Cocktails were amazing and food knocked it out of the park. Service was perfect. We had eight dishes for four people, probably too much. But enjoyed every one. Particularly crudo, duck, slaw. Will be back for sure.
Food is delicious and very reasonably priced, especially for downtown Toronto in this day and age. We enjoyed everything we ordered from dinner, drinks, and dessert, and service was stellar. No complaints!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Katie Hennigan
Food was absolutely fantastic. Incredible attention to detail and each dish was so diverse. Such a hidden gem. Tyler was amazing as well and such a good host
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Heart Tteokbboki, Century Egg & Tofu
Do not order the Dan Dan
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
A bit of a late review but I came here for a birthday dinner and had a great time. We tried the beef tartare, octopus crudo, tea smoked duck breast, fritto misto, terracotta Cornish hen (pre-ordered), and beef heart topokki.
The dishes were all pretty creative with a theme of modern Asian fusion flavours and ingredients. My favourites were the smoked duck breast, fritto misto, and beef tartare.
The terra cotta Cornish hen which we pre-ordered was quite fun and interactive as well we got to break open the clay and they served it up table side.
Some of the dishes seemed a bit incomplete, mostly missing some kind of carb to tie everything together. They have mantou which you can order on the side but it didn't seem quite right for the dishes we got.
Service was very good and the ambience was very cool.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Great food and presentation. Excellent service. Nice interior but too cold to my liking. Ended up paying $240 for 6 ppl.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Heart Tteokbboki, Steak Tartare, Dan Dan Noodles, Braised Pork Belly
Honestly great vibes and decor but that was about it. Server was friendly as well. However the food was not good at all. Some of the food felt under seasoned and just generally bland. Or also a lot very one dimensional flavors without depth or having weird texture. Also the duck breast was dry and super bland. I would rather go next door get some bbq duck from traditional canto restaurant then pay for that again. Sooooo disappointed. No wonder there were no customers on a 730 on a Saturday!!! Basically 3-4 tables max no line up. Food looked great but because it just wasn’t good it felt so pretentious with no nuance.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 2
Had a fantastic time here with a group of friends.
Standout faves: fritto misto (amazing texture), dan dan noodles (less like actual dan dan and more just tasty pasta), beef heart topokki
Tasty: century egg and tofu (century egg flavour wasn't that strong), octopus crudo, beef tartare (gochujang flavour was very strong and I prefer my beef tartare to focus more on the beef taste), brownie with yuzu and matcha, hojicha creme brulee (very helpful if you eat the pepper)
Didn't love but my friends did: deep fried maitake (I found the texture kinda oily and squishy rather than the crispiness I was expecting but everyone else thought it was excellent)
For drinks I had the accountant (11/10, never thought quail eggs would be good in a cocktail but it was amazing) and bai fa gai (8/10 tasty and enjoyably spicy, if you eat the pepper in it you get a free tequila shot)
Price was great, the food bill (not including drinks) split between 5 people was like $28 before tax and tip, and we were definitely full at the end.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Heart Tteokbboki, Century Egg & Tofu, Dan Dan Noodles, Octopus Crudo, Beef Tartare
Love their food, their drinks ESPECIALLY. DANIEL MAKES THE BEST DRINKS. Danielle is such a good server and Tyler makes the best expresso martinis. Feels really homey. Can’t go to any other bars anymore hahaha. DRINKS ARE TO DIE FOR!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Asian Slaw, Sake Steamed Clams, Octopus Crudo
Walked by this place and liked the vibe and decided to check it out. Absolutely wowed by the food and dessert! We had the truffle pork belly, Asian slaw, seafood dumpling and the pork topiki. Highly recommend them all, but the winner was the creme brûlée.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We decided to visit Bitter Melon on Friday right as they opened so it was completely empty and we got the whole restaurant basically to ourselves. The server was good and very professional with some explanations on each dish.
The food was really tasty and delivers looking beautiful and garnished nice. The crockery was beautiful as well and accented the food perfectly. Portion sizes were large and I was happy with everything we had. The pork belly for me was the star of the show.
Definately would return
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Steak Tartare, Foie Gras on Toast, Braised Pork Belly
Small menu but pretty tastyGood cocktails
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Beef Tartare, Dan Dan Noodles
Food was not good. No salt, expected better. Money down the drain and an evening wasted, please work on a different menu. People were screaming in the previous table, couldn’t enjoy the dinner.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Enjoyed a nice meal with attentive service and interesting cocktails.Cocktails: LaZi Fizz, Blushing Dragon (highly recommend) & Mirrors in A Dark Room (very spirit forward)Beef Tartare - a must! Fresh beef with gochujang, haam choy, pear, egg yolk is a revelation to the tastebuds.Octopus Crudo - the dressing is light and fresh, helps to balance a heavy dish.Terracotta Cornish Hen - very tender and filling, needs to have rice with itBeef Heart Topokki - this is another must! Flavourful yet not too heavy, despite the rice cakes and cheese.Braise pork belly - this dish should be served with rice to balance the saltiness and soak up the sauceDefinitely worth checking out!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Heart Tteokbboki, Beef Tartare, Octopus Crudo
Exceptional experience for my bday dishes flavorful space gave exotic location felt out of the country. Only issue the bartender offered buns assumed complimentary but was charged $4 for it don't mind the price but transperancy of cost would've been appreciated so that left a sour taste besides that high caliber....
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Cocktails were amazing and food knocked it out of the park. Service was perfect. We had eight dishes for four people, probably too much. But enjoyed every one. Particularly crudo, duck, slaw. Will be back for sure.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Baby Octopus, Asian Slaw, Braised Pork Belly, Octopus Crudo
Food is delicious and very reasonably priced, especially for downtown Toronto in this day and age. We enjoyed everything we ordered from dinner, drinks, and dessert, and service was stellar. No complaints!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food was absolutely fantastic. Incredible attention to detail and each dish was so diverse. Such a hidden gem. Tyler was amazing as well and such a good host
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Heart Tteokbboki, Century Egg & Tofu
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