NEW RETRO - BASEMENT BAR

I first heard about New Retro from my friends who frequents this basement bar a lot. It is located underneath Zakkushi; it uses the same entrance, and just down a flight of stairs. The ambiance is moody and dim, and the music from the 80s-90s really hit the spot. I did see other tables using flashlights on their phone to look at the menu though, so you can imagine how dark it must be inside XD The kitchen is open-style; you can certainly see the all the actions going on behind the scenes.

Since there were so many choices on the menu, we opted in for the 6-course tasting menu (85). The tasting menu was quite sharable between the two of us; you can order more food/snacks a la carte later if you want more. The food was delicious - loved the appetizers, hamachi sashimi, chawanmushi, wagyu beef, and the somen was SO GOOD. The only thing I had an issue with was the salmon fish roes used in the rice dish at the end. The roes were too salty for my liking, and I had to unfortunately pick all of them out :( The rice itself was amazing. Other than the little hiccup, we really enjoyed our meal.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Cha-One-Mushi, Omakase, Sashimi

basement bar with japanese vibe
wonderful cocktail and food
oiishii❤️

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Thoughtful menu with unique flavors, special cocktails too

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food was just okay this time around, came back because I had an amazing kaiseki don last year which is sadly gone along with the other dishes I really enjoyed. The ambience is nice but expect dishes to come out slower and one by one as everything is made to order. Most disappointed in the egg omelette, we thought they forgot to add it to our order when we got the bill but it actually just took them that long to get to it. Paid and waited for the last dish to arrive and was pretty underwhelmed… it really was just egg and not much else- smallest bit of uni on top and overall pretty bland

Amazing. One of the best.
Had 6 dishes and enjoyed every single one of them (duck, ebi, yellowtail, fried rice, mackerel, uni maki)

I wanna try all their other dishes!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Excellent food, loved the variety of taste. Such an authentic experience.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Smoked Katsuo Tataki

For the real lovers of the japanese food this is an unmissable place where to go

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

love it!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food is delicious and service was great. I usually visit at night but the quality are very good even it’s late.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The energetic kitchen staff is very impressive! This is a place to get drunk and go for a second drinks?

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Sashimi

The atmosphere takes you to a small hole in the wall place in Japan where skilled chefs prepare the most exquisite dishes.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food is always very good here, sake list is solid, vibes immaculate.

Love this place and I want to keep it a secret but it deserves new fans!

Happy to be a regular

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I discovered this hidden gem in downtown Toronto and I am so glad I did! Everything here is amazing - the food tastes so authentic it's as if we are back in Japan! We ordered tasting menu for one person and added a bunch of other stuff so that we can try everything. I'm very happy to learn that not everyone in the group has to order the tasting menu if only certain people want to (it's not something you can do in Japan, so I'm very glad they offer that flexibility). The drinks are also very unique and Japanese. The service here is great, and the waitress introduces every dish. It certainly gives you a fine dining experience even though this is a izakaya. They change their menu every two weeks (including the drink menu), and it gives us more reason to keep coming back! Highly recommended!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I had a wonderful night at NEW RETRO! The staff were extremely professional, helpful, and observant. We ordered noodles to share, and they impressively distributed them into three bowls before serving. As it was a birthday dinner, they also went above and beyond by helping with storing the birthday cake we prepared, lighting it with candles, and playing the birthday song as background music. Highly recommend for their exceptional service!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food and drink were both amazing. Atmosphere is great. Quality of dishes is top tier.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5