Charming place. Elevated food with family style vibes.
Vegetarian options: They accommodated me as a vegan very well - made a vegan curry with seasonal veggies, a vegan miso soup, plus a number of the apps are vegan.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Yasuka S
I recently visited here with one other person and while the food was good. I was surprised by a couple of unexpected charges. An 18% gratuity was automatically added to our bill without any prior notice or clarification from the staff or on the menu. I don’t mind tipping 18%, but I’d prefer the option to choose the percentage myself, especially for a two-person party. Additionally, there’s an automatic fee for using a credit card which was noted on the menu but the gratuity policy was not. Clearer communication about these policies would be helpful so customers know what to expect.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
Jiawen Li
Everyone was raving about this place, and I had been meaning to try it for a long time. So, we went and sat at the bar, where we could see the kitchen. And when we saw what was going on, we both just lost it. How could someone be handling raw egg yolks with their bare hands... and touched the receipt and then using the same hands to massage the egg yolk?! Thank goodness we didn't order the egg yolk rice bowl, or we wouldn't have been able to finish our meal. We ordered four dishes, but only the mashed potatoes were decent, but not impressive. The pork chop sandwich was mediocre, the pork chop was not flavorful, and the bread used was also mediocre. If you want a tonkatsu sandwich, go to Ohiru Cafe. ?❌❌❌❌❌The worst part was that we ordered three drinks, and the last one tasted like soap water to my friend and me. It was so unpleasant that we couldn't even finish it, and our taste buds were severely offended. We were very polite and courteous and told the bartender that the drink tasted strange. We didn't expect him to make us another one, but his response was "This is exactly just what I wanted it to taste."? In a normal bar, if I taste a strange-tasting drink, they usually make me another one or explain why the drink tastes that way. But his attitude was so bad, and he charged 16? for a drink that was less than 100ml and was so rude! The bartender's face turned black after he said that, and he didn't even ask us if the food was good. And when it came time to pay, he gave me the cash register himself, and I was using a Visa credit card. He didn't tell me that Visa cards would incur an additional fee, and if he had, I wouldn't have used my Visa card to pay. He charged me an additional fee anyway. The taste is bad enough, but the hygiene is a huge problem, and at least the service attitude should be good.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
yun chan
A rare example of authentic Japanese food in Toronto, it tastes exactly as what I’ve tried in my Japanese homestay. I have to say the pork fillet sandwich is even better than some of the resto in Tokyo. The staff are friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Christine C
Cute little Japanese restaurant! Limited food menu but the dishes tasted good, huge fan of the tonkatsu sando. They don’t take resos, but we got a seat immediately with a group of 4 on a Monday evening.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Warm Potato Salad
Raiyan Khair
Good quality ingredients, friendly staff, and a laid-back atmosphere, it’s just perfect. The bites here are delicious and great for sharing with others. You can tell there is a lot of thought put behind each dish. The drink options are something to behold. Definitely worth a visit and one of the spots I would visit over and over again. Highly recommend it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Hary P
I had an amazing experience at Sakai Bar.
As an Asian living in a multicultural country, it's often hard to find a great Asian restaurant. We tried at least five different dishes, starting with the warm potato salad, and everything we had after that was impressive.
I would have given 5 stars,
but the rice and soy yolk were a bit disappointing.
Since the food quality was so close to authentic Japanese cuisine, I had high expectations for the rice, especially considering how important it is in Japanese dishes.
Unfortunately, the rice didn’t live up to the rest of the meal, and with the soy yolk, it felt bland.
Overall, 85% of our order was fantastic, and I would definitely come back and recommend it to others. I just hope the rice quality improves and that they add a little extra to the rice-based dishes.
Thank you for the amazing food!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Susie Tan
This is the most impressive izakaya I’ve tried in Toronto so far. The mashed potatoes had a unique flavor, and the way the fish roe popped in my mouth was amazing. The beef tongue was tender and perfectly bouncy, and the fried pork cutlet sandwich was cooked just right—crispy and delicious. I will definitely come back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Eva Nabereznyj
Everything was amazing, including service and sake recommendations. The warm potato salad, cabbage slaw, tonkatsu sandwich and tuna tataki were my favourites. Will be back
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Victor Lunar
Staff are super friendly and knowledgeable - the menu is always changing and you really get the sense that they are trying to do something unique and interesting with it.
Great service and great food! Huge selection of sakes, my fave being the umeshus. The panna cotta is unforgettable — they switch up the fruit based on the season. Will keep coming back for this alone!!!!
Some of the savoury favourites - tonkatsu sando, grilled beef tongue, steamed pork and corn. We also had an edamama special one time that was AMAZING!!
10s across the board! Amazing ambiance, decor and music. Food and drink were both infrsduble incredible, we had the katsu sando, 2 rounds of the Japanese pickles, and 2 different Sakes, everything is so unique and delicious. Also the bathrooms are gorgeous?? Service was excellent, bartender/server who took care of us was a gem. Can’t recommend enough!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
akhrouf célia
very good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Spencer Demets
Excellent culinary experience. Each dish is mouth watering, down to the desert. Service is intimate as the bar is really small.
Can feel rather tight but the food makes up for it. One of the best restaurants in Canada for good quality and tasteful dishes.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Stewart Dutfield
One of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. I’ve been wanting to go for a while and finally got the chance. The food was incredible, fresh, delicious and unique. We sampled a variety of dishes and a couple of cocktails - all of which were super. Loved the fresh fish, the warm potato salad and strawberry rhubarb panacotta with buckwheat. An outstanding meal and fabulous service. Will certainly be back.
Charming place. Elevated food with family style vibes.
Vegetarian options: They accommodated me as a vegan very well - made a vegan curry with seasonal veggies, a vegan miso soup, plus a number of the apps are vegan.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I recently visited here with one other person and while the food was good.
I was surprised by a couple of unexpected charges. An 18% gratuity was automatically added to our bill without any prior notice or clarification from the staff or on the menu.
I don’t mind tipping 18%, but I’d prefer the option to choose the percentage myself, especially for a two-person party. Additionally, there’s an automatic fee for using a credit card which was noted on the menu but the gratuity policy was not.
Clearer communication about these policies would be helpful so customers know what to expect.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
Everyone was raving about this place, and I had been meaning to try it for a long time. So, we went and sat at the bar, where we could see the kitchen. And when we saw what was going on, we both just lost it. How could someone be handling raw egg yolks with their bare hands... and touched the receipt and then using the same hands to massage the egg yolk?! Thank goodness we didn't order the egg yolk rice bowl, or we wouldn't have been able to finish our meal. We ordered four dishes, but only the mashed potatoes were decent, but not impressive. The pork chop sandwich was mediocre, the pork chop was not flavorful, and the bread used was also mediocre. If you want a tonkatsu sandwich, go to Ohiru Cafe.
?❌❌❌❌❌The worst part was that we ordered three drinks, and the last one tasted like soap water to my friend and me. It was so unpleasant that we couldn't even finish it, and our taste buds were severely offended. We were very polite and courteous and told the bartender that the drink tasted strange. We didn't expect him to make us another one, but his response was "This is exactly just what I wanted it to taste."? In a normal bar, if I taste a strange-tasting drink, they usually make me another one or explain why the drink tastes that way. But his attitude was so bad, and he charged 16? for a drink that was less than 100ml and was so rude! The bartender's face turned black after he said that, and he didn't even ask us if the food was good.
And when it came time to pay, he gave me the cash register himself, and I was using a Visa credit card. He didn't tell me that Visa cards would incur an additional fee, and if he had, I wouldn't have used my Visa card to pay. He charged me an additional fee anyway.
The taste is bad enough, but the hygiene is a huge problem, and at least the service attitude should be good.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
A rare example of authentic Japanese food in Toronto, it tastes exactly as what I’ve tried in my Japanese homestay. I have to say the pork fillet sandwich is even better than some of the resto in Tokyo. The staff are friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cute little Japanese restaurant! Limited food menu but the dishes tasted good, huge fan of the tonkatsu sando. They don’t take resos, but we got a seat immediately with a group of 4 on a Monday evening.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Warm Potato Salad
Good quality ingredients, friendly staff, and a laid-back atmosphere, it’s just perfect. The bites here are delicious and great for sharing with others. You can tell there is a lot of thought put behind each dish. The drink options are something to behold. Definitely worth a visit and one of the spots I would visit over and over again. Highly recommend it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I had an amazing experience at Sakai Bar.
As an Asian living in a multicultural country, it's often hard to find a great Asian restaurant. We tried at least five different dishes, starting with the warm potato salad, and everything we had after that was impressive.
I would have given 5 stars,
but the rice and soy yolk were a bit disappointing.
Since the food quality was so close to authentic Japanese cuisine, I had high expectations for the rice, especially considering how important it is in Japanese dishes.
Unfortunately, the rice didn’t live up to the rest of the meal, and with the soy yolk, it felt bland.
Overall, 85% of our order was fantastic, and I would definitely come back and recommend it to others. I just hope the rice quality improves and that they add a little extra to the rice-based dishes.
Thank you for the amazing food!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
This is the most impressive izakaya I’ve tried in Toronto so far. The mashed potatoes had a unique flavor, and the way the fish roe popped in my mouth was amazing. The beef tongue was tender and perfectly bouncy, and the fried pork cutlet sandwich was cooked just right—crispy and delicious. I will definitely come back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Everything was amazing, including service and sake recommendations. The warm potato salad, cabbage slaw, tonkatsu sandwich and tuna tataki were my favourites. Will be back
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Staff are super friendly and knowledgeable - the menu is always changing and you really get the sense that they are trying to do something unique and interesting with it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Dessert
Restaurantji Recommends
Great service and great food! Huge selection of sakes, my fave being the umeshus. The panna cotta is unforgettable — they switch up the fruit based on the season. Will keep coming back for this alone!!!!
Some of the savoury favourites - tonkatsu sando, grilled beef tongue, steamed pork and corn. We also had an edamama special one time that was AMAZING!!
Recommended dishes: Dessert, Rice Bowl, Warm Potato Salad
10s across the board! Amazing ambiance, decor and music. Food and drink were both infrsduble incredible, we had the katsu sando, 2 rounds of the Japanese pickles, and 2 different Sakes, everything is so unique and delicious. Also the bathrooms are gorgeous?? Service was excellent, bartender/server who took care of us was a gem. Can’t recommend enough!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
very good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Excellent culinary experience. Each dish is mouth watering, down to the desert. Service is intimate as the bar is really small.
Can feel rather tight but the food makes up for it. One of the best restaurants in Canada for good quality and tasteful dishes.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
One of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. I’ve been wanting to go for a while and finally got the chance. The food was incredible, fresh, delicious and unique. We sampled a variety of dishes and a couple of cocktails - all of which were super. Loved the fresh fish, the warm potato salad and strawberry rhubarb panacotta with buckwheat. An outstanding meal and fabulous service. Will certainly be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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