Pure Rice @ Shinobu

I took my mommy to Shinobu for her birthday.

What a disappointment. I just couldn't wait to get the bill and leave.

First off we couldn't even find the restaurant. Kept looking for Shinobu but this is what we saw.

When we checked it was this place after all.

The restaurant is owned and operated by Japanese people. When we entered, the whole restaurant was filled with Japanese patrons except for one table. Let me point out the place was really tiny. There were only 5 tables in total which seated approximately 20 people or so. One chef and 2 waitresses.

I was excited since I thought the food must be good since it would be authentic Japanese cuisine. Also after perusing through the menu the prices were pretty high so it better be good for the price they charged. Boy was I crushed when the food arrived.

Here was the tonpei yaki which was pork and egg Japanese pancake with okonomi sauce topped with bonito flakes. It was really sweet and just pure eggs. I don't remember eating any pork meat at all.

Here was the special of the day, the grilled beef tongue. It was slightly bland not so special to me.

Here was the spicy tuna roll. Once again mediocre nothing to report here.

Here was the spider roll and double shrimp cannon roll. There was way too much rice. It was like I was at a cheap sushi buffet where they try to stuff you with rice. Also where is the double shrimp? I only see one.

And here we have even more rice just with a bunch of avocado slices. To them this is the green dragon roll.

Here was the volcano rainbow roll. It was nice that they brought out the blowtorch to caramelize the honey sauce but this was an overload of sweetness. Not very appetizing at all.

My boyfriend ordered the kaisen don (A) which was the assorted fish donburi bowl. We never tried donburi before and definitely shouldn't have tried it here. Once again trying to stuff us with rice. It may look pretty here but the only reason my boyfriend was full was from the abundance of rice hiding beneath those few pieces of fish.

Also the waitresses were friendly but don't understand why they failed to clear the dishes away. Our table was not that big so it would have been nice if they cleared the dishes as soon as we finished NOT at the end when we asked for our bill. With only 5 tables to serve I just couldn't understand why the service was so slow.

Overpriced and mediocre food. Not how I wanted to celebrate my mommy's birthday.

TOTAL BILL $87...ONCE IS ENOUGH!!!

Shinobu

3403 Yonge Street

(b/n York Mills & Lawrence)

416-830-0741