Hanmoto is laid back and chill with a slight hipster vibe
(but not too much plaid). The dining room seats less than 30 and is decorated
in a mismatched “I’m not going to be impressive” manner, the service is
attentive but not over baring (they’re not rushing you out of the small place)
and even the cocktails go down easy.
The Arisaka sour
($12) a light concoction of citrusy yuzu, refreshing cucumber, green tea, gin and
soda. While the North Town Hashi ($12) just a tad sweeter from the Asian pear
that’s balanced with bitters having an almost Amaretto and brandy taste.
The menu is small; with a table of four you can likely
order it entirely. My favourite was the salmon aburi ($10), a mound of sushi
rice wrapped in diced salmon and tobiko
before being blow torched – the method du jour in Japanese cooking. Scallions
and a bit of teriyaki (?) finish off the dish with a basket of crisp nori on
the side so you can make your own hand rolls. I liked the lighter use of
condiments, which allowed the melting smokiness of the salmon to become the
prominent taste.
On the other hand, the hamachi tartare ($12) is more about what comes with it (avocado, sweet
chili sauce, ponzu, shiso, cilantro, fried garlic slivers and nori) than the
neutral fish itself. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing given the dish was
delicious and packed with flavours & textures to start off the meal.
Inevitably, all dishes at Hanmoto is rich and
flavourful. The dyno wings ($8), a well-publicized offering, takes de-boned
chicken wings and stuffs them with a pork dumpling filling. Thankfully, the
chef shows some restraint and doesn’t over salt the filling… although I would
have liked some vegetables (chives, bok choy or cabbage) to lighten and add
contrast. The deep fried wing was hot, crispy, juicy and delicious; smothered
in mayo, green onions, cilantro and chili.
After reading Chris Nuttall-Smith’s review, we didn’t
bother asking for a knife to split the katsu
bun ($7). Honestly Hanmoto, just invest in some knives! It’s unreasonable to
expect diners to want an entire bun to themselves and splitting the thing with
chopsticks is a messy endeavor.
Within this katsu
the pork chop was replaced with a thick slab of pork belly, which had its
marbled areas but plenty of meat as well. Covered with panko and then deep
fried, it’s crispy and tender. With a sweet glaze and sitting on top a mound of
Thousand Island/tartar sauce dressed iceberg lettuce, the dish combines the
Filet o'fish and Big Mac in one. The pan fried coco bread, thinner and smaller
than the pork belly, didn’t stand a chance at keeping the sandwich together.
Even Hanmoto’s vegetables would make a dietician
blush. The enoki arrives with a pat
of miso butter ($7), once melted leaving the crunchy mushrooms in a pool of
oil. Some ponzu is added and its sourness does help cut the greasiness, the
fresh scallions even more. Personally, I feel the butter and even the ponzu
wasn’t required as these detract from the delicate mushroom; it would have been
nice to have a lighter diluted miso sauce to add flavour without drowning it.
The salmon face ($12) is exactly as it sounds: a
halved salmon head grilled and then covered with mounds of greenery (lettuce
kimchi and a scallion slaw). You need to do some digging, but you’ll eventually
find the fish.
Of all the dishes, this one is passable unless you
love sucking on fish bones. Perhaps I was thinking of the jowl, which is much
meatier, but there was little salmon meat in the dish itself. Moreover, since
it was cooked to a medium doneness (something I normally like) it did make it
hard to remove from the bone – even the prime cheek was hard to take out,
turning into a stringy mess. A touch more time on the flames would help.
Their sole dessert is the miso ice cream ($7) made of
a rich sweet base of condensed milk. It’s then balanced with white miso and
nori dust to add a savoury element to the dessert. The toasted puffed rice
spheres was a great addition, adding a satisfying crunch. As a warning, the
dish is rather rich so you’ll want to share it.
Overall, Hanmoto creates inventive dishes not normally
found at other izakayas and builds lots of tastes and textures into each one.
Despite a small menu, there are many tempting options. It would be nice to have
the menu expanded to incorporate a couple of simpler dishes. Everything was so
heavy that by the latter half of the meal, I was craving something to help
balance it out - the kimchi lettuce with the salmon head was a good start and
could easily be sold by itself.
There are bigger problems than having too many strong
flavours and lavish dishes. After all, a lackluster menu would be even worse.
Lucky for Hanmoto, dull tastes is not a challenge they are plagued with.
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 2 Lakeview Avenue
Address: 2 Lakeview Avenue
Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
Is That It? I Want More!
Other Gastro World posts similar to this:
