Kintaro

I think this place is Korean run though. Place is always my group’s go-​to for drinks! Food, like many izakayas, is expensive, but when I do order it, I like to get the ramen. Ramen is pretty good. Atmosphere is lively and fun. They also have this cute water dispenser where you have to press the lid down teehee.

*The inside was spacious and not crazy loud in here.
*I can actually hold a proper conversation and don’t have to walk out with a major headache stare at Guu. The atmosphere was relaxing and the staff was super friendly, except they forgot our water until the end of the meal.
*I must mention how I was sitting near the grilling station, and I walked out with 0 smell! So kudos to their ventilation system
–Takara plum wine — $ 11 (glass)
The Takara plum wine had a sweet, fruity flavor without a strong alcoholic taste.
–Tori Karaage (japanese style deep fried chicken w/​house special wasabi sauce) — $ 12
The deep fried chicken was not oily, still juicy and remained succulent when cold. However it would have been better if there was a bit more batter as I found the chicken’s exterior wasn’t crispy enough. I really enjoyed the wasabi in the dipping sauce as it added just a kick to the chicken karaage, a delicious combination! The picked ginger and cabbage was a nice addition to tone down the heat as well.
–Taco Wasabi (wasabi marinated octopus) — $ 8
The octopus was chewy, but hard, slimy (in a good way) and full of wasabi heat without leaving a burning aftertaste in my mouth. The addition of seaweed was quite nice to cut the heat, but as always, more please as there were only 5 pieces
–Set A Yakitori — $ 16
–Sanmainiku (pork belly): A bit too salty for me but D said it was ok for him. The pork was juicy and not too fatty, just perfect!
–Cheese Mune (chicken breast with cheese): The chicken was dry and bland. The cheese didn’t really help either.
–Eringi (king mushroom): King mushroom don’t have much flavor so it needs a lot of «help.» Again this was bland.
–Karubi (beef strip loin): juicy and just melt in your mouth.
–Scallop: cooked just right and had good seasoning.
–Mochi Bacon (bacon wrapped rice cake) — $ 5
It was a bit odd to see that the rice cake was dduk (Korean rice cake) instead of mochi. Nonetheless it was probably one of the better skewer of the night. The bacon was slightly crispy and went well with the rice cake without making it too salty.
–Gyu Tataki (lightly seared beef) — $ 16
I thought the beef pieces were a bit too thick and tough to chew on. Also, isn’t this supposed to be served with a citrus-​soy dipping sauce? The beef was quite bland so it really needed some kind of sauce to flavor it up!

The food was alright, I wasn’t blown away by any of the dishes that we had ordered.

Now under new management this place is quickly becoming a favourite of mine. Fast service, good food, friendly servers. A++ in my books. It has a laid back atmosphere that I prefer over Guu (which I find too noisy for my liking).
The polar beers are a must — such a great photo to take.
Compared to other izakaya restaurants, I find the portion size here to be larger. Perfect to share with 2 other friends. It has good variety of food. Everything from delicious meat skewers, fresh sushi, filling rice bowls and noodles. I would definitely recommend coming here.

So good for just a few skewers of yummy meat on the way to more food. Slow service.

Came here once with my family. The combination of décor and food was nice. My parents had sake (can’t recall the name) and they said that they were craving it for a few days.
We had all types of skewers. Every single one of them were fantastic, but my favourite one was rice cake wrapped with bacon. After, we were served Dynamite Roll and Rainbow Roll. Normally, I don’t like rolls, but these were too delicious to pass on. The last two dishes were Nagasaki Champong which was very tasty, but slightly on the salty side and the last dish was the dumplings which were amazing! They were juicy and really big, which I really liked.
The whole experience was fun and one of the best family dinners I had in a while.

I had an excellent dining experience at Kintaro. Friendly, fast service, and delicious food– the winning combo. I was with a group that tried a vast variety of items on the menu and I ended up having more new foods in this meal than I’ve had in the last year!
I had monkfish liver for the first time which was interesting; it reminded me of a more mild tasting foie gras. I also tried mochi, skewered chicken gizzards, mushrooms wrapped in bacon and a host of other new dishes. I loved it all and is recommend being adventurous when you come.
Seared tuna and steak is a must! Well seasoned and completely delicious.
Long story short I’m definitely coming back.

This is great place for dinner and light drink with authentic Japanese cuisine. Made me write my first review. I tried new menu Kintaro Don today (grilled chicken on rice) and yakigyoza. Chicken was tender and it comes in stone bone which was unique. Rice is crispy at bottom which I liked. Gyoza were very rich and filling. and it looked like homemade. It was too goooood! Also, It seems all staff are new and very friendly! :) I liked this place but I like this place more now! Must come back

My visit to Kintaro is probably one of the worse experience, not just so-​so but horrible.
My coworkers and I went there on a weekday night around 6:30pm, there was no other table beside us and we thought it was just because we were early that day. Everything was fine (by fine, I meant food weren’t memorable but it was not bad for the price) until we receive the stuffed chicken wings.
My coworker first took a bite and I saw a pink-​ish color inside so I stop her from eating it further and ask for the server immediately. When the server came by I asked nicely why is the meat inside the chicken in pink-​color, is it not fully cooked yet? He respond by ‘I will go to the kitchen and ask’ coming back with an answer ‘The chef said it’s mixed with pork so that’s why there is a pink-​ish color’. That made me more suspicious, first of all, the chef did not take a look at it, second if there’s pork shouldn’t it be FULLY cooked (aka not pink). Anyway I didn’t think the answer was legitimate and asked the server to bring it in to the chef to take a look. He came back after, without the dish saying ‘SORRY, IT’S NOT COOKED, WE WILL REMAKE IT’…Sorry Unilocaler, I did not have the picture to justify this but I do not make random accusation for no reason.
Well, they did TRY to make it up to us, by offering us icecream or a sip of sake each on the house. I did not find this to be reasonable at all… We would’ve gotten really sick from eating raw pork yet this is how they try to make it up. I will not return for raw pork and poor service/​management. And for all those that still want to try this place, please make sure meat are fully cooked (aka. pork) so you won’t be visiting the hospital or washroom afterward.

I’ve been to kintaro several times and I love the food there. However, as of lately the menu has been on and off. Many items have been removed and on my last visit half of the things were unavailable… I was very disappointed.
I mean the loblaws and lobo is less than 5 minutes away and they are open till 11pm (loblaws) daily. I don’t see how you could run out of anything?
I probably won’t be coming here much anymore.

This is another authentic Japanese cuisine of which food comes in forms of skewers that I enjoy similar to Zakkushi. Small restaurant that offers quality food and great taste. Be sure to pair your food up with a nice bottle of sake!

All authentic Japanese run bar and grill have lots of amenities in their washroom. This one didn’t. So we suspected it is Korean owned/​run as the menu contained kimchi.
They have a good selection of bacon wrapped grill food and good selection of drinks too. We like the polar beer.

I lived in Japan for 5 years and can honestly say the food offered here is as authentic as it gets in Toronto. Others who say this matches other izakaya’s in the city are flat out wrong in my humble opinion. (although I have not yet been to Guu up the street).
The food here is unique, and DELICIOUS! It is one place in the city I am eager to ‘try new dishes’ and my friends always ask to go here when they come downtown to my place, from out in the ‘burbs.
Love the ice swirl on top of my beer. Cute. Very Japanese-​y. :)

Best gyoza in town! Also good ramen. Some of the skewers are good. Some are so so. Too many choices of yakitori

My friend and I really wanted to try out an izakaya while in Toronto. For those who are wondering what the heck an izakaya is, it’s basically a Japanese version of a pub that serves a bunch of different drinks and small plates. We decided to try out Kintaro since the wait was pretty long at Guu. It was a quick walk from our hotel and its location in the middle of the bars on Church St was perfect!
The atmosphere here is awesome. It’s dimly lit with a modern Japanese vibe going on (if that makes sense haha). The sake list is huge and they also offer tons of other drinks (beer towers!). My friend ordered the polar beer ($ 8.50), which seemed to be a very popular drink on Unilocal.You need to get this! It was basically a glass of beer with an icy top (see pic). I ordered the Hi-​Ball ($ 6.50) which was their twist on a whiskey ginger. Let’s just say I had a couple of these…
I love the concept of Japanese tapas. They have 4 menus here full of different small plate options. We shared the momo negi ($ 5.50) — chicken thigh with green onion, edamameyaki ($ 6) — baked soy beans, and the Kintaro ramen ($ 10.95). The chicken thigh was juicy and the green onion gave it some great added flavor. The edamameyaki was delicious. It was my first time trying soybeans baked instead of boiled and it was so much better. As for the ramen, the broth was spot on, but the noodles were a little weak.
I’m happy we stumbled upon this place. We left satisfied and were literally steps away from the bars we planned on going to. It was a great first time experience at an izakaya and now I’m always searching for one in every city I visit!

Went here this past weekend and was really impressed by the quality of the dishes they served in addition to the ambiance that they had set up. While it was a bit slow, I wasn’t complaining as we were seated immediately. It was a nice touch that they had some catchy R&B, Old school rap that made their place feel fun to be in.
The first dish I had was their Kintaro (Tonkotsu) ramen. It was rich, creamy and hit the spot as it was a bone chilling evening that night. The noodles had that perfect bounce — all in all the bowl of ramen was slurped down in its entirety, lip smacking and all.
The second dish I had was their Yakitori stick set B. Their skewers were fired up over their traditional charcoal grill. The end result was succulent skewers, bursting with flavours and the charcoaly after-​taste that you would expect.
Lastly, I had their Kimchi udon dish. While a bit different from what you would get from any of the Guu restaurants, they had a different spin on theirs. It was different in that they had a lot more udon noodles, but less kimchi than you would expect from a Guu style Kimchi udon dish.
While I had an enjoyable time there, I was surprised that there weren’t more people packed into this place. I’d go so far as they would go toe to toe against, Guu, Zakkushi or any of the other established Izakayas.
If you’re ever in the Village and want an authentic yakitori/​izakaya experience — Kintaro (not to be confused with Mortal Kombat’s Kintaro…) is the place to be!

Disclaimer: I am bias.
I love dark and dim drinking places
I love eating skewers and anything bite sizes
I love Japanese food
I love cute waiters
And of course I love Kintaro Izakaya!
We drank:
Polar Beer ($ 8.50)
Sake Sampler ($ 14.95)
Asahi Draft Cream Beer ($ 7.50)
We ate:
Enoki Bacon ($ 6.50)
Momo Mochi — Chicken Thigh & Rice Cake ($ 5.50)
Butarosu — Pork Loin & Rice Cake ($ 5.50)
Gyusagari — Beef Tenderloin ($ 7.50)
Tori Minchi — Chicken Meatballs ($ 5.50)
And I want to drink Asahi Draft Tower 3000 ml ($ 32) with my friends and try more Yakitori items on the menu!
I will be BACK!

Beer & Meat on a stick — How the hell can this combo ever go wrong? Easy 4 stars.
Service was quick and efficient. Our server made recommendations when we asked for his help. Nice layout & atmosphere — good for conversations with friends and not overly loud.
Beer options included Asahi & Asahi Black, Sapporo and Kirin. Lot’s of Sake choices as well.
I ordered the Polar Bear beer — Beer with some kind of frozen beer flavoured foam on top (keeps your beer cold). PROBLEM — you just get baby sips since the damn foam gets in the way. I should have known better when all the ladies were drinking it — meant to be cute, not functional!

Since this was a pre-​dinner snack, we just shared a few items…
— Beef Tenderloin: Very tender with a nice charcoal flavour. Included rice cakes on the skewer. Excellent choice for a meat lover.
— Bacon covered mushrooms: How could this dish ever go wrong?
— Chicken: Also very tender, good quality breast meat. The skewer includes delicious rice cakes, so good.
— Chicken Meatballs: Also very good, I would love these in a sandwich. Maybe I will bring my own crusty bread next time.
You can also get preset skewer sets (two options) and various Ramen choices.
Going to try the Bacon wrapped pineapple next time. Whole roasted corn cobs also looked good.
Just come with lots of friends and order away. Prices average in the $ 5 — $ 8 range for two or three skewers.
I will be back for sure… very soon.
BK

The food were really good, especially their yakitori. They have a very good sake selection and a frozen beer as well. Unlike other izakaya, Kintaro focus on simple basic yakitori of different kinds. Not to say that Yakitori goes real well with alcohol. I will definitely go back whenever I want a casual drink with good food.
Only thing I don’t like is the neighborhood. When I enter and exit the venue, there were strange people behaving abnormally near the entrance. So, I can’t help but worry about safety.

Loved my experience at Kintaro! Got the polar beer combo, and it is fantastic for a slow drinker like me since it is true to its claims that your beer will be ice cold for 20 min. My bf wasn’t that fond of it though, since he drinks fast and the frozen foam kind of hinders his speed. So, order according to your drinking pace! The combo also came with your choice of karagge, we chose chicken skin which was great (I mean, you can’t really mess up fried fat) and was a much bigger portion than I imagined!
We also ordered the yakitori set A, which had bacon wrapped cherry tomatoes, chicken and leek, chicken and rice cake, bacon and enoki mushrooms, and chicken wings. Food was delicious, they were also true to their word when they said that you will taste a distinct charcoal flavour, which I love. I also ordered baked rice cake thinking it would be mochi (like the picture) but it turned out to be dduk (korean rice cake) which makes sense since I noticed the owner was Korean (a few of the staff are Japanese though). That one was alright, I think use of mochi would have tasted better.
A bonus for Kintaro in comparison to many other izakayas is that they have a don/​ramen section to their menu, which means that if you intend on having a full meal as opposed to small snack plates you can!
Overall, awesome experience, will return when convenient!