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| - I really enjoyed my experience at Shoto. Food was great, excellent wine / beer menu and fantastic service. The kitchen is completely open and you sit "bar style" surrounding the kitchen watching everything made in front of you - this approach really adds to the overall experience.
The tasting menu is $150 a person. Is it worth it? I guess that will be a personal choice. For me, the overall experience was worth it, but two of my four dinning friends didn't think so. All liked the food, it came down to the price ($1,300 for 4 people with drinks, tax and tip). The menu is really unique so I think you should try at least once and judge for yourself.
They have a wine pairing option for $80 / person. Two people in my party ordered this option. You get 8 samples with your meal -served with most courses. Both guys were feeling "pretty good" by the end. The wine selections come quickly so your forced to drink quick or waste it. My friends didn't waste it but were "feeling good" by the end. I would recommend skipping this option unless your a speed drinker. Just order the wine separately and drink at your own pace.
To my surprise, they have an excellent beer menu with multiple craft beers on tap. I went with a few selections from Beau's. They will tell you what beers are best for each course.
Service is spectacular. Your plates and cutlery are changed with every course, drinks are refilled immediately and staff were incredibly friendly.
I'm not one for super long reviews but I thought I would share the menu - as menus are not available online. The first time you see the menu is when you finish dinner! They give you a copy to take home. It was a little frustrating doing research without menus.
This was the tasting menu served on April 25, 2013 (pictures attached):
- Starts with 4-5 Amuse courses - 1)Rice with pork fat, 2)spicy soup, 3) lamb, 4) some kind of meatball and 5) sea urchin.
10 course menu begins:
- Snapper with black bean, cherry bomb and myoga (whatever that is?) Nice light sashimi style - good starting choice, not too heavy.
- Dry aged rib with green peppercorn, caviar and bacon. This was delicious. A razor thin cut of raw beef with flavour treats stuffed inside. They recommend rolling it into a roll when you eat it. You can really taste the peppercorn and caviar.
- Goose Wonton brussels sprouts and shitake mushrooms - The dumplings are matched well with a strong broth. I loved the shredded sprouts, eat them with the dumplings for full effect.
- Pea Custard with pickled egg, goat butter and trout roe. This was a complete miss for me, I didn't like it at all. The pea custard and goat butter dominates the dish, too overpowering.
- Tortellini with chicken liver, morel and fava beans. This was one of the best dishes of the night, so rich. The liver was stuffed inside three perfectly cooked tortellini noodles.
- Trout with tomatillo, almond and jalapeno. Another stand out. They pour an almond sauce on the trout in front of you. Excellent.
- Pig Face with pea shoots, ginger and chinese celery. I guess any part of the pig is good! This dish had parts of the pig face cooked in different styles - deep fried, raw and boiled. All came together perfectly in the end.
- Venison, cauliflower and lentl. The Venison was cooked perfectly and served with a cranberry reduction. Also very good.
- Apple sorbet to cleanse the pallet
- Pineapple with licorice and graham cracker. A great way to finish a meal.
Give it a try....
BK
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