Nakamori has become my new go to place in Toronto. It has it all, great flavours and good prices. The menu at first glance is not your typical Japanese fare. The chef defiantly embraces local seasons and Toronto vendors.
I went in a group of 5 people. And just to make it clear I am Japanese and I know what good innovative Japanese food tastes like. This restaurant isn't zen, and in my opinion there are many great zen like Japanese restaurants in Toronto now. So Nakamori is such a fresh breath of air.
We started off with the spicy salmon and tuna tempura roll ($15). And I'm a huge fan of spicy salmon and this roll definitely did not disappoint. I loved the watermelon radish and yuzu. Such a fragrant and delicious roll.
We had the dynamite roll next ($14). Not your typical dynamite roll, it was so unorthodox (not that there's anything orthodox about a dynamite roll) but it was simply amazing. You get 5 rolls with 5 huge tiger shrimp. I've never seen a whole shrimp tempura per person in a dynamite roll.
Then We moved onto a bunch of starters. There's so much soul put into the kitchen menu. We had the kumato caprese ($8) just decadent. Then the agedash tofu ($7) which I must say was done just right. The fried outside thick and crispy with the sauce perfectly seasoned. Then the seafood ceviche tacos ($11). 3 tacos (salmon,tuna and scallop) possibly one of my favourites on the menu. I love ceviche and this one just had the right acidity to it. Then we had the jerk chicken karage ($7) not too spicy which is exactly how I like my jerk chicken. And such an interesting take on karage because as much as the jerk seasoning was evident it still tasted Japanese to me. Then we had this soy braised pork that's been braised for 8 hours. The meat literally fell off and still makes my mouth water.
We finished off with their sake kasu cake ($9). It was the first time I've had it since Japan so I had to have it. And it ended being my favourite dessert in a Toronto Japanese restaurant. It also came with a scoop of green tea ice cream. If you've never had sake kasu cake you're in for a treat. It's slightly similar to cheese cake but less heavier and deeper in flavour. I would defiantly recommend the cake even if you're stuffed after dinner.
I will be returning back to Nakamori's very soon. It's still a new restaurant with some kinks to work out, but those kinks are definitely not in the menu. I was very impressed with everything that I ate. Also Nakamori has a sake exclusively from Izumi (the distillery sake company) and I typically hate sake, but we tried the Nakamori sake ($48) and I must say that I would order it again. It was very similar to a Riesling white wine, very smooth. And I'm also glad to see local restaurants supporting local venders.