Food is fresh and original, although some dishes are conceptual mishmashes
Mia Stainsby
Sun
Toratatsu Japanese tapas bistro owner Kodai Uno (left) and sous chef Takoshi (Kin) Kanamori present delightful dishes such as this Negitoro & Avacado Tuna Tartar. Photograph by : Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun
If you experience déjà vu while dining at Toratatsu, your taste buds might be recalling something — perhaps a visit to Shiru Bay Chopstick Cafe in Yaletown? Both restaurants are operated by the same family and Kodai Uno is chef at both places, explaining the flavour reverb.
Uno’s sister works at the front of the house, his mother does the books and his father … well, he owns 18 restaurants in Tokyo so he jets between the two cities.
Uno Jr. is particularly excited about wine. You can tell that in his timbre when I mention the wine list: “I love wine,” he says, and I can feel his face light up and melt into a grin over the phone. In fact, he thinks of Toratatsu (tiger-dragon) more as a wine and tapas bar than an izakaya.
“It’s still Japanese but I’m trying to match world wines with the food. The food has a little western influence. I’m trying to bring in wines from different parts of the world and prove a point that they do match with Japanese flavours.”
Upon arriving and settling in, you’ll see what appear to be a couple of peppermints in a small bowl on the table. Do not eat them. They are, in fact, dry, compressed oshiburis (hand wipes). The server will pour water over them and they will inflate into a tight roll. You unroll it and wipe your hands. A diner has posted a how-to oshiburi video, with giggling sound effects, on YouTube.
The menus arrive in a flurry of papers — the regular menu, a sheet of specials, sashimi (on lovely cedar paper), chef’s recommendations.
Toratatsu doesn’t have the buzz or the resources of Hapa Izakaya or Kingyo but Uno’s food is fresh and original although some dishes are conceptual mish-mashes.
At this location, Uno includes a section called Kushitem, or tempura bites.
“Most places would bread them but I use tempura batter for a lighter, crisper texture,” he says.
And they are nice bites to start off the meal. Fans of the ebi mayo (extra-large deep-fried prawns) will find it here; mushroom soba pasta with mountain yam is quite a substantial dish, made slippery in the mouth by the mountain yam; spot prawns are sliced carpaccio thin and topped with a salad that perhaps overwhelms the delicate seafood. Negitoro avocado was one of those mishmashy dishes — a tuna tartare, mixed with mayo and topped with avocado tempura, which survived the quick plunge into hot oil.
Smoked-kissed duck is one of those east-meets-west creations, showcasing Uno’s French training at Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, as well as while cooking at L’Emotion under Jean-Yves Benoit (now of Mistral Bistro).
The east-west merger I liked best was Berkshire pork meatloaf with grated daikon in ponzu sauce. They were actually meatballs — tasty, light and not in the least bit oily.
A good test of quality control is the sashimi. We ordered striped jack and tuna. Both were great. The Toratatsu roll came with tiger prawn, salmon caviar and avocado in rice paper. Rice paper wrapped around sushi rice is a bit redundant and doesn’t work as well as the winning combination of nori and rice
Uno says the desserts were made to go with wine. They are, as Japanese-inspired desserts can be, unusual. I tried a pink pepper ice cream with olive oil. It was pink with crushed red peppercorns and olive oil on the top. “It’s savoury so it will go with a lot of white wines,” Uno says, “like the Red Rooster riesling.” Another somewhat savoury dessert is azuki sembeh (rice cracker) ice cream.
He also makes chocolates to be paired with red wine. “Definitely, I’d pair them with the Tarapaca Chilean cabernet sauvignon.”
Notably, the restaurant is open to 2 a.m., so it’s become a late night haunt for hungry industry sorts, especially cooks and chefs from other izakayas around town.
TORATATSU
Overall: Rating 3
Food: Rating 3
Ambiance: Rating 3
Service: Rating 2 1/2
Price: $$
735 Denman St., 604- 685-9399. Open Monday to Saturday, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
