There’s a new way to go out for dinner. It’s actually a cross between a pub crawl and dinner. I’ve been avoiding this strategy for a while because the thought of it makes me miserable. Can I not plan where and when to eat? Apparently not. We have the option to sulk, act our age and not go to those places.
But how else are you going to have dinner at Bar Raval or Hanmoto? ’Cause the hottest restos in town don’t take reservations, they fill up by 6:08 every night, and they stay full till way past your bedtime.
It’s almost a joke. We tried to get into Hanmoto at 9:30 on a Saturday night. They showed us the list of people who’d left their names and cell numbers and guesstimated the wait at an hour and a half. For dinner!
Bar Raval is also a misery to get into, as are most of the other interesting new spots in town. So here’s the strategy: Take TTC or a cab or park your car where there is a cluster of desirable no-res restos. It’s likely College or Dundas West. In the digital age, with a little help from Google Maps you can figure this out pretty easily. Then just start strolling. Best time for this is between 7 and 7:30, when the eager beavers who grabbed the first seating are leaving.
You don’t get into the first place? No sweat, leave your cell number and keep walking. Try the second place. Same routine. Stop for a drink in a cool bar (of which there are may in the target area) and then hit place #3. Soon you’ll be eating, with a nice little buzz on.
The Hot Hot Tofu was a new special at Hanmoto.
If it’s Hanmoto that will be a good thing because they essentially serve bar food. It just happens to be great bar food. I love the food, and the place, a slightly upmarket garage grunge bar, is pretty cool too. And I love that they serve most dishes rather ingeniously: Moto eggs sit pretty on a charred rectangular wooden tray over small stones in a round plate. And they’re fab: Devilled eggs very jazzed with chilies, salmon eggs, crisp tiny rice balls, soy and shreds of chicken skin.
Hamachi tartare is what happened when Japanese food got its Korean mojo on. Don’t get me wrong. I love Japanese food. I spent two weeks in Japan in early spring and loved every meal. But it can get a tad bland, which makes Hanmoto’s Korean influence welcome. It’s owned by Leemo Han of OddSeoul, who also owned the (now closed) Swish by Han.
So the Hamachi is jumped up with chili, ponzu, shiso and avocado. The nice big portion of uni (sea urchin) comes with crisp nori leaves, wasabi and sushi rice, for make-your-own sushi rolls —with savoury little bites of crisped chicken skin. Dyno wings are oversize chicken wings stuffed with pork dumpling meat and then thick batter, deep-fried and served in a takeout box. A little sweet, a little greasy and a lot of forbidden fruit fun. The only food item we don’t like is katsu bun. It’s a huge hunk of way too fatty deep-fried panko crusted pork belly with soy remoulade on a bun. Too big to bite, too much fat and bread and breading to eat.
Does the dour server even notice we’ve barely touched the bun? Fat chance. But that’s in keeping. They also have no phone and no sign. Why would today’s hottest resto even bother with such servile niceties?
’Cause they sure don’t have to.
Hanmoto, 2 Lakeview Ave., $35 Dinner for two
