TORA Restaurant at Yorkdale Celebrates Anniversary

TORA Restaurant just celebrated their one year anniversary and Torontonicity was invited to the festivities on February 1, 2020! Guests of the birthday celebration enjoyed a sample of signature dishes and wine courtesy of Leftfield Winery from New Zealand. If you haven’t had a chance to make it out to try this modern Aburi restaurant located in the southwest corner of Yorkdale Mall, read on!

TORA is the sister location to downtown Toronto’s waterfront Aburi hotspot, Miku. This North York location, however, is owned by Seigo Nakamura and is the owner’s fourth establishment since taking on the family business in the mid-1990s. Nakamura brought the traditional Kaiten-style sushi experience (conveyor belt serving system) to Toronto, and is now celebrating one year since opening!

We started our delightful evening with a glass of Leftfield’s Sauvignon Blanc: a lovely white that’s refreshingly dry, crisp, and pairs perfectly with grilled seafood. The fruitier notes in the wine not only opened up our appetite, but the drier aspect allowed our palette to stay clear and open to the flavours of the dishes we were about to enjoy.

Guests were treated to a sample menu of the traditional Aburi dishes, along with a couple of other grilled bites. We started with the Chicken Teriyaki Bite, served with a sweet soy glaze. This was a delightful pairing with the wine, as the glaze intensified the fruit notes in the wine!

A platter of eggplant nigiri came by, and we grabbed one to try. This is served with a shiitake moromi miso sauce that allows the earthy notes of the eggplant to really come through. This fantastically fresh vegetarian option is full of flavour, but light enough to enjoy at any moment. This dish may not be suited to fans of pure and clean flavours, but I would recommend it to anyone who may just be learning about their preferences in sushi dishes, as it is really delicious and not an overpowering combination of flavours.

We stuck with the vegetarian options for our next bite and went with the Miso Tofu Inari: miso-marinated tofu, daikon, carrots, and shari in a tofu pocket. This is a very filling option, so don’t be fooled by the smaller serving numbers when you order this dish. The pocket itself is filled with all the ingredients, so it is quite a big bite to take. The sweet exterior of the marinated tofu pocket was lovely, and paired nicely with the fresh flavours of the mix contained inside. I would highly recommend this for sharing at a table.

The kaiten serving style is the focus of TORA, but there is table seating available for groups of families that would like to share dishes. Each table has a tablet with the full menu, and guests are welcome to order in waves and at their own pace. The inclusion of kaiten and table seating means that individuals, pairs, and groups are all welcome to dine at TORA no matter what your time limits.

Take a look at the conveyor belt serving method by watching a short clip here.

We spent the evening sampling various dishes, and couldn’t go wrong with any option! We enjoyed everything that we were served, and would love to return to TORA on another evening. Make sure to try the Hirame EdoPrime Nigiri (that comes with a lovely yuzu soy sauce) and the Spicy Shrimp Inari. Next time you’re near Yorkdale Mall and need a delicious bite of well-crafted Aburi sushi, grab a table at TORA and then let us know what your favourite items were by commenting down below!

TORA Restaurant, Yorkdale Shopping Centre,
Southwest Corner, Upper Level near Parking H & J
612B-3401 Dufferin Street

You might also be interested in reading, “KaKa All You Can Eat Premium Sushi in Toronto“.