Restaurants near Church Street

What a treat to open the door off busy Carleton near Yonge, pass through a cute coffee shop and enter the amazing Le alert. Staff was so friendly, food delicious and ambience very upbeat. We’ll be back! A real treat.

We had an amazing birthday dinner experience. Nice staff and chef. Food was great as well.

The vibe is fantastic and the food and drinks can back it up

Amazing drinks, but the matcha tiramisu is a little too sweet.

The restaurant is upstairs in a row home. When you first walk in, there is an small waiting area to sit with two bar sections. The bar in the front of the house is reserved for sushi omakase and the bar in the back of the house is reserved for tempura omakase. Music was composed of light jazz which allowed for silent reflection with each dish while also engaging conversation with company. All ingredients for the meal were imported from Japan. Tempura Omakase was $195 CAD and consists of a 5-pieces sashimi, 7-courses of different Japanese seafood tempura, a fruit aperitif, 4-course vegetable tempura, and a dessert. The tempura came with a choice of 4 sauces - lightly salted dried garlic, matcha salt, kombu salt, and tentsuyu (tempura sauce). The chef will recommend which sauce accompanies the current ingredient. The pairing did not disappoint. As an added bonus, the chef may throw in an extra dish that he is piloting. In my case, he threw in a stuffed shiitake mushroom that was filled with sashimi. Pro-tip: if you pay with cash, you get a 15% discount. (NOTE: Please pay the full amount so that the deserving staff could make a decent living.) Overall impression: I did not know that tempura could be so luxurious and tastes so decadent. This was the epitome of Japanese cuisine - careful thought and attention that maximizes the experience of each ingredient. This experience has changed the way I view tempura. This was aided by how funny and charismatic the chef was. 10/10 experience. I will always come back when visiting Toronto.