We parked our car at the hotel and started walking to University Avenue. Finding the restaurant was easy enough for us to handle (next to Shangri-La Hotel Toronto) but despite having a reservation, we had to wait for our table to be available.
It's a little too much to ask for four tired souls to hang around here for 30 minutes after a long long day which included flying over from Calgary but that was the plan right now. I decided to check out the Momofuku noodle bar here while we waited for them to call our name.
They actually have the floor plan of this place engraved to the walls right next to the elevator. How cool is that!?
Finally our table was ready, time to rest our feet now.
This table wasn't bad at all, had a nice view of University Avenue from up top.
We haven't had much to eat all day so weren't too picky in deciding what to eat at this point (around 8pm). Thankfully, they have a small amuse bouche for us - pickled cucumber. Simple but very nice (or perhaps we were too hungry?).
About 20 minutes or so has elapsed and our first starter was there waiting to be served - dungeness crab salad with kimchi apple, shrimp chip and cilantro. This was very clever serving a dungeness crab salad with shrimp chips and we were supposed to eat it like a lettuce wrap. Very good start (7/10).
Another simple dish - torn pasta with pine nuts, matsutake and chicken. The "torn" pasta has a very lovely bite and simply love the way the pine nuts and matsutake worked with the pasta. Small but very delish (7.5/10).
But at this point, it's at least 45 minutes since we placed our orders.
At the hour mark, our first main course finally showed up but we haven't finished all of our starters, have we? Where's our foie gras, pickled cherries, cashew and riesling? We called our server over and he said he's on top of it. OK.
Muscovy duck with turnip and currants. This was beautiful and the portion was huge, perfect for sharing. The duck breast was meaty, juicy and super tender. Really enjoy the acidity from the different currants which was subtle yet not overpowering (7.5/10).
Another server dropped off a Tuscan kale with cured ham, sweet onion and maple syrup for us. Isn't this supposed to be served with the meat but that was almost done by now. I tried to grab her to help chasing the outstanding dishes but again no luck.
Another hour, yes 60 minutes has gone by and our second main dish finally appeared in front of our very eyes - whole speckled trout from Kolapore Ontario with shrimp, tomato and smoked milk. This looked amazing but with the 2 hours which have gone by, this sea trout could have swum to the Atlantic Ocean and back by now.
But I had to admit, this was very nice. The meat was firm and flavorful with the smoked milk providing the trout a delicately milky texture (7/10).
There would be no dessert for us tonight as two of us were already napping on the table. It's almost 11pm, a whopping 3 hours were spent here on this meal with the vast majority of it waiting for the next dish to arrive. Pacing was absolutely horrible and despite the regular complaints to various servers, nothing has improved since the first dish (and what happened to the missing dish?).
In summary, the food was very very good but make sure that you've got enough time (and sleep) for it.
Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Third floor, 190 University Avenue, Toronto, Canada
Tel: +1 647 253-8000 Website: momofuku.com/toronto/daisho
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