Kinka Izakaya at Church Street

Written by Stephanie Loch and Chris Tran aka @ctfillah88 (GFT guest writer)

If you’re looking for the best authentic Japanese food in town, then Kinka Izakaya is the place. Not only is the food amazing but the service is excellent, proving their motto “serving people happiness” true! I was invited to a grand opening event there, not that the restaurant was new, it has been at 398 Church St. for a while, but the name was changed from ‘Guu Toronto’ to ‘Kinka Izakaya’ due to the ending of a franchise agreement between Kinka Family Inc. and Kitanoya Marketing Corp. The name ‘kinka’ means golden flower and symbolizes happiness in the Japanese culture. 

Our first dish was an appetizer called ‘Gomaae’. The blanched spinach was served steaming with black sesame sauce drizzled on top. The tartness of the spinach was cut by the sweetness of the sesame sauce to create a juicy combination. The deep green also contrasted nicely against the black oil dressing.

Our next dish was hokkaido scallop sashimi called ‘hotate carpaccio’. It was served cold and had a wasabi dressing which added a refreshing kick. It was garnished very nicely with grated beet and lemon. 

After that we had ‘Gyu shabu salad’. This salad consisted of iceberg lettuce, red, yellow and green peppers, and purple cabbage, the colours of the rainbow! Shabu-shabu beef was set on top with black sesame dressing. The beef was thinly sliced so each bite had a good ratio of meat to salad. 

Moving on to the heavier dishes we had ‘karaage’, which is deep fried chicken. It was so tender and flavourful because it was marinated in soy sauce. The pieces of chicken were bite size so you could pop them in your mouth like popcorn if you like. Yes they were that good! But don’t forget to dip them in the garlic mayo dipping sauce before!

Next we had ‘kakimayo’ which is baked oyster with spinach and mushrooms. The oysters were dressed with a garlic mayo and topped with melted cheese. Literally mouthwatering! 

Our next meaty dish was grilled beef short ribs known as ‘karubi’. They were seasoned with salt and pepper to bring out the real grilled flavour of the beef. The scallions dipping sauce added some extra flavour. The meat just fell off the bone! 

‘Gindara’ was my personal favorite if I had to choose. This grilled black cod was marinated in miso as cod does not have a very strong flavor on its own. This gave the cod a buttery texture that was ‘oh so tender’. A yuzu miso sauce was also drizzled on top to really make this dish delicious. Our last main dish was called ‘buta kimchi bibimbap’ (pictured at top of article). It was served beautifully in a scorching stone bowl filled with rice (which created a delicious crust on the bottom), ground pork, kimchi, assorted vegetables and egg. The way it came sizzling to us added to the experience of this dish. The egg was soft inside so once broken it became like a creamy spicy sauce when combined with the kimchi. 

Finally dessert! We were pretty full and satisfied by this point but there’s always room for dessert. This was a smooth almond tofu that left the palate feeling cool and fresh. 

To wash it all down we had to try their beer mojitos which were served in big Sapporo mugs. A bubbly beverage with a hint of mint and lime made this drink dangerous! All in all, Kinka Izakaya is as authentic as it gets! With a loud and busy atmosphere you’d swear you had just stepped across the Pacific and into one of the best Japanese restaurants around. The kitchen is open so you can watch with amazement as the chefs cook up these delightful dishes and share them with you. Also you may pick up some Japanese during your visit there as you’re welcomed with a warm “Kon’nichiwa!” and parted with “sayonara!” Can’t wait to go back again or try their other locations including one in Montreal.

Kinka Izakaya Original
398 Church St.
(416) 977-0999
www.kinkaizakaya.com

21 Day #HealthyAroma Challenge Results

I recently completed the #healthyaroma challenge and I must say, I feel great. For 21 straight days, I ate 2 meals from Aroma Espresso Bar each day. My diet consisted of high protein, low carb meals and my goal was to improve my lifestyle through healthy eating and exercise. For the third meal of each day, I tried my best to eat mindfully at food events or cooked healthy high protein, low carb meals. The #healthyaroma challenge was very successful as I was able to lose 13 lbs in 21 days. During this time, I also started an exercise program of cardio and strength training 3-4 days a week, including some pickup basketball. Check out the before and after pictures below. Pretty siginificant changes over the 21 days! Keep in mind that before the challenge, I had just gained some weight from a trip to Asia where I ate an insane amount of delicious food.

Day 1

Day 13

Day 21- lost a total of 13 lbs!

I approached my friends at Aroma Espresso Bar because I knew Aroma had a wide variety of healthy food options including a great selection of salads that would help me achieve my goal. One of the hardest parts about going on a healthy eating diet is meal prep and leaving this part to Aroma made it much easier. They have locations all around Toronto from downtown all the way to Vaughan and Markham, which was convenient for me as I spend my time travelling all over the city for food events and work as a physiotherapist. I was able to visit 14 different Aroma’s in the 21 days. I tried many different healthy items from their menu, including all 11 of their Salads, the Aroma Power Breakfast, Organic Oatmeal, Muesli and their Breakfast on the Go. Nutritional information for each menu item is available on their website which made it easy to help track what I was eating. There were a few items I enjoyed so much that they became a staple in my #healthyaroma diet. Here are my top 5 favourite healthy food items at Aroma Espresso Bar:

1. Aroma Hash- An all day Mediterranean style breakfast option with chicken, turkey and potato hash on top of arugula with a sunny side up egg on top of fresh in store baked bread. All of this sits on a layer of yogurt, sprinkled with za’atar spices and served with syrup and lemon olive oil dressing. You get a little bit of everything and the syrup tastes great but is optional if you want to be super healthy!
   
2. Aroma All-Day Power Breakfast- This was my go to item whenever I had the time to sit down and eat at the Aroma locations. The All-Day Power Breakfast is served with 2 eggs (any style), mixed greens, chopped tomato and cucumber salad, shredded carrots, a scoop of cream cheese, a scoop of feta, a scoop of avocado spread, 5 olives and your choice of fresh baked bread (I opted out of the bread almost every time to stick to my low carb, high protein diet) 
   
3. Warm Chickpea Salad- This was definitely my favourite salad from Aroma. A salad loaded with chickpeas, tomato, cucumber, red onion, parsley, hardboiled egg, garlic croutons (I skipped the croutons during this challenge). It is served with a lemon olive oil dressing and tahini. The tahini, which is basically ground sesame paste really compliments this salad.
   
4. Freekeh Salad- This is one of the newer salads on their menu and incorporates many healthy ingredients. The Freekeh salad is Aroma’s most colourful salad and consists of freekeh (a super grain), black quinoa, sprouted brown rice, organic baby kale, tomato, cucumber, carrot, pickle, red onion, parsely, za’atara seasoning and a scoop of labneh cheese (a thick, creamy Mediterranean yogurt based cheese). It is served with their lemon olive oil dressing. I loved the variety of ingredients, especially the labneh cheese and pickles that add a lot of flavour to the salad. Each of these salads contains 7.4 grams of fibre! 
   
5. Aroma Special Salad- I really enjoyed eating the Aroma Special Salad as a post workout meal. It’s a protein packed salad with mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, red onion, hardboiled egg, olives and your choice of flaked albacore tuna or feta cheese. Tastes best if you get half tuna and half feta! It’s also served with a low fat balsamic dressing. 

Customization! Added Smoked Salmon to the Aroma
Special Salad!

There are lots of excellent healthy food options at Aroma Espresso Bar and customization is also available. You can substitute or add items to your meal like chicken, steak, tuna, cheese, avocado, or smoked salmon. Although I focused mainly on their salads, they also have a nice selection of sandwiches and soups. Throughout the diet, I skipped all of their delicious baked pastries but those alfajore cookies were super tempting every time I stepped into an Aroma store. It was not easy for someone like me to get through these 21 days. I love food a lot and am fortunate enough to be able to attend many food events and tastings where I did cheat a few times. The first few days were especially difficult as I had to fight cravings for snacking, but it did get easier and results were very encouraging. The real challenge will be to continue this healthy eating and active lifestyle. I lost 13 lbs and overall I feel more energetic and stronger. Aside from losing weight, I hope that this can help me kick start a healthier lifestyle long term and inspire anyone else to do the same. Special thanks to Loren from Aroma who helped make this happen! I had lots of fun sharing this project on Instagram and Snapchat and thanks to everyone who followed and especially those who supported!