August 8 is located at 834 Brant St., Burlington. We’ve reviewed several locations of this popular chain; they seem to be doing quite well. It's a few minutes’ walk from the Burlington GO station so can be considered transit-accessible. August 8 has a modern darker interior with recessed lighting. We went for weekend lunch. AYCD pop is available for $3.49. Thankfully reusable chopsticks are used. Ginger is not dyed pink. Soy at table was fresh, rich and flavourful but quite salty. Music was not appropriate to the venue atmosphere.
Miso soup was excellent, not dilute, savoury and a wonderful treat on a very cold day. Thai mushroom soup I have not had before, and it was quite good, although with some persistent heat. Mishy said the spring rolls were excellent and I agree they were very good as they were hot and piping, fresh and not oily. Pork shiu mai was very good, although not with any sauce, and there are plenty more of dim sum options on the menu. Chicken cutlet aka torikatsu was quite good.
Salmon nigiri was excellent, thick, extremely fresh with good rice with very good flavour. Red tuna was also very fresh and equally thick, enough that it was like having sashimi with a little rice. I had no problem with the Philly rolls but Missy said there was not enough cheese in it. Surf clam nigiri was good and fresh.
Beef teriyaki was in fact too good to be on an AYCE lunch menu... it appeared to be actual pieces of steak cut very thick and, was very juicy and flavourful, and probably about the best steak teriyaki we've ever had. Mishy didn't care for the chicken skewers but I liked mine ... and hers. Salmon teriyaki was very good and Mishy had it too, and I appreciate that it had a slice of lemon for the fishiness. Chicken teriyaki was very good and Mishy said it was not rubbery, which is high praise from her indeed.
There are several varieties of tacos on the menu but beware that they are a full size, whereas other places serve mini-tacos on their AYCE menus to prevent overdoing it, and also the menu photograph makes them look small. Unfortunately the hooly chicken taco was the first thing on the menu that I did not like. I don't know what area of the world the flavour combinations in it is considered good, but it is certainly isn't this one and it was very difficult to finish. Mishy helped with the beef tacos but they had the same sauce on them. She noticed that the burned flavour did not confine itself to the shells, but also extended to the ingredients and that's what made them unpleasant.
For dessert, we both really loved the special dessert which is cheesecake with ice cream à la mode; Mishy had torched chocolate cheesecake, and I had fieldberry. It is served on a large plate with the sauce drizzled on and would probably be $12 if it was by itself. I was surprised that there was a garnish on the banana tempura dish but at least the banana tempura itself was very good. Mishy didn't care for the mango pudding shot glasses, but I had no problem with them. Mango ice cream was fantastic, full of flavour and just the kind of mango ice cream that I love. French vanilla was very good and not freezer burned, although Mishy thought it was boring. Chocolate was full of flavourful bitter chocolate notes, and also not freezer burned, and Mishy love it. However we both noticed that the matcha ice cream by its name is supposed to be stronger in flavour than green tea, but it was very mild. Weekend lunch was $31. This is pretty much usual for the area right now. Other than the unfortunate tacos we did have an excellent lunch with the sushi and beef teriyaki as standouts.
Rating: 8.5 – 9 / 10
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