Chako is located in the plaza at 3175 Rutherford Road in Vaughan, more specifically Concord, the municipality north of Toronto's west end. It's almost directly north of the new Vaughan Metropolitan Centre subway station, the most northerly of the line, so we were able to bike there from the subway though I am unsure if that qualifies as “transit-accessible.” This is now the fourth of the Chako chain we've reviewed. We went for weekend lunch. Pop is $2 not AYCD and not canned either. There is shichimi seasoning, soy sauce and barbecue sauce at table, and all actually labelled which is rare and appreciated. Soy is salty and strong, but at least flavourful and not off. However, we noted that all of the condiments from bottles had a slightly musty aroma as though the bottles had been stored for a while or not cleaned up properly, but thankfully it was slight. A real negative which unfortunately I can't include in a food rating is the music was way too loud, and we were at the front where the speakers are. We found ourselves shouting over it. Happily they finally turned it down when asked.
We were both blown away by the miso soup which was fantastic, savoury, not diluted at all and had just enough green onions. Green salad was fresh enough but a bit boring on the dressing; I think it is a house custom with citrus, but it needs more of something. We both love the pickled radish, and Mishy said it was amazing. .. it may be a simple dish of radish, vinegar, sweetener and salt, but it works. Kimchi was fantastic with a wonderful flavour and very little heat and we both loved it. Bean sprouts Mishy described as boring, but they did have a mild but savoury flavour and I enjoyed them. California, spicy salmon, mango and cucumber roll maki is also included and although Mishy wasn't big on them I didn't have a problem with them and they were quite good, of course especially with the included soy, and the real wasabi we bring along.
Finally on to the barbecue, the beef of both varieties was phenomenal as it was large pieces of a very nice cut and was seasoned very well. We both loved the chicken which was very well seasoned especially with the additional seasoning and barbecue sauce we had. Calamari wasn't bad for calamari, as it is not my favourite but was still quite good... adding some seasoning really helps. Pork was so good that we ate it without even realizing it was pork because its quality was similar to that of beef... I ended up ordering seconds.
For dessert there are double-chocolate strawberry and vanilla Chapman's ice cream cups, or mango pudding but unfortunately only one is allowed like the Melona bars at other places. I guess they were feeling generous (or they thought we were from Michelin) as we managed two... Double chocolate and strawberry were good but understated considering they are pre-packaged. The homemade mango pudding was better with more flavour and chunks of fresh mango. There is an undocumented 12% service charge, but I don't mind as this is about the tip that I pay usually, however some may have objections. The inexpensive $28.99 lunch option price was quite good for the offerings and included everything we wanted anyway, some of which especially the most important beef items were excellent and overshadowed the minor shortcomings.
Rating: 8.5 – 9 / 10
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