East Izakaya is located at 129 King St. in St. Catharines, which is about 100 km west of Toronto around the “Golden Horseshoe.” It is close to the St. Catherine's GO station, which is easily accessible from Toronto, so can be considered transit-accessible. We had already covered the East Izakaya in nearby Niagara Falls. iPad menus are used. Unfortunately there are disposable chopsticks, but we bring our own as always. Ginger is dyed pink. AYCD pop is available for $3. Soy at table was only slightly salty, flavourful and fresh. Mishy actually commented that the soy sauce was excellent and I've never heard her do that before.
Miso soup was excellent and we both enjoyed it as it had plenty of savour and was not watered down. Japanese potato salad was very mildly flavoured but still quite good, although pretty much like potato salad everywhere else. Wonton soup had a very nice mild flavour, which was a combination of the wontons, enoki mushrooms and green onions or scallions. Green bean gomaae salad’s flavour was very mild but it was still quite good. Mishy said the seaweed salad was fantastic. Green salad was definitely green as it was baby spinach, and the dressing was house-made and was excellent, one of the better I have enjoyed. Dumpling soup was fantastic as the dumplings’ savour combined with the broth which is the same as from the wonton soup, and was actually better than that.
General Tao chicken now we both enjoyed as it was quite tasty and fresh, although not as spicy as other places, but I prefer that. We noted that the sweet-and-sour chicken was pretty much exactly the same but with added pineapple. Chicken teriyaki was very good with a very good sauce, and Mishy actually said it was excellent, whereas she describes most places’ offerings as “rubbery” so there is that. She said that she did not like the flavouring of the brussels sprouts at all, describing it as “gross” possibly as it contain lemongrass which she abhors, but I liked it. Bacon chicken was awesome, of course, because it had bacon, so I ended up ordering seconds. Oropon beef skewers were fantastic, not only a tasty cut but was well-seasoned featuring cumin, and was delicious. Grilled pineapple was excellent and very well-spiced. Cheese yaki was quite tasty.
Salmon nigiri was very good and fresh, and Mishy noted that the rice was a perfect consistency which stayed together, and with the fish slice. It also paired very well with the soy sauce. Red snapper aka tilapia nigiri was quite fresh, and again with the same good rice consistency. Surf clam nigiri, crab meat (probably surimi) and oil fish nigiri were all quite fresh and good. Chipotle salmon sushi is served on a tortilla chip, and I think they use it to disguise the salmon that is going to go off soon, though it was indeterminate if it was in this state. Spicy salmon sushi was excellent, and among the best I've had; when I mentioned this to Mishy she even tried it, which she usually never does, and she liked it too. Cheese salmon roll is East Izakaya's version of the Philly roll and was quite good and fresh.
Beef teriyaki was good, although not exemplary, as was not the most flavourful cut, however it's nice having that on the lunch menu in any case so I will not complain. Mixed vegetables were excellent, as the sauce was perfect and very savoury, although Mishy didn’t like the added tofu, and I needed to explain that technically it was a vegetable. Lotus root tempura was very good, and I've never had it before at least that I can remember. Spring rolls were pretty good and were not oily, which is always welcome; they have a little bit of added sauce on top which helped. Shrimp tempura was very good and not oily and was light and flaky enough. The sauce is also quite good.
For dessert there are several flavours of ice cream, ora yaki tempura and fruit bowl. Vanilla ice cream was good and fresh and not freezer burn although not French vanilla. Green tea ice cream was very good and also not freezer burn and fresh. Strawberry ice cream was excellent with a fantastic flavour. Red bean ice cream was very good and fresh, although did not have that elusive flavour. Mango ice cream was excellent with the among the best mango flavour although it was a little more muted but still very good. Coconut flavour was fantastic, woody and intense... definitely tied for first place as the best coconut ice cream I've ever had and it is my favourite flavour. Black sesame ora yaki tempura had a nice flavour, but it paled into insignificance in comparison.
Weekend lunch was $32.99, and this is a few dollars pricey than the standard these days considering there was no sashimi. However the quality was there, and just about everything was excellent. It was an excellent and very enjoyable lunch.
Rating: 9 / 10
