Feza Izakaya is located at 15229 Yonge St., in Aurora, the municipality two north of central Toronto. It's conveniently transit-accessible on the York Blue bus line which connects to Finch subway station (although it’s two fares with Presto... there’s another when transferring at Bernard terminal. GO may be a better value.) We went for weekend lunch. Pop is $1.50, canned not AYCD, but least there is Coke Zero. Soy at table was quite good, not salty and fresh. Happily, reusable chopsticks are used. Feza has a contemporary wood-and-white interior.
Mishy loved the seaweed salad. Green salad had Thousand Islands dressing but at least it was good and fresh. Miso soup was quite good, not dilute but right at the edge of being so though still quite savoury. Chicken and beef yakitori were both fantastic and definitely the best we've had a long time, if not ever, as they were not breaded, and in a delicious sauce, moist and flavourful not dry like most places.... one of the few times we’ve insisted on yakitori seconds!
Deep-fried scallop aka surimi was also excellent as was not dried out and the sauce was very good. Chicken teriyaki was excellent as the sauce, although not of teriyaki character, was delicious and the chicken was moist and Mishy also said it was not rubbery, which is her highest praise. Beef teriyaki was served sizzling and was delicious, and we both loved it; the sauce was not exactly the same as the chicken teriyaki but a little darker probably from having beef stock in it. Chicken wings were also very good, crisp on the outside but moist on the inside and cooked very well. Sweet potato fries were delicious and I loved the chipotle sauce included.
Vegetable fried rice was excellent, smoky and with a very good flavour balance that was not too salty. Spring rolls are excellent and flavourful, not reheats or dried out and the sauce was good too. Tempura including shrimp and vegetable were also excellent, light and flaky, and the sauce had a wine-like quality and was excellent. Gyoza were very good. not overdone. moist and flavourful. We both noted that the cheese wontons were a little short of cheese, but otherwise very good including the sauce.
California roll was very good with very fresh ingredients. Salmon cheese roll, which is similar to if not Philadelphia roll, was excellent with a good balance of ingredients, ie enough cream cheese and fresh salmon. Happily, Mishy's favourite, salmon rose is on the lunch menu, and it was excellent with fresh salmon and good sauce. Salmon, red snapper aka tilapia, butterfish aka escolar, and surf clam nigiri were all excellent. Inari nigiri were done in an interesting configuration with an open pocket I have never seen before; I expected them to be crunchy like nachos but they were not, and they were quite excellent.
For dessert, ice jelly was excellent as it actually had some sweetness in it which made it enjoyable. Lychee jelly was excellent as well and had boba in it and was very good. Mango pudding also had boba in it and was fantastic. Lychee pudding, which I didn't even expect because there was also lychee jelly, was also fantastic; the desserts here are excellent. Japanese cheesecake was served with strawberry sauce on the side and the two together were wonderful. Mango, strawberry and green tea ice cream are all super-fresh, soft and although the mango was of average flavour, the green tea and strawberry were among the better we've had. It’s $28.99 for weekend lunch which is a little less than average these days, and this nicely erases any very minor shortcomings there may have been. Feza got several items right that almost everywhere else doesn’t, the quality was excellent and it was a memorable meal. We’d happily return!
Rating: 10 / 10
