CLOSED - T.C.J. Restaurant (Pan-Asian)

Update 2020-Jan.22 - Sadly, T.C.J. is another of many victims of Toronto's demolition of much of its downtown core to build condos. With its excellent food and lunch price we had visited a few times before it closed, and the staff confirmed that unfortunately it is gone and not reopening elsewhere.

T.C.J. (Thai/Chinese/Japanese) is located in Toronto's core at 64 Queen St. E, just E. of Church St. and only about two minutes' walk east of the Queen subway station. I passed it while walking one day so Mishy and I made a night of it. The interior is nice enough and quiet enough except for the largescreen TVs and background music; there are no booths but that was OK. Contrary to some writeups I have seen, the service was excellent, the more so as there was only one hard-working waitress that I saw. We went on Monday night



to catch the Sunday/Monday special where dinner is $18.99, plus there's a 10% discount for paying cash.

To start off with, the soy sauce was salty, even the "low sodium" variety, but if you're expecting any other letdowns you'll be as pleasantly surprised as we were! In fact just about everything about TCJ after this was top-notch. Mishy liked even the spoons (plastic version of the classic ceramics) and the comfortable chopsticks. As well, they gave us a small pile of order sheets right at the start so we didn't have to wait for one.

We tried to sample as many dishes as we could while also including the "staples" as TCJ has a lot to offer, and everything kept the bar high. Spring rolls were excellent without the "hay" flavour that many have (excessive bamboo shoots?) Dumplings were fantastic, probably the best we've ever had. Shrimp tempura very light and flaky batter; perfectly done. Cheese wontons were excellent. Miso soup was excellent and flavourful. The hot and sour soup was stunningly good, as much as in any a la carte setting I have experienced. Teriyaki chicken was cooked perfectly with an excellent sauce full of smoky hints. Chicken cutlets were savoury and delicious. Green salad had a Thai-style dressing and was fantastic. Sashimi and salmon sushi were both very fresh and excellent, and perfectly formed.

So, TCJ can do the "staples" as well as anyone else, plus there is plenty of more exotic fare that is also worth the trip. Thai spicy special noodle was fantastic, Thai chili with cashew vegetables likewise excellent, broccoli with chicken savoury and delicious, and Mongolian beef excellent though a touch sweet (but preferred by some that way.) Any of these could have been the basis of a wonderful meal just on their own. Everything is wonderfully savoury; the sauces and spicing are perfect and TCJ must have a talented team in the kitchen.

Finally, the ice cream was fresh and amazingly good... the mango ice cream had hints of coconut that really added to it, even the tea was stand-out, rich and aromatic instead of dilute as in most restaurants. One detail we loved that showed the attention to detail and quality of the place was how the serviettes are folded into a "pocket" around the utensils (see photo above)... cute! I thoroughly enjoyed TCJ in every way and will certainly be returning, at least on Sunday or Monday nights! Certainly then for the price I can't give TCJ anything but the highest praise.

Rating: 10/10