A Fish Tale

Tuesday night, I headed to Yonge and Eglinton to try Fin Izakaya. I have been told that it is comparable to Guu but not as loud and packed. When I was there, there were about 15 people in the restaurant including several 20-something and 30-something Japanese. Fin seems like a Japanese take on the current Asian restaurant aesthetic (e.g., wooden tables and faux leather couches and seats). All the wood is dark. Wood slats cover up the windows and down the main entrance, dividing the room into 2 sections. There is a private room, multiple tables, and a large table divided by bamboo stalks that seats about 14. The sushi bar and open kitchen span most of the span along the back wall. Various sake-related accoutrements line the walls: bottles, drums of rice, etc.

I mostly ordered the same dishes as this blog post except for 2 items off the special menus: 2 skewers of pork belly Kushiyaki with sea-salt and teriyaki ($3 each), Saba Aburi - blowtorched mackerel ($8), Takoyaki - octopus balls ($5.75), and Duck Shichimi Yaki ($8). From the special menu which was just updated for March 2011, I got the Hamachi Kama - grilled Yellowtail collar ($7). From the special tuna menu, which is available because they buy entire tunas, I ordered the Tuna Tataki ($8). In fact, on March 24 starting at 7 pm, there is a live Tuna Carving Show with samurai sword. There is also a Rewards program you can sign up for.

The first inkling that I may have ordered too much food was when the Saba came out. There were 20-25 slices of fish! It was ok and definitely a bang for your buck, but the mackerel palled by the 20th slice, and I missed the slight coating of garlic oil put on blowtorched fish at Yuzu/Japango. The Takoyaki was a generous size and came practically hidden by massive piles of shaved bonito. It was chewy goodness but I think that Kenzo Ramen gives you more octopus. The duck, sprinkled with Shichimi spice mix, had a slight spiciness. It came on a hot platter with green onions and enoki mushroom. This was good duck. The pork belly was also tasty but the teriyaki skewer was better than the sea-salt. I'm not sure if there are grades of pork belly, but with the sea-salt you can tell that it wasn't high-end meat. On the other hand, I'm not complaining too hard about generous skewers of sizzling pork for $3.

What about the specials? The tuna tataki was a deep red, mostly raw through the middle, but cooked along the edges. It came on a bed of spicy salad of thinly sliced cucumber, onions and other vegetables. The salad had a small spicy kick. The tuna was average but I guess you don't use high grade tuna for tataki. Finally the yellowtail collar came out. It was, in fact, the grilled collar of a fish with the side fins still attached. It was also a rather large piece. Perhaps because I was already stuffed about 1.5 dishes ago, I didn't get very much out this dish. It tasted like cooked fish. It probably would have gone better with some rice and a vegetable dish.

Fin Izakaya is a comfortable restaurant with some tasty, generously portioned, dishes. At the other tables, I also saw a beef hot plate and a platter of fiery red grilled squid. It was quieter than Guu, although the waitstaff do yell out greetings as you enter/leave. The electronic dance music may or may not be to your taste, depending on what kind of mood you're in.