Is It A Chicken?

The corner at College and Dovercourt hosted popular hipster diner Hadley's for several years before rising rent shut them down. I never bothered with the short-lived outpost of pasta joint Levetto (and apparently Toronto never cared about this chain either as they are down to 1 location). Its fine dining replacement, Faim de Loup, lasted even shorter. I thought numerous times about trying its pricey tasting menu but the semi-random opening hours (and usually only twice a week) scuttled my plans.

There have been renovation activities in recent weeks though. So with outdoor dining now allowed in Toronto, on Thursday I sat down at one of the 3 tables of Gonzo Izakaya's sidewalk patio. Its menu offered more full-meal dishes like donburi and udon than the usual array of small plates of other izakayas. For lunch, I chose Ebi Okonomiyaki ($11) and Kakiage Tempura ($6).

I don't often eat Japanese pancake and this one was tasty if not exceptional. But I did enjoy the variety of flavours of shrimp, cabbage, batter, mayo, sauce, and bonito flakes. However, I loved the tempura. The shredded vegetables added a lot of crispiness to typical tempura. It was almost like eating string fries. Overall, this new place seems promising.