Imanishi Japanese Kitchen Toronto

Homestyle Japanese food

Anita from Toronto

""Imanishi Japanese Kitchen" is one of my favorite local Japanese restaurants in Toronto. They make delicious comfort food that's hard to find elsewhere!"

Anthony Bourdain (still mourning that loss) never gave up the name of his local NYC haunt – an Irish bar – because he didn’t want to ruin its perfect “local-ness” and have it overrun with tourists. Tony, I feel ya, but I gotta crack on my fave Toronto spot: Imanishi Japanese Kitchen.

It can be difficult to find, since the sign out front is left over from the previous tenant (a Portuguese sports bar) but trust me: once you find your way into the warmly lit room and have an array of dishes in front of you, you will not regret coming.

The food at Imanishi is best described as “Japanese home-style cooking” – it is comforting and delicious and goes well with sake or beer. Most of the menu is composed of small dishes that can be mixed and matched, such as: (anchovy) potato salad (if you don’t like anchovy, pretend I didn’t say it and order this anyways), agedashi eggplant (eggplant in a ginger-dashi broth), prawn and cilantro salad, corn kakiage (sweet corn tempura), yuzu karaage (yuzu fried chicken), tontoro (grilled pork cheek), tai (red snapper) carpaccio and they have a rotating selection of daily sashimi for those who will say “but isn’t this a Japanese restaurant?”. The rest of the menu is devoted to entrée-sized dishes such as Japanese curry and rice or ramen, making this an equally perfect spot for a solo diner or a group.

Come for the food and stay for the laid-back cool atmosphere.

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Toronto Spotter Anita

About me Bruce Wayne’s specialty was stopping crime in Gotham City as Batman. Clark Kent’s specialty was saving the world as Superman. And my specialty? I like to think it’s saving people from going to bad restaurants. Yes, if I had an alter ego, it would probably be FoodGirl (to be determined if this comes with tights and a cape). While I spend my days sitting in an office, I like to spend as much of my off time as possible devoted to food – whether it’s trying new restaurants, trying new recipes or watching the Food Network. Oh, and since every superhero needs...

About this spot

Dundas Street West 1330

Per dish from:

Website

4167064225

Oct 5, 2025

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