Lemongrass pork tacos and lychee martinis: inside a Toronto bistro serving nostalgic Asian fusion for 13 years

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By News Room 8 Min Read

As I sipped a lychee martini and ordered a shrimp and avocado ceviche garnished with a shiso leaf, I couldn’t help but wonder: was this restaurant transporting me back to the early 2000s? The menu called appetizers “small tapas” and mains “large tapas.” And just like that, the Asian fusion I once had a soft spot for nearly two decades ago, still lives on.

But not the watered-down kind of fusion we’ve grown used to — teriyaki glazes and Sriracha mayo passed off as innovation, yuzu added to iced drinks and beers on cue every summer, matcha and ube desserts now as common as chocolate chip. I’m thinking the Y2K-era of Asian cooking, where chefs incorporated predominantly East and Southeast Asian flavours into sharable plates in a chic restaurant in a glamorous city. Think Susur Lee’s Singapore Slaw, or ordering pad Thai at the long-closed Bamboo Club.

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