Leslieville Hotspot

Nothing special outside - feeding frenzy inside

Be prepared to shout when you have dinner at Tomi-Kro on a Saturday night. When the place is packed, the servers are swirling and the percussion is pumping, it can be awfully loud! But once the food starts to arrive and you settle in for some serious eating, you quickly realize why this place is on fire: the kitchen knows what it's doing!

As four adventurous eaters with no food allergies or issues, we ordered a range of dishes to share:

*Peppercorn teriyaki striploin with tempura onion frittes (the peppery meat was seared and served in thin strips alongside a mount of frittes that should also be a side order option on their own...)

*Miami ribs with a soy, honey and ginger-chili glaze (the hit of the evening, the meat was "fall off the bone" tender and the sticky glaze nailed the right balance of hot and sweet).

*Roasted beets with chevre, balsamic vinegar and pistachio (an homage to Jean-Georges's much-loved goat cheese royale, roasted beet marmalade and toasted crushed pistachios?)

*Butter chicken with raita and chili chick peas (the chicken was overdone a tad and could have used a bit more sauce...)

*Sweet chili shrimp, with roasted pineapple and rice noodles (a

*Edamame, with butter and sea salt (served already peeled, this was the one dish we could have been fine without)

*Tempura lobster maki balls (another hit, these perfectly round balls of juicy lobster and rice are best dipped in soy sauce and eaten right away while they're hot and crunchy!).

*Asian greenery with vegetarian oyster sauce (sounds bland but they were an ideal match for the bold, flavour-forward dishes we ordered).

Note to foie gras lovers: there were several options on the menu we didn't end up ordering but which looked pretty amazing:

*Foie gras creme brulee with lingone berry jam and red onion pickle

*Seared scallops with wilted spinach and mushroom foie gras jus

It would easy to simply characterize Tomi-Kro as a pan-Asian or fusion tapas joint, but those wouldn't do the menu and its execution justice. Rest your voice and come ready for a great meal inspired by the cuisines of Japan, China, India, Thailand, Greece, France and Italy.

$260 for four, including a bottle of wine, two scotches and two decaf espressos
Tomi-Kro
1214 Queen East @ Leslie St.

Tel. 416-463-6677