Location: 1378 Queen Street East, Toronto
Website: https://www.tatsuros.com/
I like Tatsuro’s a whole lot. I’d heard good things, and I figured I’d like it, but it kinda knocked my socks off.
They serve pasta and brunch with a Japanese flair; I stuck to the pasta side of the menu, and based on the level of quality, I’ll clearly have to come back to try their brunch.
There was a Japanese pasta spot in Markham called Shiso Tree Cafe that, sadly, closed a few years back; since then, I’ve had a Shiso-Tree-Cafe-sized hole in my heart. That hole has finally been filled.
I started with the nori fries (“nori seasoning, spicy mayo”). These were quite tasty; the fries were nicely cooked, the nori sprinkled on top works really well, and the spicy mayo on the side is enjoyably zippy.
For my main, I had the Wafu Carbonara (“bacon, ponzu, onsen egg, parmesan”), and yikes, it was so good.
It was incredibly, incredibly rich — with the richness only being amped up by the silky onsen egg they put on top. It basically melts into the sauce when you mix it up, and really cranks up the dish’s creaminess.
By all accounts it should be too heavy and rich, but there’s a nice lightness you get from the citrusy ponzu that really cuts through the heaviness and makes the dish sing. Legitimately one of the best bowls of pasta I’ve had in a long time.
I also tried the Curry Bolognese (“beef + pork curry, pickled onion, fried shallot, cilantro”), which takes the flavours of Bolognese and Japanese curry and crams them together in a way that’s surprisingly delightful.
Michael Eats 