Ki Modern Japanese & Bar

The newest addition to the Shangri-la hotel is Ki, a Japanese fusion restaurant located on the second floor. Before coming here, all I knew was that there was another restaurant in Toronto and that this was a high end restaurant.

First impressions was that this was a large restaurant with expensive decor and an open layout. Offering small plates as well as mains; classical Japanese as well as fusion dishes, this restaurant seems to be having an identity crisis.


Seafood salad with spicy sauce. The sauce and the seaweed was served in a fried wonton cup. Presentation aside, the fish was fishy tasting, an indication that they were not using very fresh fish.


Tuna toro.


spider roll. A good roll, available at most sushi restaurants.


Kiwi tuna and the shrimp rice roll. The kiwi tuna had good visual appeal, but I did not really find the kiwi adding any flavor to the roll. The shrimp rice roll was reminiscent of a Vietnamese salad roll, but without any dipping sauce, the rice roll was a little dry.



Grilled Veal Chop with marinated king mushroom. By far the best dish on the menu. Shiso did no really add to this dish. The veal was cooked to a perfect medium rare. Juice and tender.



Creamy Miso Chowder with assorted seafood. Good balance between the cream and miso.



grilled shrimp and scallop skewer with mango sauce. Grilled just right. Sauce adds a sweetness which I found unnecessary as the seafood itself was quite flavorful already.



Grilled pork belly. This is more Chinese than Japanese. The pork pieces were too think making the dish too heavy. Thinner slices might have had a better effect.


Japanese Style Ceviche with sake, saba and amaebi. IMO the saba was too fishy to go into this dish. It overpowers the sweetness of the shrimp.


In conclusion,

• Liked the decor, the veal and the chowder.
• Did not like the pricing and many of the fusion dishes. Too much fluff that did not add to the flavor.
• This place may have been better marketed as a western restaurant than as a Japanese restaurant, as the better dishes all had little Japanese influences.
• Too overpriced to be worth a revisit. With Market just next door offering a $29 3 course lunch that is hard to beat, no wonder this place is so quite during lunch hour.
  

My version of guu seafood pizza

The last time I was at Guu with Garlic, I tried their scallop pizza and found the taste inspiring. Instead of a tomato based sauce, this used a Japanese Mayo instead. The pizza uses a regular crust but the creamier mayo and cheese combination was what I fell in love with.



My version of this pizza dawned on me the other night as I was making dinner. This takes literally less than 10 minutes to assemble and 5 minutes to cook.

Ingredients:

• Trader Joe's Naan Masala
• Japaneese Mayo
• Sharp cheddar cheese
• Fresh ground pepper
  
• Seafood of your choice. I used some small squid pieces, but any other seafood will do.

Grate the cheese finely , for the 2 pieces of naan I used about 1 cup of grated sharp cheddar and a little more to sprinkle on top. Add in about 3 tablespoons of mayo, and some fresh ground pepper and mix well. Add more mayo if needed. You just need enough to bind everything together.

Spread a thin layer of the mayo cheese mixture on the naan, add your seafood, and then finish with a sprinkle of cheese.

Put it into the toaster oven on the broil feature until seafood is cooked and cheese melted, around 5 minutes.

A meal in 15 minutes!! I like using the Naan masala a the stronger flavor holds up to the sharp chedder while adding its own favor to the dish.

This is a fool proof recipe that I will defintitely use again. You can also try other types of cheeses, but nothing too heavy as that would overpower all the seafood. I love how versatile the japanese mayo and cheese base works with all sorts of ingredients.

Thank you Guu for this meal!!