NOME IZAKAYA

Nome has been one of my go-to dinner restaurants since I moved to North York a year and a half ago. This is especially true on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when they have their $1 Malpeque oyster special. I’ve been guilty of ordering just oysters for dinner in the past.

Atmosphere: Walking into the restaurant for dinner at 6pm, the dark wood tables, dim lights and pretty servers gives off a bar/lounge vibe to the restaurant. As the night gets later and the line to get in is still packed at 10pm, the buzz inside is definitely building. With drink specials Thurs-Mon and a DJ presence on Friday and Saturday nights, Nome’s a great place for a drink in the neighbourhood on top of their satisfying food menu.

Service: Usually, service is a hit or miss. Sometimes there’s long gaps between dishes, and other times everything arrives at once. I’ve had orders mis-directed to my table as well as lost to others. The servers are friendly but the pace is hectic. It’s more on par with pub/bar style service than restaurant.

Food: Our group was actually 13 people, but we split up into two groups to facilitate ordering the small tapas style dishes. It still takes a bit of food to feed 6 people and we ended up ordered the majority of the menu.

The special of the night was a pitcher of Sapporo with an order of their Japa-Burger, sliced rib eye sliders with bbq sauce. The meat is tender, soft bun and a great sauce. I do usually order this as it’s one of the more filling items on their menu and goes great with beer. Pictured next is the Deep Fried Pork Belly, Grilled Beef Tongue and Mack-Attack sashimi. The pork belly was flavourful, but a little on the chewy side, same with the beef tongue. The seared mackerel was great, no hint of fishy flavour. The Marinated Black Cod (pictured with the fries) was just okay, doesn’t compare to the same dish at Guu.

A giant plate of Shrimp Udon Salad was next. The noodles were cold and covered in a light vinaigrette and mixed with a generous portion of shrimp. This dish was light, sweet and tangy, a good break from the fried and heavier dishes. The Slammin’ Salmon was amazing and the picture really speaks for it. The outside was lightly seared, the meat inside was still a light pink and finished with a light ponzu sauce.

Next were the fried items:
Mentai Potato (thin potato chips with a creamy cod roe sauce) – oily but so rich in flavour
Yam fries – good as expected
Karaage – the chicken was fried well, crispy and moist, the wasabi mayo was the highlight for me though
Takoyaki – okay but can be passed, they were a little doughy in the center

We were ready to wrap up at this point but saw the Unagi Risotto at the other table and had to add an order, which was the best decision of the night. This was a great fusion dish and I highly recommend trying it. The rice was creamy, cheesy and accentuated the sweet sauce of the unagi.