Kobo Nobu

it was really good food. went there a year ago and been meaning to go again soon. Quantity was not so much, but there was quality. 3 or 4 things among 2 people should suffice. great service. I liked the french/​japanese mix.

Second visit here! This time, we tried one of their sushi rolls — the rice was prepared well and was delicious. The gyozi was filled generously and tasted great. Finally, my entrée consisted of warm ramen salad with a generous helping of prosciutto — a nice mix of salty and slightly sweet. I
The staff was friendly and attentive. We’ll definitely make this a regular hangout!

A unique Japanese restaurant which you will probably miss if you don’t really look for it.
Food: ⁴⁄₅
1) Absolutely love their snow crab + pork gyoza! Although I can’t exactly taste the crab in the meat but I love the fact that they were made in house. Huge dumplings that made with love!
2) We also ordered the Karage Chicken (deep fried chicken with mayo on the side). Love how the chicken is so moist and the batter is not as crunchy/​deep-​fried as other places.
3) Sweet Shrimp Sashimi: Fresh, huge and juicy. Worth every penny I spent on this dish.
4) Spicy Salmon Roll: it was good but nothing too special.
Service: ⁵⁄₅
Our Japanese server was extremely patient and nice. I would definitely come back just for the service!
Atmosphere: ³⁄₅
Maybe a little dated but it’s really cozy inside.
The washroom in the basement is kinda creepy.
Overall: ⁴⁄₅
I don’t see myself as a regular here but I will for sure come back and try their other dishes.
Value: 3.5÷5
Could be a bit pricey since everything is in small portions. I think it’s not so bad if you are looking for a sake bar for a few drinks and small dishes!
To all foodies: this place is really not that bad, we need to support more of these niche/​small local businesses in Toronto! :)

Good but not great and a little pricey. Kind of mixed vibe about the place’s theme.

My favorite Japanese restaurant in town. Their dishes are combination of Japanese and Italian food.

One of the best spots for outstanding Japanese on the Danforth (or just slightly north)… with sweet, lovely servers too.

I have been a repeat customer at Kobo Nobu. There was some kind of magic and a delicate attention to the food that only a genuine Japanese chef can offer.
Each dish I have tried had a genuine subtlety. The atmosphere was indeed cozy, with good jazz music and for some reasons, its surreal atmosphere reminded me of «lost in translation.» The place was sadly never very busy, which I thought was a shame. Maybe the location did not help, yet its unique culinary experience should have made up for it over time…
I returned today after a few months since my last visit, excited, promising my guest a unique experience. I was looking forward to the magic of the warm Ramen seafood salad. Sadly, the magic was gone, the magic is gone. Today, the Ramen seafood salad was a pale imitation of what was once a complex explosions of flavours. A pale imitation made of udon noodles.
The intensity of their exceptional rare beef was also gone. I received a sad overcooked beef poorly presented. The wild boar sausage was mediocre and equally sloppily presented. Every dish I have enjoyed so much in the past were a very amateurish imitation of the delicately crafted piece of arts with delightful flavours i once had the pleasure to sample.
Stop the carnage and bring us back the Chef or make sure to bring trainees deserving of his talent ! His presence is missing not only in the soul of every dish but also the soul of the entire place.

I read about this spot on a foodie forum. The spot sounded intriguing so decided to give it a try when I was in the area.
The location is a bit odd as I didn’t know that there were restaurants on that side of the road (I hardly come to this neighborhood so things might have changed a lot)
The place was almost empty though it was early Tuesday.
My DC joined in soon as well. We settled on the following
A vegetarian dish: I forgot the name of this root vegetable based dish. Decent
Chicken Karage: This was good. Dark meat fried with a nice delicate batter
Chicken Skewers: Forgettable. Could have had them at any place.
Striploin: Hmm forgettable as well. I didn’t know what to make of this dish as devoid of taste or texture.
Shrimp Spring Rolls: OK I suppose
I would say a 2 star establishment with nothing to offer that stands out.

We are so happy that there is finally an authentic Japanese restaurant in the East End. The owners hold great pride of their farm to table menu — they know all the farmers he gets his food from and claim that they have met the pig that we had in our ramen that day. Attentive service and great food with interesting twists, I am surprised it doesn’t have more business than it does.

My wife and daughter found this hidden gem restaurant a month ago and have been talking non stop about how much they loved it. Tonight our entire family came and we all loved it. The salads are great, the soup is fantastic and overall the meal was delicious and served by a very friendly staff. Our kids ate everything and even asked for seconds. A great discovery for us. We will be back!

This new restaurant is very promising. We went on Sunday 23^rd for dinner.
Food: from the look of the menu, all dishes were meant to be shared, kind of tapa style. We had a few items that were chef recommendation on the menu:
Rare Beef: excellent excellent. Good beef
Tonkatsu: I read another person’s review that this would be the best because it’s juicier than any pork cutlets elsewhere. Maybe I expected too much. It was good but didn’t wow me.
Shabu Shabu Pork: This was really good. Mixed with green leaf and scallion were perfect balance.
Lobster Gyoza: Excellent taste even though I didn’t taste that much lobster in it. But the meat taste was very good.
Warm Ramen Salad: Best dish, so refreshing. I can have a whole bowl on my own.
Service: The server was very polite, maybe a bit too shy at times. I believe he’s japanese and we had trouble communicating with him in English. He tried hard but at times we felt like we were lost with the menu. Later, one of the chefs also helped out explaining a lot dishes and wine to us. Next time, we might want to ask him to do the ordering for us and maybe with wine/​sake pairing. Overall, service was great because I’d rather have a bit of communication problem than having rude or uncaring servers.
Overall, Food is amazing. Service is friendly. Look forward to trying it again.

Not sure what all the fuss is about.
Food was good, but lacked depth of flavour.
The service was endearing but it took twenty minutes for a drink order and our plates sat for ages. They are trying hard but need to get better servers. No list for the saki so you did not know what you were being charged.

Love the cozy interior. Got there around 12pm and got the booth at the front. Simple menu selection & daily omakase lunch special for $ 12. Ordered the seafood ramen & enjoyed the texture and the mix of green and yellow noodle. Need to come back to try out the Kobo Nobu tasting menu for $ 28 at night. Wouldn’t have known about this hidden gem if blogTO didn’t write about this Japanese French fusion restaurant.

I am impressed.
Came by tonight with the girlfriend as Kobo Nobu is in the neighborhood, and I gotta say we both really enjoyed the food, which I’ll describe as Japanese with French characteristics. The warm décor with soft music in the background added to the experience. Here’s what we ordered:
Seaweed on green leaf with sweet rice wine vinegar — Good standard seaweed salad. The sauce was light, mildly sweet and vinegary, and a good start to the meal.
Saba kara-​age marinated house original plum vinaigrette — one of my favorite. The mackerel is not very heavy but imparts a great smoky flavor, balanced by the greens that it is served on.
Tonkatsu — This is offered at almost every single Japanese place restaurant, but to truly make it «right,» it’s not easy. Kobo Nobu has got the pork down to just the right thickness, and the light batter is lightly crispy and wonderful. Pork itself is juicy, I guess this is where the Mennonite pork shines through! One quirk though, it is served with ketchup rather than tonkatsu sauce. maybe it’s for a reason that I’ve yet to grasp?
Lobster gyoza dumpling — One serving had 4 pieces, and they are larger than your standard gyoza (maybe 1.5 times larger). The filling is tasty, which is minced meat mixed with lobster, and the dipping sauce that came with it did not overpower the flavor of each piece. However, the gyoza wrapper could be improved a bit as it broke through when I was picking it up with my chopsticks.
Rare beef sirloin charbroiled with yuzu oroshi — This is good! Rare beef sirloin (grass fed beef according to their menu), thinly sliced, served with grated daikon and spring onions and the yuzu sauce. Not too heavy as it is charbroiled, but quite filling nonetheless.
Warm ramen salad with daily seafood — This alone can be an entrée — the ramen served in a medium-​large bowl with a host of seafood and veggie toppings, and enough to share for amongst several people. The noodle itself was fantastic, springy and chewy, and the seafood topping was cooked just right to absorb all the flavors. I thought since this had the word «salad» in it that it would be a lighter dish, but this feels more «chow mein» than «salad.»
Overall, Kobo Nobu was fantastic and we’ll definitely be back. I think it has only been open for a couple months so there’s not a lot of customers yet, so go now before the word gets out and it fills up!

Newly opened, this mom and pop shop is really charming. Since they’re still getting the kinks out, there were a few menu items that they didn’t have up and running yet. However, what we did have was quite tasty!
Total for two including generous tip, 6 dishes and 2 beers: $ 80
Karage (fried chicken): was good. Nothing crazy, but still satisfying. Came with a mayo.
Warm ramen salad: maybe my favourite of the meal! Came with a few pieces of prosciutto and fresh cooked okra. Light dressing that was well complimented
Daily veg of the day dish: fresh vegs including okra and eggplant
Lobster dumplings: yum! Lobster pieces, not minced!
Tonkatsu: fried pork is generally good! :)
Pickled veg appetizer (forget the name): was very yummy, and flavourful.
All in all, we look forward to returning and trying other items on their menu, and definitely recommend it to others. It’s pretty quiet right now, and I think it’s an odd location for it. It’s one of those restaurants that you hope others don’t find out about, as it’s nice to not have to book reservations, but at the same time, we want them to do well, so they stick around. The last few joints in that location have not had much success, and we hope Kobo Nobu Cookhouse is not fated the same!