Tokio Pub

Tried out the Ramen Burger today. It is not quite what I expected, much softer than I would have thought and very messy. I wish they had cooked it to the proper temp, I asked for mid rare and it was more mid well. I would have sent it back if it had not taken them so long to come out.
So we were asked when ordering if we wanted our apps first or with our meal. We said first. Well somehow they interpreted that as bring out the apps when the rest of our table got their entrees. Where in the world does saying we want them first mean that we get that instead of our entrée then our entrees come later? Not happy about that at all. Then it took another 15 minutes to make our burgers. This was not a pleasant experience by any means.
The fish taco was pretty decent, though small. You have to order them in sets of 3 or 5 so for 3 tacos you would pay 9 dollars and it’s nowhere near worth the money. Any mexican place would have made a bigger and just as good or better fish taco. It wasn’t bad, just not worth the money.
The bang bang calamari was pretty good, I wish they could have figured out how to keep it crispy while still having the excellent chipotle mayo with honey sauce (that’s the way i describe the flavors not them). I did enjoy that thoroughly and would get that again, much better than other places where I’ve had bang bang where it’s overwhelmingly spicy or vinegar based.
We were the only people in the restaurant for a while, but service was kinda slow, it took a while to get our waiters attention and the only reason we got our bill is because we all stood up after waiting a while. I actually ended up taking the bill to the counter to pay even though there were only 2 other tables in the place when we left.

Love this place!!! We’ve gone here a lot and have only had 1 thing I didn’t like (the steak ramen, but that’s just me) they have a happy hour from 4 – 6 where some of the items are half off which is nice, and also occasionally have taco time when tacos are only $ 1 each! All the food is amazing but I would definitely recommend the pork nachos to anyone and everyone. The dessert menu seems to change a lot but there’s always something good. If you’re lucky enough to go when the coconut bao or the mango mochi is on the menu defffffinitely order it. Service is usually good. Atmosphere is nice. If they’re busy it can get really cramped, but the food makes up for it in my opinion :)

This menu keeps changing and it’s not for the better. I have been to this restaurant multiple times. Service is usually good, prices are a little high. Recently, i ordered the hot rock appetizer. It was a very small amount of meat, and to be honest the meat was terrible. Not only that, the «hot rock» didn’t stay hot long enough for me to cook all of my pieces of meat. I was next to a cold window which could be why, but i was so disappointed that i paid $ 10 for maybe 3 bites of meat.
The pork nachos are by far the best thing on the menu. The tacos are good, just be aware that some of their items don’t list everything — like the sauce on the chicken tacos.
The deserts are really good and I recommend saving room!
I would really like to return, but with the menu getting more disappointed and my recent experience I will probably take advantage of other restaurants in the area.

I went to Tokio Pub a couple of years ago and I fell in love. The pork nachos were to die for and a perfect find for a late lunch. Also, the beingeits! I recommend this restaurant to everyone I meet, but I haven’t been able to get back since that first time. I went for valentines day this year to rekindle that love. Boy, was I disappointed. The pork nachos were a small serving, the tacos were tiny, and the beingeits had somehow gotten smaller. The service also left little to be desired. I’m sad Tokio Pub has changed this much in just a short time. I’m hoping it was just an off night due to the holiday, otherwise I won’t be returning in the future.

I’m not sure why it took me oh-​so-​long to try Tokio Pub, but I’m tickled that I finally got around to it!
Shaw’s little Asian inspired outpost has an eclectic menu with everything from sticky rice bowls to sushi to hot rock appetizers. Two girlfriends and I enjoyed a smattering of light bites to finish off a very busy Monday. Their cocktail menu is fairly limited but what I had (Tuantuan) was refreshing and delicious. As for food, here’s what I sampled:
1) Volcano roll: ⁵⁄₅: Very fresh with the right amount of heat. The tuna melded perfectly with the jalapeño and was finished off nicely with cilantro and a drizzle of chili oil.
2) Ginger garlic edamame: ⁴⁄₅: Exactly what you’d expect and tasty at that.
3) Filet hot rock appetizer: ⁴⁄₅: The pieces of filet were fairly small, but they were tender and flavorful. I appreciated the array of salt and sauce options that came along with it!
4) Calamari: 3.5÷5: It’s just the rings, here, which is nice for those who are anti-​tentacle. The dipping sauce has a kick but works well with the crispy rings.
5) Blondie: 3.5÷5: For the one time in my life, I wasn’t in the mood for a chocolatey dessert, so I went with the Blondie. The orange dotted blondie itself had a sizable dollop of fresh vanilla ice cream on top which made for a nice, refreshing end to the meal. The blondie itself was a tad on the dry side, but overall a big hunk of sugar that I was desperately seeking.

* * * UPDATE !
I went back with the husband and his cousins who came to town! We, of course, got the Spicy Braised Pork Nachos again — still just as epic and delicious as before!
This time, I also got the AHI TUNA on the Hot Rock Appetizer menu — delicious big pieces of tuna that you sear yourself on a hot rock — very cool, fun, and interactive! The hot mustard and cucumber salad that comes with it is yummy! Cousin got the SKIRT STEAK on the Hot Rock and that was delicious!
Also got the SPICY TUNA ROLL which unlike the usual ones I’ve tried, the roll comes out with the spicy sauce on the side and it’s spicier with a kick, which I loved. Would have liked more of the sauce, though!
DRINKS — I had the BOURBON AND BUBBLES which was a sweet cocktail, super cute and girly. Then I also had a MAKERS OLD FASHIONED, which was sweet and delicious. I think all around the table the drinks were pretty good!
4 stars! :)

This place is awesome! We went here for happy hour between 4 – 6 pm. Really chic décor, great service, good food. Ordered the nachos, potstickers, tacos, Godzilla roll, and beignets, which all came out pretty quickly. Our waitress was prompt, super friendly, and very responsive, our drinks were always filled and she made sure to always check up on us. The nachos were different from what I’m used to in the best kind of way, with a BBQ soy sauce and steak. Delicious! The potstickers were crispy and soft at the same time (perfect), paired with a spicy soy sauce. My favorite were the beignets, but two of the batches we received were actually cold. Thankfully they took the beignets off our final bill but otherwise can’t wait to go back here again! Easy to find parking, clean, great service and yummy food! Plus the happy hour half prices on the items that were eligible were such a good deal and plenty of food between 5 people. Good for groups too since we went here with my cousins and Aunt.

The feel of the place is more of a bar than a restaurant. It’s very small and shares the same building as Shaws. You have to go to Shaws to use the washroom. The food was tasty but I’ve had better. I had the tacos, which are small. Just a few bites. I had chicken, steak and fish. Honestly, I felt like they all had very similar tastes. I also had the calamari, which I thought was a little too greasy. The soup was a chicken kimchee soup. That was definitely tasty and I recommend that.

Weren’t that hungry but wanted to get a little sumpin sumpin to curve the hunger until after the movie. Using Unilocal, I found this place. So, why not.
The parking was easy on a Thursday afternoon after the lunch crowd. Parked the car easily and walked over to the outside, covered patio. Wasn’t sure where to go in. There was a few tables occupied but no one said anything to direct us where we should go. Finally, the waitress comes out. She says we can come in through there and we get seated. She comes back shortly with the menus. She explains some of the specials going on, I wasn’t listening well because I was looking over this interesting menu.
Godzilla Roll $ 11.00
When this was brought out I couldn’t help thinking what the heck is this pretentious looking sushi they are putting down on the table? That is the weirdest sushi I have ever seen. Not to mention the Feng Shui was not present. I gotta take a picture of this for prosperity sakes. Now, to eat this thing, you gotta take the chip off unless you got a super big mouth. Yeah, I didn’t think so. I dip a little bit into the shoyu sauce and place the whole thing into my mouth. Not bad, atleast the fish was fresh from being frozen. The chip by itself was okay. With the sushi, it wasn’t bad but I don’t think that’s the kind of texture you’d want with sushi.
Eggplant Roll ??
This was interesting. Tasty. Not over cooked yet tender. A little garlicky. A little kick I don’t where from but not bad. Not bad at all. Yummy.
All this went down well with my cheap Tecate beer. Would have preferred Pacifico but wasn’t available. Any who… customer service could have been a little better. Would have worked out if she stayed within the vicinity instead of disappearing. We didn’t mind too much since we had plenty time to kill before the movie. Just another lazy day for us on a weekday while everyone else is working. Ahhhh life.

Our first visit here was a pleasant surprise, but our subsequent visits have left us wanting more.
The dining area is somewhat cramped so be ready to squeeze in when it’s busy. I suppose this is done to mimic its namesake space, but just a little more room would make a world of difference.
The service has been good each time we’ve dined in — the drinks as well. The sushi though is underwhelming. And the ramen burger, while tasty, was a little greasy for my liking. We haven’t tried the Happy Hour specials so we’ll probably come back at some point to try the food again, but it likely won’t be any time soon.

It’s super trendy. Trendy décor, trendy menu. I had the bottomless ramen which I thought the noodles are very odd in. The chicken one was terrible! The meat was very bland, it might be better if they seasoned it and maybe even put some katsu sauce on it. I just ate the mushrooms and drank the broth mostly. The steak one was a little better. The noodles were as dense as the other one and the meat had more flavor. I probably wouldn’t get it again though — noodles were not right, maybe even raw for the chicken one. They put way too much noodles in it too, maybe because it’s bottomless and they’re trying to weigh down my stomach? Blah.
The dumplings were pretty good. I think I’d just stick to the sushi next time though, hopefully the reviews are right about that.

The portions here are crazy small. The tacos are tiny. I take two bites and my taco is gone. The sushi is pretty good, but I wouldnt come here if I was craving sushi since the selection for sushi isnt that large. I had ramen once and wasnt totally satisfied. The rest of the items on the menu scare me. like the ramen burgers and cooking my meat on a stone. The only reason I come here is because it isnt too far from my work and their lunch hour is slow.

My girlfriend and I came for lunch on a Sunday. The menu is mostly a Japanese/​Mexican fusion. There were a lot of interesting items. For appetizers we ordered the Pork Nachos and used the check-​in coupon for the potstickers. It wasn’t very busy, but the appetizers took a very long time. Fortunately, the manager noticed and comped them — that was very nice, thank you again!
The Pork Nachos were awesome! They were sweet, salty, spicy, and savory. And also a generous portion.
We only had the appetite for one order of rolls. We ordered a shrimp tempura rangoon maki that was excellent.
The atmosphere is nice, i like that we get our own glass bottle of water.
Nice liquor selection, numerous saki and craft beer
I liked the music they played, indie alt rock
Prices are fair, staff is nice
We will return!

Some of the best sushi i think i have ever had. You can taste every ingredient and it’s freshness. Even the rice just tastes great and cooked perfectly. The calamari is non traditional and ah-​mazing. We gobbled that shit up real fast!
The prices are up there, but for a random date night or something it is pretty good. I might try them again during happy hour since i hear things are half price, but we’ll see. This was more of a random stop since we had a LEY gift card and big bowl was packed.
I say give it a go and Unilocal it hard

They have selective half-​priced appetizers and entrees here between 5 and 6 pm on weeknights. We had for dinner tonight:
Shrimp tempura roll
Grilled steak ramen bowl
A three taco combo — crispy fish, crispy chicken, and barbecue pork
Ramen burger
This was the first time (and alas it will be the last time) that I tried a ramen burger ($ 11) and I learned that I much prefer a good conventional burger with a bread bun. The fried ramen just didn’t have the right texture and taste with a beef patty. The large burger patty itself was just fine. The small tacos were ok at $ 1.50 each but would be pricey at the regular $ 3 price. The ramen bowl was fine, but we proactively asked them upon ordering to dilute the salt level down for us, and they did well for us on that front. Overall, an ok meal in a friendly comfortable setting, the kind of setting you expect in a LEYE franchise.

Stopped in for a little lunch…
Started with the Skirt Steak Hot Rock. Overall it’s ok, way too much basil marinade which killed the presentation and didn’t really make you want to eat it. Like a small lake of watery green sauce on raw meat… How about spoon a little onto each slice of meat… Once cooked it was good enough but had to get a second rock for the last piece…
Had the Crispy Rice Spicy Tuna. Not bad for a gimmicky snack…
Finished with 3 tacos. Shrimp, Steak, & Chicken. At $ 3 ea not that great a deal for the small size. Quality was ok. If you’ve ever ben to Mercadito etc downtown you’ll know what I mean.
Others have said $ 1 taco hour or happy hour is the time to go and I’d have to agree. TP is different in it’s offerings but I can’t say it hits home for me personally. Nothing was bad here just so so. I had a couple beers and my bill was $ 44 out the door. I might go back if someone else wanted to go but it’s not a destination for me. In a couple years I’ll probably forget what it was like and return for a visit…

I have driven past Tokio Pub so many times, and have tried pretty much every place around it. Finally, I tried it for a belated birthday dinner.
First, we started off with the Tauntaun, which was $ 5 that night. Speaking of which, they have some great appetizer/​drink deals throughout the week! The Tauntaun is basically a moscow mule. Very good! We then shared the Japanese hot rock appetizer. I thought it was neat and definitely something I have never seen before. However, I think it’s a bit overpriced for what you get, so I probably wouldn’t do it again. We then had one of each of the tacos, and one of the sushi rolls. I wasn’t impressed with the sushi at all, but the tacos were good (the Tiger Shrimp was the best). They are small, hence the reason why they are so cheap. Since it was my birthday, we got a free order of the Beignets. So good!
The service was very good throughout the night. Our server was very knowledgeable about the menu and helped us out through the night.
I would come back, especially during a happy hour.

I’ve been to Tokio Pub a couple times, but it seems like every time I go they change up their menu just a little bit. The menu seems more targeted these days, basically just offering various apps, sushi rolls, tacos, and ramen bowls. I thought I remember them in the past offering more entrée style dishes. While it’s a little limited, everything I’ve tried on the menu so far has been pretty tasty.
I usually go later at night or on weekends, but I decided to meet up a friend for an earlier dinner on a random Monday. Lucky for us it turns out there were some killer deals when we went. We got there just in time for their happy hour, which means it’s half off select items on their menu. Then half an hour later they said it was taco time and all tacos would be $ 1 for an hour. On top of that we got a free gyoza appetizer just for checking in on Unilocal.For drink specials they had $ 5 cocktails. Can’t beat dem deals.
Food: I was in the mood for some ramen (when am I not?), and for the first time I had the unique opportunity to order ramen two ways: one in soup form, and also in burger form. Yea that’s right, they were offering a ramen burger.
Spicy chicken ramen — I’ll be honest. I came in with lower expectations and was pleasantly surprised. I knew this place didn’t specialize in ramen so I wasn’t expecting them to be simmering pork bones for multiple days to achieve extreme depth in their broth. The noodles were on the thinner side and were pretty standard. The chicken was actually breaded and fried, and it even kept its crispy outside even though it was floating in the broth. The broth was actually pretty delicious too. It wasn’t that rich, but it definitely wasn’t bland. The broth had a thin texture, yet was flavorful and slightly spicy from the chili oil, with a good amount of saltiness too, which I personally like. It was basically just a tasty bowl of soup, and I can’t really complain about that.
Ramen burger — This is basically a hamburger that uses a chunk of compressed, pan-​fried ramen noodles as the bun. It’s definitely a unique concept I haven’t seen at too many other places. I thought the actual ramen element was more of a gimmick than anything though. It didn’t really add any distinct flavor to the burger or really remind me of ramen in any way. The outside of the noodle buns had a nice sear to it but for the most part the middle was soft and kind of mushy. I didn’t think the ramen part was bad, just nothing special from a taste standpoint. In my opinion the real star is the actual burger patty. The meat was super tender and juicy and it had a nice molasses glaze that gave it a sweet/​savory Asian spin to it. It was a pretty tasty burger that makes you curious enough to try at least once.
Overall Tokio Pub is a solid place that has a modern and trendy atmosphere and offers a decent Asian fusion menu that is even better when there’s a bunch of specials available.

Came here on a Monday night to meet with some friends for dinner. Wasn’t really sure where to go after we had walked in, and even after entering the restaurant it was a little confusing as there wasn’t a host stand. I ended up walking all the way through to Shaw’s, realized I was no longer in Tokio Pub, and then walked all the way back and asked the guy behind the bar who was very friendly and seated me immediately.
We made use of the check-​in offer (free gyoza!) and I ordered the ramen burger, have to try it once in my life, right? The gyoza was okay. The ramen burger was good, but I’m not sure is get it again. The burger itself and the toppings were great, the ramen part I wasn’t really a fan of. They are thinner than your typical ramen noodle and so do have the same «al dente» bite and they were a bit bland. Like it could use a packet of ramen seasoning sprinkled on top, although that might be a bit excessive.
Overall the experience was good, food was okay. I would check it out again.

It is my 100^th review and I was hoping to save it for a place that was 5 star worthy. Well, whatever, I am over it.
My friend and I decided to go to Tokyo pub for brunch as we talk about visiting all the time but never do it.
I liked the décor. It was trendy. Small joint connected to Shaws but very cute. They have a closed patio which was heated but nobody was there. I want to go and visit it in the summer.
My friend had a mixture of tacos and I had the ramen steak soup. She loved her tacos, they were bite size and fit for barbies but hey she was happy. I liked my steak soup but I didnt love it. I think i would have loved it had it not been so salty. It had so many fun ingridients and presented gorgeously. Thumbs up on that.
The mimosas were fantastic too.
I am definitely going back. I just dont know why I didnt visit before.