Wow it has been a rather warm holiday season this year. I wonder if it's really due to global warming. Tonight was Christmas Eve, and after visiting several places which were unfortunately closed, we went to this newly opened Japanese take-out restaurant, called "Hello jp".
Not quite sure what to expect, we walked into the store. There are only a few items on the menu, and although I was tempted to order the Pork Belly Rice Bowl, I was still recovering from a cough and decided to order the less fatty Japanese Burger Rice Bowl instead. It was quite late already, and as we were the only patrons there, we were told that it would be a 15 minutes wait. I gathered that the chef had to make our dinner perhaps from scratch?
Well, as it turns out, the 15 minutes wait was more like a 25 minutes wait… way longer than I thought was acceptable at a take-out restaurant. However, as it was Christmas Eve, I was ok with it. The cashier must've felt bad, because halfway through she offered us complimentary fish cake snacks, which were decent enough and filled us up while we continued to wait. We resorted to sitting on the stools and people watch. We were interested to see what other souls would be wandering on Yonge Street on Christmas Eve evening, instead of being in a traditional family dinner. I gather most of them are students that were not able to go home for the holidays.
Anyways, our food was ready at last, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they also gave us a free tangerine. Once we got home and unpacked the meal, oh my gosh! The Rice Bowl looked AMAZING! It's got those Japanese styled egg omelette - forgot what they are called, but it's those ones that are layered, lotus, broccoli, and a burger pattie that was drizzled with some thick delicious looking sauce. The combo also came with miso soup.
First, the miso soup was a tad salty. Maybe because we went at end of day so it was the bottom of the pot where all the sodium has settled? That was easily solved enough by diluting it with water.
Then, the Rice Bowl. It was SO GOOD. I've had Japanese burgers before when we were in Japan, but this tops them. I'm not sure if it was because I was quite hungry at that point or what, but mmm I couldn't stop eating. Everything on the bowl was prepared with such finesse that I could almost feel the chef's attention to detail when creating the bowl. Any misgivings I might have felt with that long 25 minutes wait instantly vanished. It was SO worth it. The japanese rice was seasoned beautifully, and the entire bowl came together with such harmony that I was a very happy diner at the end of it.
All in all, I have to say Hello JP completely surpassed my expectation. I am so happy to see Sofra closed to make way for my new favourite Japanese take-out place!!! I'm very eager to go back and try the other remaining items on the menu!
What was ordered
- 5/5 That was pretty delicious…
- Japanese Burger Rice Bowl
Summary
- Score: 5/5
- Food: the Japanese burger rice bowl was so out of this world good.
- Value: for $10, the price of a McDonald's meal, I think it offers a great value for the quality of food that was provided.
- Seating ambience: although there are a few stools, it's primarily catered to take-out customers.
- Service: happy and friendly!
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