Sakawa Coffee

This is a very quaint place for a nice no fuss date night or with friends. This is a late posts and I used to meet my girls here and the desserts are delicious as well. It’s really affordable but parking is horrible. The silver lining is that TTC station is just a block away

Finally tried this place and we were so impressed with the food for how unassuming the restaurant is! The menu has a wide variety of tradition Japanese dishes. We tried the shoyu ramen with cha-su and the curry rice with chicken Katsu. The ramen was good, but the curry rice absolutely stole the show. The chicken katsu was breaded and cooked perfectly, and the curry was so flavourful. The server was very friendly and attentive! We will definitely be back soon!

Tiny authentic Japanese restaurant on the edge of Greektown. It's a family run business and prices are super affordable. The portions here are also generously sized. They have a variety of Japanese comfort style food to choose from on their menu. We had the Gyozas as our appetizers and the Omurice and Hamburg Rice dinner sets which came with piping hot miso soup and some salad. Very tiny spot but no AC so it was super warm to dine inside. If they spruce up the vibe inside then they can definitely attract more customers as it was a little far to get there from Pape subway station. Contrary to the restaurant name, they serve way more than just coffee.

Love your food. But PLEASE - set the entire dining room. Take the chairs off all the tables and place them under the tables like it’s an open restaurant (it looks closed and uninviting when the chairs are on top of table). Plus no one wants to look at table legs as they’re dining.

Food was amazing! We got the pork bones broth ramen and grilled mackerel. The homemade cooking gives you much comfort and shows a more nuanced and balanced flavors than your normally restaurant experience. Will definitely come back!

Cute Japanese inspired restaurant. Excellent service and friendly staff! We enjoyed their chicken and pork katsu for dinner. We will go back to try their Japanese breakfast and ramen. My fave so far is their chicken katsu with curry sauce.

Yes. This is a restaurant managed by Japanese people. Although, their food was not so great, there are some dishes like their Ramen(they charge extra for the egg) and the “Nanban Chicken”. Also, their cookies are very good 👍 This is a packed place, like a small family restaurant. If you like that vibe this place it might be good for you.

The onigiri is flavourless with almost no filling. Got the salmon, pork and tuna and there’s BARELY anything in it. It’s 95% rice. The salmon was bland. The filling wasn’t in the center of the rice, it was placed under the seaweed. It all fell out not wrapped properly. Disappointing. And they’ll ask whether you want to dine in or takeout, we said takeout, then changed our mind and decided to grab a table. Then they told us we can’t dine in because we originally said takeout and have to spend a minimum $13 each. While we browsed the menu we were even saying that we’d come back to try other dishes, but now we don’t think we will. Pokito has way better onigiri.

This is a very quaint place for a nice no fuss date night or with friends. This is a late posts and I used to meet my girls here and the desserts are delicious as well. It’s really affordable but parking is horrible. The silver lining is that TTC station is just a block away

Finally tried this place and we were so impressed with the food for how unassuming the restaurant is! The menu has a wide variety of tradition Japanese dishes. We tried the shoyu ramen with cha-su and the curry rice with chicken Katsu. The ramen was good, but the curry rice absolutely stole the show. The chicken katsu was breaded and cooked perfectly, and the curry was so flavourful. The server was very friendly and attentive! We will definitely be back soon!

Tiny authentic Japanese restaurant on the edge of Greektown. It's a family run business and prices are super affordable. The portions here are also generously sized. They have a variety of Japanese comfort style food to choose from on their menu. We had the Gyozas as our appetizers and the Omurice and Hamburg Rice dinner sets which came with piping hot miso soup and some salad. Very tiny spot but no AC so it was super warm to dine inside. If they spruce up the vibe inside then they can definitely attract more customers as it was a little far to get there from Pape subway station. Contrary to the restaurant name, they serve way more than just coffee.

Love your food. But PLEASE - set the entire dining room. Take the chairs off all the tables and place them under the tables like it’s an open restaurant (it looks closed and uninviting when the chairs are on top of table). Plus no one wants to look at table legs as they’re dining.

Food was amazing! We got the pork bones broth ramen and grilled mackerel. The homemade cooking gives you much comfort and shows a more nuanced and balanced flavors than your normally restaurant experience. Will definitely come back!

Cute Japanese inspired restaurant. Excellent service and friendly staff! We enjoyed their chicken and pork katsu for dinner. We will go back to try their Japanese breakfast and ramen. My fave so far is their chicken katsu with curry sauce.

Yes. This is a restaurant managed by Japanese people. Although, their food was not so great, there are some dishes like their Ramen(they charge extra for the egg) and the “Nanban Chicken”. Also, their cookies are very good 👍 This is a packed place, like a small family restaurant. If you like that vibe this place it might be good for you.

The onigiri is flavourless with almost no filling. Got the salmon, pork and tuna and there’s BARELY anything in it. It’s 95% rice. The salmon was bland. The filling wasn’t in the center of the rice, it was placed under the seaweed. It all fell out not wrapped properly. Disappointing. And they’ll ask whether you want to dine in or takeout, we said takeout, then changed our mind and decided to grab a table. Then they told us we can’t dine in because we originally said takeout and have to spend a minimum $13 each. While we browsed the menu we were even saying that we’d come back to try other dishes, but now we don’t think we will. Pokito has way better onigiri.

I came here on a Sunday early afternoon for brunch. There was one other table there. The restaurant name is a little misleading as it's more of a lunch place. They don't really specialize in coffee. The pork katsu curry rice was really good. The katsu was crispy and juicy on the inside. The curry sauce was really flavourful as well. The tobiko udon was not good though. The flavours didn't really work very well and a huge disappointment. I don't recommend this dish. I also got the matcha latte which was refreshing. Not the best I have had but it was enjoyable. The service was good. The sever was quick and polite. The space is more of a hole in the wall. Doesn't really have much decor and more of an old family style restaurant vibe. Note: there is a minimum $12 spend per a guest sign on the door

Been to this hidden gem about 4-5x since early summer of 2023 when I discovered it. My favourite crispy chicken Katsu Japanese curry & matcha latte in the city! Their curry is full of authentic flavours and absolutely comforting and their strong matcha latte has large amounts of heavy cream. It tastes like matcha ice cream. Good quality matcha powder is used. We do want to try their other items but I'm always craving these two, so it's a battle we don't always win. One time I did order salmon sashimi and it was fresh and the miso cod is tasty. I've seen sushi specials if you order ahead of time. The restaurant itself has a few small tables (4 & 2) & doesn't have all the bells and whistles. It's a simple, mom & pop kind of restaurant. Great comfort food and consistent quality. Highly recommend!

Food: 3.5 Stars Service: 5 Stars Ambience: 3 Stars Fill Factor: Filling I had heard good things about Sakawa and have wanted to try their omurice for years now but due to various reasons I did not visit until recently. Long story short, I am glad I finally gave this a try and I look forward to coming back and trying their other offerings. In the time it took me to write this review I had actually visited a second time. The first time I ordered the pork katsu while on the second visit I finally tried their omurice along with a chashu onigiri. The katsu was not bad. The Japanese curry sauce was good and the katsu was crispy on the outside. However I did find the katsu to be a bit on the dry side. Overall it was solid but didn't blow me away especially since I've been having some really good katsu recently. The omurice was just pure comfort food. The concept is so simple but I just love omurice in general and really enjoyed the one here at Sakawa. I also decided to try a chashu onigiri which again was simple yet enjoyable which I think is the best way to describe the food here in general. The flavours did not blow me away but I greatly enjoyed everything I have tried so far. Service here is great as you are greeted with a friendly smile and checked on regularly. Food came relatively quickly which is a big plus when you are hungry. The restaurant itself is not very big or very fancy looking but there is sufficient seating and I was ok with the look and cleanliness of the restaurant. To sum it up, if you are looking for some solid Japanese comfort food then Sakawa should be right up your alley. I definitely recommend giving it a try.

Came here twice in the last 2 weeks and absolutely love the food here! I'm so glad that they made it through the pandemic. If this place was closer to home, I would definitely be here at least once a month. The Japanese food here is nothing fancy but has simple traditional Japanese food that really brings back memories of Japan. On both visits we had the Hiyashi Chuka (cold ramen) which is my husband's favourite. This dish is not on their regular menu and I believe they are only offering it for a limited time so come soon to try it out! It's the perfect dish on a warm summer day as it is light and refreshing! I also enjoyed their onigiri which is a rice ball filled with various meats or vegetables such as tuna mayo wrapped with seaweed which we had and for $3, you can't go wrong! The manju, pan-fried Japanese dumplings were also delicious! We'll definitely make more visits over the next few months before winter time.

I had moved out of the area and hadn't been back in awhile so I was excited to visit this place again - went by and saw a handwritten sign that said they wouldn't be open until 12:15pm. I could be mistaken because other people mentioned 11:15 ... I was a bit confused because I've never seen a store open 15 minutes past the hour before. Seemed like an inconvenient and awkward timing for customers. I also noticed another handwritten sign saying that they weren't a coffee shop and that there would be a minimum payment - I could appreciate that the place is comfortable and people want to order a coffee and linger which isn't great for this small business. I found the sign off putting though but remembered the great service and food from previous visits so I figured it should be fine. I went in and 4 of the 6 tables were taken and I noticed a small table near the window and asked the server if I could take that but she said only the counter was available - I mentioned I had a recent injury so sitting on a stool was not going to be possible for me as it would aggravate my injury. I asked what about the empty table and she said it's not available ... so I asked her if it was already reserved? I figured if it was reserved I could find out how long the wait would be and come back. She said no its not reserved but it's not available, only the counter was available. I told her I just said I can't sit on a stool because I have an injury - and she said "yes everyone wants a table but not everyone can get one." I was a bit speechless because I was wondering if she had just implied that I had made up my injury? I have made a similar request at other restaurants and they had typically been over-accommodating, even adding in conveniences I didn't request. If something wasn't available they let me know and typically apologize even though it wasn't their fault - but I had never had it implied that I was making up my injury for any reason. She gestured at the counter again and I just stared at her - I said again slowly "I. Have. An. Injury." She still didn't say a word as we stared at each other, and by this point the other customers had started listening to our bizarre discussion, and an older gentleman offered to share his table. It turned out his table for 4 was actually 2 single tables pushed together and he moved it apart for me. I thanked him and apologized for interrupting his lunch and sat down. The server didn't say a word, brought me the menu, and was perfectly polite afterwards. But the exchange was so unsettling that I couldn't feel comfortable afterwards. I ordered what I had always gotten there - the Sabashio Yaki. I had actually wanted to try some new menu items but decided to stick with what I knew because I was wondering if the restaurant had changed owners? The vibe of the place was so different since the last time I came. As I was waiting for my food I realized there was no music playing, all everyone could hear were the other customers eating quietly and the server occasionally bringing out food and asking questions. The last time I was here I found Sakawa to be inviting, beautiful, and relaxing. The decor was simple yet warm. Now the feeling of the place was cold, sterile, and uncomfortable. It was obvious my encounter with the server colored my feelings of the place - but even just looking around at the other customers, the whole atmosphere was so different from what I remembered and the pleasant friendly service I had recalled from before. The decor was fairly similar but the vibe of the place was awkward, sour, and rigid. However the food arrived and I was pretty sure the owner hadn't changed. The mackerel was cooked perfectly as usual the way I remembered ... I did notice a strange smell from one of the side dishes that another review had commented on. Almost like a cleaning agent sort of smell and I ended up not eating it. The food is still excellent overall but the experience just left a bad taste in my mouth that couldn't make up for it. Unfortunately I won't be coming back.

"This is not a coffee shop. We have written on our sign (below waist level on a sign on a busy window) 12$ minimum order!" First, don't talk to my guests that way and embarrass me for taking them there. Second, not a coffee shop? The sign on the store is literally "Sakawa Coffee" but you don't dare order one? Third, wait until I make my order before you chastise my table in front of other patrons. Theirs were around 10 bucks each and by the time I ordered an expensive beer and snacks for the table, we had exceeded the minimum order by a long shot. Unconscionably rude, but otherwise attentive and careful service after this point. Really made me angry, and very unusual in Toronto. I would like to hope this was unusual for this particular restaurant as well. Maybe a bad day? The onigiri were warm and flavourful. I'm used to buying packaged ones, so having a fresh made one was a treat. Our dumplings were excellent. The iced matche lattes were very good. The menu had all kinds of Japanese comfort foods that I don't usually see in Toronto. I liked the food and live locally and really wanted to like this place, but I have to say, I was not made to feel welcome there.

The thing I like most about Sakawa is how they have more 'unusual' offerings. Sure, the more common sashimis and rice bowls and ramen and curries are on their menu. But I love how there's stuff like Japanese spaghetti and hamburg and nanban as well. Bonus points for their extensive and high-variety menu! We came here for brunch and got: - Grilled salmon set: This was definitely spartan. A smallish piece of salted grilled salmon (fresh and good quality), steamed rice, miso soup, side salad, egg, and potatoes. I can imagine getting much fitter if this was my steady diet. - Hamburg: For those who aren't familiar, this is basically a well done hamburger on rice with sauce and cheese. It's either you'll be weirded out by this or love it (which I do). - Yakimanju: The "bun' was pretty tasty, and there was a good amount of soup inside. - Cheesecake: Delicate and not overly sweet. While their more typical offerings are ok, I think what really differentiates Sakawa is the non-traditional (or more traditional/regional Japanese) parts of their menu. Will definitely go back for those!

My family's experience at this ramen place left us utterly dismayed. We took every precaution to order a vegetarian ramen, specifically confirming that there should be no meat due to a family member's 25+ year vegetarian commitment. Shockingly, the supposedly vegetarian ramen arrived with meat in it. This level of negligence is absolutely inexcusable. Not only did it ruin our entire dining experience, but it also showed a shocking lack of respect for customers' dietary choices. We trusted this establishment to provide what we ordered and were met with a blatant disregard for our request.

Great Japanese spot on the Danforth. Reminds me of all the good eats available in Japan. This establishment is very homey and it feels like you're being served by family. All dishes I've had here taste excellently prepared and fresh.

This place is SO BOMB. I don't normally use that phrase because I feel like it's way too hip for me, but I don't know what better compliment to use. We've actually been here a few times but the impressive food just blew me away a lot yesterday. My SIL came from HK to meet her nephew (thanks covid) and she asked if I knew of anywhere with good eel (one of her favs). Just so happened that Suresh (thanks!!) dropped an IG story about swinging by Sakawa to pick it up. Soooo, the day she was leaving, we made the trip, the 8 min drive from my house. She didn't need anytime to even look, she wanted the EEL LOVER. And man, did it not disappoint. I'm not usually a big unagi eater but wow, the portion WAS HUGE. I don't think she even said anything except "oh my!!!" She's normally a very civil, well-mannered eater but she finished her plate before any of us finished our own. And we are not a slow eating family. I ordered the katsu Don and it was quite delicious. The food was extremely fresh. My dad doesn't normally like Japanese curry but this one won him over. He was quite pleased. It seems like it's a 2 man show; male cook covering all the orders in the back and a female covering front of house. She was quite friendly with my infant son and was so pleased by the compliments we gave. We will definitely be back and be sure to encourage others to too! (LIKE YOU, reading this right now!)

Came here on a Wednesday night. They have a pretty standard menu offering for a Japanese spot with quite a bit of variety in doing rice dishes, ramen, and a whole selection of dons. Ordered the Curry Pork Katsu and I thought it was pretty decent. Nice big pieces of katsu and a pretty thick curry sauce. Portions were definitely on the large side which was good and the small add-ons of the salad and soup were alright as well. Just based on food I'd probably give a 3 stars since it's just decent but the servers were nice and the atmosphere was very homey (small, traditional decor, comfortable!)

Update to my last review. This place is still great! The owner is a wonderful man from Kanagawa, Japan. All of the staff are very friendly and wonderful. Since my last review I have tried so many more dishes which are all so great. Some of my recommendations: Zuke-don: Marinated raw Tuna on rice. This is such a delicious dish! Not very heavy and the tuna is sooo good! Katsu-don: Depp fried pork cutlet with egg on rice. This is a common Japanese dish and Sakawa Coffee does it very well. Shio Yaki Saba: This is a Grilled and Salted piece of Mackerel. The set comes with rice, salad and Miso soup. It's a bit on the salty side (Shio means salt in Japanese) so if you don't enjoy salty you might want to skip it. Honorable mentions go to their Curry, Karaage, Shime Saba, Doria and Omurice which are all delicious. They also have some great desserts, baked goods, and Japanese imported beer. Overall this place is still my favorite Japanese restaurant in Toronto. One last thing...I wanted to point out some of the reviews on here complained about the rice "clumping together". It's called "sticky rice" people. It's Japanese rice and it's wonderful. It's supposed to be this way lol

Umm it was disappointing. I had Hiyashi Chuka (cold Japanese noodle). Noodles were under cooked, so they had unpleasant texture. I'd guess that they got an instant one from a Japanese super market. Toppings were nothing special as well as soup. It was $16, a way too expensive for what it was.

Meh Katsu curry chicken, about $14 with tax (plus a tip) For what you get, not an enticing deal. The chicken was dark meat, gravy very heavy and thick. Small draft; $8!? One timer, plus eating area is narrow, bumping into server and other customers.

Pros: - great, polite service - food came shortly after ordering - large portions (more rice) and prices aren't bad at all - limited menu (pro for me!) Food is simple, more homey. We ordered Pork Katsu on rice & Chicken Donburi off lunch menu. I'd be willing to try other items though. I'd go back, but I wouldn't drive out of my way.

I have been desperately wanting to try this place for the longest time, but unfortunately it's located on the Danforth and I come to this area...like never. Finally made up my mind to just go anyway, and in my opinion it was worth the trip! To be honest, the food wasn't THAT exceptional (I got the omurice and it's really just rice, egg, and ketchup), though it is of course good. And portions are filling. But everything else made me really, really enjoy it here, which is the reason for the full 5-stars. To start with, the waitresses (both of them present) were probably the most smiley or the happiest servers I have ever seen. I was greeted in Japanese and thanked when I entered, when food arrived, when I paid, when I left, and probably at other times too. You couldn't help but feel absolutely welcomed and comfortable. No prompting was needed for anything from menu to water to food, which came out very quickly and piping hot. I asked a bunch of questions regarding their various menus, and received very patient answers (always with a smile!). One thing that surprised me was that there was no coffee menu provided until I explicitly mentioned it, nor is it anywhere on the website. But the drip coffee I ordered was not bad - though my senses may have been dulled significantly by an abundance of office and Tim Hortons coffee. Prices seem to be reasonable, so give it a try. By the way, I think they serve their breakfast menu all day - or you can certainly request from it, I really can't see the waitress denying you. Also, 10% off Yelp offer is still valid!

It's been over a year since I stumbled across this little hidden treasure of a restaurant. One year since we've tried nearly every single thing on the breakfast/lunch and dinner menu. No exaggeration. My friends and I are frequent customers that's gotten familiar with the staff. Koki, the chef and owner, never fails to cook up delicious authentic Japanese cuisine. There's never been a bad time where we weren't satisfied by the dishes and hospitality Sakawa Coffee (shout-out to Ema and Jay) has shown us during our innumerable visits. Highly recommend Loco Moco don to anyone who has a big appetite and I mean BIG. For breakfast/lunch, the Grilled Salmon and cheese sandwich is also a MUST. As for drinks, the matcha latte is a staple for us -- both hot and cold. Their matcha was imported straight from Japan and absolutely decadent. Only negative part, and it's absolutely not worth taking a star off, is that they days they are closed do not coincide with google hours so you have to check their doors frequently during holidays to see when they're open and closed.

Love this cute little spot. Everything I've tried is worth it. It's a small business and some of my favourite Japanese dishes are here. Also not many places serve loco mocos which brings me back to Hawaii. Don't get me wrong, it's not the same as Hawaii but I still think you'll get a good bang for your buck.

Was quite annoyed with this place and will not be returning So on Yelp and on google, they say their opening hours for Saturday and Sunday is 10. We arrived here at 10:15, and they weren't open. The sign in their door says they'll be back at 11:15. Okay, that's fine, there's enough coffee shops around, so we headed into one around the area to chill. So we went back at 11:15 and they were finally open. Sat down, the lady seemed decent. Again, not a whole lot of service - took a while to get us our water and because there's only one chef, I can understand why it would take a while to get us our food. Food was on the salty side. I ordered their traditional Japanese breakfast with mackerel. Salad, you can't really go wrong with salad. Miso soup - extremely salty. I can understand Miso soup isn't going to be sweet, but this was probably the most salty miso soup I've ever had. Bowl of rice was quite dried - like it's been sitting out for a while. Mackerel, again, mackerels is a little salty, but this one went thru the roof. On the opposite side of the table, he ordered the Japanese Doria with Salad. Yes, cream sauce with cheese over ketchup fried rice (with ham and shrimp) will be a tad salty because of the cheese. But it's still too salty. And then of course when I checked in using yelp, it states that there's a 10% discount for my first visit. And when I went to pay my bill, she told me they don't work with yelp so no discount can be applied. I mean, I would've ate here regardless, but if they have a yelp sticker on their door and they've got the discount offer on our app... why are they not honouring it? I think Yelp should consider removing them from here. This is not the way to run a business.

Japanese food is more than just sushi! Sakawa Cafe serves Japanese Style Western Food (yōshoku). and comfort food (ramen, rice bowl etc). Price are really reasonable with items priced under $10. Warm and friendly service. The lady that working the front of the house is so cheerful and homey. We ordered: Katsu Don ($8.50) Pork Katsu and Egg on Rice Japanese Style Doria ($8.50) Cream Sauce with Cheese on Ketchup Rice There is an option for adding $1 to make it a combo with salad and soup Portion was just perfect and all prepared with care. They also serves espresso based and hand drip coffee using Social Coffee beans. Sakawa Cafe is just amazing! One of the most authentic Japanese Cafe in Toronto. So down to earth and without a sense of pretentious!

Cute Japanese restaurant whose specialty is traditional Japanese family style dishes. I got a hamburger steak with an extra cheese and an iced latte. The hamburger steak was very moist and juicy. It served with a salad, miso soup and rice. The latte was standard. Definitely would come back for other items on the menu.

Ordered the curry rice with chicken karaage, and it was delicious!! The chicken was cooked very well and tasted good with the rice and curry. It also came with miso soup, salad, and a sweet potato side dish. The gyoza was also good too. Overall the food was delicious and it pretty cheap too!

Sakawa Cafe is definitely a hidden gem. It is a tiny authentic Japanese café on Danforth. Overall, the service was excellent. Our lunches were delicious. The flavours are light years ahead of the cafes at J Town. My partner and I ordered Oyakodon (chicken egg rice) ($8.50), Japanese chicken curry ($8.5) and miso soup with salad (+$1) to share. Our friend had ramen with marinated ramen egg. All excellent! Our favourite was the hearty curry on Japanese rice. The rice was soaked in moist curry chicken with scrumptious potato and vegetables. The reason for the 4 star rating is due to their disappointing desserts - green tea cheesecake and green tea ice cream sundae. The pancake and the crepe in the sundae were dried and tough. The cheesecake was dense. I would not recommend either of these desserts if you are visiting Sakawa Cafe! If you are looking for a low key, authentic Japanese meal, this is the place to be! Look forward to trying their green tea latte as I heard great things about it!

This is a fantastic little place in Toronto with authentic Japanese food. The gyoza is to die for and melts in your mouth. The best gyoza I have ever had outside of Japan and even most places in Japan . I kid you not.

Let me preface by saying this place has the WORST onigiri I've ever tasted in my life. We were in the area and saw so many high reviews for this place so we decided to give it a try. We weren't too hungry so we just bought onigiris for a light snack which they were selling for $1.99 each. We ordered 2 tuna mayo and 2 salmon onigiris. Verdict? Oh my god they sucked so bad! Let me break it down for you folks. It's literally plain white cooked rice without any seasonings whatsoever with the smallest amount of canned fish (tuna or salmon) on Hellmanns mayo wrapped in seaweed and shaped into a fat triangle. The portion ratio of rice to fish was like 95% rice and 5% fish. If you don't believe me, just go try it for yourself! It's only $1.99 you will be wasting.

Popped by today to have lunch with a friend of mine. We were seated immediately and were offered our menus and were given water as well. I ordered the Tuna Mayo Onigiri and the Katsu Japanese Curry with rice. Both were absolutely delicious and flavourful, as well as having great value for the portion size. Despite having a relatively small menu, the quality and prices of the dishes are excellent. I will definitely visit this place again!

THEY DO A DECENT SALT GRILLED FISH, which isn't a rare dish to find in Toronto but very much Japanese breakfast/izakaya food. The only other spots I had it at were Koyoi, Ichikiri and Imanishi, and the portion was fair at this restaurant. I had the salt-grilled mackerel, my partner had salt grilled salmon. I was surprised there weren't many bones at all in my cut. My partner also had a pork riceball too. Would be interested to come back and try the ramen after being sorely disappointed by Kenzo and whatever standard joints in the city. They offer a hell ramen and shio ramen option that I'm intrigued about. Other standard features include katsus, chirashi don and curries. These are no less unimportant but not as exciting to me as I know how to make J-curry too. This place is REALLY clean. That's not Chinese medicine you're smelling when you step in. It's antiseptic along the lines of Dettol or bleach. Maybe we walked in right after a cleaning sesh.

Impulsively dropped in as we were in the area. Quiet, as it was a long weekend. Small shop, we ordered omu rice and curry ramen-- pretty decent size portions and flavourful. What stands out for this family run business is the excellent SERVICE. Waitress so friendly, in showing pictures on the menu, happily explaining the dishes, always filling our waters, asking us how our food is, giving us little dessert samples. This is the type of restaurant you go to because you feel welcomed and so homey.

Ambience 4/5 Service 5/5 Food 5/5 Love this place! This is my favourite Japanese restaurant in Toronto so far. Service is outstanding and the place is quiet, clean, and cozy. The location is nearby Donlands station. A little out of the way for me from where I live, but if I had a reason to go back again like the Taste of Danforth I would gladly return! Their chairs might need a little updating, but that's nitpicking. Food is authentic since their chef is from Japan and the value is amazing. They don't skimp on portion size at all. I was so stuffed after trying their pork katsu curry and their hamburg steak large size. Regular is plenty size for one person. Their curry is more smooth and doesn't have a lot of veggies like carrots on the plate. It has some kick at the end but easy to eat. It doesn't have that MSG quality that you find at some other places. Overall 5/5. This is a gem of a place. The Danforth area is expensive rent, so I hope they don't have to cut back on their portions to make a profit. I saw a lot of locals buying takeout.

This is one of my favourite restaurant on the Danforth. I had the Deep fried combo and also plain pancake for dessert. Hits all the right spots after a good run. The Deep fried combo would most light joy fill you up with deep fried pork, shrimp and salmon, comes with salad, soup and rice. The don't take the yelp 10% off anymore.

I used to go to this place often when I was living in the area. It's a Japanese family dining style cafe. The food is not something that blew my mind mind but something that warms my heart. I like having Japanese style breakfast there: Salmon( there are other protein options too), rice, egg, miso soup and salad. I enjoyed the tonkatsu curry too. They also sell onigiri. My fav is the salmon one. I love to get one on my way to work and eat it later in the day. The other thing I like about this place is the jazz music they play there. Soothing and calming. With the comfy food, that's the stuff!

I think I won't return anymore. The food was not very tasty. The omurice was so so, deep fried combo was ok and the pancake was not good at all. I think j town fast food "green tea cafe" was so much better.

Japanese restaurant run by Japanese. Chef comes from a region in Japan that specializes in seafood. While they have "coffee" in their name, it's the food that I loved. Especially liked the curry, and hubby thought the chirashi was pretty good. Really nice people, great service. This is a local spot that I hope people continue to support.

I had the omurice and friend had the gyudon. The omurice was a tad bit too sweet for me but that's just my personal preference, knowing the flavoring is mostly based on ketchup I expected this. Gyudon was done without egg on top, but flavor was good. Will deff come back and try other items on the menu, especially the summer special poke ramen bowl!! It's hard to find a place that offer home-cooking style Japanese food

More than just a great coffee shop!!!! The food at Sakawa is absolutely wonderful!! We've ordered pick-up a number of times and the food has always been great. Large portions, terrific katsu curry pork and chicken and scrumptious ramen! The folks at Sakawa are always polite and eager to make sure your order is always, hot, fresh and timely. Yummy!!!!

This is comfort style japanese home food, so that's what I have judged it on. The dishes aren't going to WOW you, but it has its own unique charm, that makes me want to come back later. The food itself isn't anything to write home about, but portion size and price is quite fair for what you get. I went during a somewhat busy saturday afternoon and although the waitress looked a bit stressed, she was attentive. Food: 3.5/5 Price Point: 4/5 Service: 4/5 Overall: 4/5

Food overall is average. We had the Doria Gratin and tonkatsu ramen. Both are on the over salty side in flavor. Latte was nice, and tuna onigiri was nice. Maybe next time we'll ask for less salt on the main course.

Basically a hidden gem! If this restaurant is open near queen street or uptown, lines will be out the doors! Simple Japanese cafe serving comfort food menu that reminds me of Japan! $8.50 omelette rice with ketchup and you can add a dollar for soup and salad. Portion is big & you can pair your food with a $4.80 Kirin beer or $5 hot sake. Will sure be back to try the breakfast and other items on the menu!

Cute Japanese-run mom and pop restaurant on the Danforth. Came here with a group of 20 people. The waitress was extremely nice and their menu has a good variety of options to select from. I think I'll come back here again with a smaller group so as not to overwhelm the kitchen and staff here. I ordered dumplings, tonkotsu ramen and matcha Sunday. The portion size was huge and the broth was savour and not too heavy (you can tell there wasn't alot of msg). I couldn't finish all my food and there were lots of cha shu slices. My friend ordered a green tea genmaicha with his meal which I would highly recommend. For the price of $2 it comes in a French press and very high quality genmaicha. For dessert you must absolutely order the matcha Sunday! It is $5.95 and comes with two scoops of green tea ice cream, fruits and four pieces of soft sweet pancake. Such a great value! The place is not very big. Four tables of 4 max so I don't recommend this place for big groups. The only reason I'm giving this place a 4 star instead of 5 is because the service was slow because our group was so big. It took a while for the bill to come since we were splitting bills and the waitress was writing them each out by hand.

Food was decent. Was expecting the typical carrot ginger salad dressing on my salad appetizer, but instead got this white dressing which was a little odd tasting. Couldn't quite tell what it was. As well, the Miso soup was very salty in my opinion, couldn't finish it. The Hamburg patty on my entree was quite dry. I suppose they tried to compensate by drizzling a generous amount of sauce on top. Checked in on Yelp to get 10% off, only to be told the deal supposedly expired 2 years ago ...

This is one of the most unassuming places I've eaten at. If a friend didn't tell me about it, I probably would never have noticed it since it's on a less busy strip of the Danforth. I tried their Chanpon Ramen with seafood and it was really delicious, a nice light flavoured broth and not too heavy even though it's milk-based. I also loved all the vegetables in it. They weren't treated like they were an afterthought. You can tell they were prepared separately before being added to the ramen, the Japanese eggplant was really yummy. I also tried their Shimesaba appetizer of cured mackerel which was also really delicious. I was expecting a strong vinegar/salt taste but was delightfully surprised by the mild flavour of the rice wine vinegar and soft and moist texture of the fish. Also finished with their matcha NY style cheesecake which I think was a bit too dense but it had a very good flavour. The space itself is quite small and it is super casual. It serves really good Japanese comfort food in a relaxed setting (don't expect everyone to yell at you like an izakaya). It's a really good neighborhood spot with nice and friendly service. I want to go back to try their Japanese breakfast set or their katsu curry, I saw another table order it and it looked really good! Prices are really affordable here too, with mains in the ~$10--$15 range. Highly recommend!

What a fun addition to the Danforth. Thus far I've only had the pleasure of trying their tea and dessert, but its definitely been bookmarked for future visits. From my limited experience, Sakawa offers good value and quality ingredients. On my visit, I ordered a genmai tea and received a French press full of tea leaves versus the usual mug and teabag. I also paired it with a matcha millecrepe, which I was surprised to find here, since it's such a Labour intensive cake. The millecrepe was not bad for the setting, but if you're looking to specifically try a millecrepe, it may be worthwhile to get to Millie Creperie or Roselle. A friend ordered the strawberry cheesecake, and it looked different from a western style cake. Instead of being more homogenous, this cheesecake seems to have a couple delicate layers---a thin sponge cake and the usual cheese layer---curious and tasty. Looking forward to revisiting this gem and trying more of their menu!

The containers for my husband's ramen and my curry were not securely packed (tops were flimsy and didn't fit, which led them to break with too much weight on top) and ended up spilling in the bag. We ended up with almost no broth for ramen and half of the curry. We tried to salvage what we had because we were hungry, but my husband couldn't finish his food. The chashu was too tough to cut with even a sharp knife. The tofu in the curry, which was the cheap porous kind, was flavorless. Overall, the quality was the food was incredibly low. We're both really disappointed and will not order from this restaurant again. We do not recommend this restaurant for anybody looking for comfort Japanese food that is even remotely acceptable in quality.

Love their curry here. Omurice was a miss for me. Whenever I'm on Danforth and I'm craving authentic Japanese food, I always make a beeline for Sakawa. Highly recommend the curry chicken katsu here.

This place serves Japanese style western food, but they do give us choices of Japanese ramen too. Japanese beers such as Sapporo, Kirin and Asahi is available. They have Asahi on draft too. You can come here for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are special combo menus for all 3 sessions at very reasonable prices. They have dessert like cheese cake, ice cream, etc. I did not try their desserts yet so I can't tell if they are good or not. Their food is made very home-style and I love to go there whenever I'm in the mood for omurice, Japanese curry and ramen. Hmmm, I haven't yet tried their coffee. I'm pretty sure I will go again soon:)

This has been my go to place to take elderly Japanese relatives who are very finicky about their food, and it has passed the test every time. The service may have occasional bumpy points, especially since the pandemic--opening a few minutes late, or out of something on the menu--but it's a clear cut case of wabi sabi 寂! Be it the mackerel or the black cod, their grilled fish is perfect and the meals as a whole are nutritionally and aesthetically balanced. I love their breakfasts best of all--the natto with egg and various surprises. There is no other place in Toronto where you can get this kind of Japanese home cooking and I keep my hopes high that they will survive the present epidemiological madness.

I really wanted to love this place, but it was 3/5 for me. We ordered mackerel pieces for apps. This was good. After, I got the ramen and my partner got the Katsu don (fried pork). The ramen broth wasn't too salty but the pork belly was dry. The fried pork was hard and didn't seem fresh. We ordered a piece of Millie crepe and green tea short bread for dessert. The Millie crepe was average. You can taste the green tea flavour but I don't think the crepes were fresh. The green tea short bread was flavourful. If you show your Yelp, you get a 10% off. They also serve their own beer. We didn't try it but perhaps if we come again, we will. I want to give this place another chance because they serve casual Japanese dishes, but they didn't blow me away despite all the good reviews.

This shop has been here since the summer but I never took the opportunity to try it. Shame on me! My friend and I wanted to try something new for breakfast and went here. I am so glad we did! The traditional Japanese breakfast with salmon was a perfect meal. Ours came with rice, miso soup, a green salad, a piece of grilled fish and two rotating side dishes (today were marinated wakame salad and marinated egg). It was really good, and would be great as lunch, too. They do offer other more americanized breakfast options including egg plates and omelettes, but they have Japanese pancakes, which I've never seen before! They looked pretty different to the ones we are used to, but still really good. I wasnt in the mood for sweet, but next time I I will try this! There's lunch and dinner options too, so I'll have to go back a few more times, yay! The coffee was also really good. And they have aero press, if that's what you like! Please give this place a shot. The service was lovely and the food was near perfect.

Found this little gem on the danforth! We ordered the omu rice, hell's ramen (regular spicy), and a black coffee. We really enjoyed what we ordered esp the ramen. It's so good on a cold day. We ordered the regular spicy. The soup was flavourful and the noodle is quite delicious. Will definitely come back again and try other items on the menu.