I previously posted this review text under the wrong restaurant. So now here's the correct review under the correct restaurant name ! Silly me! Came here for my birthday and ordered their tasting menu. Overall it was a pleasant experience with some outstanding items on the tasting menu, to be expected from a restaurant such as this, #15 on the top 100 Canada's best restaurant list. But there were some misses for me and rather than giving a personal be-all end-all statement, here's what I think of each food item in descending order of liking: 1. House made thick noodle with tamarind butter, white truffle, parmesan cheese This is the only dish that I keep thinking about days after the dinner! This dish was so good it made me regret having ordered a tasting menu, because the portion was small, understandably on a tasting menu. It was the perfect fusion of Chinese egg noodle with Italian sauce, and all the other great elements that made this dish so memorable. The noodle was al dente and the sauce was just superbly creamy. Best dish of the night. 2. Shrimp toast with pear The name of it isn't as interesting as it tastes, and this is why it surprised me so much how good it tasted. It was like biting into a luxurious version of the Asian shrimp cracker that, in addition to the crunch, also offered the slight chewiness of the bread, soaked in shrimp flavor. 3. Baby Back ribs with jackfruit, chili's pork crumble It was a hard choice not putting this dish as my top favorite of the night. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to have a rib of this quality any day, but while the ribs were super tender and flavorful, I found it to be more on the salty side. This is a subjective statement I guess, but I do think that the slight over saltiness of the ribs sort of tipped the scale a little bit for me and decreased my ability to enjoy the full flavor of the meat. Instead, the saltiness of the ribs overcame the flavor of the meat itself as I move onto my third piece. The jackfruit bread that it came with was super yummy though, makes me want to try other things with jackfruit in it! 4. Triple mushroom toast with ponzu butter Overall a very rounded dish, ponzu butter made everything better. 5. Truffle fried rice with edamame and XO sauce This, like the triple mushroom toast with ponzu butter, was also a great dish. 6. Corn and dashi soup with smoked miso butter Loved it, different and memorable. 7. Yuzu sorbet with candied ginger Refreshing..loved the ginger in it! 8. Some leafy wrap with almonds, coconut and fish roe My least favorite of the night, the combination of the flavors were good but nothing surprising to my Asian palate =/ I couldn't even remember the name as a result. read more

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Food: interesting twists on familiar Asian cuisine, beautifully executed & presented. A bit on the pricey end ($19 for 2 bite sized tacos for instance) but well worth the experience. In order of favourites: crispy octopus tacos, giggie trout, fried watermelon, crock pot rice, hakka brown wonton. Atmosphere: great ambience, beautifully decorated. Service: friendly and knowledgeable staff, I really enjoyed that they told us interesting facts about each dish as they were brought out.The wait time between dishes arriving could have been more consistent however- after the second dish there was probably about a half hour wait until the next one came and sometime after that before the final 2 arrived. Overall great experience, not sure I'd return for a second time but definitely worth a visit. read more

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4.5 stars Had experienced the tasting menu ($65) from here and as someone who grew up eating Asian cuisine, it was 1/2 comfort food and 1/2 delighted surprise. Everything from the watermelon gazpacho to the dandan Lobster and noodle dish was extremely tasty making you constantly excited for the next dish. Would definitely recommend if you have some money to spare and love exploring new flavours! It was definitely an experience. As someone who eats a lot of Asian food, what prevents me from the full five stars was that I didn't really see any standout Asian dishes. While they were all super tasty, the final Lobster and Shanghai main dish felt a bit more traditional, than fusion. read more

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one word to describe the dishes: flavour-town, wing chun those tastebuds like neva before! overall a warm and comfortable dining experience. feels like my cool aunts house.. though the interior decor can get a likkle updating note, some items listed may not be available on their menu big ups to the dai lo themselves, @ninjachef, @dennisjtay 8.4/10 IG @stay.hangry read more

We happened upon DaiLo during a visit to Toronto and it easily became my favorite meal of the trip. Everything on the menu looked incredible so we opted for the six-course tasting menu. Texture was at the forefront of this meal; every dish had a lovely dynamic of ingredients. We started with a bite of squash soup and a betel leaf with puffed rice. We then had the octopus tacos (must get!), which were wrapped in a thin slice of jicama instead of tortillas. That was followed by a delicious soup with scallop ceviche -- I wanted to drink the broth. Pea dumplings with truffles were exquisite. The beef with gnocchi wasn't a highlight for me but still was a solid dish. The meal finale was an entire fried trout with a zesty salad. I normally would have been too intimidated to order such a dish, but this was spectacular. For ~$60, this was an incredible value, with every single dish being quite impressive and unique. Service was excellent, I really appreciated that each dish was explained as it came out. Would 100% return. read more

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Chef Nick Liu is a staple here, and he and the staff helped to seat us as they opened the restaurant. Now that is what you call service. My wife and I, as well as my brother brought my dad out for a belated father's day as he wasn't feeling well the week of. We tried to be a mix of adventurous as well as somewhat safe to see if I couldn't get my dad to enjoy the meal: mission was a minor fail We started with the Fried Watermelon. It was a weird and interesting experience for the table. The warm juiciness of the watermelon against the herby basic and acidity of the pickle and the porkfloss added some salt a difference in texture. This was a fun dish that played with the temperature, and different flavours. The Burmese Tofu arrived around the same time. The chickpea texture stands out in this tofu and really fits with the spicy mixture of the duxelle and chili. This mixes that familiar tangy-spicy mixture you'd be used to in other Asian dishes with a different take on a tofu. It was quite enjoyable, heat levels would not be appropriate for those who are spice aversion. Our Third Starter was the. Ontario Pea Dumplings. I enjoyed the duality of the mush pea filling of the dumpling and the springy full pea that decorated the dish. I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of the truffle here. I feel like it takes a bit away from the peas but it added a punchy earthiness to the overall dish a long with the other mushrooms. We ordered the Truffle Fried Rice and Jackfruit & Chili Glazed Back Ribs. The rice was your standard friend rice but with that punch of truffle, its not as strong as I've had with other fried rices with truffle. The ribs were tender and fall off the bone. Its not sweet or spicy in any regards but still tasty all the same. The chef sent out palate cleansers, in the form of sorbets. I forget the flavour. We also got the Soju Poached Pear for dessert. The pear retains that bite in the texture while being tender enough to cut through with a spoon. The nuts and the ice cream help to round out the dish emphasizing the sweetness and the crunch of the dish. I would love to explore the menu again or to try the tasting menu. I enjoy the difference that is represented in Chef Liu's dishes and can't wait to try more. read more

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I saw Dailo in many blogs when researching where to eat at on my trip to Toronto. This was one of the best Chinese fusion restaurants I've had. Food: 5/5 Value: 4/5 Service: 4/5 We were lucky to get a reservation here on our trip Toronto as Dailo is very popular. We ordered the fried watermelon, it was very special as I've never had cooked watermelon, it tasted decent, but I don't think I would order again. The jasmine rice with Hakka red braised pork was delicious, but I wish they charged us a little more for a little more meat. For entries, we got the truffle fried rice, duck bokkeum and the whole fried giggie trout. The trout is a must order, they serve you the entire fish and it was crispy and delicious, definitely the best dish at Dailo. The duck was unique and great with the sauce, the truffle fried rice was a little bit of a let down only because the other dishes were so good that it was not as good in comparison. It was a good friend rice, but a little expensive and didn't have much truffle. We wish we had order another entry instead of the friend rice. They also put white rabbit candy in their ice cream, which was a throwback to my childhood. The only complaint I had was that the food came out slow, but it's definitely worth the wait. read more

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I never really leave reviews but the waiter's inappropriate behavior really stuck with me even days after my dining experience. The food was unbelievable, inspired flavor combinations and bursting with creativity. 5/5 stars for the food and beverages! The aesthetic of the restaurant was also stellar. 5/5 for ambiance. Now for the service. I had a waiter who was a bit too involved with my dining experience. I opted for the tasting menu and everything had been going smoothly. After each dish was brought out by the sous chef who explained the components and how to enjoy, the waiter would come by and re explain. Now that on its own while a bit annoying did not ruin the experience. I was in the middle of taking a photo of the beautifully presented dishes when he interrupted and proceeded to mansplain to me how to eat a dish, even taking the spoon from my hand and proceeding to mix up the contents of the tiny tasting dish, also ruining the presentation for any potential photo. It's extremely unprofessional to have your waitstaff take a utensil out of a customer's hand and touch the customer's food with it. Also if there are instructions on how to eat something, please describe the process, don't mansplain and take the customers utensil to do it for them like they are a child. He sensed my obvious annoyance and thought it was because he was interrupting the photo but truly it was more in regards to the mansplaining and touching my food without permission. I still tipped as I know tips are split between the staff and everything else was wonderful. But I hope they can better train their waitstaff in terms of etiquette. read more

One of the few restaurants I was most excited for but was left the most disappointed... Based on the reviews and pictures I came here with high expectations, unfortunately my experience was very underwhelming. My friends and I ordered the crispy octopus tacos, hakka brown wontons, torched tamari glazed beef carpaccio, sichuan braised beef and the whole fried giggie trout. My table all agreed that the tacos were delicious and the best out of everything, and since this was the first dish brought to us we had very high hopes for the rest of our dinner. The rest of our food were just mediocre - it wasn't BAD but it wasn't to die for either. It honestly tasted like stuff we can make at home, which some people may not mind but my friends and I were expecting the fusion tastes to be more noticeable and long the lines of tastes we've never tried or experienced. The flavours/tastes didn't compliment each other or stood out to us at all, so we didn't really experience the "fusion" in any of the dishes except for the tacos. Some of the criticism agreed by my entire table for certain dishes were: - the braised beef tasted exactly like the beef in pho, which is weird because the seasoning is completely different - the wontons were a bit too salty - the trout was a bit too oily for us - not enough sauces on the beef carpaccio, so it was too plain Not only were the tastes not there, the portions were ridiculously small for the price (especially the tacos), aside from the trout. We usually order the same amount of food for 4 girls elsewhere and never finish - we finished all of the food here and were still hungry! Our final bill was $200 on the dot after taxes which is supposed to be AVERAGE I guess... but not worth it at DaiLo because we weren't full/satisfied. I feel like we could've spent the same amount elsewhere and gotten a better experience with food and actually be full afterwards. Despite the food not meeting our expectations, service was outstanding and impeccable. Our server was very patient with us and answered all of our questions, and explained each dish that came out beautifully. Our waters were always filled, and dishes were cleared quickly so our table was never too crowded. It was very quick to get his attention too when needed. Would I come back? Most likely not. I applaud DaiLo for trying with the the whole fusion scene but it just didn't work for us. The "fusion" additions they tried weren't enough to make most of the dishes stand out to us, the dishes tasted far too familiar at home... Sucks because we all really wanted to like this place! read more

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My coworkers wanted to go for Asian food but on the "fancier" end so we gave Dailo a shot. There were five of us and we ordered a bunch of items to share. 1) Fried Watermelon - we thought this was unique and wanted to try this. I thought it would taste a lot better considering the price we pay for it. It just tasted fried with water (the watermelon wasn't very flavourful) 2) Big Mac "bao" - I saw pictures of this while I was yelping about what to eat. The pictures looked good so I wanted to try this. The bao was hot and fresh, but was not flavourful. I wasn't a big fan of the sauce Adobe it. 3) Jellyfish Slaw - I really enjoyed this dish. I thought it was very flavourful and the jellyfish was delicious. I think this was one of their cheaper and bigger dishes. 4) Crispy Octopus Taco - this came with two tacos. The octopus tasted really good. 5) Miso Salt Cod Brandade - I ordered this thinking it was soup with the Chinese donut. I realized that you dip the Chinese donut in the brandade. The brandade didn't taste good alone. The cod was very minimal but when I had a bite of it, it was really good. At the end, we finished all the Chinese donut, with a lot of leftover brandade. 6) Char Siu Pork Loin - I really enjoyed this dish too. The char siu was really good- so flavourful and juicy. I think it came with 3 steamed buns but we ordered an additional one. 7) Ponzu Beef Carpaccio - this dish was really good but there was not a lot of beef. Overall, the atmosphere was really nice. The food are overpriced. The portion of the food was also for snacking. It was a good experience, probably would not dine here again, as I would rather spend the money on different restaurants. read more

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incredible experience, loved the ambiance as well definitely must come here. they were out of online reservations, we called and they fit us in kindly. Was so great! read more

I know I'm late to this party... by a couple of years. Chef Nick Liu has been one of the celebrated Toronto chefs bringing delicious food in new and creative ways to Little Italy. It just happens he does it from an Asian point of view. I do appreciate how he melds traditional Asian concepts or flavours and puts a modern twist on it. Fusion... sure. Fun... absolutely. The restaurant itself is bigger inside than from peering into the windows. It does pay homage to Asia with it's well known design notes & accents. Delicately patterned screens, a large watercolour landscape picture on the wall, and wooden carved accents on top of pillars. It gives a nod without shoving it down your throats with bamboo lettering. Though it takes nods from the past, it has its focus on the 'now' with it's modern vibe ... almost like an industrial modern loft vibe with exposed brick work and ceiling. The quick summary ... great date night spot. It has enough dim lighting that you look great without the need of alcohol. Service here is EXCELLENT. Polished, refined, friendly, and never pushy... this just sets up for a great evening. Everyone from the actual server to the individuals bringing the plates to the table... all on point. They seemed interested in providing a great experience, checked in throughout the night, and even described each item in detail. It seems weird to say that's rare... but it actually is. The menu is vast and a lot of it is very intriguing on paper... do what we did and just order the Chef menu. It is tailored to you and your table. There were 4 tables side by side who got the chef menu and after the 2nd dish, none of the dishes were the same. Miso Cauliflower & Shimeji Soup (amuse bouche) - Im not a big fan of miso soup and not because i dont like the flavours. I just find it incredibly salty in most places. I do like the fact that it had shimeji mushrooms and given a bit of a different note with the varied ingredients. 3.5/5 Octopus Taco on Jicama Shell - Loved the creativity on this... who would have thought that gigantic white carrot looking thing would be the perfect taco shell? It gives a natural crunch without heat or deep frying and is a nice contrast to the hot crispy and tender octopus. The sambal adds a nice flavour punch with a touch of spice. This was really good. The menu says there's pork belly in there but I ate this so fast that my brain didnt catch it. Oops. 5/5 Beef Carpaccio (90 day aged rib cap) - Another fusion dish but this time, the influence is Italy. This was amaaahzing. I love the flavours. With the lightly sweetened fish sauce, garlic, citrus, and chilli AND herbs on top... this was just a great dish of bold flavour and super tender beef. I could eat this a lot. The rib cap had a nice beefy flavour that came from the aging. 5/5 Hakka Brown wonton (pork & shrimp) - I would say this would be the most traditional Chinese item we received. I'm not a wonton expert but I've been eating them since I was a kid. I will be honest, I'm not sure if this was executed as well. Dumplings to Asians is almost important as rice. Filling and wrapping is equally key. These ones... the wrappings werent so good. Unfortunately they fell apart too easily (overcooked and gooey) and though the filling seemed good. The sesame oil was heavy handed and I think it drowned out the XO sauce. 3/5 Big Mac Bao (90 day aged beef) - So this is the famed Big Mac bao ... playing on my childhood flavours. Dailo takes a well known fast food and elevates with homemade sauces, home made process cheese (irony ... yes but it's a great one), and great beef and stuffs it into a beloved dimsum dish ... the steamed bao. This has be written up many times and I can see why. It's great bar food. It has a nice beefy juice filling that you can mash into the 'secret sauce' to add that tangy sweet aioli-like sauce. Quick note, it's is off menu. It's definitely not on the Dailo Menu and it might be on their LoPan bar menu. It's creative, delicious, and fun to eat. 5/5 Pumpkin Dumplings with 'White Rabbit' butter sauce - I wasn't sure what to make of this one as 'White Rabbit' is a candy I ate only during Chinese New Year and Moon Harvest. I wasn't sure how the super sweet creamy candy would meld with a savoury dish. I give full props to Chef Liu to using something so wildly different ... it's definitely inventive. It was interesting to have but I'm not sure I would order it again. 1st reason is same as the wonton. Wrappers fell apart and more gummy than supple. The butter and candied sauce is wild... bold, in your face, and unapologetic. Have to admit, he did balance it better than I imagined. Filling was super smooth. 3.5/5 Whole Fried Giggie Trout - ORDER THIS. One of the best whole fish dish I've had in Toronto. Tender, not oily, or dried out... the 3 dipping sauces added to it. 5/5 Sake & Aloe Vera sorbet with candied ginger - Light & refreshing 4/5 read more

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For our 5 years anniversary, we went to DaiLo to try their unique Asian inspired and modernized cuisine. We got their Truffle Fried Rice, 90 Day Dry Aged Butcher Shoppe Ribeye, and their Fried Watermelon. The fried watermelon was unique and because of the fleshy and juicy melon, the fried exterior really balances the dish. Definitely a dish that we have not tried anywhere else before. We also really loved the mushroom sauce on top of the super tender and soft 90 day aged ribeye. The ribeye was cooked perfectly on the inside and seared deliciously on the outside. We also loved the crunchiness the truffle fried rice had and the XO sauce on the side really brings back some nostalgic memories. We also got some unique cocktails on their drinks menu. We got their Tom Yum Booze and their Notice Me, Sasuke cocktails. The Tom Yum booze definitely tasted like the soup, but had a great alcoholic and sweet twist to it. The Notice Me, Sasuke, was definitely a sweeter drink and I specially enjoyed the strawberry peach soju. The service in the restaurant was professional and great too. Overall, the food was delicious, and brought back some familiar Chinese memories. However, it was a little bit on the pricier side. We would absolutely come back again and maybe try some new dishes on a special occasion. read more

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Went with my friends and had a great time with the tasting menu! Wonderful service in particular, I enjoyed being hand-fed.

Delicious Asian fusion cuisine! Although prices seem a bit inflated for Asian food, the price-to-taste ratio is good, and everything we had were very tasty! An amuse bouche of chawanmushi with tamari pearls set a great tone to our evening - it was great both presentation-wise and taste-wise. Of all the dishes that night, I especially recommend the Hakka Brown Wontons - bet you can't have just one! The pumpkin dumplings are also quite nice. The lamb neck rendang is fall off the bone tender and is a great dish to share. Service was great throughout the evening, and our server was extremely patient with us. Executive chef Nick Liu even came by and signed the Toronto Eats book for us! Only thing to nitpick on is the sticky rice with the lamb neck dish - which I found to be a tad too dry. The cocktail drinks there are very pretty and worth trying, but ultimately lacks that "punch" that makes a cocktail truly great and memorable. Overall, I would definitely recommend eating here. read more

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Taste: 3 Service: 3 Value: 2 Presentation: 5 Overall: 3.2 rounded down to 3 Hi and welcome to another episode of javing it with Javier. Let's see what we are javing today. This time I went to eat with my team for some din dins. We had a list of restaurants that we picked from. In short, not many people voted and DaiLo won with most votes of 2 . Since it was a large group, we got the preset meal which contained a variety of foods. There were many dishes served that night and even right after my meal I didn't remember all of them. Some were definitely better than others. The highlights out of those were the octopus tacos, the fried fish, the asparagus sprinkled with egg and truffle, the fried rice, and the palette cleanser Soju ice thingy. The food that I did not enjoy was the steak, the beef, and the ox tongue which was also beef. The beef was extremely hard to eat as it was very rough. Everything else was adequate. Oh boy do I have quite a bit to talk about their service. First off, when we sat down the cups were very dusty inside. I wonder how long those cups had have to been left there for that much dust to accumulate. They were happy to replace them for us though. Later throughout the meal when they were picking up the plates, one of platters with sauce in it got spilt over my coworker. My coworker didn't seem to mind but if I were in the same position I'd be pissed. However, when we went to the washroom, I did notice that our napkins were nicely folded back up again which was nice. I didn't pay for the meal, but I was surprised to find out that it costed $65. To be fair there was a lot of food and the amount should justify the price. However, I feel that I would not feel good if I payed that amount for it. Was definitely a good try, but would not try again for me. Overall, one of my coworkers was really hyped for this place initially but said that all the food has become average in comparison to his last visit and I agree. And that's it for today's episode of javing it with Javier. And remember food is life! read more

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Had chef's tasting menu($65), which offers variety of dishes to try. It's a great way to explore. Food worth mentioning: fired watermelon, fired fish(taste a bit oily at the end), pork belly The noodle with boiling oil pouring from the top taste too salty and the noodle is hard. read more

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Recommend doing the 'Dailo's Choice' for $65/pp as the dishes are all about $13-55 anyway. Opted for al la Carte this time Two of us shared: Crispy Octopus Taco (2pc) red braised pork belly, sambal aioli, jicama shell Way better than I anticipated, not usually a big fan of pork belly but it was really crispy. I'd highly recommend trying them. Torched Tamari Glazed Beef Carpaccio 90 day olliffe's rib cap, herb salad, nuoc mam, prawn cracker Really good but I wouldn't recommend ordering something this 'safe' here, they have such unique dishes at DaiLo you really need to get out of your comfort zone. Pumpkin Dumplings soy brown butter sauce, Black truffles, "white rabbit candy" glaze, pepita crumble Ahhmazing! Great to share for two or with your party so you can try a few different items off of their menu. Fried Watermelon is a must try! So flavorful, unique and delicious! Braised beer gnocchi (with a side of sticky rice, which was necessary) the mushrooms in the gravy were delicious only negative comment I found it a little over salted, but could've just been the night. Jellyfish Slaw napa cabbage, lime soy vinaigrette, sesame seeds. First time eating (or even hearing of) jelly fish on the menu. Was described as crispy, it was good but definitely our least favourite dish of the night. A little heavy on the sesame oil. (Wouldn't order again unless I was with a full table and everyone wanted to try a bite.) I'd probably go for the trout next time ( if I didn't opt to have the chef selections) everything was great!! They have a team oriented service motto, food, drinks and smiling, knowledgeable servers bring it all to you as soon as your order is up. I'll be back! read more

Amazing combinations of tastes and great service! The fried watermelon is a must and so unexpectedly amazing!!! The pumpkin dumplings are to die for..make sure u order two servings the presentation of everything was stellar and the trout was the highlight of our meal..do yourself a favor and make plans to eat here!! read more

Come to get the fried watermelon. Stay for the Burmese tofu and whole fried trout. Oh, and the drinks. Fantastic experience and food!

Went to DaiLo with a few friends and tried their chef's choice option - a number of dishes served family style for $65 per person. To be honest, I went with very low expectations as I am not typically a fan of asian fusion, and was pleasantly surprised and impressed with the whole meal. The service was great as well, they asked which dishes we really wanted to try off the menu, what kind of food we typically gravitate towards, etc. and put together a great menu for us that night. There was also a lot of food. The standouts were definitely the steak and fried chicken dishes, but each dish was good. If you aren't picky with your food and open to trying new things, I would definitely recommend coming here with a group of friends to try their family style option! read more

DaiLo - Family style portions for a group of 6 - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

DaiLo gets 3 stars for good ambience, great service and delicious cocktails. So what happened to the other 2 stars? Taste of the food and the price. For $97, all we got was 2 cocktails, an order of wontons, beef carpaccio and charred Napa cabbage. For $11, we got 6 pork and shrimp wontons that tasted just ok. The beef carpaccio was the best tasting dish. I love that it was loaded so many different herbs such as mints, cilantro, fried garlic and shrimp chips but the fish sauce was a bit too much making it a bit too salty. Getting to the most disappointing dish of the night, charred Napa cabbage. For $15, we got 1/10 of a cabbage served with mayo! I know it's Asian fusion food but mayo?!!? Needless to say, it wasn't my cup of tea. Perhaps, we picked the wrong dishes but then again, we were told we can't go wrong with any of the items in the menu. read more

DaiLo - Beef carpaccio - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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10 stars. Or 12. Seriously. One of the top 3 restaurant meals I have ever had (and we eat out a lot all over!) Our server, Jeff, was a rock star. Funny, great recommendations and just the kind of server you want. We did the tasting menu and a cocktail/sake pairing and I swear there were like 11 things to eat plus a crap ton of drinks. Before this dinner I would have told you "sake is gross" and "tofu is lame" and my hubby would have said "watermelon is terrible" and "I'm not eating a fish with a face." Well, all that is out the window! The Burmese tofu is something I never would have ordered and it is now haunting my dreams. Awesome. The fried watermelon had a spicy kick to it that was so good. Felt bad that we couldn't finish the THREE large portion main dishes brought at the end (whole fried fish, lobster noodles and truffle rice) but this was after about 5 other courses. Portions could have been half what we got and it still would have been an amazing meal. Loved everything. read more

The service, atmosphere, and food were all great. I went with my girlfriend for her bday, we got the king Cole smoked duck, wontons, and pea dumplings. In all reality, everything tasted great. Not amazing but great. Starting with the wontons, they tasted like home. Typically when you have wontons they're in their own soup. These came in a peanut sauce that tasted a bit like sachar sauce (sauce for hot pot). I thought they wontons themselves were a tad over cooked but overall tasted great. The pea dumplings were by far the richest thing I've ever eaten in my life. The if you like rich tasting things, try this. I honestly thought it was almost too rich for my taste. The king Cole duck presentation was unbeatable. Colorful veg, perfectly smoked duck. It tasted a bit more like ham than duck which was unfortunate for me as I was really hoping for more of a gamey flavor that duck has. Overall it was great, but there were a few misses for me with the execution, which is why I gave it a 4/5. Drinks, atmosphere and more importantly, the people were what made this place so special. read more

DaiLo - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Small portions, and flavors weren't very exciting for "upscale fusion". Seemed pretty typical Asian. Staff was good and attentive. All in all the atmosphere and experience felt very pretentious. read more

Made reservations 2 weeks in advance although they say they also take walk ins. Busy place on a Friday night. Not sure if it's the type of crowd here but our host told us we had to leave by 8:45pm from our 6:30 reservation. Great decor with mix of old, wood, and murals reminiscent of another era. Server was very friendly and helpful with options for nonalcoholic drinks as well as recommendations for #of apps and mains for sharing. Attentive service throughout the night. We had the special pumpkin lobok go and sweet and sour pork hock. Both were amazing flavours and textures. Fried rice, jackfruit ribs, and steak mains. Fried rice was good because of the homemade xo sauce. I would slather that on everything. Ribs were fall off the bone good and the steak was perfect. Sadly ran out of room for dessert. Would highly recommend this place!! read more

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We got the tasting menu and OH MY GOODNESS, everything was incredible. We got to try so many different dishes and were stuffed to the gills. Highly recommend! read more

This place really made me struggle to put a review down. and rate it properly. on one hand it is the kind of place where you can tell as you eat the food. that the chef was very thoughtful in trying to come up with their menu a d put a lot of heart into it. i was very tempted to give them a 4 star. however given the food and service. it was hard for me to end up there. first of all the food in dai lo is very much fusion in a good way. it is trying to take things from two cultures and combine them to try and make something new and better. and not just fusion for the sake of fusion. the fried watermelon is one such example and is perhaps the highlight of the meal. it was inventive and delicious and unique. the opposite side of that spectrum is the chinese fried dough with cheese and chili oil. that dish did not make any of its components better and you feel as if it just didnt work as a combination. the watercress salad also didnt really work. as it didnt bring out anything special. the viet beef capricio i feel was trying to do too much. as it had a rrally great beef. it didnt need the overkill of ingredients. the one that had a great potential but i felt did not quite reach it was the jackfruit pork back ribs. thr flavour of the jackfruit was just not strong enough. and it didnt create the lasting wow factor it couldve had. thr service was extremely slow at the restaurant. from getting a table to meeting our server took 20 minutes. and the food was very slow on each course we waited a good 35/40 minutes for each. i know this is not a fast restaurant but that is a bit too slow in my opinion to spend an hour or so before we got our main courses. i would recommend people come try for the different items on the menu you wouldnt find elsewhere. and i hope the restaurant improves.as i think therr is a lot of potential. it just isnt quite there yet. food wise. read more

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We had a few cocktails at Bar Raval (literally next door) until our reso at DaiLo, and skipped on over for a fun Wednesday dinner! The food was crazy flavourful and always served with a detailed explanation of its ingredients. Every dish came out relatively quick too, one after the other, so it didn't feel like we waited very long! I would highly recommend the Hakka Brown Wontons, and keep the sauce for your rice!!! We also loooved the delicious Whole Fried Giggie Trout - the presentation was definitely a nice touch! Great spot for sake (they've got multiple selections in light, medium, full) and dinner with a date, friends, or co-workers! The only reason I deducted a star was because the portions are a bit too small and left me wanting for more! That being said, I would return for special occasions! read more

DaiLo - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

2.5 stars. Nice casual ambiance. The tasting menu is around $190 for two, after tax and tip. I was let down by the food. They have a tendency of using very strong flavours that were overwhelming and competing with each other. For instance, the pea dumpling had black truffle, bone marrow, and bacon. I wish I could have tasted the pea filling and bone marrow more because that was quite delicious, but it was overpowered by the more dominant flavours. The wontons in sweet chili sauce was my least favourite dish. It was way too sweet (desensitized my tasting buds for the next dish), and the wonton wrappers mushy and falling apart. The tacos were doused in aioli and it made the whole thing just taste like spicy mayo. The fresh leaf wrap was very good and texturally interesting. I didn't think the tofu "cheese" Caprese salad was anything special, but the tomatos were nicely peeled to soak in the dashi. The smoked duck is a smart menu item because it can be prepared ahead of time and has a longer shelf life, can be served cold (well it was served cold to us so I assume that's intentional). The downside is that the fat is not rendered at all. and cold duck fat can be very rubbery. The skin was also unpleasant. It was not similar to a duck prosciutto where the fat is tasty and thinly sliced. The purple potato mash was very boring. The "famous fried rice" tasted purely of black truffle oil, so if you like truffle you'll enjoy this. Thankfully there were no other competing flavous. I didn't think it was special. I think dousing things in truffle oil is a bit of a copout. Our server was very nice, but he was quite busy. We had to wait a long time for water sometimes, and the sparking water cups are so tiny that I was constantly running out. No pitcher or bottle for the table. Time between dishes is also long. Overall I don't regret coming here, but I'm not sure if I'd come back. The value for the quality of food was not worth it for me. It certainly was interesting to try once. read more

First impression was that this is a beautiful restaurant. Murals painted on the walls and tin ceilings. Comfortable banquettes. The tables were a bit close together. Service was impeccable. Our water glasses were constantly refilled with sparkling water at no charge. Our table stayed clean and dishes were changed out during the meal. I love that the tasting menu gets customized based on size of group, preferences and dietary concerns. We wanted to try the rib eye, so they worked a menu around it. :) What we ate ordered by my most favourite: Mandarin pannacota - this was perfect. Aloe Vera and sake sorbet - sounds weird but it was excellent Truffle fried rice with homemade xo sauce - so good Rib eye - this was surprisingly a bit chewy and may have rested too long as it wasn't particularly hot Pea vichyssoise with lobster and crab salad. I could have licked the bowl. Octopus taco on jicama - unique and yummy Fried trout that resembled and tasted like a chicken wing was a nice amuse bouche. Jellyfish and Napa cabbage slaw was refreshing and nice Chucharon dish - not sure what the actual name was. Basically pork rinds that got used to scoop up this pork terrine and quail egg dish. This was good. Fried wintermelon - glad we tried it as it was different. Good. Some fish creamy spread thing with dough fritters was okay. A bit heavy. I would repeat again. read more

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One of the best Asian fusion restaurants in Toronto. I have always been skeptical of Asian fusion. It is either done really well or really poorly. This is why I am happy to report that DaiLo's fusion cuisine is done really well. The food was creative and inspired and prepared with finesse. We visited this restaurant as a group and decided to do a chef tasting menu. This is a great way to truly sample the various dishes at DaiLo. While all of the dishes were excellent, there were a few highlights, amongst them are: (1) the "Big Mac" bao, (2) the whole fried trout, and (3) beef plate. The dishes were well presented, flavourful and fresh. I would highly recommend this gem on College St. read more

DaiLo - Chinese Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Very pricey very small portions but good atmosphere, services is pretentious but ok. Good place for drinks and what feels like tapas. Good place for an expensive date, most plates enough for 2 ppl only. Plates to try: fried rice, whole fried fish, jelly slaw, Plates to skip: fried watermelon sound cool but just warm cubes of water lemon, ribeye (meat was tough), duck meat was also tough, We ordered 3/4 of their small menu. They don't have all the items pictures on yelp. They have an excellent bottle of white wine, Chasselas I think from France? Yum. BEWARE: we found that the prices they charged on our bill was different and higher than the prices listed on their menu ??!! Shady right??! How does that even happen?? Our bottle of wine was listed for $75 and they charged $85 and a few other other items too, $38 listed charged $40 etc. We verified the wine and they admitted their fault. We let the other smaller differences go but SHADY BUSINESS PRACTICE OR INCOMPETENCE?! Just REMEMBER TO CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK YOUR BILL. ITS SO EXPENSIVE ALEADY so I guess most people just assumed it was accurate. read more

/BOTTOM LINE: Chinese "fusion" done right. A great place to come if you want elevated Chinese classics, a cool space, and yummy cocktails. /THE SPACE: Beautiful! There are lovely murals along the wall. One side of the restaurant is tables and the other side houses "booths". Bar in the back. /THE FOOD: I loved every bite of it. We ordered 6 dishes + dessert for two people, and we were more than full. Our waitress was thoughtful with letting us know how many dishes we should order, which was refreshing since I feel like I get "upsold" a lot and end up ordering too much food. - Fried winter melon with pork belly: So delicious, and reminded me of my childhood the minute I bit into it, as my weekday dinners were often winter melon soup. - Pumpkin dumplings - Very much like a wonton, but with creamy pumpkin inside and a sweet glaze (white rabbit candy!) - Truffle fried rice - $20+ fried rice should be delicious and Dailo delivered. Hints of (But not overdone) truffle, crunchy rice bits, and the homemade XO sauce were key. - General Tso sweetbreads - A refreshing take on a classic takeout dish. The sauce was a little salty, but I think it's just staying true to what general tso's chicken always is. Two specials: - Yu choy with fried garlic scapes/kimchi butter -- yummy, but kind of oily. The fried stuff was covered in tempura batter, which was great. - Singaporean oyster omelet - I love how the specials reflect the chef's recent travels. Amped up take on singaporean omelet with FRIED OYSTERS (?!?) on top. Overall, a fantastic restaurant. We had a lot of Chinese food while visiting Toronto but this stood out from the rest. Can't wait to come back here. read more

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Another top Toronto resto... this place quite literally blew my mind. Quite deserving of the 5 star rating Very cool spot with a dumpling bar upstairs. Decor is very interesting - just don't sit in the corner window seat - the air conditioning vent blows down on that area - we had to move it was uncomfortably cold! Food was TOP TOP TOP We ordered a la carte, although the restaurant does offer a chef's selection of dishes by which they showcase a selection of well-paired dishes. We started with a chefs daily special which was a mushroom and watercress salad with puffed rice and soft boiled quail eggs... this really set the meal off right and was truly, uniquely mouth-watering. Both the green pea and hakka brown wontons were so flavourful and one of the top orders of our meal Seared nappa cabbage was probably the only item we selected that, although good, didnt live up to the rest of the meal Whole Fried Giggie trout - very, very good with some different dipping sauces, each unique and tasty Truffle fried rice - the spicy XO sauce they use for this dish is bomb! So good. Finished with the champonado chocolate pudding with puffed rice and white rabbit candy ice cream... which, was probably one of the best desserts i've had in the city. So delectable. read more

Cool little Asian fusion spot in Toronto. Came here with a group of 4 and we got the lobster and duck to share. It's a bit pricy but the food was amazing and we were all full afterwards. We also got the fried watermelon as an app and it was just as good as it sounds. read more

You know it's going to be a long meal when they set you up with complementary sparkling water. There's a lot of detail that goes into these creative and unique dishes - and that takes time. All the dishes boomed with flavour. We left filled but not full - very satisfying. The service is great, as they're all friendly and Nick was open to telling his story of how Dai Lo came to be. They were attentive to how the table looked and when the plates needed to be replaced with new ones. Of course, everyone knows that this little block on College has a lot of expectations to uphold, and they did not disappoint. If you ask, they might be able to order you the Big Mac Bao from their upstairs snack menu (Lo Pan). It's worth a try! read more

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I really wanted to like this place.. But it was just okay. 3/5 for food, -1 for the very high price point. I usually loooove Asian fusion and the food here all looked so interesting! We got all the expensive stuff - truffle fried rice, duck, beef sashimi; all in all 6 items between 2 people. (The menu looked interesting enough we were willing to over order then take home) And I have to say, each dish was just... Meh. It felt like they tried way too hard to mix a bunch of "Asian" ingredients in interesting ways, but it just didn't work. Flavors felt very messy. They used a lot of green onions and sesame oil and soy sauce, throwing in "asian" stuff like steamed egg or Chinese doughnuts. This might taste interesting / new to some people (not meant to be condescending!), but I know Asian cuisine very well and it just tasted like a mess to me; not bad, not great, mostly confusing and underwhelming. Atmosphere was semi-fancy semi-bar like. read more

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Everything about this restaurant is perfection! The food, the ambience, the service. Perfect for a date, a casual hangout or even a small group party. They serve mostly tapas style food, with the exception of a couple of bigger sized dishes. Between my date and I, we had 3 tapas sized, and 1 regular sized dishes and we were stuffed! Here's what we had: 1) Ponzu Beef Carpaccio - holy smokes this was so delicious. The combination of the yuzu soy caramel sauce,scallion,fried garlic and the dwarf peach (surprisingly) was amazing! 2) Miso Salt Cod Brendade - this is actually my favourite item on the menu so far. I can't describe how tasty it was, but the creamy texture of the Brendade combined with the crispy basil and the out of this world flavor from the salt cod - let's just say we had to ask for extra bread pieces. Ps my date is French and he approved! 3) seared Napa Cabbage - this was my least favourite of the items we ordered. Mind you, my date saw the word raclette and immediately ordered (did I mention he's French). Nothing really special with this dish, if you're not the biggest fan of cabbage and the raclette was almost absent 4) Bulgogi glazed lamb neck - eventhough we were so full, I'm glad we ordered this. It was absolutely a treat! The meat was tender enough you can pick them with your chopstick. It's served with a side of pear salad which was the perfect addition. The sweetness matched well with the puree and the lamb. In addition to the food, what I think is really great about this restaurant is the service. Everyone were super helpful and friendly and there wasn't a time when I felt like "oh, it's been awhile since we ordered". I'm really glad that I found this gem and will definitely be coming back! read more

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Randomly decided to stop by here on the windiest weekend night, heard great things about it from a friend + the good reviews on Yelp. I'm giving it 3 stars solely because of the taste, service and ambience are definitely 5/5. I have to say that none of the food I had was mind-blowingly good. We asked for the tasting menu ($65pp). It's one of those places that you get really hopeful for what's coming up next, because you want to believe what you're chewing can't be the highlight of the meal. To be fair, the wonton with peanut sauce was quite flavourful. The beef carpaccio was tender, ummm but again probably as good as other places that also make it. Mapo tofu was pretty good. I didn't like the cauliflower soup and the soy sauce bruised pork belly. Too oily... Worth the try but probably won't go back. read more

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