Swish by Han
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647-343-0268
For fans of Korean cuisine who are used to dining in dingy, fluorescent-lit holes that dot Bloor Street’s Koreatown—Swish is a revelation. The open, brick-walled room is warm and well designed (communal tables made from reclaimed wood and metal chairs from the ’40s). The crowd is young, confident and well-dressed (recent MBA grads still craving college comfort food but willing to pay for a nice ambiance and a decent chef), and the dishes are elevated Korean standards. A kimcheed apple salad is an innovative reinvention of the usual cabbage banchan: fermented hunks of green apples mixed with onions, bits of blue cheese and mixed greens. It’s sweet, tart, a little bit salty and remarkably well balanced. The soon dubu stew, with slices of soft, fresh tofu, is a richly flavoured dish. Packed with shrimp, scallops, mussels and calamari, and topped with a quail’s egg, it’s the kind of heavy, satisfying meal that brings to mind crisp autumn days, chunky sweaters and afternoon naps. Non-alcoholic cocktails, like the pomegranate punch or the honey-mint iced tea, are thoughtful, refreshing alternatives to soju tipples (which are also available). The service can be clumsy and slow (on one recent lunch-time visit, the in-and-out time for lunch was well over an hour—unforgivably slow for the Bay Street crowd). Mains $16–$30.
Description
Category Features
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Vegetarian: Yes
Price Range: Dinner for $60 - $90
Editor's Star Rating: 1.5
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