Shiso Tree Cafe

Another Japanese restaurant one might ask?  Yes however this restaurant doesn’t serve sushi or sashimi but Japanese style pasta.  Located in the heart of J-Town in Markham, Ontario, this restaurant serves a lot of different types of pasta.  I have to admit, I usually don’t eat a lot of pasta however I was told that this place was absolutely amazing. 

A half a dozen of us went there on a Friday night.  The place is small but has this very cozy feeling.  We brought our little one there and although we didn’t bring our stroller, a family behind us did and they had plenty of room in doing so. 

 

 Salad

Butternut Squash Soup with Garlic Bread

 We sat down and ordered our food.  For an extra seven dollars, for any pasta we ordered we could get a butternut squash with garlic bread soup plus dessert.  We all figured it was well worth the investment so we went for it.  All of us ordered a different type of pasta tonight so we had a chance to sample each one. The soup was unbelievably good.  I never thought that adding garlic bread to a soup like this would make the soup so much better.  A definitely must try when I try to make this dish at home.

I took a shot at one of the specials on the board.  It was called the Fresh Wild Grown Tomato Sauce Spaghetti with Prawns and Prosciutto.  When it arrived it smelled really good.  I took a bite into it and it was one of the best spaghettis I have ever tasted.  The tomato sauce was quite authentic in that it was made from scratch.  The noodles were soft and the overall sauce was not thick or creamy.  The prawns and prosciutto added that perfect contrast and the taste was excellent.  

 

Tarako Prawn and Corn -Pasta with Sauteed Garlic Shrimp and Corn

Tarako

Shrimp Okonomiyaki Pasta which is spaghetti sautéed with bacon, onions and shrimp

Sukiyaki

Fresh Wild Grown Tomato Sauce Spaghetti with Prawns and Prosciutto

Shiso Fries

My wife ordered the Tarako Pasta with Sauteed Garlic Shrimp and Corn.  This pasta was very creamy.  If you are a fan of creamy pastas, then this one is perfect for you.  I thought it was a tad too “heavy” to my liking but my wife absolutely loved it.  Different people have different tastes. 

One of our friends ordered the Shrimp Okonomiyaki Pasta which is spaghetti sautéed with bacon, onions and shrimp.  This dish was almost the same as the Tarako Pasta with Sauteed Garlc Shrimp and Corn in taste, appearance and texture.  Another one ordered was the Simple Tarako which contained cod roe, garlic and shimeji mushrooms garnished with nori and shiso.  I did not personally try this dish but the person who ordered it says it was fantastic. The last one was the sukiyaki which is a Japanese soy based sauce based pasta with thinly sliced rib eye beef, enoki, king oyster and shimeji mushrooms. 

Before we had dessert, we decided to order the shiso fries.  We only did this because we saw every other table in the restaurant order this.  When it arrived it was in a cone shaped appearance.  There was seaweed sprinkled on top of it and my first impression of it was that it tasted like the shake shake fries that McDonald’s use to offer it in Hong Kong.  A tad on the oily side but still very well done.  . 

Lemon Sorbet Cheesecake

Finally we had dessert and I decided to go with the cheesecake. The flavor was actually lemon sorbet and it went down well. Everyone else also had different types of dessert and each one was very good according to their accounts. 

Overall, it was a wonderful experience.  First time being there and for sure there will be a second time.  There was plenty of free parking on the side and in the front of the building. 

We give it a solid 4.5 out of 5. 

Shiso Tree Cafe

3160 Steeles Ave E
Markham, ON L3R 4G9
(905) 479-9319