DaiLo

good service with different Asian food, i can’t say it’s authetic chinese, but chinese canadian food. Fried watermelon is good, and the best dish of the nite is the salt and pepper salmon,
remember they open at 5pm everyday

It’s hard to get in here without a reservation far in advance and for good reason. I came here for a friends birthday where we had the tasting menu at $ 55 per person. Me and my boyfriend have been to a lot of Toronto’s popular restaurants but it’s been a while since one actually blew us away with every dish. Especially with new asian restaurants their food was nothing special but with a big shiny price tag at smaller portions– but Dai Lo was not one of these. The food had a familiar feeling but was also extremely inventive; the tasting menu was very generous and filling. They made sharing multiple plates easy and most importantly everything tasted amazing. The staff are also very friendly and informative. We’ll all be frequenting this spot as much as possible!

I’m normally fiercely against the term «asian fusion», but this place demonstrates how lovely it can be when done right. We made a reservation for a Friday night dinner and we scored a comfy booth. Our server was attentive, knowledgeable and seemed to genuinely love the food. He helped us set up a course while being mindful that my friend couldn’t eat pork. A note on the design/​presentation: this place is pretty — rather than in your face exotica, it’s a mix of understated Chinese motifs and modern, industrial elements.
Food thoughts:
— Roast Duck Tacos: Not on the menu anymore but fun story, our awesome server added an extra taco when the three of us were debating how to share two neatly
— Jellyfish slaw: springy, savoury and a refreshing citrus note
— Pumpkin Dumplings: The star! The White Rabbit sauce was really clever. We thought we were ordering real rabbit so the milky taste of the sauce was a pleasantly surprising throwback to the candy!
— Singapore Curry Cauliflower: Good but I prefer «Singapore curry» with a stronger kick
— Truffle Fried Rice: The truffle was an interesting twist to otherwise normal fried rice. It’s really tasty though.
I frequent places in Markham/​Scarborough and though you can find lots of quality Chinese food there at a much lower price, this is a different experience. The experimentation, atmosphere and service is special and while I can’t afford to eat here regularly, it is worth it for special moments.

Probably one of the best restaurants in Toronto right now. Oh, Dailo. So totally delicious. The décor, so funky, so beautiful. Enter and there’s a stairwell to an upstairs bar that looks like you’re walking up tl a spaceship… sick first impression.
Service was awesome. Server bearded man loved the food, new the menu cold, was helping us figure out what we wanted, killer suggestions, watched our table and took care of what came our way — truly good service. The way he described the food also really reflected how much the Chef and the kitchen staff invest into ingredients, flavor, and taste. It’s not just a list of items on this menu.
The food… This morning I wished I didn’t brush my teeth because I wanted to still taste what I had. So goddamm good.
1. Drinks: Tom Yum Booze — spicy, light, coconut water, spicy, light, coconut water. Drink, repeat. It’s like you just hit that combination over and over. Not super boozy, spicy, a bit biting, refreshing.
2. Plates: Octopus tacos — beats out anything from Grand Electric, La Carnita, whatever. On a jicama shell which made it into this unique tortilla, and the fried octopus, and aioli, and pork belly … delicious. Pumpkin dumplings — total knockout, and was like my first taste of love for Dailo. The dumplings are good, really good, but the sauce? Butter, truffle oil, soy, white rabbit candy glaze (wha?). You just think about what brown butter and truffle oil must taste like and you can imagine how good that must be. I was drinking this with a spoon. Forget the dumplings … just the sauce.
Halloumi — probably the weakest thing we ordered but still very good. Got this with the tofu, and the black bean sauce is salty, different, with these pieces of tofu that give a nice chew. It’s very good, but the black bean sauce is just a bit overpowering for the rest of the flavors. All very relative to everything else we had that night, of course… Singapore Curry Cauliflower — this is where you see the asian coming out.
3. Mains:
I swear these two dishes made Dailo one of the most memorable dinners I’ve had in months. We got this tip from our server to get the cabbage with a remoullade of a cheese, in a sauce, along with the 90 day aged 12oz rib eye. Seriously no words. It’s an expensive item ($ 44 for the rib eye) but the beef … that beef … Thd word «succulent» is made for moments like this. The rib eye had a green chutney aioli drizzled on top, these pickled mushrooms, this bok chop, the steak was seared on the outside, totally breaking apart in your mouth. Then you take the cabbage remoullade and put it on top… and it’s like all three of us at the table were falling out of our booth. One of the best dishes I might have ever had. Memorable would be an understatement.
Just loved this place and for a restaurant that’s apparently «new,» you wouldn’t know it. Dailo has got to be one of my favorite restaurants of the year. Understated, the food is truly perfection, service just exudes a respect and love for that menu, and it’s worth the experience. Delicious spot. Maybe one of Toronto’s best right now?

Delicious asian fusion… is an understatement. This place has a lot of qualities I look for in a go to joint. Unique/​delicious food… Check. attentive and friendly staff. Check. Cool atmosphere. Check. Also a signature drink menu plus a two page wine menu.
Must tries: Big Mac bao (play on the McDonald’s staple), skate (seasonal), pumpkin ravioli (most interesting dish I’ve had in my life).wasnt a huge fan of the duck wings: they got pretty messy.
Very good spot, I’ll be back.

(3.5 stars)
The beautiful atmosphere here is pretty unforgettable– probably my favourite décor of any of the restaurants I’ve eaten at in Toronto. Not to mention the atmosphere in terms of the vibe of the place is pretty great as well. Service is pretty good, cocktails are delicious, the wine list is outstanding, and the food is tasty and unique. The only negative for me is that some of the dishes are a bit expensive for what they are, though the food in most cases was very good, just shy of great I’d say. The only exception to that was the pumpkin dumplings with the white rabbit candy glaze which myself and my friend both found to be pretty unpalatable. Sickly sweet and heavy. Luckily that dish was the only low point in an otherwise amazing meal.
Oh and if you’ve never had jellyfish– make sure to try the jellyfish slaw! The texture of the dish is so fun, and the taste is incredibly refreshing. Actually, I’d say it’s worth a try even if you are a seasoned jellyfish eater.

Amazing experience. Put this in your bookmarks immediately.
Signature cocktails? Check
Shareable plates? Check
Impressive culinary aesthetic & gastronomy? Double check
Sophisticated décor, chill crowd and sexy ambiance? YASS
Five star service? Check and add some personality and flair in there and you’ve got this lovely boutique asian-​fusion bar lounge called Dailo.
I may have arrived here on a whim but I plan on returning again very soon. I’d say this is a must-​visit for anyone looking to have a unique and modern gourmet dining experience in Toronto. Make a reservation (very necessary), eat some good food, impress your friends/​dates with your good taste and pick up a few cool points — seems like a win-​win to me!
P. S. I recommend the pumpkin dumplings, the fried watermelon, the Markham sour, and the Amaro Nonino liquer with your dessert.
P. P. S. Trevor is my everything.

Amazing and very unique Chinese food! Their drinks are also delicious and are beautifully executed along with the food.
Favourites include: truffle fried rice, pumpkin truffle ravioli, and fried watermelon.
I forget the name of the drink (first on the cocktail menu) it comes in a brass pineapple and is so good!
Service is always friendly too! It’s always pretty busy but I’m always accommodated
Overall consistent and delicious food!

The Rainbow Trout was fried, separated from the bone, and placed on a long elevated board on our table. It was a fantastic presentation! There were a lot of boneless fish segments that I absolutely LOVED. I’ve never had fried fish that was so well done. It wasn’t too fried with any batter left on the fish at all and yet the meat inside was firm and tasty. Amazing! It also came with three types of sauces: green curry Aioli, Vietnamese nahm jim, and soy glaze. Yum!

Came here for Valentines dinner and was thrilled with every dish. Super flavourful tapas. We opted to stick to the regular menu as it was more enticing than the VDay one. We tried the much hyped Big Mac bao and were not disappointed, as well as the octopus taco, sweet and sour pork, haloumi, pumpkin dumplings, beef carpaccio, and the trout. I would never normally be drawn to trout but it came highly recommended and it was unbelievable – see pics!

Love this place. Great service. Excellent, creative dishes. We tried:
Fried watermelon: this is so good l. Love the contrast between the fried outside and sweet watermelon inside. Definitely a must try.
Ponzu beef carpaccio: enjoyed the ponzu sauce and the beef. This dish was a bit on the light side.
Prawn banh xeo: this was good, but I didn’t think it was great. An interesting take on the banh xeo but kind of lacked flavour. But I prefer the real vietnamese banh xeo.
Duck breast: loved this dish. Duck breast was tasty and cooked to perfection. The brussel sprouts were amazing.
Jellyfish slaw: a decent slaw. Wasn’t much jelly fish in there though.
Tom yum cocktail: so good, very interesting flavour. Really enjoyed it.

We loved it here! We were waiting for our table at La Carnita and decided to have a drink & snack upstairs. Pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere it was cool, service was great and the food was exceptional. I had the Pork on a croissant, I would go back for it, it was delicious!

My experience here was a bit disappointing re: portion size. We ordered about 6 items to share and none of us were able to leave truly satisfied. Perhaps it’s the neighbourhood, and more money is expected to be dropped here in order for us to feel full. Food and service though was pretty good. There was a moment though where a newer waitress seemed to have done something wrong and the seasoned waiter tried to correct her, didnt want to make it apparent, but it was still apparent because he hissed at her and looked super annoyed. Not sure if that was the best way to handle a super minor slip up in front of guests. May have been more professional to let it go and speak with her outside of our vision.
In terms of food, it was good but nothing truly exceptional. Perhaps I was just disappointed cause the big mac bao which I came here for wasn’t on the menu at the time of my visit. For the items that I did order, none of the flavours were outstanding to the point where I felt compelled to comeback. Would be good place for late night snacks and a few drinks though. As for dinner, sure, if you feel like dropping a few extra bucks. However, I do feel that I can find somewhere better for the price though. Overall, good experience but will unlikely return.

I saw a post on blog t.o. almost a year ago and was aching to try this place. Today I finally did. It’s suppose to be asian fusion… i think? But almost every dish was missing something the at could have made it delicious. We had the big mac bao (off menu request), dumplings, yu choy, fried watermelon, quail, and lamb. The big mac bun does not taste like a big mac, it made me want a real big mac from Mc Ds. The dumplings were the best dish (probably because it was topped with truffle). But I gotta say, this place is over hyped. I wanted to love this place but couldn’t. The food is good but not worth the price tag that it comes with.
The service was amazing. Our waiter was very enthusiastic about the specials and he changed our bowls for us many times. The service was similar to that of a five star restaurant.
Unfortunately I primarily go out to eat to enjoy delicious foods so the amazing service doesn’t justify the high price tag. Sorry!

Went in the summer of 2015. Chef Nick Liu had created a creative and delicious Asian fusion menu to live up to its bad-​ass name meaning «big brother» or «boss».
Upstairs, the restaurant offers a dim sum/​snack bar with a cocktail menu. On the main floor, the décor has many retro Chinese accents in warm tones with a combination of booths and long tables for the seating.
Some of my favourite items include the Big mac bao, fried watermelon (SO creative!), and lamb neck. I never had lamb neck before it was tender and paired well with the wrappers with hoisin sauce.
The restaurant had a vibrant atmosphere, played great music (they played 80s tunes when I went), and was a great place to share delicious eats and creative cocktails among friends.

We were impressed with all the creation at DaiLo, where each item was a gustatory ode to various Chinese cuisine elements.
It is not fitting to call it a «Chinese» restaurant as indicated on Unilocal,rather, it is a general Asian fusion restaurant featuring twists from various other types of Asian ethic cuisine.
We were allured by beautiful food photos and positive reviews on Unilocal and decided to try few recommended dishes:
Deep-​fried watermelon: how intriguing it is to eat a lightly battered and fried watermelon cube accompanied by beef floss, Thai basil leaves, and bean sprouts. All the elements mixed together to a very pleasant and unique taste, but if you were to eat the cube on its own, it would be quite bland.
Beef carpaccio: I really wished the delicious sauce hadn’t overpower the beef. The beef slices were really thin, and the dish was of a dainty proportion but mostly importantly given the delicate, a bit buttery taste of the beef due to its slight marbling, it needed a light and complimentary sauce to lift it up rather than to drown it.
Feature of the day was a baked egg with a thin layer of soup and topped with cooked and shaved mushrooms, de-​shelled mussel, deep fried pork. I found the egg custard was a bit too salty and when eaten with all its accompaniment, I didn’t feel anything special.
Egg Net Salad is a good take on the Thai papaya salad. Beautiful dressing, ample ingredients that play off of each other’s flavour and texture, but I didn’t see the utility of having an «egg net», it didn’t add to the flavour but did a spectacular visual appearance.
Rib eye was grilled so perfectly: it was juicy, tender, full of flavour we loved it! I think serving it on its own is enough and it certainly didn’t need the accompaniment of bok choy, radish, soy pickled mushrooms etc. they are more of a fluff than a flavor-​complement. And at $ 44/​dish, it’s a bit steep.
Oh well. We shared a bowel of sticky rice which was cooked perfectly and goes well with this type of family dining.
Furthermore, the service is tops! Our glasses were always filled with complementary sparkling water and we were checked upon frequently, and we absolutely adore the décor and the cute bar.
In terms of food though, I felt the alchemist behind all the dishes is like Icarus — the innovations are pushed a bit far that the combinations are not working well.
Cheerio!

If you want Asian fusion cuisine with a hipster ambience and detailed plating, Dailo is the place for you! This isn’t a typical Chinese restaurant. They use a lot of Asian dishes, but put twists to them. Unique dishes and Experience is the key for this place.
My fave are the fried watermelon, fried trout, sweet and sour pork hock, and truffle rice. The fried watermelon had a really unique taste. It was fried, but maintained its crunchiness. The fried trout is really fresh. You get the entire fish with head. So good! The pork hock was flavourful. The truffle rice was different and tasted really flavourful as well.
I didn’t like the sticky rice because it was dry. The waiter told us to roll the rice into a rice ball with your hands and then dip it in a sauce, which reminded me of what I did as a kid. Doing this didn’t make the rice taste better, but I guess for the culinary experience, that was cool.
The wontons, which the waitress said was good, wasn’t. It was a bit soggy. Definitely not traditional wontons. The crab salad was very disappointing because we couldn’t even taste the crab. So little. The tomatoes were pretty good thought.
The dishes are meant to be shared tapas style. For 4 people, you will need about 8 to 10 dishes. This is a pricy place so make sure u are prepared. We were ok full, not the overstuffed type or the satisfying full.
I do have to say the drinks looked pretty cool. We sat at the bar and the waitress kept making cool drinks. Definitely puts a lot of attention to detail with them!
I think this is a cool place to try for the experience of asian food with a twist, but don’t expect it to be traditional Asian food. The prices also don’t reflect Asian food. Think hipster Asian food.
I would go back for drinks and if I wanted to try something different!
Reservations recommended because we only got a table at the bar for 4 on a Friday evening at 7pm.

Food was very flavorful! My favorite was the fried rice with xo sauce, I could not stop eating it! The lamb was very good as well. I tried the wontons because there were so many good reviews on them, they were good, but not outstandingly memorable, but still good. We had the empanada which was good as well, but once again, not outstandingly memorable. We were eating with a person that does not eat pork so we ordered the silken tofu as well which I thought was okay (I’m not a huge tofu fan so not the restaurant’s fault)
Yes, I would definitely come back, I would like to eventually try everything on their ever changing menu!

Had really low expectations. Some of my most trusted restaurant-​savvy friends had given this place thumbs down, so I was still curious but also a bit nervous.
We first attempted, and succeeded, at getting inside Bar Raval (to put this in perspective: it was a Saturday night at the peak popular dining hour, and everything on this strip was dead. Everyone in the city has gotten the hell outta dodge). We had asked to take the empty two top on their patio, but the Bar Raval host dude told us he can only have 8 people on the patio, and he already had 7. So we went inside, where we were met with extreme heat, and the prospect of standing and getting pushed the whole time. Time to switch it up!
DaiLo, on the other hand, had a free deuce on the patio and they actually let us sit there. Lovely patio, great for people watching, and quiet.
I had already decided to stay clear of the cocktails, which I had heard were weak, and stick with Izumi Sake, which is a huge favourite of mine. Happy to see it on the menu, it pairs so well with Asian flavours and is a nice alternative to grape wine.
We sort of free-​style ordered, each of us picking dishes we might like — I wanted the shrimp dish, the jellyfish slaw; he wanted the wontons and the fried rice. The first two dishes weren’t outstanding (fried watermelon is worth an order just for curiosity sake; the beef tendon special was boring), but the jellyfish slaw and the wontons were really good. Definitely get the slaw; we liked it so much we ordered another bowl! The fried rice was great, and the shrimp dish (it was shrimp on a pancake with lettuce on the side to make a ssam style wrap) was great. I saw another table getting the Big Mac baos I’d heard about, so I asked and she said sometimes they serve it downstairs not just at Lo Pan (not sure if that’s true or they were VIPs but she did let us order one). It tasted EXACTLY like a Big Mac.
Service was friendly, efficient, informative. Bathrooms were clean and nice, always a plus in my books. I am not sure if it was just that my expectations were low, that comparative to Bar Raval this place was friendly and appealing or if I just got lucky, but I’d definitely go back to DaiLo for a night out.

This spot had been on our list for quite some time now after reading/​hearing impressive reviews.
The interior of the restaurant is gorgeous and tastefully decorated. We sat almost right under the skylight at the bar.
My 3 star review is all about the food. The service, on the other hand, was nothing short of wonderful. The bartender was welcoming, informative and friendly. The servers who brought our food made sure to itemize every ingredient in the dish for us since we were first timers.
Now the food…
Mai Tai: Heavy on the rum, which I’m never angry about, but I felt like it heavily overshadowed any other ingredients. I wasn’t able to distinguish any other layers.
Beef Carpaccio: Texturally appealing, but swimming in sauce which masked the taste of the beef. I know Asian cuisine is usually very saucy, so this twist on carpaccio is fitting. I won’t lie, I’m a sauce girl so I really enjoyed this dish.
Pork Hock: Crispy on the outside, a little sweet, but again, I know that’s a staple of this cuisine. It was good.
Poached Baby Lotus Root: Taste-​wise, this was the most unique. The soy hollandaise was creamy and full of flavour. The lotus root was very stringy and a little weird to eat, but had an addictive crunch to it.
A good experience. Nothing really blew my mind, and I probably wouldn’t go back, not because of anything subjectively bad at all, but once was satisfactory.