Nao

Steakhouses have long been a place of pomp and circumstance where businessmen make deals while they enjoy steak and potatoes with a glass or two of 35-​year-​old whisky. The doyen of Toronto restaurateurs, Hanif Harji and Charles Khabouth’s NAO is not your typical, stuffy steakhouse. NAO stands for new and old and the duo has modernized the traditional steakhouse by giving the restaurant a feminine and sleek aesthetic.
As the culinary master behind some of the city’s most celebrated restaurants including Byblos and Patria, executive Chef Stuart Cameron’s reputation precedes him. With NAO, he has turned the traditional steakhouse on its head with his inventiveness and by drawing upon inspiration from Japanese cuisine. While NAO caters to the most discriminating of steak lovers, it also offers lighter fare for those wishing to enjoy a smaller meal.
I recently visited NAO for its one year anniversary to see firsthand just how it differentiates itself from the established steakhouses in Toronto. The focal point of the elegant restaurant is an impressive and unique chandelier, which is made from clear sporadic acrylic tubing. Yorkville is still the place to see and be seen and the swiveling Italian made chairs ensure that you have a 360-​degree view of the action around you. As I took in my surroundings, I was greeted by the manager and led upstairs where I was ready to enjoy an evening out after a long day at the office.
Dinner commenced with our pleasant server preparing the table side tuna tartar ($ 22) before our eyes. He gingerly mixed avocado, wasabi and puffed rice with the tuna as we eagerly watched him.
I adored the Miami short ribs ($ 15) which were presented on a dainty, floral patterned plate. Moist with XO sauce, the delicious combinations of burnt honey and spicy sesame gave the short ribs bursts of sweet and savoury flavours. Never in my relatively short life, have I ever had a craving for kale salad, but there’s a first for everything. My mouth still waters at the memory of tasting the most extraordinary shredded kale salad ($ 13) with pickled shiitake mushrooms, fried shallots and spicy sesame dressing.
The main event is most certainly the steak and NAO offers the finest dry aged cuts of meat from around the world, as well as locally sourced meat. I shared the tender and flavourful swinging rib Canadian prime ($ 145) and the generous, fatty bone in Canadian Angus ($ 130). I thoroughly enjoyed the perfectly cooked and seasoned porterhouse steak, which did not require any of the mélange of sauces or salts that accompanied it. Brussels sprouts ($ 14) plus bacon cured with miso equals a winning side dish to complement and balance the steak.
The Japanese influence extends into the culinary offerings available, such as Kobe strip loin ($ 85 per 4 oz) chicken kaarage ($ 12) and even creamed spinach with yuzukosho ($ 13).
Those with more traditional palates need not fear, for mashed potatoes are indeed offered on the menu. For something different, try the dense rosti ($ 15) with crème fraiche. Crispy and golden on the outside and tender and chewy on in inside, it is a filling and satisfying dish. The creamy mac and cheese ($ 14) made with Gruyère and smoked bacon can serve as a main or can be shared to accompany a meal. What’s more is that the pasta is hand-​rolled for freshness.
As if we could eat another morsel, our server rolls out a pie trolley ($ 12) and presents it with a flourish. Rarely is banana banoffee pie offered on a dessert menu in Toronto. I was in for a real treat when I tasted the heavenly dessert. The crunchy pastry is flaky and tastes like shortbread. This alone was enough for me, but I just could not resist a bite of the filling. Milk chocolate shavings strewn upon fresh whipped cream garnishes the pie, while the inside is layered with moist, flambéed bananas and delectable banana cream. It was the most novel and decadent ending to a meal that I have had in long time.
The meal I enjoyed was complimentary and the views expressed are my own.

I generally don’t like writing bad reviews, but with Nao, I have to recommend that you go find another steakhouse to splurge on.
Dry aged steaks for at least 40 days and a wide selection of beef from around the world including waygu and Kobe from Australia, Japan and the US. Sounds great right? Yes indeed, but the biggest issue I have with Nao… are the steaks. Not only were they generally over cooked, they lacked seasoning. We had 3 different steaks (Japanese Kobe, t-​bone and bone-​in ribeye) and they were all the same — flavorless. Quite disappointing for a steakhouse, especially since the steaks have been dry aged and you can’t taste any of it.
The service was great and the desserts were quite nice, but unfortunately I can’t recommend a steakhouse if the steaks are not on point.
Potentially it was an off night, so I may return once more to try Nao again, but it won’t be at the top of my steakhouse list.

We came here as a large group of 25+ people during the Christmas Season. In terms of organizing the event, Mia and Emily from Reservations were both very helpful and accommodating. The prix fixe group menus are very good and range from $ 65 to $ 85. In my opinion, this is a very reasonable price range from the type of venue and the caliber of food served. There is also no minimum for groups, which is awesome.
We were given a semi private space upstairs and had the freedom to get up from our seats and mingle. Several times I felt like we were in the way of the servers, but they were on top of their game, and always smiling.
The food is served in a «family share» style. We had starters of Bitter Greens, Mac and Cheese, Brussels Sprouts and Chicken Karaage. All of those were great and the Karaage were delicious. The steak which is the star of the show, came in the form of Ontario 10 Oz Canadian Angus Strip Loin and 16 Oz Canadian Angus Bone In Rib Eye; both of which were just excellent. Although, as a caveat, if you are going to Nao to try Kobe, everyone should know that know that until very recently Japan has never once exported Kobe beef to anywhere in Canada. Unless I have missed something, even now, the only Kobe beef you can have is in a single restaurant in Montréal. Anything else you are having is simply not Kobe beef, but likely a high grade Waugyu. Nao does mark some items on its menu as «Kobe», but that being said, technically, there is no appellation of origin on the word/​region of Kobe, so presently anyone is allowed to label something as «Kobe». Nonetheless, the Wagyu or Angus you will have at Nao is perfectly cooked, sublime and will stay with you long after you’ve had your meal. The impressive steak knives that come with your meal are also a nice touch, but needed some sharpening when we were there. Outside of that, we had a perfect evening at Nao. I would love to come back to try the other items on their menu; and I would definitely recommend Nao for group events, if the price point fits your budget. If it doesn’t, I’d try and make some room. The steak is certainly worth it.

Met with some friends for our annual dinner, although the steaks and service were very good. I agree that the price was a bit out there. I have one bone of contention (no pun intended) with SAO is that the pre and post dinner drinks were half what they should be. We brought this up to our server and he assured us that they were 1 oz. Our Negroni was only 1.5 inches high in a glass full of ice. I’ve had it at many restaurants and its usually a full glass. At the end of the meal we ordered a bourbon which basically by the time it reached my mouth the majority stuck to the glass on its way down. Look at 17 to $ 20.00 a drink put an ounce! We went across the street to the roof top lounge and saw what an ounce of bourbon should be like.

Outstanding steaks… but not for the budget minded! Can you believe, a 6 oz filet for $ 95?!
Well worth it, but I wasn’t buying. Great venue but music from upstairs bar way too loud. Great service! Definitely should be on your bucket list if somebody else is picking up the tab!

Lots of variety of top quality steak. Not a bad thing to say about the place.
Expensive, but worth it if you’re looking for a really great meal.

If I could eat $ 250 Kobe steak every day, there’s a very good chance I would. This place is fantastic! Our servers were amazing and after reading one of the reviews below about the knives, at first I wondered why someone would spend so much time complimenting the cutlery but now I understand. The meat has been aged for 40 days but THOSE KNIVES!!! Freakin’ amazing!
If you’re not in the market to spend a pretty dollar on meat, then come here for the drinks, ambience and patio — they make the experience complete.

If you’re friends with the owner, this is a great place. If you’re a customer, try somewhere else.
Now that I’ve read other reviews of this place, I wish I had read them before I went. Many complain that the service provided was sub-​par and it was not a pleasant experience. Same thing happened to me, in a more extreme way.
We really liked the look of the place and thought we’d give it a try. It was a nice sunny day, perfect day for a patio. The patio was full so we asked if we could make a reservation for next time at the patio. They told us patio’s are first come first served, so we decided to wait for it at the bar inside. About 40~50min into waiting, we had a couple of drinks and it didn’t seem like anyone was going to leave anytime soon, so we decide we should come back next time. As we were leaving, we noticed a table just opening up at the patio (yay!), so we asked if we can take it. The receptionist told us to wait until they an clear the table, then the manager comes back to us saying that the table is reserved, contrary to their first-​come first served policy. They said it was for a ‘special friend’.
I think it speaks for the integrity of the business and the mindset the owner has with this business. Any restaurant that bends their own rules which they’ve set to ensure no customers are treated unfairly, to accommodate for a situation is risky. Who knows what they’ll do to the food if price of the ingredients change? Or if the chef is in a bad mood?

Call me a conservative — but i prefer my steak done traditionally.
That being said, this is another Charles Khabouth restaurant — and what you get is a great venue, great atmosphere, beautiful people, fancy servers, high prices and food that is just about there — but doesn’t quite hit the price point.
Dining at Nao, and then attending a party at Nao, I experienced the same issues — steaks were just too fatty, and cooking that wasn’t right. Taste wise, steaks were bland, and it’s a shame because the menu boasts excellent cuts — something is going wrong somewhere in the kitchen. Seafood was surprisingly good though.
As far as flavours go, it’s a little confusing — Asian but American? Asian but Italian? I’m not exactly sure — but it’s just tough to conceptualize this as a steakhouse. Yes that is part of the point — but i’m clearly missing it here.

You must order the steaks, it’s so tender and you’ll have cravings to go back. We also had the scallops, Caesar salad and bone marrow. I wouldn’t recommend the bone marrow as there was barely any filling and swimming in too much butter. I can’t wait to go back and order more steak!

We came here for a company team dinner. Before we came, we found out this place is quite pricy so every one had high expectation, and the food here just surprised everyone regardless! The salad we had with lettuce, avocado and some nuts was probably the best salad I have ever had. The dry aged 45+ days steak was THE BEST steak I have ever had. It was tender juicy and so flavourful. Everyone in our party was amazed. Will definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for a good steak in Toronto.

Very enjoyable experience overall! We sampled a very wide range of items on the menu, and can honoustly comment that the food was amazing. Beautiful ambiance and great vibe and location. So why only 3 stars? Two fatal flaws, no matter how good the food, location and ambiance. First, the service, while attentive, was young and missing that aspect of polish that you would see at Jacobs or Harbour 60, which I see as the closest competitors to this restaurant. Instead of operating like a synchronized machine, it often looked and felt chaotic and undirected. Second? The main dining area is two storeys up, accessible only by stairs. The washrooms are in the basement, accessible only by stairs. That makes things pretty unworkable for the elderly (or anyone in 4 inch heals). Very bad planning. Will we go back? Of course. But we’ll likely wait until the patio is open and the staff gets a tad more seasoned. Oh. And one more pet peeve: For a restaurant of this intended caliber PLEASE put someone on the phones that doesn’t keep referring to you as «you guys».

Extreme Dining.
Stuart Cameron, Exec Chef at NAO is the superhero of spice. Buckle up your seatbelts and get ready for a roller coaster ride that will hurtle your taste buds through an Asian Fusion volcano. Balancing on a gastronomic tightrope, he knows just when to give us a blast of heat and when to turn the thermostat to mellow. But wait, they told us NAO was a steak house.
Once seated upstairs in a kind of open mezzanine dining room, we look around as our eyes become adjusted to the sultry lighting. We appreciate the huge modern stylized Japanese wall art; the respectable space between tables and the rarified aura of the nao12 place. It begins with a hot bergamot scented towel handed to us with tongs. Once refreshed, our server explains the restaurant’s social dining concept and recommends the types of dishes to share. And thus we begin our New And Old dining experience.
Miso flour dinner rolls set the tone. Finely shredded kale salad tossed with pickled shitake and spicy sesame dressing is a refreshing take on what’s to come. A server wheels up a cart and mixes tuna tartar at table, lightly tossing diced tuna, wasabi, avocado and other finely minced goodies. A whole sea bream prettily marked from the grill is boned at tableside. The server adds a nao11 drizzle of Spanish olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and proceeds to grate a large square of Himalayan rock salt over the fish. «Go easy, «I say, «it’s salt.» To clear the palate, butter lettuce salad textured with togarashi spiked pecans.
We’ve come for the main event and are delighted by surprises. The list of steaks and their provenance is impressive with two pages to choose from. Each steak has its own character and bears the «terroir» of its habitat. Canadian Prime, Alberta; USDA Prime, Omaha; A5 Wagyu, Japan. Pasture raised and grass fed, Kearney, Missouri, and countless others to choose from. After nao7 intense deliberation, the decision is David Blackmore’s Full Blood MS 9 + Wagyu pasture-​fed, Alexandra, Australia 10oz striploin, $ 180. We share this medium rare delicacy, and it seems quite enough.
The approach to this exceptional steak is unique. Frederick Scanlon handcrafts the knives in a method he learned from South African native tribes. The knife is not serrated; it does not tear the meat, it just slices through. Suddenly, a server is at our table with a cart and mixing ingredients from a dozen little bowls. He whips up the Bulgogi sauce for our steak. Three sea salts in nao1 their individual bowls are offered. We like mushrooms and potatoes with our meat. These mundane items are given royal treatment. Frites with a kick of togarishi spice elicit a «wow». Seasonal mushrooms are an exotic selection that include hen of the woods, chanterelles, shitaki and crisp panko crusted oyster mushrooms. The side dishes here could make a vegetarian’s heart flutter.
nao2 NAO is a restaurant worth exploring for its exotic dishes and diverse menu. Two can sit at the bar and taste a small dish or two, have a splendid 3 course dinner for $ 150 or, well, the sky’s the limit.

Excellent restaurant. Great food. Wonderful service. Everything was perfect. We ordered Caesar salad for 2, Alberta steak, asparagus, frites and a side of lobster. Finished with baked Alaska. I can’t say enough about our great night out at Nao. We were pampered, attended to and just spoiled with an amazing experience. Looking forward to going back, especially this summer so that we can enjoy the patio.

Went here for a friends anniversary, place is set back from the road so easy to miss. Atmosphere and décor was excellent and very modern. Crowd was older and very dressy, I was there in a pair of dress jeans, button down shirt, felt under-​dressed, which is my own fault. We ordered a round of apps for the table, bone marrow, scallops, oysters, and a shaved beef item which tasted like Carpaccio. All were excellent and set a good tone for the main course. For the main, wife ordered a choice of fish — the Sea Bream as they were out of the Branzino, which was surprising as it was not very late at night. She liked it, although believe one has to be very average to get the fish cooked improperly, and this was a high-​end restaurant, so no additional points there. I ordered the 6oz U.S. Wagyu, which was tender and juicy (first time having a Wagyu steak for me as I previously had it in burger form). My friend tried the Japanese Wagyu and was disappointed, I tried it and found it to be tender but very fatty. Big difference between the U.S. and Japanese cuts of meat. Overall was close to giving this a 3 star because of the sold out menu item, the disappointing Japanese Wagyu and the below average value for this type of restaurant (very pricey) However, the service, décor and satisfaction with my own meal made me cross the line into the 4 star realm.

We live locally to NAO — and have watched over the last couple of years with baited breath as they redeveloped what used to be Zin.
From the outside NAO looks like a private club — and even though it’s not — that’s exactly what it feels like once you walk inside. My husband and I were surprised at every turn, from the minute we walked in the door to be greeted by extremely courteous, welcoming Maitre D’, the surprise vaulted ceilings and stunning enormous glass chandelier.
Everything at Nao was extraordinary and surprising — from the way they’ve laid out the space, to the stunning, so stylish interior design, to the welcoming, super stylish and professional staff, to the incredible cocktails and menu, excellent curation of music, and, not least, the extraordinary meat! Lots of neat touches to make the experience very special — I won’t spoil it for you by divulging.
Suffice it to say, if you have a special occasion, or are looking for something that’s a bit New York in the Yorkville/​Annex or simply looking for straight up really excellent meat — go here. The prices look high, but they are mostly for sharing. And it’s worth every cent. We love it, and with Sotto Sotto and Spuntini gone (at least for now), this will be our new neighborhood go-​to for highdays and holidays!
Thanks NAO — we had a really great night out last night. Well done!

If you are looking for good steak, nothing beats Nao. We ordered a bunch of steak so I’m not sure which was which. The steaks were perfect. The sides and appetizers once again I cannot remember what we had but all was very good.
The staff comes around to educate you on the food you are about to each and the handcrafted steak knives you will be using. (The knives are very sharp! Cuts meat like it was butter.)
Overall the service was good BUT… the way the way the place was, it was very noisy. Hard to hear each other. Also hard to hear the staff as they explain why they use knives so sharp it can easily carve up an elephant. And it seems we were constantly interrupting conversations to explain something new. But sitting at the other end of the table I have no idea what they were talking about.
One of the poor waiters or bus boy were standing there for 15 minutes smashing up ingredients to make a special sauce, but it didn’t taste any much better.
Overall great food but not so good experience.
Food 4.8÷5
Service 3.4÷5
Ambiance 2.0÷5
Value 2.5÷5
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Overall 3.2÷5

I went with two friends on January 2^nd. This was not the night to go out if you were looking for a scene — most people are still hammered from New Years. So my friends and I had the restaurant almost entirely to ourselves. The service was AMAZING — we loved our server (I wish I could remember her name). Great wine selection. The BEST Caesar salad I have ever had. One friend had the fish that she said was fantastic. My other friend and I shared a small steak. It was delicious, but it was slightly overcooked. When I order medium rare I want it to be more red in the middle. This was more a medium. We all shared the perfectly done mushrooms and asparagus. All in all, great place, beautiful ambience, and I can’t wait to go back!

Most amazing new restaurant in Toronto, fun music great atmosphere, and great service!