Le Cafe Michi - North York Industiral

It had been a while since we visited Le Cafe Michi for lunch. Normally, I visited in the past to buy their popular Japanese cakes. Their cakes were always delicious and just a little sweet. Set in a strip mall in Scarborough, this Japanese eatery offers sushi desserts such as green tea mousse cake.

Small tiny restaurant. Atmosphere is just simple and nothing fancy. Very casual dining. Price is not cheap for what we get. Food is not bad though sashimi can be more fresh. It was okay restaurant. I may come back again.

Le Cafe Michi is located in a tiny random plaza right at Pharmacy and Sheppard. After eating dumplings at New Northern Dumplings, my sister and I were craving something sweet. We arrived at Le Cafe Michi at around 2:45. Upon first walking in, I noticed the beautiful display of cakes at the front of the tiny restaurant. We grabbed a seat right near the window. At the back of the menu I noticed there was a tea special. You could either get a slice of cake and a tea for $6.95 or you could get the matcha special for $8.99 which included matcha tea and a slice of green tea cake. Being obsessed with matcha, I opted for the matcha special. It was 2:50pm and the tea was specifically from 3 5pm. Because the restaurant wasn 't busy, the waitress decided to let us have the tea special early, which I thought was very sweet of her. My sister ordered green tea and the chocolate sake cake. When our order arrived, I noticed they put some effort into making the cakes look pretty. : My matcha tea came and I noticed there was no froth on top of it and it was not properly mixed. I asked if they had the bamboo whisk, implying they could do a better job mixing it but they said it was 'already whisked '. I tried a bite of the cake and it was delightful. The matcha flavour came through perfectly. The mousse in it was so light and it was between layers of a light cake with a spongey texture. There was also red bean paste in the layers on the cake which made it even more mouth watering. The cake was not sickly sweet; it relied on the natural sweetness of the ingredients used. My sister 's chocolate sake cake was also really good. I preferred mine to hers but it was almost like an upgraded chocolate stout cake but not dense.The matcha tea was a tad grassy for my taste and I had to add a lot of hot water to it without a proper whisk. I had to whisk it with my fork, which I felt was an abomination because doing so gave it no micro foam. Besides the matcha tea, the green tea cake was absolutely blissful. This place has apparently been there for 15 years and I have never seen or heard of it. It is run by Japanese people so it is a truly authentic experience. I will be back to try other items and not just desserts.

Location<br/ The restaurant is very tiny and can be found in a plaza. Parking was okay on a weeknight but I have no idea about weekends. I just want to warn you that reservations are a must!<br/ <br/ Service<br/ Standard, lols. I’m getting lazy and don’t want to type. You don’t really need to ask them about the menu items because a photo book is present for those who are confused. I think this is a big bonus because I don’t want to google pictures every time I read from the menu. The cakes are displayed outside and instead of looking at the pictures, you can directly choose from the counter. Everyone is nice so I don’t have anything negative to say.<br/ <br/ Food<br/ It’s not exactly cheap. The food is definitely good and I can see why they jacked up the prices…having said that I do think it can be a little lower. Most of the menu items can be upgraded to a combo where you get dessert (i.e. any of the cakes). I am telling you right now, GET THAT OPTION. Their cakes are amazing; in fact I would come back during tea time just to eat these desserts again.<br/ <br/ Salad – Meh lol. We could pass.<br/ <br/ Hot pot – The udon was very smooth.<br/ <br/ Chochin bento – All the bowls come stacked so when you reveal each layer, it’s like SURPRISE! Lol. The sashimi was the best part of this bento; super fresh!<br/ <br/ Green tea cake – This is quite heavy but in a good way. Green tea all the way! Did I mention that there is red bean inside? Ask yourself this question, where do you get red bean in a green tea cake? Probably only in Asia.<br/ <br/ Tofu Cheesecake – It works because you taste more cheese than tofu. I hate it when a cheesecake becomes something else because the tofu overpowers it. Extremely creamy and oh so delicious.

Not worth it (except the cakes). I ordered the Cafe Au Lait Chirashi and I was not blown away.. for something that was $36.85 tax for a smaller than average serving of chirashi.. I was very disappointed. The sashimi selection for this dish was above average though, but it still shouldn't be $15.00 or so above average chirashi pricing.. <br/ <br/ Would come back here for cake though, the green tea cake is so delish!