Canada has become the eighth country in the world to possess this internationally successful Japanese fried chicken brand, with its first-ever Canadian location open in Toronto’s very own sun-kissed waterfront neighbourhood.
Located a little way down Queen Street East, Torisho Beach has been capturing the attention of The Beaches’ community since opening this past summer with their Japanese karaage; tender pieces of chicken that go through a rigorous preparation and cooking process to produce golden, crisp bite-sized pieces of perfection.
The golden formula originated in Osaka, a city known for popularizing Japanese street eats like takoyaki, small balls of cooked batter infused with dashi – dried kelp and fish flakes – and commonly filled with minced octopus, tempura scraps and other savoury ingredients. It is here that Founder and CEO Kiyoyuki Nagoshi opened his first shop over ten years ago after being influenced by a friend’s success with their karaage spot a few hours away in Nakatsu.
Nagoshi claims that word-of-mouth and having so many friends request their own franchise locations after trying his karaage helped take the business off the ground, according to his interview with Franchise Japan’s Lika Nakanishi. After 50 locations had opened he felt as though his business finally was growing at the quick pace he had hoped for. Today, Torisho is a fierce competitor in the international fried chicken market with hundreds of locations open worldwide.
Torisho’s headquarters remain in Osaka and each location that has opened since follows precisely in its footsteps by repeating the same careful steps Nagoshi implemented in his first restaurant.
Each piece of karaage is first weighed out to maintain consistency with sizing as customers can choose between five, eight or twelve-piece orders depending on preference. The chicken is then marinated in their top-secret 12-ingredient marinade for 48 hours to soak up as much flavour as possible. Following their two-day soak, the meat is coated in cornstarch for a thin, crisp batter that differentiates this tasty chicken from traditional Western fried chicken.
Toronto’s Torisho Beach follows this exact process to produce their karaage, and the proof is in the crunch and flavour. Customers even have the choice between Momo, Mune or a mix of both for their order. Momo refers to dark meat from the leg of the chicken and Mune refers to the breast.
For a slightly sweeter bite, the menu also features Nanban. The same boneless chicken breast used for Mune is used in Nanban, but is instead coated in egg before a dusting of cornstarch and is topped off with a Japanese tartar sauce as well as a sweet and tangy "nanban" sauce.
The same variety is available for their bento boxes, which come with every side option on the menu in a neat and aesthetically packed to-go box. This includes a generous helping of potato salad, miso soup, white rice, edamame and cabbage slaw, offering the opportunity for a different flavour combination with every bite.
A customer service representative at Torisho's first-ever Canadian location also says that the chicken katsu sandwich as well as their potato croquettes made with creamy mashed potatoes are incredibly popular, despite having less success at Torisho’s franchise locations in Japan. She says that their croquettes specifically, which are filled with beef or corn and fried to a golden brown, are ordered approximately 10 times more in Toronto than they are in Japan.
She also awards their overall success to ensuring quality is consistent across international borders for every aspect of their food, from the quality of ingredients to the diligence of their preparation and cooking methods. This is a rarity for franchise food businesses, and yet Torisho has made it possible.
Grab your own bento box or order of karaage at 1940 Queen Street East, or if it’s a bit too far of a trek order online through Uber Eats, SkipTheDishes or DoorDash. Although Torisho Beach is Canada’s first location, there may be more coming soon in Scarborough or Toronto’s downtown core.
