Welcome to our new series: the "Meal Under $10.” Like explorers of earlier centuries, TorontoToday reporters are scouring the city for a rare species — good meals that don’t break the bank. Join us as we uncover the last remaining cheap eats around the city.
Tucked away in an unassuming corner of Village by the Grange sits Manpuku Modern Japanese Eatery — a restaurant some may consider an institution in Toronto’s cheap eats scene.
The food court of Village by the Grange is renowned for its abundance of affordable dining spots, frequented by construction workers, young professionals and students of the nearby Ontario College of Art and Design.
But tapped-in diners know that just beyond the food court is a sit-down restaurant serving Japanese cuisine at bargain prices.
Since opening 17 years ago, Manpuku has committed to keeping its prices low, according to chef and owner Sakiko Ichihara.
“We try to be reasonable because it's so hard to find a good place with the right pricing. It's expensive everywhere,” she said.
The proof is in the pudding. For less than $10, diners can enjoy a hearty bowl of udon and two house-made onigiri, with tea on the house.
TorontoToday opted to sample the restaurant’s kake udon, priced at $5.29. The bowl arrived steaming hot, full of thick udon noodles swimming in a flavourful broth. The noodle soup came topped with scallions, two kinds of fish cake and crunchy bits of deep-fried flour known as tenkasu.
To round out the meal, TorontoToday ordered a side of house-made onigiri, rice balls wrapped in seaweed that often come with various fillings. Manpuku offers onigiri stuffed with tuna or tofu, sheathed in plastic for easy eating on the go. One order comes with two rice balls for just $3.99.
In total, the meal racked up a bill of $9.28 before tip. The ongoing GST holiday meant no tax was applied.
There are numerous ways to score a meal under $10 at Manpuku. One excited customer, who lauded the eatery as the best restaurant in the world, recommended the ochazuke — a bowl of rice steeped in a green tea broth — for $5.29.
The customer noted he had been coming to Manpuku since the 2010s and praised the restaurant for remaining affordable and rarely raising its prices over the years.
Ichihara told TorontoToday the restaurant has raised prices two times since opening in 2008. Most of the main dishes on the menu have increased by $2 to $3 in order to keep up with the rising cost of rent.
“Our prices were super low in 2008,” Ichihara said. “A lot of people told us to raise our prices because I guess they were worried about us.”
Ichihara said she’s able to keep her menu affordable by doing as much food preparation as possible in-house. Most dishes are made from scratch, except for the udon noodles themselves, which are imported from Japan.
Diners looking to score a deal can also try Manpuku’s array of rice bowls.
The cheapest option is the ton don, rice topped with sliced pork and onions, which will set you back $7.99. The most expensive is the unagi don, a grilled eel rice bowl, for $14.99.
Ichihara was inspired to open Manpuku after moving to Canada in 2007. She noticed the lack of non-sushi Japanese restaurants and wanted to open a restaurant that served homestyle cooking.
“It's not like [Japanese people] eat sushi every single day and I found it kind of strange not being able to find regular food,” Ichihara said.
While it’s hard for her to pick a favourite dish, Ichihara said the wakame udon, priced at $5.79, holds a special place in her heart.
“It’s a noodle soup with seaweed,” she said. “It’s so simple and it brings me back to Japan.”
