Another article to join the myriads of “The fish you ordered ain’t what you’re getting” genre.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/11/tunadna/
(New Toronto review coming very soon!)
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Big Sushi First off, an apology for not updating in something like 2 weeks. Unfortunately, I’ve been laid up in bed for nearly all of this time with a case of the dreadful nasties. However, all things pass and this has as well. So whats one of the first things I do when I feel better? Well, my appetite is back, so it’s time to get me some Sushi! My friend Jackie had recommended Big Sushi to me a few months ago, but like I’ve mentioned a few times, I’m trying to keep the Bloor West strip free for when the Canadian winter hits. Since I’m still not quite up to marathon walks, I decided to break my own rule and go some place easy to get to. Oh, and within a close proximity to a Starbucks for a post lunch Mocha. I’d make a joke about ubiquitous Starbucks locations, but I think Toronto has more Sushi. Since I was a tiny bit concerned about how my stomach would react to raw food, I decided to play it safe and go with a few favorites. First up was the Crunch Roll (Salmon, Cucumber, Avocado, Masago, Tempura) for $6. I ordered this because I knew it would be just a tad on the bland side, and I was actually somewhat surprised. While there could have been a bit more salmon in there, everything else (especially the tempura flake!) was quite generous and actually quite tasty. A single strip of (Oyster? Teryaki?) sauce along the top was a nice touch and it passed the soy sauce test. Just the tiniest amount was needed. I get a bit of flak from the Sushi purists (read: snobs) that I eat a lot of Sushi Pizza. There’s a reason for this. It’s good. I really like the stuff! But the Big Sushi take on it was a little different, so I had the perfect excuse to give it a whirl! For $7.50 you actually got a little more than the usual. A fried rice patty with salmon, mayo, oyster sauce, and tobiko, but toss Avocado slices and imitation crab meat on top as well. As with most places, they went waaay overboard with the tobiko, but the avocado slices made a really nice touch. A bit of added creaminess to the salty goodness. I couldn’t really tell the crab meat was there, but I stuffed myself silly on it. Did I mention that the rice patty was much thinner and had a much larger diameter than usual? It filled me right up and felt like a bargoon. While I was warned that Big Sushi was a little more expensive than others in the area, I didn’t really see it. There were some good lunch specials as well. Thumbs up!
Sushi World What a wonderfully deceptive fall day. A look out the window promises a cold, wet adventure. Actually going outside reveals that it’s actually quite warm for late October and not a drop of rain from the heavens. Sounds like the perfect afternoon to grab my camera, go for a walk, and hit a sushi restaurant. This week we venture into a neighborhood that is very dangerous to my wallet. The College and Spadina “tech alley” where all of the good downtown computers stores are. Near the corner, close to a sign that promises deli food straight from the late 60s or early 70s is a fairly new sushi joint. It must be a year old or so, as there used to be a computer store or somesuch in it’s location. Plus the interior is brand spanking new, simple, and comfortable. I’ve walked past Sushi World a couple of times on recce walks with friends, and as it appeared to be a simple, inexpensive place I dubbed it in the category of “a place to visit when by oneself.” This afternoon qualified as such, so off I went. At 1:30 in the afternoon I was nearly the only customer, so unsurprisingly the service was quick and attentive. Now sushi, generally speaking, is a pretty healthy food. But I’ve demonstrated in the past that if there is a way to make a salad a cholesterol and calorie filled fiesta, I’ll find it. So with that in mind I tried to make at least one healthy selection. First up was the deliberately green Avocado and Cucumber roll at $4.25. I know what you’re thinking. “Todd, isn’t that encroaching into your Sisters territory?” Well, she was off Zombie Walking (Graaaains! Graaaains!) or something, so I had to fill the roll. Or eat the roll. How droll. There’s something to be said for the thinly sliced “stalks” of cucumber. It brings out the flavour just that much more. An excellent roll that kept even the most demanding omnivore interested. Could have used a touch more avocado, but thats just my own addiction shining through. Now, I was reading a few other reviews of other restaurants before heading out, and I noted one woman raving about how much she enjoyed Salmon skin maki. You know, I’ve never tried that. So no time like the present! For $4.55 I was treated to what must be the equivalent to a potato chip roll. I can bet there was next to no nutritional value here whatsoever. Yes, we’re firmly back in my comfort zone. The Spicy Salmon Skin combined salmon skin with avocado, tempura, and just a touch of spicy mayo. This had a fishiness quotient slightly higher than, well, fish, but less than Unagi. Plus it brought out the taste of the nori. A bit more crunch would have been in order, but the spicy level was just about perfect for “junk food” as opposed to the wasabi infused heat of “real” nigiri sushi. With prices on par with Junjun down the street, but with a nicer atmosphere how can I give this anything but a thumbs up? There were even plenty of lunch specials and a 10% discount if you showed your U of T student ID.
New Generation In my mind I had reserved the Bloor St. sushi strip for the dead of winter. However, I met up with a friend today, and this was the area that was easiest for both of us to get to, so I broke my own rule by a couple of months. Next week I’ll have to head to College St. or something to “make amends” to my own schedule. I’ve heard many things, both good and bad about the more popular places like New Generation. What I’ve discovered is that what is one mans nirvana is anothers hell. The reviews by folk on such places as BlogTO are so all over the place that it was easy to go in with no preconceptions. One thing that has always struck me is why the heck is there two locations close enough together that you can see one from the other? Well, it’s pretty simple. One is devoted mostly to Sushi, the other focuses more on the Korean BBQ. This location was the Korean BBQ one. I honestly didn’t care for the tables, I’m not a big fan of the gas stove tables necessary for the BBQ. It’s overlooked when I’m grilling my own, but it gets in the way otherwise. I perused the menu and decided I’d go with a couple of completely new things. First up was the Scarlet O’Hara Roll at $6.95. OK, this was a mistake. Why? Well, what did they put in it? Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn. The menu states mixed fish with onion, and boy did they put everything but the kitchen sink in there. Salmon, Tuna, Crab, possibly a bit of whitefish and some squid. Damn. If the squid had been spelled out on the menu I would have passed. Raw squid has such a strong flavour, that you just have such a hard time tasting anything else. While an interesting idea, I think they would have been better served to pare down a couple of ingredients so it wouldn’t be such a flavour clash. But next up was something that always gets my attention. Lobster. Apparently a Canadian Roll ($7.95) contains Lobster Claw, cucumber, asparagus, mayo, and is topped with salmon. I’m not exactly sure what part of Canada screams “asparagus”. This was another roll where keeping it simple and “less is more” would have been a good idea. Too many things can lead to some interesting combinations, or just a mish mash of flavours. This was the latter. A bit heavy on the mayo, this could have been much improved by removing the asparagus and tossing in a bit more cucumber. It wasn’t bad by any means, but I found tastes fighting for my attention instead of co-existing peacefully. Since I had a sushi neophyte with me (and who ordered Korean stir fry) I decided to try out the Salmon Pizza ($7.95) and see if the “gateway drug” could hook someone else who was really unsure about the whole “raw fish” thing. Unfortunately, the pizza didn’t pass the new comers taste test. But thats OK. No-one has to like everything. But I’m not complaining one little bit. That meant that 5/6th of a salmon pizza was all for me! Compared to most places, this pizza was rather light on the salmon, and the patty was somewhat thick. But with one arm twisted behind my back, I struggled it down! Overall I’d give a minor thumbs up. In the coming months I’m going to hit the “sushi” location across the street and see the difference. But there were a number of people enjoying the BBQ, and I’m going to have to come back and give that a try!
Sushi Garden Hello world. It’s been over a week. Have you missed me? Well, you may not have missed me, but I certainly missed having sushi. But what screams a Canadian thanksgiving weekend louder than sushi? I know, traditionalists are going to give us noise about turkey, but I didn’t see any turkey teriyaki rolls, so I’ll just leave that to Jon at Sushipalooza. With a little bit of forethought, I went out into the bright sunshine this afternoon with my camera. I didn’t specifically go out with sushi in mind, but it was a gorgeous day, just about lunch time, and I certainly wasn’t going to spend it all indoors. I needed to pick up a few things from Future Shop over at Yonge and Eglinton, so I figured if I found a place I’d hit it. If not, so be it. By such a strange co-incidence I managed to run into a place before I even got my shopping started. You never really notice just how many sushi places there are in this city until you start actively looking. I’m beginning to wonder how so many can survive. We must be a city of ravenous crab stick eaters. With even more luck there was a seat available right in the window so I was able to take advantage of the natural sunlight for optimal photography goodness. A quick perusal of the menu tells me that this is more of a general Japanese restaurant with plenty of Teriyaki, Udon, etc to go along with both Nigiri and Maki sushi. There were plenty of combos and specials to choose from, but I went with my tried and true method of random maki selection. By an even stranger coincidence, someone I met recently was extolling the virtues of a Spicy Avocado roll, describing the japanese mayo and tempura flakes and generally making me hungry over the phone. While desperately trying to choose between a couple of dozen rolls, this one jumped right out at me. A whopping $5.99 for a huge hunk of avocado with spicy mayo and tempura. It was excellent, a little bit too mushy in texture, but that might be easily remedied by more tempura. Still, it was delicious with an interesting teardrop shape and presentation. It was also a nice treat to have the nori on the outside. After having the Spider roll at Hosu last week, I decided to see what this place made of it. To a certain extent, deep fried soft shelled crab is deep fried soft shelled crab. But Sushi Garden brought back my faith by delivering a generous helping of the crab. At $9.95 it was the same price, but I’d have to say a better value. The one thing that struck me about both rolls was the absolutely perfect amount of rice. Not too much, not too little. It’s nice to fill up on sushi and not be hungry again a few hours later because most of it was white rice. This is proof, however, that you can have a perfectly good sushi lunch and avoid any notion of it being healthy. Avocado and Mayo loaded with fatty goodness, and deep fried crab with lots of tobiko, which must be nearly pure salt. Still, I imagine it must be better for me than a cheeseburger, but I’m not in a huge rush to find out precisely. The restaurant itself was nice enough, clean without being fancy. The service was quick and unobtrusive. The overall atmosphere was humble, friendly, and un rushed. It still surprises me that no-one ever raises an eyebrow when I bring out the camera and start snapping away. Nothing jumps out that screams “You must come back here!” but I definitely had a good lunch at a pretty affordable price!
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