E Sushi

E Sushi
522 Bloor St West

I’ve been meaning to hit E Sushi for quite a while now. Why is that you ask? Well, because of my workplace. See I work for this really hip cool advertising agency. One thing they do to keep us happy is feed us beer and food on Friday afternoons. During the non summer months the food is ordered in from places at random. One of those places is E Sushi. So I knew they did some pretty good stuff already.

I was originally going to hit this place on Sunday, but I got sidelined by a wicked summer cold. A couple of days and large handful of tylenol later and I was ready to get back on that horse. Luckily the people I was going to check this place out with on Sunday were very understanding and let me off with merely a warning. Tonight I recruited the Hamilton ex-pat Christine.

There’s one thing I can say right off the bat. In all of the rolls we had, there was no crab stick used. Nothing but real crab meat. I went in firstly for the Manhattan Roll, described as Tuna sashimi wrapped w. shrimp tempura roll for $9.50. The description was a little confusing so I ordered it to see what it was for myself. As it turns out, they meant it was a Shrimp Tempura roll wrapped with Tuna. The tuna was quite fresh, but the roll was a tad on the small size. Especially for the price. Coming second at $8.95 was the Spider Roll. I have a hard time turning down soft shelled crab. Well, except that this one was only just pretty good. The batter that the crab was fried in was more than a bit on the salty side. No soy sauce was needed for this one. But I don’t want to sound negative. Each roll was very well made. Maybe not presented as artfully as some places I’ve been to. I guess I’m a little thumbs in the middle.

Christine had a concoction that just sounded so bizarre/cool that I had to make a note of it and take a few pictures. A Snow Mountain roll at $9.95. What we have here is a California roll topped with mushrooms and scallops. But how do they top it? But piling them on over top of it. Certainly a unique look. I declined to have a piece myself as I was concerned that I’d pass my still slight cold along.

The value and taste were good, but I must take a few points off for speed. Or should I say lack thereof. The rolls came in a timely fashion, but it took forever to get the bill. I guess the lone waiter had his hands full. Still, because the stretch of Bloor between Spadina and Bathurst has at least a dozen sushi places, there’s really nothing here that stands out. Tentative thumbs in the middle.