Sushi Eaton

Sushi Eaton
90 Eglinton Ave E

Saturday, ah saturday. Glorious day of not working. A great day to hit the city and do some much needed shopping. But of course, once shopping is complete and it’s lunch time, why not get a bite of sushi… Yep, I got several birds killed with one stone this afternoon, it was aviacide on a massive scale. One of the things I set out to do was find a *good* sushi place. The overall tone I’d like to take with this site is a list of sushi restaurants to visit, not a list of places to avoid. So after picking up some new shoes, etc. I went looking in the Yonge and Eglinton area.

There isn’t a shortage of choices either, so when I found one place that had Spicy Tuna rolls for $8, I laughed and carried on. They would have to be mighty good to get a positive spin from me. However a quicker perusal of the menu at Sushi Eaton gave a mental thumbs up and in I went to give it a try.

Now when I went in and had a seat I was asked if I was going to go with All You Can Eat or off the menu. This is always a real dilemma for me. I value quality over quantity and usually it’s hard to get any value from an AYCE deal. However, the lunch special was only $11.99 and I figured I could find $12 worth of food. The lunch menu must be abbreviated from the dinner AYCE menu. There were only about 2 dozen choices (12 or so different maki rolls plus tempura, etc.) and the flyer at the front promises “over 100 items to choose from”. But from the small selection, I ordered a Spicy Tuna roll, a Shrimp Tempura roll, and Salmon Pizza.

See, thats the problem. You’re really forced to eat 3 dishes just to get your moneys worth. But a little gluttony every so often isn’t really that bad. Next you’ll be telling me it’s one of the deadly sins or something. Oh, it is? D’oh. But a sin or not, I was actually fairly impressed. Caveat #1: most AYCE establishments are going to serve maki that is heavy on the rice in order to fill you up, Sushi Eaton is no exception. This is par for the course.

My Spicy Tuna and Shrimp Tempura rolls arrived first. Heavy on the rice yes, but quite tasty. The Shrimp Tempura roll must win an award for the highest rice to ingredient ratio of any sushi roll I’ve ever had. For the size of the roll they could easily have added a lot more cucumber and avocado to make it look larger. That said, I think the best route to go would have been to reduce the size a bit and use less rice. It would taste the same, and you wouldn’t be left looking at it asking “Where’s the beef?” Did I just date myself a bit there? The Spicy Tuna was really quite good. I have no idea what the difference is between tuna that is white and tuna that is red. Different species of tuna? Different part of the fish used? The cynic in me screams that it’s a lower cost, lower quality version of what we’re used to, but my palette can’t really tell the difference. A nice blend of tuna taste, spice, and crunch from the tempura flakes.

Then came the Salmon Pizza. I’ll have to admit, a little inexpertly made, but delicious nonetheless. The rice patty was oh my god thick. Probably half again as thick as it should have been. But they didn’t skimp on the salmon, and they certainly didn’t skip on the fish egg. I tell you though, with the thickness of the patty it was almost difficult to chew each piece they were so big. But I have a big mouth and I was able to get it all down. I was ready to pack it in and cry uncle when my waitress reminded me that dessert was included as well. Time for a pair of large scoops of green tea ice cream. Ice cream is good. The only bad ice cream I’ve ever had is that plastic Chapmans stuff, this was nice and creamy and green tea-ey. Thats so not a word.

So, I stuffed myself silly for $12. I’ll have to say that I definitely got my moneys worth. The sushi was pretty darn good, and I came aware of the game being played. I think both sides won as I went away stuffed and happy, and didn’t really make that huge of a dent in their sushi bar. Thumbs up for lunch, and the regular menu prices are very reasonable. I’d go back to order off the menu or do the AYCE thing any time.