Hosu

Hosu
254 Queen Street W

Well, the first summer of Sushi is officially over. The weather has turned to a typically Canadian grey and drizzly fall, and the nice days will have to be taken advantage of as much as possible. This means that the pace of reviews around here will slow slightly, but I’ll always try and get a meal and some photos in once a week. I’ve saved certain areas of the city for when it gets really bad, but I still have notes on quite a number of places to visit.

Almost appropriately the summer of sushi is marked with the very last place (that I know of) within a short walking distance of both mine and my sisters offices. It was with great help from her that I was able to visit a number of diverse places, and our sushi thursdays were a lot of fun. I’ve eaten at Hosu probably a dozen times or more over the past couple of years, but I’ve never once ordered sushi there. A Japanese/Korean restaurant (with 3 locations in the city) thats always, always busy should be a good indicator if you’re new to the area. There isn’t a time when the place isn’t bustling and people are waiting for take out. But the real treat is staying.

I’ll admit, I don’t know the names of the appetizers that are served with every meal, except for the Kimchi and the Edamame. However the real draw for me is the spiced, sliced potato and (fermented?) soy beans. If I could find that stuff jarred like you can with Kimchi, I’d have it in my fridge *always*. Of course, all perfectly vegan/vegetarian friendly. As were the Gyoza that Laura ordered. She also had a Veggie combo, and her dedication to photographical symmetry was such that when I asked her to move a piece of sushi for a shot, she hurled it to the floor! Then cursed her butter fingers.

My own choices were a mix of the old and the new. As I’ve noted a few times in the past, I tend to go for one “cheap” roll and one slightly more extravagant. The cheap selection this time around was the Boston Maki ($4.95) which contained crab, cucumber, mayo and tobiko. I honestly wonder sometimes just how much crab stick I’ve eaten this year. My only real disappointment with this roll was that besides the crab stick, the other ingredients were few and far between. Mayo *should* be used sparingly, but more cucumber please. I need my green vegetables. The “expensive” roll wasn’t really, as I went for the Spider Roll for $9.95. Ah, soft shelled crab, you can do no wrong. An acquaintance of mine once wondered aloud when the hostilities broke out between the crab and the monkey. All I know is, I’m glad they did!

The Spider roll suffered from the same lack of vegetables, but both rolls paid out in sheer size. Big and filling, some pieces were nearly too big to chew politely. It was also curious that they were both nori-out instead of the uramaki nori-in style. It was a nice change of pace, and I always appreciate that seaweedy goodness.

I’m not sure if I’d order sushi at Hosu again, not because it was bad by any words, but it’s more a reflection of how addicted I am to their Teriyaki, Bulgogi, and Bibimbap. Good and filling, I could never give this place a bad review. :)