Osaka Sushi

Osaka Sushi
1620 Bloor St W

So a couple of weeks back I went out to the west end to visit with my sushi loving friend, Christine. What I have always found a little strange is that in the heart of little Warsaw, there is a number of sushi restaurants. But considering how ubiquitous the sushi thing is in Toronto, this really shouldn’t come as any surprise. I’ve ridden my bike past Osaka sushi on a number of occasions, and decided that this trip out was going to be a perfect opportunity to check them out. The people who live upstairs from Christine gave it their thumbs up, so off we went.

The first thing I noticed while perusing the menu was that darn near every single roll contained asparagus. I thought for a moment that maybe this was an “authentic” touch, as various regions of Japan have different little touches. This doesn’t seem to be the case (at least as far as google is concerned) but it did limit my choices somewhat, as I am not a fan of asparagus. The prices were a touch higher than usual, but the decor made it seem “fitting”.

I should mention that I made a point of eating the Miso soup this time around, as I bet a friend that he couldn’t cycle nearly 100 miles in 1 day using a loaded down hybrid bike while in Europe. He proved me wrong, so I made sure to get a picture for him. :)

First up was the ubiquitous spicy tuna roll (which I refuse to apologize for eating nearly every time out as it is my favorite) for $7.95. Just the right amount of spice to my taste, though I’m not the hugest fan of the “tuna puree” method of preparation. A mix of spice, tuna, tempura, and tobiko was on offer and it hit the spot. I also grabbed a Caterpillar roll, and felt that there really wasn’t much Unagi to speak of, especially considering the $13.95 price tag. Nonetheless it was good, and both rolls were expertly prepared and presented.

Overall, a little pricier than usual, but certainly a good value. I’m easily won over with an Orange for dessert. The restaurant itself was nice and the service was great. Definitely a place to check out if you’re in the Bloor and Dundas West area.


August 12th, 2011 | Tags: , , | Category: sushi | Leave a comment

Sushi Cafe

Sushi Cafe
620 Bloor St W

Out and about last week in the Bloor and Bathurst area (there have been many trips out there over the past 2 weeks as our vet is in the neighborhood and we’ve had some sick cats) and decided that as it was lunch time, it was time for some sushi! However, the “mainstream” places in the annex are maybe a little over played (and I noticed that a couple, J-Time and E-Sushi have closed) so I ventured I little further west to Korea town.

After passing up a higher scale place that is in a location that used to be a McDonalds, I decided to try a more “hole in the wall” sort of place. I chose “Sushi Cafe” aka Myoung Dong Soon Tofu Korean restaurant. The place was a dive. But I’m a fan of greasy spoon diners, and there were people inside eating, and thats generally a good indicator.

The deal is buy 2 rolls, get the 3rd free. I went for 2 leaving myself the option of getting a 3rd if I was still hungry. First up was a plain ‘ol Tuna roll for $4.50. I find that the simple rolls are best for judging the quality and freshness of the fish. The tuna was really quite good, but the rice struck me as… odd. I soon realized that they had used long grain rice, and the starchiness was quite apparent. Next up was a Crunch Roll, basically a dynamite roll rolled in tempura flakes, for $7.95. Sadly, the menu didn’t mention that the roll was going to be topped with some sort of sauce that reminded me of awfully sweet ketchup. It honestly ruined the roll and I left it half unfinished.

About this time the owner popped by my table to give me a hard time about photographing my food. This is actually a first for me, and I really didn’t know how to respond, so I went with “dumb white guy” and he left. Aside from that, the waitresses were quite nice, so I have to leave my thumb in the middle for that.

Overall, pass. There’s a lot better food on Bloor, and Sushi cafe isn’t cheap enough to bother going back.


July 17th, 2011 | Tags: , , | Category: sushi | 3 comments

Mariko Sushi

Mariko Sushi
551 Bloor St W

On a typical Canadian winter Sunday (not too cold, but a long ways away from warm) in February, I decided to head to wards Bloor st and grab a new book and some lunch. There are a number of places on Bloor in the Annex that I haven’t visited yet as it’s a major sushi corridor. But that number is dwindling!

I figured that a Sunday just slightly after the normal lunch time would be a good time to beat the crowds, and I was right as the usual line up out the door scene on Bloor appears to be absent in the middle of winter. I sat down and after a few moments waiting for service, I started perusing the All You Can Eat menu as I decided to break with my own tradition and eat as much as I could while reading my new book. Sadly, the  $12.99 AYCE menu was barren. Not really much on there, and this is coming from a guy who is more than happy to eat his own weight in Spicy Tuna.

I decided to pretend it was summer and go for a Temaki combo with Salmon, Spicy Tuna, California, and Avocado-Cucumber. All were excellent, but it should be noted that the service was slow. A bit heavy on the rice, but also generous with the fish and “fish”. Over all is was pretty filling, but I left feeling like I had missed out. I was actually looking for AYCE for once, and left a little disappointed.

For all of the choices in the Bloor-Bathurst-Spadina corridor, Mariko isn’t necessarily a bad one, but there are far better establishments. I’d chalk it up to a 3rd choice on a busy Saturday morning in the summer.


June 29th, 2011 | Tags: , , | Category: sushi | Leave a comment

Sushi Ocean

Sushi Ocean
1010 Eglinton Ave W

Hi. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Well, sadly just as I was getting adjusted in my new office digs (as reflected in the previous review) my employer had the audacity to go belly up! So for a couple of months I worked on closing the office, and now I’ve spent a couple of months looking for a new gig. No luck so far, so if you need an IT geek in Toronto, I’m your man.

But that isn’t to say that in the past few months I haven’t indulged my sushi obsession and taken notes and pictures for you. Not as often, mind you, but that also has a lot to do with the fact that I’ve caught the cycling bug really bad. It’s hard to find a good sushi place when you’re cycling out to Uxbridge or Schomberg, etc.

Apparently just over 6 months ago a new sushi restaurant opened up in my neck of the woods, and a little while ago I stopped by on my way home and picked up a feast fit for a mid 30s Kraftwerk fanatic.

First up was one of my personal favorites, Salmon Pizza at $7.95. Generous slices of salmon and a very well done rice patty, but it was missing something. The usual “brown sauce” was missing, and it left a bit of an after taste of onion, just a bit too much was used. Of course, salmon pizza isn’t complete without Spicy tuna ($5.25). Despite the fact that I don’t care for the style of a slab of tuna with a dollop of spicy mayo on, the tuna was both generous and very fresh. Just a little bit of tempura added gave it a nice crunch, so I overlooked the mayo situation.

Lastly was the Green Dragon roll for $7.95. I tend to avoid rolls with shrimp tempura these days, as I find the shrimp is usually not of a great quality. But every so often I take the chance and this was a chance worth taking. The shrimp was of a good quality, but there wasn’t that much there. I would have added a bit of crab stick in there to fill it out, but it was tasty and worth the price.

Ocean sushi has definitely been added to my list of places in the ‘hood that needs re-visiting!


June 22nd, 2011 | Tags: , , | Category: sushi | Leave a comment

Aji Sai

Aji Sai
813 Yonge St

As mentioned previously, my office has moved and I now work in the Yonge and Bloor area. This means that my new ‘hood is going to get checked out pretty thoroughly for sushi places. Right up the street is another Aji Sai location, and I was in the mood for some All You Can Eat lunchy goodness.

$12.99 definitely falls into the category of “It’s going to be easy to get our moneys worth” so it wasn’t a hard decision to go that route as opposed to a-la carte. The Salmon pizza was a little disappointing, as while the rice patty was nice and crisp just how I like it, the actual salmon quantity was lacking, and it was somewhat bland. For AYCE it was about average though. You generally do have to lower expectations a bit on “pricy” items. Next up was my other personal favorite, Spicy Tuna, but this time I opted for a pair of hand rolls just to mix it up. They were actually really quite good. Just spicy enough and just enough tempura flakes to give it that nice crunch. Plus the “format change” mixed it up a bit in a good way.

Last up was a Green Dragon. Again, I was fairly impressed with an AYCE “topped” roll. You can tell my expectations are nice and low for AYCE,  but a roll that is topped well with Avocado and a decent quality bit of tempura shrimp was just what I needed. The lack of any other ingredient, such as cucumber in the roll was a little disappointing though. Especially when it doesn’t cost practically anything.

The AYCE menu is actually pretty long, so I have to say that if I have a few people out for lunch around here, Aji Sai is probably going to be my first choice. At least until I have explored the area a little better.


January 28th, 2011 | Tags: , , | Category: sushi | One comment
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