Ichiban Sushi

Ichiban Sushi
1375 Yonge St.

So it appears that my methodology for finding new places is going to change for the summer. I re-discovered the fun of cycling, and yesterday set out on my bike for lunch. Now what I did was ride out to Yonge and Davisville, and then fire up Poynt on my blackberry.  What this does is grab my location via GPS and then do a search based on my geographical location. Pretty nifty huh? Well, it told me that Ichiban sushi was less than a kilometer south of me, so off I rode. When I got there I was like “Oh this place!” I’ve been past it a few times, and it is part of the “chain” that includes the now defunct Grand Ichiban sushi.

I decided that I would make a similar order to what I got at Grand Ichiban so that I could make a direct comparison, and also because I know I ordered a fancy Lobster roll. It’s never the wrong time for Lobster. So I dove back in with the Lobster Fantasy Roll ($14) and one of my stand by’s, the ubiquitous Salmon Pizza at $7. First off, when I say chain, I don’t want anyone to envision Red Lobster or Swiss Chalet. These are nice restaurants, and the service is right up there as you would expect. First to arrive was the Salmon Pizza, and it was different. But thats why I like it, there’s no set in stone method for making Sushi Pizza. This was a thin crust version, with a very thin rice patty. Avocado was placed around the edge like a “crust” and the salmon was chopped, mixed with mayo, and placed in the center. I was actually somewhat disappointed, as I’m used to thicker slabs of Salmon. But thats what you get with an ever morphing recipe, change. While it wasn’t what I expected, I had to admit that it was tasty and the presentation was excellent.

Next up came the Lobster Fantasy Roll, and in this case I was slightly disappointed by the presentation. Grand Ichiban did it completely differently. While the lobster tempura was there, that was where the similarities ended. This version contained avocado and cucumber as well, and was topped with more lobster and a spicy lobster sauce. Have I said lobster enough in this paragraph? The crustacean in question was good and fresh, and the sauce almost felt like it covered the roll in a thicker bisque. It was certainly filling as well, giving the feeling that you’d gotten a good portion for your $14.

I’m having to temporarily get used to using a point and shoot camera again. Until I get off my duff and buy a cycling backpack, I don’t feel comfortable carrying my DSLR. But I’m off again today, so we’ll see what random adventure occurs food wise!

April 3rd, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: sushi | 2 comments

Oishi Kada

Oishi Kada
280 August Ave

This morning I was under a deadline. The rain was scheduled to start falling around noon. Could I get down to Chinatown to buy some new dishes before getting wet? Well, the rain held off and I looked at about a billion different kinds of dishes, but walked out of Tap Phong empty handed. But since I was in the neighborhood, why not check out that sushi place I remember seeing just inside Kensington Market?

OK, so I exaggerate a bit. I brought my camera with me and checked the business hours before I left the house. Lets face it, nearly every time I leave the house it’s an excuse to go eat. :) When I got there, I noted that while the place is the usual small sushi joint, there was more seating than I would have guessed, and if the restaurant was full you wouldn’t be sitting check to jowl either. However, this time I nearly had the place to myself as the Kensington hippies were kept indoors by gray skies.

Usually my strategy is to grab two different rolls, one cheap-ish and one at or above $10. Today I was even more indecisive than usual, and when I overheard the person next to me ordering a roll set I checked out that section of the menu. Ah, now they had something that speaks to my tastes. A spicy handroll set at a whole $8.45. Perfect, I get lunch for just over $10, and I get some variety. The set came with 3 handrolls, tuna, salmon, and avocado. Each with spicy mayo and some tempura for a nice crunch. The fish was nice and fresh and quite tasty. The rolls were just the right size too, not over stuffed with rice. I’ve decided I like temaki when the first bite is almost too much for a mouthful, and the subsequent bites are more manageable. My only criticism was that the tempura was more like chunks than flakes, and almost tasted stale because of it. Repeat after me kids, less is more.

Still, the service was quick, and with the counter a mere few feet away, you could easily watch your food getting made. I’m sure that as the summer progresses, I’ll be in there for a visit again as I take my hippie sister for walkies. :)

March 28th, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: sushi | Leave a comment

Benkei Sushi - Beer Bash Edition

Benkei Sushi
1238 St. Clair Ave W

Once again, this isn’t a review as such. Every Friday my employer, Organic Inc. has something called Beer Bash. Basically this entails all of us gathering around a large quantity of beer and the Xbox. To keep us from falling over, food is also ordered. Sometimes this food is Sushi. Sometimes they even ask me where to order from, such as the last time back in September.

But sometimes it’s as much a surprise to me as anyone. This time around we ordered from Benkei sushi, which is out in Corso Italia. I’ve never been, but based on the platters, it’s now on my list. Normally you get a lot of Maki Mono, a tiny bit of Sashimi, and some Nigiri sushi. For the same price (about $88 for a large tray) Benkei provides a lot of variety. Check out the photos below, but I saw Salmon skin, spicy tuna, dynamite rolls, unagi, and more. While the spicy wasn’t very, the variety was impressive.

I apologize for the photos though. Working with an unfamiliar camera before my co-workers wolfed all the food down was tricky!

March 27th, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: sushi | Leave a comment

New Generation Sushi

New Generation Sushi
493 Bloor St W

A few months ago I visited New Generation Sushi on Bloor st. Another oft reviewed sushi restaurant in Toronto. I noticed that there was another New Generation location right across the street. This struck me as a little excessive, like the Starbucks location within a Starbucks, but I realized that the one on the North side of Bloor was more of a Korean BBQ/Japanese food place and the one on the South Side is more straight up Sushi.

So this weekend I got to combine my sushi eating hobby with being a good son. It would appear that I may have created a monster, as my Mother has developed a taste for sushi as well. Now she’s taking things slow, crawling before walking, and generally letting me do the ordering. I may even be a little conservative, but you have to get someone hooked before bringing out the unagi and teryaki chicken rolls.

So this time around we went with something familiar, a variation on the familiar, and something new. First up was the variation, as we each enjoyed a California Temaki (hand roll) at $3.95 each. California rolls are essentially impossible to screw up as long as the ingredients are fresh and it’s well rolled. It was both, and quite tasty to boot. Mum prefers the maki though, but hey, she tried something new with gusto. Next was the familiar with the Salmon Pizza at $7.95. This time the variation on the “recipe” was spicy mayo as opposed to regular, and no oyster sauce. No surprise then that it was a little spicier than usual, but quite good. This time mum and I weren’t fighting over who gets the last piece. But then we also weren’t grabbing a bite on our lunch hour and could afford to take the time to be polite. :)

Lastly was something I knew would go over well, a Spider Roll at $8.95. Mum has the same soft spot for crustaceans as I do, so I knew it would go over well. While it was OK, thats about all I could say. The soft shelled crab was saltier than usual, and shock horror, the roll contained mayo. As I’ve mentioned before, mayo is a “less is more” condiment and they went way overboard here. Add to that there was asparagus in my spider roll. Asparagus! It was disappointing, but certainly not ruined.

Overall, while the restaurant was a little cramped and fairly busy, the service was good. Though a fusion roll was brought to us which we didn’t order. I’m honestly surprised that this place is as busy as it is, there are better places on the strip within blocks that are in the same price range. Thumbs in the middle.

March 22nd, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: sushi | Leave a comment

Sushi On Bloor

Sushi On Bloor
515 Bloor St. W

Sunday. Not as nice as last weekend, and thats by a long shot. But the rain has let up long enough for me to venture out of my cave and get a walk in. Several months ago I did a walk along Bloor St between Bathurst and Spadina and realized that there are 13+ restaurants that serve Sushi in a few blocks. I made a  note to save this area for the winter, as I knew my consumption would go down as I hibernated. This is an easy area to get to. However, my illness got in the way, and we didn’t really have a winter to speak of, so I have an untapped area to visit. This afternoon visit I did.

Sushi on Bloor I’ve avoided for another reason. Much like New Generation, it’s very well reviewed. Everyone has been here. There really isn’t a whole heck of a lot to add. However, I’ve realized that people tend to be a little “geographical” and just maybe I might have a different point of view. So on went the jacket and out the door I went camera over the shoulder. I expected it to be packed. I’m guessing that the overcast skies and cool wind kept the sunday brunch people away. Normally this area has people lined out the door at nearly every establishment. It was busy, but no lines.

For such a well reviewed and popular place, there really wasn’t a huge amount of choice. More than a traditional restaurant to be sure, but really only about 20 or so “special” rolls. I decided to stick with my usual scheme of 1 inexpensive and 1 premium roll and started with a Crunchy Roll at $5 (Salmon, Avocado, Tobiko, Mayo, and Tempura). First off, a fair number of the rolls on the menu are right around $5, so the price is definitely right. They were very generous with the salmon on this roll,  almost to the point that I would have traded a bit for more tempura. I was a little trepiditious about mayo in a crunchy roll (normally mayo kills crunchy dead) but they used it sparingly as a seasoning instead of globbing it on. Next up came a Spider Roll ($8.50) as I haven’t had any lettuce in a while. This had nothing to do with my love affair with deep fried crab. Nope. This actually ranks fairly highly as the amount of deep fried nothingness to crab meat was actually rather low. More crab than batter is a very good thing! Both rolls had a very thin layer of rice, well rolled and the emphasis was definitely on the contents. While the fare is nothing overly fancy, I now see why this was chosen as a “great cheap sushi” place. The value is very high.

Nice place inside, and good service. Attentive without interrupting all the time. I have better ranking favorites on the Bloor Street strip, but Sushi On Bloor did not disappoint one little bit!

March 14th, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: sushi | Leave a comment
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