Ah, a Saturday that promises rain. What better way to spend the lunch hour than taking your time eating a nice sushi lunch and reading a book? Well, I couldn’t think of one, so I put on my shoes and headed toward Eglinton. I know there’s a few places I haven’t visited [...]]]> N.K. Sushi
376 Eglinton Ave W

Ah, a Saturday that promises rain. What better way to spend the lunch hour than taking your time eating a nice sushi lunch and reading a book? Well, I couldn’t think of one, so I put on my shoes and headed toward Eglinton. I know there’s a few places I haven’t visited yet, including one that was still under construction…

But under construction no more! Nice interior, and a pretty darn interesting menu. Not just the usual maki, but a fair bit Japanese fare. Wow, what a bad sentence. The first thing that jumped out at me was a Lobster Tempura Roll ($7.98). While it was a little anemic when it came to contents, the lobster was very fresh. We’re talking the tempura hadn’t even had time to cool yet, it was deliciously warm. Deliciously tasting too. Lobster is one of the few foods I know for darn certain when it’s prepared well or not. This lobster was really quite good. Far better than I expected. Next up was the ubiquitous Salmon Pizza ($7.98). This was also very well done, the rice patty was fried just a bit more than “usual” which was nice, and the generous amount of spicy mayo, tempura flakes, salmon, and avocado was just right. There really isn’t an way to make it “wrong” (unless you put cheese on it!) but this was probably in the top 5-10 for me.

It also gave me a chance to try out the camera in my new iPhone 4, so if the snaps aren’t up to the usual quality, there you go. But I quite like N.K. I can definitely state that I’ll be back here for lunch!

Let me know at which point you realized this wasn’t on the up-and-up. :)

With thanks [...]]]>

Let me know at which point you realized this wasn’t on the up-and-up. :)

With thanks to Craig.

How do you know when you’ve been incredibly busy, almost too busy to breathe? When you’ve had a sushi review sitting on your hard drive for nearly 2 weeks and you haven’t found time to post it. While biking through my neighborhood, I discovered that one of the hole in the wall greasy [...]]]> Kokoro Sushi
572 Marlee Ave

How do you know when you’ve been incredibly busy, almost too busy to breathe? When you’ve had a sushi review sitting on your hard drive for nearly 2 weeks and you haven’t found time to post it. While biking through my neighborhood, I discovered that one of the hole in the wall greasy spoons had been replaced by a sushi joint. This speaks to me, and I made a point of visiting it at the end of July.

Kokoro isn’t a fancy place, and it isn’t in an upscale area of the city, but you notice that there has to be something good about it when people come out to a god awful strip mall to get sushi. On Marlee. Really. It was surprisingly busy, but the food was pretty darn good and the pricing wasn’t bad either.

I went for a staple and a stand by this time, with the usual Spicy Tuna at $4.50 and a Green Dragon at $8.99. The presentation was better than I expected (my expectations were low, this *was* formerly a greasy spoon) and the fish was very fresh. The spicy tuna was a little on the bland side, but nothing wrong with it. The Green dragon had perfectly sliced layers of avocado, and most importantly the tempura shrimp inside was far better than average.

The service was prompt, and there were a lot of people taking advantage of the 10% off for take out orders. The next time I have an evening sushi craving I may just visit this place rather than head down to Eglinton. Thumbs up for a fast food style sushi restaurant!

This is probably the first of whats going to become more of a staple around here, the 5 minute quickie review. Most places like this are in the “Food Court Sushi” category, and Quik Sushi is no exception.

Last weekend the Sister, myself, and a friend visiting from Berlin went out on a [...]]]> Quik Sushi
93 Front St E

This is probably the first of whats going to become more of a staple around here, the 5 minute quickie review. Most places like this are in the “Food Court Sushi” category, and Quik Sushi is no exception.

Last weekend the Sister, myself, and a friend visiting from Berlin went out on a bike ride. It was decided that we’d have breakfast at the St. Lawrence Market on the way to our adventure. While the others went for Vegan raw food, I found Quik Sushi and after a quik peruse (hah!) grabbed a couple of rolls for a cheap brunch. Personally, I have no problem with el-cheapo sushi as long as it’s priced accordingly and the ingredients were at least fresh when the rolls were made. For $5.95 each I grabbed a Spicy Tuna and a Crab roll and was pleasantly surprised. It was food court quality, and was made hours previously, but the rice was good, and the fish was fresh. The tempura crunch in the spicy tuna roll suffered from the soggies after being in the cooler, but it didn’t detract that much.

Both were 8 piece rolls, and I wound up stuffing myself and was grateful for adding 40 more kilometers on my bike that day. Worth checking out for fast fuel on a weekend morning while getting the groceries!

One of the things I’ve noticed is that with all of the time spent in  and out of bike shops lately, is that I haven’t eaten as much sushi as I normally do. I managed to correct that a bit a few days ago with a pit stop at Echo Sushi after visiting [...]]]> Echo Sushi
2036 Yonge St

One of the things I’ve noticed is that with all of the time spent in  and out of bike shops lately, is that I haven’t eaten as much sushi as I normally do. I managed to correct that a bit a few days ago with a pit stop at Echo Sushi after visiting a couple of the Yonge st bike shops.

I actually opted for their all you can eat lunch special ($13.99) as I felt rather peckish and the price was really quite reasonable. First off I went with their Salmon Pizza to see what version might turn up. This one was rather bland, though generous with both sliced salmon and crab stick. I was disappointed that there was just regular mayo on there, some spicy mayo and maybe even oyster sauce would have helped. Up next was a Dynamite hand roll, which delivered on the tempura shrimp and a nice large slice of Avocado. Rounding out the main course was another of my favorite stand-by’s, the spicy tuna roll. Again, while the fish was fresh and generous it lacked any sort of kick. For a spicy roll it really wasn’t very spicy.

While the quality and price were very good, from what I sampled it seemed a little bland. Thumbs are fairly firmly planted in the middle.

Wow, has it really been a month since I last went out to a new sushi restaurant? I’m falling down on the job! Though I blame the fact that my trip to San Francisco turned into a 5 day sushi marathon, and I have a new girlfriend who isn’t a huge sushi fan. [...]]]> Sushi Bon
695 College St.

Wow, has it really been a month since I last went out to a new sushi restaurant? I’m falling down on the job! Though I blame the fact that my trip to San Francisco turned into a 5 day sushi marathon, and I have a new girlfriend who isn’t a huge sushi fan. Sorry people, women come before food. :)

But Sunday was an alright day and since I was on my own I decided I would check out a place that I’ve been meaning to visit since last summer. Sushi Bon is one of the “last” sushi joints in the Little Italy strip in that it’s about as far west as the strip goes. But it has a patio! Nothing like spending a Sunday afternoon with the newspaper and a plate full of sushi!

I was in an Avocado mood, so first up was a Green Dragon at $7.95. The avocado was nicely thinly sliced and topped the roll very well. The tempura shrimp inside was also pretty darn tasty which is a bit of a rarity. My only minor complaint was that there wasn’t anything else inside the roll. A bit of cucumber would have been nice. Next up were a couple of old favorites. My Japanese comfort food, even if one is a Toronto thing.

Say it with me now, Spicy Tuna and Salmon Pizza! I opted for just a hand roll of the Spicy Tuna for $3.95 as I’m trying to not have my sushi ventures break the bank. I already have enough expensive hobbies as it is! The spicy tuna was very fresh and tasty, but I found there was a bit too much of the “spicy” mayo and it really wasn’t spicy enough for my tastes. The Salmon Pizza was actually pretty darn good at $6.95. The salmon slices were generous, the patty was fried just right, and it wasn’t drowning in mayo. My only observation was that there was a small pool of rice vinegar at the bottom of the plate, and it detracted a bit from the taste.

Overall I’d definitely suggest paying this place a visit. Afterward you can go next door to Dolce Gelato for some seriously good gelato!

And now for the last stop on what appears to be a vacation that turned into an epic sushi eating experience. Bright and early on saturday morning, I put on my walking shoes and headed towards the San Francisco Japantown. Overall I wasn’t terribly impressed. It was essentially a big mall with [...]]]> Osakaya
1737 Post St
San Francisco, CA

And now for the last stop on what appears to be a vacation that turned into an epic sushi eating experience. Bright and early on saturday morning, I put on my walking shoes and headed towards the San Francisco Japantown. Overall I wasn’t terribly impressed. It was essentially a big mall with the usual stores you’d expect to find in any asian market. The peace monument was rather poignant, especially as I arrived there on the day of the childrens festival. Watching kids sing under what superficially resembles a mushroom cloud makes you sit and think.

But while wandering around, blowing $100 on incense, not finding any Puro videos in the stores, I managed to work up an appetite. Needless to say I had about 3 dozen choices of sushi joints. I opted for Osakaya basically at random. The menu in the window seemed good, and it looked busy enough that the quality had to be pretty good.

I went fairly simple this time with a Caterpillar roll and a Spicy Tuna temaki. Yep, I hereby state the obvious that Spicy Tuna is my favorite. Both rolls tasted excellent, but I must note that the avocado wrap on the caterpillar roll was about as clumsy as I’ve ever seen. Having said that, it was still delicious, and the extra thick layer of avocado was welcome. The Spicy Tuna was excellent as well with a nice generous slab of tuna, and just the right amount of spicy.

Over All, Japantown feels a bit like a tourist trap, but the food was reasonably priced and very good. Now for next week, I’m going to have to get off my duff and eat some more Sushi in Toronto!

I admit it. I’m a bad, bad blogger. It’s been over a week since I updated, but I personally lay all of the blame on the fact that I had to download and organize all of the photos from my camera. Luckily, in between pictures of Alcatraz and the cityscape [...]]]> Kyoto Sushi
1233 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA

I admit it. I’m a bad, bad blogger. It’s been over a week since I updated, but I personally lay all of the blame on the fact that I had to download and organize all of the photos from my camera. Luckily, in between pictures of Alcatraz and the cityscape of San Francisco was a couple of sushi restaurants. First up is one that I picked with the help of Google, Kyoto sushi.

It was only about a 10 minute walk from my hotel, and I elected to sit at the bar for a change, as the tables were tucked in the back and the lighting back there was a little bit “Ambient”. I have to remember that more light makes for better pictures. The waitresses were very nice, putting up with my dumb questions. I decided that as a tourist I was allowed to be a minor pain. :)

First up was my perennial favorite, Spicy Tuna at $4.95. The rice was a little different than I was used to, a bit stickier and slightly warm, but this was more than made up for with the nice slab of tuna and spicy mayo. Actually, the spice factor was higher than I’m used to and I was glad for the pickled ginger for once. Next came a Spider Roll. Something told me that since they were offering a 4 piece roll, that it was going to be big. Oh boy was I right. Slightly smaller than the Bong Yonge rolls, they filled you right up. I swear I had to struggle to get the rolls in my mouth. There’s just no way to politely eat these. But damn, at $7.95 it was a bargain.

Rounding it out for a rare bit of minor gluttony was a small dish of green tea ice cream. I have no idea what it cost, but the presentation was very cool. Hah.

As an aside, Fat Mike from NOFX had eaten there (there was an autographed photo) so if there was ever any doubt, this proved that Kyoto Sushi was a good choice!

So a couple of weeks ago, I spent a week hanging out with friends and American co-workers in sunny California. I took the opportunity to wander around San Francisco for a few days and what a surprise, I ate a fair bit of sushi.

There are probably as many sushi [...]]]> Minako Organic Japanese Restaurant
2154 Mission St
San Francisco, CA

So a couple of weeks ago, I spent a week hanging out with friends and American co-workers in sunny California. I took the opportunity to wander around San Francisco for a few days and what a surprise, I ate a fair bit of sushi.

There are probably as many sushi places in San Fran as there are in Toronto, and certainly more “authentic” restaurants. But the one thing I noticed overall was that the price and quality were about on par with Toronto. I’m sure there are more high end places, but that really isn’t the focus of this blog anyhow.

Since I was there, and a tourist, I naturally brought my camera with me. But unfortunately, I didn’t even think to bring it with me on my first night, when I had dinner with my friend Chiara. All of the pictures here were taken with my Blackberry Bold 9700 under less than favorable conditions.

Chiara led me out to The Mission, which was a sketchy neighborhood at best. Heck, the crowd around the BART station put Parkdale to shame. But once we arrived at the restaurant, it was really worth it. While I personally think that “Organic” is a gimmick, and that my body runs on preservatives, I’m not going to turn my nose up at an organic meal. Minako is a small place, maybe half a dozen 4 seat tables, and curiously (though I’m told this is common for SF) you have to walk through the kitchen to reach the restroom. For the first time ever, we present a video of my walk from the table to the washroom!

I dined on Tempura Yam, Shrimp Teryaki (which disappeared into my stomach before I remembered to take a picture) and a very interesting take on Spicy Tuna maki. Note the brown rice, and the green eggs. The fish roe was flavoured with wasabi, which gave it the spicy kick. A bit too much for me, I’m afraid.

One thing I have to note was how fun the menu was to read, and the waitress was really fun to talk to. Big thumbs up for more of a “Japanese restaurant” than a “sushi joint” experience.

More to come from my SF trip!

I’m behind on my posting, I fully admit it. But it’s been for a good reason. I spent nearly a week in San Francisco, and I sampled a LOT of great sushi. I even took pictures of most of the places. But before I left I had lunch with my mom again and [...]]]> Sapporo Sushi
5469 Yonge Street

I’m behind on my posting, I fully admit it. But it’s been for a good reason. I spent nearly a week in San Francisco, and I sampled a LOT of great sushi. I even took pictures of most of the places. But before I left I had lunch with my mom again and took this as an opportunity to introduce her to a few new things.

I found Sapporo Sushi more or less by accident when I noticed that there were a lot of sushi places in the neighborhood when I was checking out Sushi Bong. There was no real rhyme or reason for choosing here, and thats the beauty of discovery! First up was something that Mom really enjoys, Salmon Pizza ($8.95). This was a very different method of making it, as it was on a sheet of nori, the “crust” wasn’t overly fried, and the salmon was more of a mince. Honestly, I didn’t care for it, but that might be more because it wasn’t what I was used to. Still, I gave it a chance. Next up was the first experiment. I fed my mom Unagi.

See, I can see how us white folk might not like the idea of eating smoked eel. But if you don’t try it, how would you know? So out comes the Tiger Roll at $11.95 Basically it’s an unagi roll topped with unagi and shrimp. Very, very tasty. The chef had the slices of eel nice and thin, and they just melted in the mouth. The best part was, mom guessed at what I was feeding her, and didn’t balk. She likes it! She likes it!

Finally was the Green Tea Ice Cream, another first for the maternal unit, and it was a success as well! So two thumbs up for a successful lunch!