Great Food in Toronto: Sushi

Sushi restaurants in Toronto are in ample supply, but I've discovered there more bad than good. Almost at all costs - I avoid places that are Value For Money (VFM) establishments, which are notorious for serving large volumes of food, tend to be run by non-Japanese (Chinese) owners, and have varying degrees of quality control.

The following are some of my favorite sushi places in the downtown core. One of the first good sushi restaurants I discovered was Ichiriki Sushi, whose move from Yorkville more than 5 years ago hasn't resulted in a decline in either the lunch or dinner business. The owner/sushi chef is an avid fan of Jazz music, and the maki and sashimi have always been fresh. I also have a soft spot for the deep friend seafood croquet, and green tea ice cream.

Tokyo Sushi is a hole in a wall sushi gem that was recently recommended by my colleague Clara. Easy to miss, it is located on St. Joseph and Bay Streets (& not listed on the internet), autographed photos of celebraties who have either dined in/or taken out are hung around the restaurant. Our favorite rolls are the sunshine, spicy tuna, unagi california, and friday. Very affordable and tasty, and we have made Tokyo a place we frequent - dinner for two costs around $40. Apparently, they provide the room service sushi for the nearby Sutton Place hotel, but at much higher price.

Just a few blocks north, in the heart of Yorkville, Sushi Inn provides a good sushi fix. However, it is sometime very busy (which is a good sign I guess), but I don't think its worth waiting more than 15 minutes. If it is too crowded upstairs where the sushi bar is located, there is a downstairs dining area, but it somehow feels likes a basement - with zero atmosphere or buzz. I enjoyed the pan seared scallops, marinated black cod, and the rolls were pretty good - albeit on the small side.

Mochizuki Sushi is only steps from our apartment, and has an amazingly large and beautiful dragon roll we seem to order every time. It has a neat rotating sushi bar that allows patrons to pick sushi from a conveyor belt, but we've stuck to ordering from the menu. The black cod with lemon is always sweet, and a bowl of hot steaming udon noodles always hits the spot on a cold day. Dinner for two, usually costs $60. On numerous occasions, I've witnessed the delivery of large fresh salmon, and watched the chef clean and cut the beautiful fish,

When we are up north in the Yonge and Sheppard, we always find ourselves at Ichiban Sushi. On Sunday, we had the tempura, deep fried cutlet covered with curry, udon noodles, in addition to the California, Dynamite, Spicy Tuna, and Unakyu rolls. A nice touch are the freebies - tofu, a bowl of edamame, and fruit. Dinner for four came to $80 including tax and tip. I like the fact that the Ichiban sushi chefs always say good bye on the way out. With 20 locations around Toronto, its hard not to find one around the corner.

The best sushi I have ever had in Toronto was in Etobicoke, in a small non-descript place called Sushi Kaji. What an experience. I've only had it once - due to its prohibitive cost... It was $130 per person for the omakase menu, but worth every penny. Japanese friends have said that they fly in the fish from Japan. One of the reasons why I like sushi/Japanese food is that I never feel like I need to take a nap afterward, but not in this case. The tuna sashimi melted in our mouth, huge crab legs, fresh noodles, and the massive tempura shrimp were done just right. A piece of advice - choose to eat at the sushi bar so you can talk and have a drink with chef Kaji!