Watami

I decided to spend my anniversary over at Watami Sushi and Grill at Market Village.  I personally have been here many times but this is the first time I decided to blog this place.  The restaurant has been here for quite some time and hopefully it will be here for many more years to come. 

We got there on a weekend evening and the place was half full.  It was however later in the evening and well past the usual dinner time.  We were given a table right away and several menus to choose our food from.  If one knows Chinese, one can also look at their special menu up on a chalkboard that usually serves special dishes including toro fish and kobe beef. 

Tonight we decided to go with a dinner for two menu known as the Watami Dinner in the menu and toro fish.  The Watami Dinner Menu is designed for two people and comes with miso soup, salad, 12 pieces of sashimi, 10 pieces of sushi, 12 pieces of maki, shrimp and vegetable tempura, beef or chicken or salmon teriyaki, spider hand rolls and a chef's special. 

Toro Fish

Sushi, Sashimi and Maki Platter

Shrimp Tempura

 The miso soup and salad arrived first and it was a good appetizer.  The food was tasty however it was really not any different than any of the other places we have been to.  The sushi, sashimi and maki plate came next and it looked pretty good.  With one quick glance, one can see that there was a lot of tuna, salmon and either salmon skin sushi or avacodo vegetable sushi.  Again nothing spectacular.  The fish were all fresh as was all the sushi. 

Seafood Avacado

The chef's special of the day was the seafood avacado and beef on a skewer.  The seafood avacado was a little thick as it contained cheese, butter, garlic, shrimp and mini scallops.  For those who are blood pressure and cholesterol conscious, you may only want to eat a small sample of this dish.  This dish is quite heavy and you may not want to try consuming the entire bowl.  Otherwise it is something one definitely should try.  The top of the seafood avacado has fish roe on it to give it slight tangy taste to it as well.

The tempura was descent.  There was nothing out of the ordinary.  The shrimp and the vegetables tempura were fresh.  They were all served hot and with sweet soya sauce.  No complaints here. 

The beef teriyaki arrived however we had to pack it in and take it home with us.  There was just way too much food on the table for the two of us.  Not letting it go to waste, even the manager of the restaurant noticed that we were reaching our limit so what he did was that he asked the chef to cook it only to 40% cooked so that when we recooked it at home, it would not go completely dry. That was mighty nice of teh manager.

The spider hand roll was next and it was delicious.  There was no way that we could pack this home.  Truthfully one should always try to eat as much of the sushi and raw food as quickly as possible to maintain that freshness.  I will say this, the spider roll was amazing.  The soft shell fried crab, the avacado and cucumber were all very fresh.  One can taste the sweetness of the crab.  It was quite delicious and depsite being quite full, there was no way I was going to pass this one up. 

We saved the best for last.  For twenty dollars we order 3 pieces of toro.  Yes it is not for the faint of heart when it comes to money however to eat quality fish, one needs to pay the heavier price.  The fish literally melted in your mouth however the only problem was that the "cut" of the fish was not the best so while the fish melted, the spines and tendons of the fish remained.  Still the fish was very fresh, served slightly cool and had every bit of sweetness in it. 

Overall, it was a great night with great food.  The total was over a hundred dollars however it was worth it.  The taro could have been better or they could have given us a better cut but that was really the only blemish all night.  One should give it a try at this place.  I am sure you would not disappoint.  If one does not read Chinese make sure you get the waitress or manager to read you the specials on the chalkboard.  You would not be disappointed.  In closing, I give this place a 4 out of 5.

Watami Sushi and Grill
4372 Steeles Avenue East  Toronto, ON M1V 4S5

905 477-4567