The other night we decided to go all-out or better yet all-in at an Izakaya style restaurant in the heart of Toronto. Sake Bar Kushi is a fairly popular Japanese Izakaya restaurant located near Avenue Road and Eglinton Avenue in Toronto. Although it's a little pricey, we decided to give it a whirl as many of us hadn't had it for quite some time. We made reservations for the evening and were given seats all to the back of the restaurant. The place was fairly clean and they had a traditional style seating in the back where one was required to remove their shoes prior to entering the back. We ordered almost 20 items off their menu and with that I will do my best to go through each and every one of them.
We had to first order a California roll for my daughter. It was pretty late in the evening and my little one hadn't eaten yet. The California Roll had 8 pieces to it and were promptly served. The sushi appeared to be fairly fresh with healthy pieces of avocado and crab meat located inside each piece of sushi.
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| California Rolls |
First to arrive was the Sashimi Salad ($9.00). It was basically as mentioned in that it was pieces of shrimp and salmon sashimi added to a salad. There really wasn't anything special in the salad. The salad was pretty much as is with little to no dressing added to it. I didn't find the salad to be too interesting other than the fact that there was some sashimi located inside the salad.
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| Sashimi Salad |
The first main tapa dish to arrive was the Chanzya ($4.00) and this was basically tripe sashimi that was heavily salted. According to the menu, a salted pickle ingredient was used to increased the saltiness of this dish. One just basically ate this dish raw and although there was only a very small portion per serving, it was difficult to consume huge quantities of this dish due to the extreme saltiness of the meal. There was really no other way to describe it except that people with high blood pressure may want to avoid this dish.
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| Chanzya | | |
Next to arrive was the Tako Wasabi ($3.00) and folks let me tell you,
this one had quite the kick to it. Served on a large ladle and with
only a few small square pieces of seaweed, this dish packed quite the
monster punch. Small pieces of octopus were marinated with a heavy dose
of wasabi which were then to be wrapped inside pieces of seaweed. The
wasabi was extremely strong and fresh and definitely brought tears to
one's eyes. The only problem was that there was only three or four
small pieces of seaweed that came with it and extra seaweed was
required to finish off this dish. However, for only $3.00, this dish
was well worth the price.
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| Tako Wasabi |
The salmon tataki ($7.00) arrived soon afterwards and this was perfectly done. Only five small pieces of salmon per plate were served however. Served on top of some ginger, each piece of salmon was perfectly seared on the outside and nice and sashimi like in the centre. Garnished with a small wad of wasabi and a piece of lemon, this dish was very tasty and done pretty much to perfection.
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| Salmon Tataki |
One of the highlights of the night to arrive was the Uni Shooter ($6.50). Basically it contained a piece of Uni embedded with a couple of pieces of cucumber and laid on top of pear puree. With a touch of gold flakes laid on top of the shooter, this was designed to make it look like one of their more appealing dishes on their menu . After consuming the shooter in one big gulp, I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the overall taste of the shooter. It's possible that we came in with too big of an expectation but the shooter was just lacking something. The Uni was fresh but the pear was sour and overwhelmed the dish to the point where the focus of the Uni was lost in the shooter.
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| Uni Shooter |
A simple salmon tempura arrived soon afterwards and this was as simple as it could be. There wasn't anything specular to the dish. The salmon was good and the tempura was well breaded. Somehow, this dish was on the house so one couldn't really complain here.
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| Yam Tempura |
The waitress then came by and deposited a crab meat salad and told us that this too was on the house. The salad was pretty much the same salad as before except this time there were strips of crab added to it instead of sashimi. Again, just like the previous salad, I didn't really feel all that special with it although seeing that it was on the house, one could not complain about this either.
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| Crab Meat Salad |
The Tuna Tataki ($11.00) arrived in a very sharp and well presented manner. Appearance wise, this was probably one of the best presentation wise. There were about 7 pieces of tuna that were perfectly seared and served on the plate. Sprinkled with some ginger on the bottom and on the side, this dish was certainly equivalent in quality as to the salmon tataki that I had earlier in the evening. The outside of the tuna was not burnt and had some black pepper sprinkled on the outside. I was quite satisfied with this dish and its overall quality of it.
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| Tuna Tataki |
The Black Cod came in sizzling but it sure looked like it was a mess when it was served at the table. There were about 4 or 5 pieces of black cod but the slices were stacked one on top of another. Upon further inspection, the cut was not completely through and the fish meat was still connected somewhere at the bottom. I wasn't too sure if this was intentional or not however the skin was nicely seared and despite the fact that the fish was one massive clump of fish, it was still all cooked well from top to bottom. The fish did taste sweet however with the beautiful presentation of the previous dish, this dish was almost quite the opposite.
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| Black Cod |
The Kushi Moriawase ($17.00) arrived soon afterwards and it looked pretty yummy. Different types of meat and one type of fish were placed in skewers, cooked and then served. All the meats served were pretty much well done as there were no raw pieces on the plate. Meats served included momo, bara, shishamo and chicken heart. Unfortunately some of the pieces of meat were a little dry and chewy by the time we got around to it. It was decent but for the price one's pays, its debatable whether this met the standard or not. Part of the problem was that many of the moriawase dishes arrived at the same time which made it difficult for one to really sit down and enjoy each of the meats that were present before they got cold.
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| Kushi Moriwase |
The Gold Sashimi ($24.00) platter soon arrived and this too was a little disappointing. To name it gold and to charge the price that they did, one was expecting some real good sashimi on this plate however the best pieces were the eel and maybe the red snapper. There were some salmon and surf clams as well but that's hardly the type of fish that I would consider it to be a "gold" fish. I counted about a dozen pieces on each of their "tree stumps" which to be was excessive considering the quality of the fish served. The fish itself were pretty fresh and nice and cold so no complaints on that end but the variety of fish served certainly didn't warrant a gold label at all.
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| Gold Sashimi |
The Spicy Moriawase ($19.00) came next and there were really two different types of spiciness to them, mild and spicy. The spicy ones were pretty spicy in which a spicy barbeque sauce was marinated into the meat. The meats served included the nankotsu (chicken cartilage), hotate (scallops) , bara and negima (chicken leg). Again, this could be just me, however I didn't find the dish to be that great. Part of the problem was that all of the meat dishes again arrived at the same time and when one is eating these dishes, it is best when eaten hot. With so many dishes arriving at the same time, some of it got cold and unfortunately got a little too chewy for my liking As well, I personally didn't like the fact that the some of the meats and the scallops were well done. It was probably a little too well done for my liking which probably contributed to the chewiness of the meat.
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| Spicy Moriawase |
Nankotsu Karaage ($6.00) or Deep Fried Marinated Knee Cartilage arrived next. This dish was almost like eating popcorn chicken. It was heavy in batter and had a good sprinkle of salt added to it. Again, like the previous meats it was chewy but because of its relatively smaller size, it was much more easier to stomach. There were however some pieces of cartilage that were extremely chewy and basically not edible at all.
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| Nankotsu Karaage |
Our favorite of the night and the most expensive individual dish of the evening was the Temaki.($21.50). Basically there were three pieces to each plate and each piece contained a large piece of uni and tuna sashimi placed on top of one another and laid on top of a piece of seaweed. Sprinkled with some gold flakes, appearance wise this dish looked like a gem. The key was having fresh pieces of fish and they certainly delivered on this account. It's pricey but for the quality of this dish, to me it was worth the price. The unis were what impressed me the most as they were fresh and rather large. However I like its presentation and taste of it all even though some might find it pricey.
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| Temaki |
I have to admit the worse dish of the evening had to be the Cheese Okonomiyaki. ($10.00) This was basically a mochi rice cake served with hot cheese and bonito flakes. Although some people thought it was okay, (there were actually two plates of this stuff) I found the taste of it to be a bit bitter. The cheese was partially to blame I think as I couldn't make rhyme or reason as to why this dish just tasted bad. The first plate was actually okay but the second plate was hardly touched at all. The cheese was pretty thick and gooey and the whole dish was very difficult to eat once it started to cool down. This was one dish I would avoid totally if I was to ever return to this place again.
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| Cheese Okonomiyaki |
The flying fish was also another "on the house" item. Again one really can't complain since it's complimentary but there wasn't anything spectacular to this dish. It would have been nice if there was some sort of sauce that came with it. The meat again was a little bitter, dry and bland as there was nothing to dip the fish meat in it with.
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| Flying Fish |
The Seafood Moriawase ($24.00) was the last of the skewer types to arrive. We actually ordered all 3 of their speciality moriawases. This one had the least amount of skewers even though it was the most expensive of the three. The seafood that they used included shrimp, hotate, unagi and shishamo. Truthfully when one thought about it, it really wasn't all that much different than the other moriawases other than the shrimp and unagi. To pay this much more was questionable as to whether it was worth the extra few dollars or not. Again, all the seafood was cooked too well in my mind and made it all too chewy for me to stomach.
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| Seafood Moriawase |
The Honey Rice Cake ($1.90) were somewhat interesting. It was basically rice mixed laced with honey on top of it. The honey was sweet but in my mind not sweet enough to really make it a remarkable dish. I couldn't really make heads or tails out of it. It was one dish that I didn't particularly liked or hated.
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| Honey Rice Cake |
The Negishiotan ($11.00) or grilled beef tongue was again neither a dish that was overwhelming, spectacular or interesting to have. The tongues were all cut into smaller pieces and mixed with a salted green onion sauce. The sauce was not overwhelming in that it would overpower the taste of the beef tongue however I found that it was not strong enough either to really bring out the flavor of the beef tongues.
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| Negishiotan |
Some disappointment was shared amongst the group with the Saikoro Steak ($12.00) in that many of the pieces were half fatty and half meaty. Although the fatness of the steak provided some overall flavor to the dish, it was disappointing in that one did not expect to be consuming so much fat in one setting. I noticed a few colleagues of mine biting off the fat and not eating it. The rest of the steak again was a little too well done for me and as a result too chewy for my liking .
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| Saikoro Steak |
The second most disappointing dish of the evening was by far hands down the Scallops ($4.20). There were like three pieces of scallops on this huge plate of theirs. There were some vegetables and some frites but wow it was bad. The scallops were chewy and the fact that there was only three pieces was really, really outrageous in my mind. I would highly recommend not ordering this dish as it was certainly not worth our money at all.
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| Scallops |
The next dish was another one of those puzzling dishes to have. The Pork Belly Moriawase Noodle dish was exactly what it was, right to the literal sense however when one was having this dish, one has to wonder whether it was best for the dish. What I meant was that the meat came to us on skewers, as advertised, and that the noodles came on a separate plate. What befuddles the mind was that shouldn't or wouldn't it have been better had the noodles and the pork belly come in mixed on the same plate all together so that the flavors would intertwine? I'm not really too sure what the right answer was. The noodles and the pork belly were fine however many of my colleagues and I felt that this dish would have been better presented with everything mixed as one rather than giving it to us on separate plates.
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| Pork Belly Moriawase Noodles |
The Kimchi Pork Ishiyaki Bibimbap was very good in that everything blended well, was well seasoned from all the different ingredients in it and was very filling. The pot itself was still sizzling hot when it was left on our table. If one is not in the mood for any sashimi or moriawase meats, this would definitely be a good alternative to have as it would certainly fill you up.
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| Kimchi Pork Ishiyaki Bibimbap |
The Cheese Tsukune ($2.70) arrived soon afterwards and with all the meat that we had that evening, it was hard to imagine that we actually ordered more meat dish but we did!! The Cheese Tsukune was basically a piece of cheese melted on top of a piece of chicken sausage. Taste wise it was okay. It was almost like eating pizza with chicken pieces on top of it minus the bread underneath it. The cheese did give that extra aroma flavor to it but it's not something I personally would say that I really wanted.
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| Cheese Tsukune |
If the kimchi pork ishiyaki bibimbap is too filling or dry for some then perhaps a Tonkotsu Ramen ($13.00) would be a better alternative dish for one to have. The soup base was pretty good and the mixture of ramen noodles, slices of pork, bean sprouts, corn and seaweed was a really good combination to have. Again, this is a very filling meal and if one is not interested in heavy meats and seafood, then this would be a viable alternative to have.
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| Tonkotsu Ramen |
The night would not be complete without a couple of desserts to end off the evening. I ended up with the Macha Mochi Ice Cream ($8.40) which contained a small cherry on top of a green tea mochi ice cream and a sliced up strawberry on its side. My friend went with the Macha Ice Cake ($5.40). Neither of the dessert really provided any wow factor with this dish despite the complexity and price of it all. The green tea mochi was as simple as it could be as neither desserts were very sweet at all . The desserts to me were average at best with the best dessert going to my daughter who had just a simple vanilla ice cream.
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| Macha Mochi Ice Cream |
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| Macha Ice Cake |
Overall it was neither good nor bad to say the least. We certainly have had better izakaya at other places before. Part of the problem we felt was that much of the meats had arrived much later in the evening where many of us were getting full from all the fish we had earlier in the evening. The second problem was that all the meats arrived at the same time which made it difficult to keep up and hence some of it became colder and chewier as a result. Third many of them meats were made to well done which added further hardness and chewiness of the meat. I personally think if you had come here just for the fish then you would have left the restaurant completely satisfied. We had also ordered a bottle of sake between all of us and some had some sapporo beer as well to go with all the food we had. The many complimentary dishes that came to our table tonight was a nice gesture however the quality of the food that we ordered could have been more tastier and better. The total bill was roughly $100.00 per person for the evening. Truthfully, much of the food tonight was not bad but it was not great either. Overall, I give a 3.25 out of 5.
Sake Bar Kushi
257 Eglinton Ave W,
Toronto, Ontario
