Restaurant Review: Yasu

Like many of the restaurants that I write about, Yasu has been on my must try list for a while now. I found out about them last September but held off on making my reservation in lieu of a special occasion. I finally got my seat at the counter last December, making Yasu the last Toronto restaurant I visited in 2014. What a way to end the year.

Located indiscriminately on Harbord and Spadina one could easily walk past Yasu and not realize it (I almost did). The interior is simple, barring the beautifully decorated Christmas tree I’m sure won’t be around too much longer. A pearly white counter top separates the diners from the open kitchen. Clear ornate plates twinkle under direct light, waiting to hold the delectable gifts from the sea. Like many sushi restaurants, dinner guests are seated arm’s length away from the chefs. But you won’t find glass fridges filled with saran wrapped fish here. The night’s delicacies can be seen stacked in the center of the kitchen on glass ice box, waiting for their turn at the knife.

I have fond memories of Japan, having been lucky enough to visit the country a few times in the past. There is a reverence for food that permeates the country and that same respect can be seen at Yasu. Chef Ouchi and his staff exude an admirable care for their craft that starts even before service begins.

Yasu’s Omakase changes daily depending on what’s available. The 18 piece meal (plus dessert!) is priced at $80, a steal for the quality of food you receive. Yasu has two seatings on weekdays and three on weekends. Dinner begins once all diners are present, including other parties.

Stepping into Yasu was like leaving the cold streets of Toronto behind and ending up in a dream, if only for a few treasured hours. The atmosphere is surprisingly relaxed and you can see the blending of cultures in more ways than one. Although the fish is traditionally prepared, they are internationally sourced. Fish from Spain, Boston, Nova Scotia, Greece, Sri Lanka and Japan lined our bellies that night. The staff was also extremely friendly and fluent in English, answering any questions we had about the meal. You get all the great food you would normally find in a quality sushi place in Japan combined with an approachable and warm dining experience.

My favourites for the night were the Amberjack, Sea Bream, Bonito and the Yellowtail. Normally I enjoy the meatier red fish but the aforementioned  pieces of sushi were refreshingly delicate yet had amazing flavour. The Otoro was a bit of a let down, not as buttery smooth as ones I've had in the past. I've also made it a point to start avoiding Blue Fin tuna as much as possible due to the species being forced close to extinction. As consumers and patrons we have a surprising amount of sway just purely with our choices. As more and more people stop choosing the eat Blue Fin demand will wane and the species might just be saved. The most memorable piece of the night was definitely the Shirako. I had my suspicions on the contents of this nori warship when the staff maneuvered around our inquiries of what type of fish this was (after answering all our questions previous). Instead they simply said that Shirako meant "White Children" in Japanese. That confirmed my doubts but it was still delicious. Similar in taste and texture to Uni crossed with raw oysters, Shirako is another word for cod milt or cod testicles. We all had a laugh about that one with the staff, but genuinely I would probably eat it again haha. The makeup of the nigiri itself was definitely on point, with all pieces holding together well through my clumsy chopstick skills but melting apart once consumed. Great sushi is an art often lost in the sea of AYCE that plagues Toronto so I always love it when I get to enjoy some done right.

Fish aside Yasu serves up some of the best sushi I've had anywhere. For the value, execution and just sheer convenience of having a place of this calibur just a stones throw away; Yasu is definitely a must try for sushi lovers in the GTA.

Recommended

Amberjack

Fluke from Boston

Scallop from Hokkaido

Golden Red Snapper from Portugal

Monk fish liver from Boston

Sea Bream from Greece

Toro from Sri Lanka

Shirako or "White Children"

Sea Bass from Greece

Ikura!

Uni from Vancouver

Yellowtail from Japan

Bonito from Portugal

Mackerel from Norway

Otoro from Spain

Anago or Salt Water Eel from Peru

Tamago

Black Sesame Ice Cream

Green Tea Panna Cotta

Restaurant Review: Aoyama Sushi

Aoyama Sushi 

Address: 2766 Victoria Park Ave Toronto, ON M2J4A8 416-494-7373416-494-7373 

Hours: 5:30 pm to 10:00pm Monday to Friday and 5:00pm to 10:00 on Weekends

(skip the first paragraph rant on sushi if you just care about the review)
I have been meaning to try Aoyama for a long time in the hopes of finding a quality sushi establishment uptown. Japanese cuisine in Toronto is dominated by AYCE sushi restaurants and although I do enjoy the occasional binge with friends I've never been much of a fan. Sushi may seem like a simple food to create but like any good dish there are many intricacies that lead to a quality end product. The thinness of the fish, the acidity of the vinegar, the rate at which the sushi rice is cooled during the mixing process and the way each piece is molded all influence its taste (not to mention the variety of condiments and/or toppings a chef decides to add to each piece). These things are all but lost in the AYCE culture which is a shame because once you have a quality piece of sushi you almost never want to go back. In the end the most important factor in making good sushi is the freshness of the fish and good chefs will make sure that the fish is the star of each bite and not overpowered by any of the other ingredients. But enough with the banter, on with the review!

Nestled in a strip mall on Victoria Park, just north of Sheppard sits Aoyama. This unassuming restaurant is small; having only enough room for probably just under 30 people. There is a single sushi chef working behind the counter with two Japanese speaking servers rounding out the front of the house. On my first visit we ordered the tasting menu (forget the exact name since they have multiple, sorry!)

First came a round of appetizers which featured a couple yakitori skewers (chicken thigh and green onions), salmon pate with a ponzu like sauce and some steamed edamame. The skewers were okay, standard teriyaki glaze, ours happened to be cold by the time they made to the table which was a little disappointing. The salmon follow-up was interesting, the sauce had a sour almost tomato-esque undertone while the pate itself was flavourful, its richness accented well by the sauce. The edamame were good, I'm a big fan of edamame when done right and although these weren't perfect they were better then what you usually get in Toronto.

Some of you may have noticed the flat tea pot in the above picture. Despite what it looks like, there was no tea in the pot but instead a delicious seafood broth. It was a pleasant surprise; it appeared to be a simple dashi stock with a variety of seafood added to it but it was so good that it became the highlight of the night (eat that Sports Center).

Following the apps came grilled black cod. Something very commonly seen in Japanese restaurants, often accompanied with a miso glaze, the cod at Aoyama was average, the buttery flesh had great flavour but the fish was a tad overcooked for my taste.

Next came the main event; sushi! From left to right/top to bottom: we have toro (fatty tuna belly), hamachi, salmon, kani (real crab meat), tamago (sweet egg), ika (squid), raw sweet shrimp, uni (sea urchin), bbq eel and some salmon maki. Now I want to preface this part by saying that toro is my favourite type of nigiri of alllllllll time. On my first trip to Japan I was introduced to it and I literally finished the restaurant's entire cut of tuna belly (not a good financial decision in retrospect btw) so I was a little disappointed by the toro here. Some general notes: the sushi in general was very fresh but the rice itself and the way they were put together were very inconsistent. Some rice clumps were irregular in shape and fell apart, while some cuts of fish (namely the toro and salmon) had tears and incomplete cuts that were simply hidden under the sushi and not completely cut off.

There were bright spots though. The salmon and sweet shrimp were great, full of flavour and very fresh. The uni, crab, tamago and hamachi were good as well, while the rest were average. As I alluded to before the toro was a big disappointment, this was exacerbated by the sauce that was brushed onto it before serving which overpowered the sushi with a watery almost sour taste. Overall the first visit left me with mixed feelings and a little underwhelmed, so I decided to go again in the hopes they could redeem themselves.

 

On my second visit we started with sashimi omakase (which means chef's choice) which was a huge step up from sushi. The scallop and sweet shrimp were amazing and we would have been happy with a whole plate of just those two cuts. The rest of the fish was also very fresh, much better then what you would usually find uptown and rivaling those of some great downtown establishments. Good start.

Next came the spicy salmon and shrimp tempura rolls. The rolls once again showed some sloppy craftsmanship that we saw before in the sushi. The rice was uneven, the roll itself fell apart at places and the tempura had an odd thick coating when compared to normal tempura batter. The taste itself wasn't hurt too much by this but it was still resoundingly average.

Next came something different. Labeled on the menu as mountain potato with tuna sashimi, some later research revealed it to be Yamakake (shout outs to Viv for that Japanese hookup), a type of Asian yam. I have actually seen my aunt use slices of these in her soups, they have a bland taste a tad lighter then a regular potato. Once grated the texture can only be described as sticky and viscous, similar to natto (a Japanese fermented bean dish). We were advised to put wasabi and soy sauce straight into the bowl and mix it all together before consuming. Although I found it kind of bland even after the aforementioned additions, I can kind of see what the dish was trying to do. The yam being a light backdrop that helps highlight the flavour of the fish while the soy gives you the umami and the wasabi the kick. Although I didn't enjoy it, it was definitely interesting.

To finish we had beef tataki served with ponzu (yep beef for dessert). For the life of me I could not find online what the red stuff next to the green onions were, which bothered me since when added together to the ponzu it really elevated the dish (a cookie to the first person that can tell me what it is). Shoutouts to Ken for informing me that the red stuff is momiji oroshi a mixture of grated daikon radish and chili peppers. The beef was a little unevenly cut but flavour wise the dish was good, nice smokey notes from the marinade and sear on the beef plus the spicy, sweet and sour ponzu was a perfect accompaniment.

For the price I feel like Aoyama falls short on some fronts, but while my first visit was disappointing the second definitely made up for it. In the end the food can still be considered a cut above other Japanese restaurants in the city; provided you know what to order.

Recommended

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Restaurant Review: Izakaya Ju

Izakaya Ju is a small restaurant/bar located in Toronto's J-town (not really a town, rather a small collection of Japanese themed restaurants, outlets and a supermarket but I am not here to judge...wait never mind). For those unfamiliar with Izakayas they are basically Japanese bars that serve food with their drinks.

Now the restaurant is small with a couple tables in a relatively square room. From the room you have a view of the bar and the kitchen behind it where you will find the all Japanese staff. On the wall to the left of the entrance is a giant chalk board; listing the grilled morsels offered and even what apparently are most popular at the moment. I went during lunch with my girlfriend so the place was not as bustling, if you really wanted to enjoy the environment I suggest going late night with a bunch of your friends so you can knock back some sake or Japanese beer with grilled meats... mmmmm meat on a stick.
Now that I have eluded that I am a sucker for meat on wooden skewers lets introduce the appetizers. We ordered three sets of skewers, chicken cartilage, chicken wings and my personal favourite chicken meatballs. I have been to Japan multiple times as a kid (lucky I know) and during one of my trips we went to a Japanese Yakitori restaurant. Yakitori is Japanese for chicken skewers and one of their staple dishes was chicken meat balls. Their meatballs would come in a plethora of different flavours and sauces and you could have a field day trying each of the different ones (which I did). You may be thinking, "how many goddamn ways can you put chicken on a stick?" But when you consider that the Japanese use almost every part of the chicken (innards,offal,skin and all!) you can find almost all of poultry anatomy on a flame grilled skewer (my mistake, coal grilled).

Back to the dish at hand.Pictured above are the wings and the meatballs, obviously I was too damn hungry to show you the cartilage, my apologies.
Overall the skewers were grilled well, the cartilage had a seasoning salt that really accented well the smoky grilled taste. The meatballs could have been more juicy but they still had good flavour, the sauce could have been more thick though. The chicken wings on the other hand were very succulent and had a nice char, could have used a tiny bit more seasoning but definitely good. Six for the cartilage and meatball and a six and half for the wings.

On to the main course!

Pictured above is what I ordered: Gyu-don accompanied with salad and miso soup. Gyu-don is beef and onions simmered in a sweet broth. Kind of resembling ginger pork. The beef and onion is then put over a bowl of rice hence the don part. First taste of the dish I noticed that it was sort tough. The beef was over cooked for my taste. My girlfriend referred to it as beef jerky (in a good way!) it had good flavour overall, soft sweet onions accompanying the beef, but did feel a bit one dimensional. I feel like the sauce was a bit watery and the rice was already very soft which made it a bit soggy. Overall I would give it a five it was decent but not that good.
Pictured above is grilled miso cod with rice and of course the complimentary soup and salad. Now my girlfriend ordered the fish because she loves fish, and I must say that she had the better dish that day. The cod was grilled nicely, crispy skin and succulent flaky meat. The miso glaze definitely lent itself well to the grilling process and the overall flavour of the dish. My one quarrel was that the dish was very oily, but cod is a fatty fish and its fine more omega-3. I give this a seven out of ten.

Overall Izakaya Ju was decent. The grilled foods were good so they definitely live up to their namesake. The gyu-don was a little disappointing but I blame that more on me ordering a non signature dish. I feel Izakaya would definitely give me a better showing at night with a bunch of drinks and just grilled meats instead of actual set lunches. Overall I would go again and would recommend to friends.

Score overview:
Chicken cartilage skewer - 6/10
Chicken meatball skewer - 6/10
Chicken wing skewer - 6.5/10
Gyu-don - 5/10
Miso glazed cod - 7/10

Recommended.

Izakaya Ju is located in J-town in Markham, Ontario. 3-3160 Steeles Ave. East L3R4G9
For more information on the restaurant check our their website here: Izakaya Ju

All photos taken by Christian Lin and Vivian Lam