[Toronto] Ichiriki Japanese Restaurant

Location Review
120 Bloor St East
Toronto, Ontario
(416) 923-2997
Website

Situated between Yonge and Church on Bloor, Ichiriki is a inconspicuous little Japanese-run restaurant. Like most other eateries in this area, they draw a big lunch crowd from all the nearby offices. However, after-hours Ichiriki is just as lively. Aside from a seasonal omakase menu and a monthly live jazz band night, every Tuesday evening they welcome Soba Canada to take over the kitchen and serve fresh handmade authentic soba.

Ichiriki

[Toronto] Ja Bistro

Location Review
222 Richmond Street West
Toronto, Ontario
647-748-0222
Website



After hearing so much rave for this modern Japanese eatery, I finally took a visit to Ja Bistro (@JaBistro222) in the financial district of Toronto. Boasting a menu of ingredients shipped from all over the world and delicately crafted sushi by Chef Koji, the place has racked up a list of loyal customers as well as red carpet celebrities including Scarlett Johansson during TIFF!

Ja Bistro

[Vancouver] Sushi Garden

Location Review
4635 Kingsway
Burnaby, British Columbia

Located across from the large shopping complex that is Metrotown, is a strip plaza where today's restaurant review is located. Sushi Garden has two locations in the Greater Vancouver area, and is the restaurant that I've come back to each time I visit B.C. In a nutshell, it's really just too good to pass up!

Optical illusion

Let me clear up any misconceptions this deceiving picture may bring about. You may be thinking "Mary, this restaurant looks pretty empty, must not be very good". Well my friends, it didn't take 2 seconds after I snapped this picture, that people started flooding in. Sushi Garden was open for business in the books at 11am that day, but to our surprise we were able to be seated at 10:50am when we arrived. Felt pretty good to be the first customers in the restaurant!

[Vancouver] Kiriri Japanese Cuisine

Location Review
8780 Blundell Rd
Richmond, British Columbia



One of the many days during my Vancouver trip, my cousin Fiona took us all out to lunch near by her house at Kiriri Japanese Cuisine. From what I gather it's not a very well-known spot, but she loves it for it's authentic Japanese fare and fresh fish. But on top of that, she praised about a cute Kaiseki Set that is served there. At the time I had never had a Kaiseki before, so it was definitely a treat for me! :)

Kiriri Japanese Cuisine

Tasting Dinner at Noka

Location Review
513 Bloor Street W
Toronto, ON
(647) 351-1188


Probably due to it's proximity to University of Toronto, the Annex is saturated with countless budget friendly food establishments. I regret to say that I don't usually eat in this area, but just walking through that strip of Bloor, I couldn't help but notice how many Japanese restaurants there were. And just when you thought there were already way too many, another pops up. Situated between Menchies and Sushi on Bloor, is the newly opened Noka Japanese Cuisine & Sushi (@NokaToronto). They have lunch specials for as low as $5.95, how can you NOT come here?

[Richmond Hill] Inatei

Location Review
9021 Leslie St., Unit # 7
Richmond Hill, Ontario

I always get excited when I find a good sushi spot in Richmond Hill (Flashback to the first time I tried Tomo Sushi). To find a Japanese restaurant that isn't all-you-can-eat is hard to come by, and to find one that is half decent is even more difficult. Recently I've heard many people tell me  Tomo Sushi has gone somewhat downhill. I unfortunately have not been able to go back recently to testify the validity of these statements, but true or not, it never hurts to another option to the rainy-day restaurant list. 

Enter Inatei (@InateiJPCuisine). A Japanese restaurant juggling an extensive menu within a modern-chic decor. Aside from just the sushi rolls and bento boxes, they offer a selection of appetizers, robata-yakis (Japanese charcoal grill), whole fish sashimi, and fresh oysters.

[Toronto] Fin Izakaya

Location Review:
55 Eglinton Ave E
 Toronto, ON M4P1G8

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Whenever I think about going to an izakaya, there really is only one place that consistently pops up in my head: Guu Izakaya. And so when someone suggested  Fin Izakaya (@FinIzakaya) in the Mount Pleasant area of Eglington as an alternative, I was delighted when I finally went with Carmen (@carmenhungry), Justine (@foodigatorJ), and Vickie (@kiki_BFF).

[Liberty Village] Raaw Sushi

Location Review

171 E Liberty Street
Toronto, Ontario




Located in a corridor of the Liberty Market Building, Raaw Sushi serves up some delicious food at a reasonable price point. Everything about Raaw Sushi is a simple: the decor, the menu, the overall experience. But that is not to undermine the food. Although it was a Wagjag voucher that brought me here the first time, I've been back many times. It's a great spot in the King West area looking if you're looking some good Japanese food.

[Japan] Dinner @ Asou (大衆割烹 あそう)

Location Review:
Tokyo Shinjuku Kabukicho 1-22-4
東京都新宿区歌舞伎町1-22-4

Another day in Tokyo, means another dinner! After a long day at Tokyo Bay, we treked all the way back to Shinjuku where we stayed. In the same area as where we had ramen the first night, we found a nice little restaurant.


I was really attracted to this particular restaurant because of the display of live seafood outside, and there was also a guy outside the restaurant grilling shrimp on a barbeque looking grill. The combination of the two sealed the deal for me!

[Japan] Lunch @ Tsukiji Market

Location Review
Tsukiji Market

5-2-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

The Tsukiji Market is one of Tokyo's popular tourist spot, as it is the largest wholesale food market in the world. It has a long history dating back to 1935 (if you are interested you can read it here), but essentially its a wholesale market where seafood and other supplies are auctioned off to authorized buyers (like restaurants), and immediate wholesalers (vendors at the market). Some of the restaurants that purchase the goods are situated right inside the market, serving fish purchased that very same day. Sashimi heaven! But more on that later.

[Hong Kong] Aji Ichiban (味一番)

22-28 Hillwood Road
Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
山林道22-28號, 尖沙咀

Not to be confused with the popular Hong Kong snack chain Aji Ichiban, this post is actually about a Japanese restaurant! One of the more exciting aspects about being in Hong Kong for me, is having Japanese food. Literally being surrounded by water, there is an abundant amount of fish and other seafood, making it so affordable to have good raw fish! One of my friend's dad brought us here, and is a regular customer so he ended up making most of the ordering choices for the night.

[Toronto] Guu Izakaya

Location Review:
398 Church Street
Toronto, Ontario
(Major Intersection: Church St. and Gerrard St. E)

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Guu originated from our friends on the West coast of Canada, in British Columbia. With their bountiful fresh fish and lively atmosphere, they were able to create an izakaya so popular, that there are now two locations in Toronto. The name of the restaurant is supposed to resemble the sounds of a rumbling stomach, which is definitely how I recommend you should feel going into Guu. I've actually been here a couple times now, but never actually got around to posting up a review. After multiple visits, I've come to gather a lot of pictures, so hopefully you can bear through this visually long long post!

[Markham] Gal's Sushi

Review Location:
3621 Hwy 7
Markham, Ontario
(Major Intersection: Hwy 7 & Warden Ave)

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I've been to Gal's a couple of times, and I have never been disappointed. Each time they have served  consistently fresh fish, great service, and attention to presentation. Definitely a go-to place whenever the sushi cravings arise!

[Richmond Hill] Sushi Tei

Review Location
115 Times Avenue
Richmond Hill, Ontario
(Major Intersection: Highway 7 Rd & Valleymede Dr.)

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Having not eaten sushi for a while, this was a much anticipated meal for me. My blog probably needs this injection of a sushi review as well, since it seems like I had a good dominating Japanese theme going on!

When I found out that Sushi Tei is a Korean-Japanese fusion restaurant, I was immediately skeptical about how much I would enjoy this place. I am a huge fan of Japanese and Korean food individually, but I'm not too fond of is most Korean influenced Japanese food. I'm not saying that all Korean made sushi is terrible (because quite frankly in my opinion Sushi Bong can kick a lot of Japanese place out of the water), just that most of the time I don't find it as satisfying. However, rob had been here before and commented that it was alright so we decided to eat here anyways.

[Toronto] Japango

Review Location:
122 Elizabeth Street
Toronto, Ontario
(Major Interesection: Dundas St. W & Bay St.)







Thus far, 50% of my posts have been on Japanese food. I feel that there are two main types of places. One is the lower end, volume and affordability focused restaurants. The other, is the high end, quality and authenticity focused restaurants that will also make a huge dent in your wallet. I find Japango is one of the very few exceptions in that they offer a really great meal experience at a reasonable price. Definitely a place I would keep coming back to.

[North York] Inakaya

Review Location:
126 Willowdale Avenue
North York, Ontario
(Major Intersection: Sheppard Ave E & Willowdale Ave)





While the name of this restaurant may not be familiar to many people, I've been hearing lots of buzz about it. In fact, now that I've eaten there, I realize how many pictures there are on Facebook of one their most popular rolls (rest assured I ordered this and took some nice pictures of it!).

[Richmond Hill] Mitsui

Review Location:
10815 Bathurst Street
Richmond Hill, Ontario
(Major Intersection: Bathurst and Elgin Mills)






I'm on a roll with these sushi posts eh? Well this is actually a delayed post. Somehow a whole bunch of my pictures got archived before I had a chance to go through and pick out the ones I wanted to blog about, so be prepared for some backdated posts!


I actually went to Mutsui around March with Elina on a double date. We didn't actually plan it that way, it just so happened. Feels weird referring to it as that now... Anyhoos, this restaurant is right around where I live, and typically when you live this far north away from the city, there isn't much good food. But this place really exceeded my expectations, and I'm definitely short listing this place to combat future sushi and bubble teal cravings! (yes they serve both, this is heaven!)

Ye's Sushi

Location Review:
583 King Street North
Waterloo, Ontario
(Major Intersection: King St. N, Northfield Dr. W)

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The other day I was in Waterloo doing some recruiting for my company, and the one day trip there just brought back so many memories...including food! As a result, I have decided to make some tribute posts to some of the food I've had there throughout my university career....starting with the best of the best: sushi! =)