Shima-Ya

Shima-Ya was highly recommended by one set of friends and not by another, so we decided to visit it ourselves.

Run by Japanese, I believe the restaurant only sits about 20 at full capacity. Needless to say, I saw the owner turn away a few customers and a few of them decided to order take out instead. While we were waiting, there were also many phone calls for take out.

As usual we started with a Tako Sashimi. I must say the chef is quite talented at running the place. Despite the volume of take out orders, he got our sashimi out quite quickly. The Tako was good. It had a good crunch to it, and was creamy without being slimy.

We noticed they have Battera sushi, so we decided to order the Saba since they don't have Shioyaki here and we wanted our saba fix.

Unfortunately, it did not blow me away. The ratio of rice to fish was not well balanced and so the flavour of the Saba was lost in the rice. I ended up halving the amount of rice in order to taste the Saba.

They had a few nigiri combos, so we ordered two deluxe combos, which comes with nine pieces of nigiri and a tuna roll. From left to right top: tuna, ika (squid), hamachi (yellow tail), saba (mackerel), salmon, and Hokkigai (clam). From left to right bottom: tamago (egg), ebi (shrimp), and ikura (salmon roe).

The fish was generally prepared well. The tuna was very creamy and the ika texture was one of the better prepared ones I've had in a while. The hamachi was kind of bland, but the Saba was as expected: oily, salty and fishy in a very good way. The salmon was solid, but the Hokkigai was quite tough. I wanted to like it because it was the first time I've seen it sliced into a pocket to hold the rice, but it was just too tough. The tamago was surprisingly pleasant- I'm usually not a fan. The shrimp was sweet and crunchy. As far as shrimp goes, it was quite good. The ikura, though pleasant (not fishy), was not salty enough. The tuna rolls were fine.

Overall we enjoyed the food put out in front of us. The food was worth the price. However, I was a bit disappointed in the ratio of rice to fish in both the Battera and the nigiri. For the nigiri, I basically just kept eating half the amount of rice. The amount of wasabi spread onto the nigiri was quite good though.

We don't think we will return simply because we had a really great experience at Isami, who also had much better prices.

Kishimoto

We were in the area so we decided to go to Kishimoto since it has a rating of 4.4 on Zomato. We were there a lot earlier than our friends, around 5:30pm, so we went in to put our name down. The wait was supposed to be 40-60 minutes. Perfect, we thought. They didn't actually text us after 60 minutes, so we went back to the restaurant to confirm and were seated around 6:45pm.

The restaurant itself was quite small. The entire back area was curtained off for I assume the kitchen instead of more seating. I also think their exhaust fans were too weak because there was a lingering fried or smoked food smell in the air. The benches along the walls were also either too short or too soft (or both). I'm not tall, so when I sank right into the bench, I felt like a child eating at the adult table. It was rather uncomfortable. At least it appeared clean.

First up we had the Calamari. It was really well battered and fried to a perfect crispness. It was very light. I couldn't pinpoint where I'd tasted the seasoning, but it was addictive. I was actually picking up bits of seasoning and just eating it without the calamari.

We saw on Zomato that their "pressed box style" sushi were popular, so we decided to order the Unagi Oshisushi, which is the barbecue eel with creamy sauce and a cucumber on top. As soon as I bit into it, it just melted in my mouth. The smoky flavour from the torched eel was present but not overwhelming and everything else was very well balanced.

As usual, B needed his cream cheese fix, so we also had the Philadelphia Roll. I liked how small the roll was, with only a thin layer of rice. Nothing was overpowering the other and everything went together very well.

We have now decided that the best way to decide whether a sushi place is good or not, is the freshness and the way they prepare their Tako Sashimi. Kishimoto prepared their Tako very well. It was not at all rubbery or slimy. It was easy to bite into and the texture created by the way they sliced it was quite nice. It was very fresh.

Last we had the Ikura Nigiri, which is my must have. Unfortunately, it was way too salty. This is one of the rare occasions where I actually thought they needed more rice in their nigiri to balance out the saltiness of the salmon roe. Otherwise, we were quite impressed by how fresh and crispy the seaweed was.

Overall the service was good, the presentation stellar, and the food above par. We will likely not return as I personally rarely ever wait in line for a meal. While their food was good and well presented, I ultimately visit a restaurant for good food and not their presentation. There are other restaurants in the city that offer similar quality food for a more reasonable price and no wait time. I'd recommend it if you had 2-3 hours of free time.

Sushi_nism

This post is a little late, we actually went to Sushi_nism back at the end of January. It is a new sushi place on West Broadway near Laurel Street. The interior came across as very clean in the front, although you could see into the kitchen from where we were sitting, and the range hood was dripping with oil. The place gives off a nice Korean tea house kind of vibe, although they had an odd choice of music playing - think dental office/elevator kind of experience.

The sashimi was bigger than some other places. Right temperature, but the salmon wasn't especially flavorful.

The rolls were a little disappointing. The seaweed was soggy and chewy - clearly not fresh. In the yam and cream cheese roll, the cream cheese was uneven - some rolls had giant dollops, and some had very little. The unagi roll had a nice crunch from the cucumber, but it seemed like not enough unagi, you really had to look for it.

The tako nigiri was on the chewy side and a little fishy but acceptable.

On the very positive side, we also tried the sushi castle! Not something I would normally order, but it was really good. The salmon sashimi inside really paired well with the balsamic vinegar and the mayo, and it all really combined well into kind of a sushi salad. It was light and fresh, and we also had a couple seared chopped scallop nigiri on the side that had a great smokiness. (Although the seaweed was still not great).

Overall the service was not bad, but not exactly friendly. I think Sushi_nism is a very solid neighborhood sushi joint, and hopefully they can improve the quality of their ingredients. I would highly recommend you go and try the sushi castle, and when we go back I think we will be a little more adventurous in what we order - the sushi chefs here clearly shine when they are doing something more interesting than just the basics. -B

Zipang Provisions

We had dinner at Zipang Provisions on Main and 14th last weekend.

We ordered salmon and tuna sashimi, tako sashimi, Philadelphia roll, yam tempura roll, ikura nigiri, unagi nigiri, and chopped scallop nigiri.

The sashimi were ok. It didn't melt in your mouth, but it was decent and well presented. 

The tako was good, a bit of a crunch and not too rubbery or chewy. 

There was too much cream cheese in the Philadelphia roll, even for me, and I love my cream cheese, and the nigiri were decent, but definitely not as impressive as the ones from Kimura.

The yam tempura had no crunch, it was on the soggy side. 

On the plus side the wasabi was really good - very spicy. 

Overall it's a decent enough place, but it's a little on the pricey side. Better sushi can be had for cheaper at other places around the city. 

-B

Kimura

I was craving sushi today so we googled a place that was on our way to superstore. Kimura had 4.6 stars of 27 reviews, so we figured it was good enough.

The decor is nice, not the typical sushi place. It has kind of an industrial look, very open.

B ordered the Yam Tempura and Cream Cheese roll. It was good. Good size portion, thin layer of rice. Yam was crispy outside and tender inside. Good amount of cream cheese. Very tasty.

They have smaller portion sizes available for their sashimi, which is quite appreciated on our part because we like a bunch of stuff. We ordered the Atlantic Salmon, Tako, Saba and Hokkigai (next pic) sashimi.

The salmon was served at the right temperature. It wasn't fishy. Nice texture and cut. The Tako was the star. It wasn't too chewy, and had a bit of a crunch to it. Saba is an acquired taste. The fishy taste is strong but very well balanced by the onion sauce it is served with.

The Hokkigai was really good too. It was tender and sweet.

I also ordered a couple ikura and unagi nigiri sushi to finish my meal. The ikura was nicely salted and definitely bursts in your mouth. The seaweed was crisp and dry. The rice was nicely seasoned. The unagi was amazing. The sauce wasn't overwelming at all, it nicely balanced the eel out. The eel itself was like butter and just melted in your mouth.

All in all, this was a great experience. Service was good, food came out quick, and quite delicious. We will definitely recommend and come back.