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I am also dangerously addicted to uni (sea urchin) and will walk a mile for great sushi. I find most of Toronto sushi ()especially the student sushi on Bloor Street) bland, boring and not made from the best fish. The best Japanese food in town (of the non-omikase variety) is at Akasaka Japanese Restaurant in Richmond Hill. Nobody else makes an uni shooter (shot glass with sea urchin, sake and ponzu sauce... Heaven in a glass). Their cooked food breaks new ground: Rock lobster gyoza takes tired old pork gyoza and reinvents them as gossamer lobster dumplings. Angus beef rolls are melt-in-the-mouth high-end seared beef in red wine-influenced teriyaki sauce. Their raw foods build on the freshest and finest fish money can buy. When they ave toro (fatty tuna), inhale it like pale pink butter.
- Joanne Kates
For years, this restaurant seemed listlessly unwilling to meet expectations. Now veteran chef and part-time culinary instructor David Chung (ex-EDO) has taken over, bringing with him two star students and injecting welcome energy. Eight "ne classics" round out the ever-fresh sushi and sashimi selection, including rainbow roll (salmon, tuna and butterfish), spider roll (softshell crab), eggplant steak baked to pillowy softness and sweetened with miso ($6.50), nabeyaki udon overflowing with seafood in a warming, sweet broth ($13.95). But Chung excels at original creations. Seafood Treasure brings a soberingly spicy medley of diced fish, octopus and lobster in a kewpie sauce (Japanese mayo) - all surfing on a trio of shrimp crisps ($8.50), while Thai Passion creates an amusing ruse of both taste and texture with a reinterpretation of the traditional California roll, replacing chilled crab and toasted sesame seeds with warm curried salmon and sprinkled peanuts ($8.95). Credit Chung for having the courage to be creative in conservative Richmond Hill. Teppanyaki dining is also available. For the thirsty: there's an impressive stock of sake and Japanese beer to choose from. $110.
- Toronto Life |
