Sunday, July 3, 2011

Sushi Kaji, best sushi place EVER!!!


Hands down, the best sushi experience EVERRRR!!!

I would never have expected that the best sushi place would be located in Etobicoke. Sorry no offense to those who live in that area but c'mon there's really nothing around there. For sushi places you normally head to either downtown or uptown, not in the west end.

This little restaurant named Sushi Kaji is what proved me wrong.

I called on the day of to make reservations. I couldn't decide if I wanted to sit at a table or at the bar. I was afraid my 6'4 boyfriend wouldn't be comfortable at the bar but I ended up choosing the bar anyways because to eat here, it's not exactly easy on the wallet. I wanted the most bang I could get for my buck. It was a good thing I chose the bar because it made the experience that much more enjoyable.

We were seated directly in front of the sushi chef. While he was rolling the sushi I thought I would snap a picture while he was working. Once I pointed the camera at him he immediately stopped and posed. I couldn't help laughing when he did this. I guess he must be used to this sort of attention all the time. What a nice guy. He was hilarious and definitely entertained us throughout the night. (Also, my boyfriend was fine sitting at the bar. It wasn't as tight as we had expected then again, there was an empty seat next to him which did helped a lot).


At Kaji, there is no a la carte menu. Just 3 omakase menus to choose from. Each menu offers anywhere from 5-9 dishes pending which menu you choose from. The 3 menu prices were $80, $100 and $120. This was my very first time trying out omakase so of course we went all out and chose the top two menus, the takumi ($120) and the Waza ($100).


Just a little warning, there were too many dishes so I don't quite remember exactly how they tasted but I do know for sure every dish blew me away except for one dish. They may look simple however, looks are definitely deceiving here.

First off, here was the kuzu and tomato cake. Words cannot explain how this tasted in my mouth. It was mind-blowing. When I first read it on the menu it didn't sound interesting but man oh man was I wrong. It was delicious.


Here was the cold butter squash soup with chicken. Once again, sounds simple. WRONG! The actual flavor was not simple at all. There were so many different layers of flavors I just can't explain it. It's one of those things you just have to go try it out for yourself.


Even this piece of chicken did not taste like regular chicken at all.


Abalone sunomono. My eyes were salivating at the sight of this. Such a beautiful presentation.


Grilled sea eel. Such a small portion but huge load of flavor packed inside.


Sauteed morels mushroom with duck. The best fungus I have ever tasted. The duck was delicious.


Here was the assorted plate from the Waza menu.


Simmered daikon and calamari. Looks like a piece of brain on a cube but tastes 100 times better than it looks.


Eggroll with fresh water eel. A work of art.


Barrucuda was yummy.


Both menus had the assorted sashimi plate. Everything was fresh and without a doubt, of the highest quality of fish. No frozen fish here.


Look at how fresh this prawn looks? It looks as if it just jumped out of the ocean and onto this plate to rest.



Spanish mackerel with some freshly chopped onions hidden behind the fish.


Tuna with mountain potato and egg yolk.


Daikon radish and winter melon cake.


Egg tofu and somen noodle with shrimp.


Lobster tempura.


Sauteed rockfish with burdock root sauce.


This was my least favorite of all the dishes, the grilled eggplant topped with bonito flakes. It was just eggplant. Nothing spectacular about it.


Both menus had the assorted sushi plates. Once again everything was fresh, fresh, fresh.







Noodles in broth.


Now the finale, desserts.

I honestly don't remember what this was but it was tasty.


Fruit salad.


Yuzu macaron. Yes, a macaron. First time I have ever ate a macaron at a Japanese sushi restaurant. I have to say it was quite tasty.


Two hours later, we finally devoured our first omakase dinner. Surprisingly, even though the portions were small I was quite full. Not overly stuffed yet not too hungry either. Just full. Each dish was executed perfectly, minus the eggplant. Practically every dish was mind boggling.

If you feel like splurging and want some fine Japanese cuisine, then this is the place to head to.

Here was a goodbye kiss from the chef. Such a funny guy.


TOTAL BILL $250...DEFINITELY EAT HERE NEXT!!!

860 The Queensway
(east of Islington)
416-252-2166

Kaji on Urbanspoon

12 comments:

SpatulaGeek said...

I don't I've ever seen a 'Definitely Eat Here Next'. Did you make that just for Sushi Kaji? :)

Even though I've been there before I started taking photos I still remember how amazing everything was there. A friend told me that the loop thing on the daikon radish and winter melon cake was a Japanese good luck symbol.

I wonder if they made their own macarons but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

Some people in chowhound say Hashimoto's is better but they are kaiseki style so I don't think it is a fair comparison. It's dinner only and required 1-2 weeks notice required and $300 per person for 9 courses not including drinks and tips.

http://www.kaiseki.ca/english/

Mary said...

One of my best friends ate here over a year ago, and she commented that she didn't like it that much. I'm not sure if she was commenting on food quality or value though.

But a "definitely" eat here next is so very rare, so as a sushi/sashimi fanatic I must try! haha..

Jess said...

I was also surprised to hear where Kaji is located! Doesn't seem like there's a heck of a lot going on over there...

The food looks amazing and I'm glad you had a good experience. I better move this near the top of my list!

Online Casino said...

great dish

Eat Here Next said...

yea everyone make sure to try out Sushi Kaji,,,they change their menus seasonally so wonder wat their next menu will be like

DEFINITELY EAT HERE NEXT^_^

kiki's B.F.F said...

I remember the first time I went there a few years ago and they had a live shrimp on their sashimi platter... it was basically still moving, you can see it's eye rolling and whiskers moving.... such a great experience

Eat Here Next said...

really? that is cool but wur u still able to eat it while it was still moving lol

kiki's B.F.F said...

yes, me and my friends all did eat it =P can't get any fresher, so good

Eat Here Next said...

lol that's awesome wished i could've tried that then again dunno if i could eat it while it's still staring at me

Wendy Tran said...

Yep, this was the post that caught my attention, and reading it again just makes me want to go there to try the food! :P Beautiful pictures btw! The detail in the presentation of the food is impressive.

Eat Here Next said...

man if i had ur camera the pix wud be even better;)

dreambox 800s said...

I am impressed with their dressing styles. Really good dressing styles. I have personally visited this place and fully satisfied with their services.

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