Wakame Sushi - Weston (Japanese)

It's been 11 years since I wrote up Wakame for the first time, and I don't even think Mishy was with me then, so it's high time we both were there to give it a rewrite. It's still at 2625-F Weston Road in Toronto, just south of Hwy. 401, in the open mall behind the Great Canadian Superstore, just s. of Hwy. 401. AYCD fountain pop, which even includes Coke Zero, is free, which is fantastic... it wasn’t even watered down. iPad menus are used. There is even free Wi-Fi, with the password right in the menu. Almost all the seating is still booth or bench. Ginger is not dyed pink. Soy at table was fresh, marvellously rich and savoury, and not salty. Wakame still has the same interior with the unique curved wall, although it seems to be a little brighter with added ceiling lights.

Garden salad was fresh and the dressing was excellent, which seemed to have a bit of Thousand Islands but had been improved, although the lettuce pieces were a bit too large. Wonton soup is oddly creamy, which I've not seen before, but Wakame pulled it off beautifully and it was excellent, with a savoury and well-seasoned broth. Miso soup was excellent, savoury and not diluted. Unfortunately the kimchi has that same annoying heat that creeps up on you and stays for many minutes generally ruining the experience so I could only finish one piece of it... why does every place seem to use this these days?

Chicken teriyaki was fantastic with a very good sauce, we both loved it, and I didn’t hear a “rubbery” whatever that is; the pieces were just large enough. Beef short ribs are very good and well seasoned. Poutine... yes, poutine!... just about the first time I've seen this at a Japanese place, was excellent served piping hot with delicious gravy and plenty of cheese curds. Gyoza were excellent, not oily, fresh, seemed to be made on premises, and the filling was delicious including the sauce.

Torched sushi was excellent in a really good sauce with some dark roe, and went perfectly with the soy and brought wasabi. Mishy didn't like the Philadelphia roll for being wrapped in smoked salmon, but I just thought it made it even better. Butterfish (possibly escolar), tai, red snapper aka tilapia (which had had a mild odd dusty flavour), surf clam, salmon nigiri, crab aka surimi, and spicy salmon maki sushi all fresh and very good... I overdid it on the sushi but still had room for dessert.

For dessert, Mishy said that the chocolate and green tea ice creams were excellent and very creamy. I found the same for the mango and vanilla... not a hint of freezer burn. Shot-glass strawberry and mango puddings were both delicious. Strawberry and mango cake squares were the same slab cake variety used all over Southern Ontario at so many places we've been to. Tiramisu cake square was less common and was very good. Service was also very good with pop refills and used dish removals, etc. It was $30.99 for weekend lunch. With the included AYCD pop this is a very good value, and the offerings themselves hardly need adjustment. Other than the too-hot kimchi, we certainly had a memorably wonderful lunch.

Rating: 9 - 9.5 / 10 + 0.5 value adjustment = 9.5 - 10 / 10

Original review follows:

Wakame Sushi is located at 2625-F Weston Road in Toronto, at Weston Road just south of Hwy. 401 in the open mall behind the Great Canadian Superstore.  It's transit-accessible by both the Weston Road and Royal York buses.  I found it by accident while I was biking and planning to go as far north as Steeles then reward myself with a different AYCE, but a new place is always priority!

Wakame has a dark interior and plenty of booths... about two-thirds of the floor space are occupied by them. The decor is very modern and stylish. Unfortunately they use disposable chopsticks. I'm unsure how the tea is as it was a hot day and just stuck to water (which had a welcome slice of lemon.) At least the interior was air-conditioned. The soy sauce was very fresh and not salty; was probably real Kikkoman as opposed to other places who may be putting non-Kikkoman sauce in Kikkoman bottles.

For starters, the miso soup was good but was somewhat dilute. The hot and sour soup was hot but not sour; worst of all it was burnt and I was not impressed. Thankfully it was the only bad item in the meal. The green salad's dressing was fantastic and among the best I've ever had; nicely fresh and crisp as well. Cheese wontons were good, as were gyoza dumplings, and their sauce among the best I've ever had.

On to the entrees, salmon sushi was perfect and fresh with excellent rice not too sweet or sticky (although there was a bit too much of it in proportion to the fish.) Butterfish and shrimp sushi was likewise excellent with good presentation. Spicy salmon sushi was very good and I enjoyed the topping. Red dragon roll was good and accentuated the very fresh cucumber flavour.

Shrimp tempura could have been a bit more lighter/flakier; other deep-fried items here were similar such as the yam tempura, but again the sauce excelled and was tangy and nigh-perfect. Chicken teriyaki's sauce was a bit too sweet but otherwise quite tasty. Curry chicken was breaded as is the Japanese norm; the sauce was flavourful and quite good. For dessert, ice cream in the usual flavours was good and not freezer-burned. Fried bananas were also quite good but again slightly oily much like the other fried fare. Service was very fast, friendly and attentive.

Wakame's weekend lunch is $17.95. Although the food was quite good overall, there were elements that needed improvement. However what was there was done well so it was still a good lunch and the price is not excessive.

Rating: 7-7.5/10.