We were last here a dozen years ago (wow!) so high time for an updated review... Maki Zushi is still located at 15 Ringwood Drive in Stouffville, which is about 15 km north of Toronto's east borough of Scarborough. It’s $30 for weekend lunch, but we were too late for that so opted for the $43 dinner. Reusable chopsticks are used thankfully, as well as iPad menus. Ginger is not dyed pink. AYCD pop is $2.95. Soy at table was fresh, savoury and not salty. The interior remains modern, brighter and more open decor. There were plenty of patrons even for the expensive dinner.
We both adored the excellent miso soup, with a strong flavour not diluted at all, very savoury and full of umami, and slightly darker. Green salad had Thousand Islands dressing although at least it was fresh. Hot and sour soup was much different than most places has; was thinner and had deep fried tofu cubes, white and enoki mushrooms, but it was a nice variation and it was delicious. Chicken teriyaki was delicious, and not rubbery, according to me at least. Beef teriyaki was very good although not the best cut, but the sauce was delicious, and Mishy said the cut was amazing so I defer to her... the teriyaki sauce made it. Chicken curry was green Thai style and was excellent.
Bacon-wrapped asparagus was very good of course... Bacon! Beef rolls with enoki mushrooms were better than I expected; I’m usually not much of a fan. Beef short ribs were excellent and well-cooked and seasoned. But the beef/steak sashimi was the best of them and I could have eaten it the whole meal it was so tasty... Beef tataki was absolutely wonderful and I thought it was among the best. Pork shiu mai was served without sauce but this was okay as it didn't really need it... was quite good.
Philly roll and spicy salmon roll were both excellent and Mishy noted that they did not fall apart as other places’ do. Salmon sashimi was fantastic, very fresh, thickly cut and delicious. Surf clam sashimi was probably the best surf clam I've had, as it was the freshest and had the best colouration, bright and not faded. Ika sashimi which is either squid or cuttlefish was surprisingly good and I loved it. Tomago egg and red snapper (probably tilapia) were also very good. Salmon pressed sushi aka oishizushi had a hint of torching and we both loved it as the flavours blended together very well. The torched sushi set was fantastic and torching really brought out the flavour. Mishy wasn’t big on the salmon tartare which includes tempura-fried blue corn nachos, but I didn’t mind it.
For dessert, strawberry yogurt and mango pudding was excellent. Mango ice cream was good and not freezer burnt, though the flavor was not intense. Green tea ice cream was good, but strawberry ice cream was excellent with a very good flavour. Crème brûlée was quite good. We both loved the tiramisu. We all loved the dinner, memorably so. It was a bit more than the average for the area but still worth it.Rating: 9.5 - 10 / 10 - 0.5 value adjustment = 9 - 9.5 / 10
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Original review follows:
Maki "Zushi" is located
at 15 Ringwood Drive,
at the eastern end of Stouffville on Main
St. at the location of a former Burger King. It's
easy to find, in contrast to its previous incarnation: Fujiyama,
which was hidden by the GO tracks and thus closed. I'd eaten there and found it
to be amazingly good, so when I returned with friends I was very sad that it
was gone, and understandably ecstatic when I found that Maki had been opened by
the same owners as Fujiyama.
I wasn't disappointed. I've seen
a lot of negative reviews of Maki around the web, and, honestly, I think the
reviewers were there when it had just opened and the bugs were being worked
out. The tempura wasn't greasy, the service wasn't slow, and they weren't out
of anything on the menu.
Some other highlights include:
- Delicious bacon-wrapped asparagus.
Never had this before, and I love both of them, even more so together I found.
I ended up eating three portions.
- Cheese dumplings. Watch out...
very hot inside! Poke them with a chopstick and let them cool off for a minute
or two. But the sever burning the roof of my mouth received didn't stop me from
ordering seconds, so they must be good.
- Avocado rolls. Absolutely
the best I've had of these and we
couldn't get enough of them.
- Beef teriyaki. Deliciously
savoury and perfectly cooked.
The service was excellent, fast
and (important for AYCE) accurate. Everything we ordered ended up arriving as
requested. Given that the place was packed, this was beyond expectations.
Price is $20.99 for dinner, which
for the quality is excellent. I have no reservations giving Maki 10/10, and
I'll definitely be returning.
