Gallery Sushi (Japanese)

Our original review of Gallery was about eight years ago, so it was time for a revisit. (We went there a few months ago and haven't had time to write it up... too busy!) We went for dinner this time.

It appears to be smaller, but otherwise has the same interior as last time. Disposable chopsticks are still used unfortunately, but we brought our own (again!) Ordering is still old-school onto paper three-course menus.  Included tea was quite good. Ginger is not dyed pink. Soy at table a bit salty but not bad. There is also free WiFi.

Miso soup was fantastically rich and savoury with no shortcutting the dashi. Agedashi tofu was excellent and had a very good sauce. Green salad was excellent with a simple effective vinaigrette dressing, and not sweet.

Shrimp tempura were very good, not oily and with a delicious sauce. Vegetable tempura had a light batter and was not oily  Philadelphia roll was very good with plenty of cream cheese. Honestly-labeled tilapia aka red snapper sashimi fresh and good also crab. White tuna sashimi was a bit aromatic, and not completely fresh, though not off. Salmon sashimi was much fresher and not oily like our first visit... much improved. Sushi pizza was tasty and we enjoyed it though we rarely order this. Spicy salmon sushi was not excessively spicy which was a welcome relief. 

Chicken katsu donburi was excellent with a sauce not too sweet, but rich and different from the chicken katsu without rice which was also good. Chicken teriyaki was very good and I liked the sauce a lot and Mishy said it was only a little rubbery. Beef teriyaki was delicious, and we enjoyed the sauce. 

For dessert, mango ice cream good and fresh enough, banana tempura good even without sauce, red bean was good but not spectacular, green tea good and at least none were freezer burned. Weekday dinner was $29.99 however again this was months ago so may have changed, but it was somewhat better than average then. It was certainly an enjoyable dinner with a couple of minor shortcomings.

Rating: 8.5 / 10

Original review follows:

Gallery Sushi can be found at 275 Dundas St. W. in Toronto. It's conveniently just west of the St. Patrick subway station at Dundas on the University Ave. line, and is so named due to its proximity to the Ontario Art Gallery just to the west. Mishy loved the brighter wood interior, and jazz station CJRT, one of our favourites, was heard, so the ambiance was good. Low sodium soy sauce bottles are present, but the sauce in them was completely indistinguishable from the "regular" soy sauce. Tea was excellent and at the perfect temperature. We also liked the smart ordering sheets with "1st", "2nd", "3rd" columns so the same sheet can be used for three orders.

The miso soup was a little bland but not bad. Green salad was crisp and we loved the vinaigrette dressing. Gyoza/dumplings were delicious and Mishy loved them. Only Mishy had the Wakame/seaweed salad (she needs the iodine for her thyroid) and she loved it, and both of us loved the excellent spring rolls.

Vegetable tempura was cut well for easy eating and didn't overdo the breading so was quite tasty. Shrimp tempura was good, light and not oily. Chicken udon was excellent and Mishy loved it; really savoury and perfectly spiced. Futo maki roll was very good, and agedashi tofu excellent with a mild flavour. The chicken teryaki was out of this world/best ever good and this is from Mishy who is hard to impress with this dish, and I tend to agree... it was just made and the sauce was excellent, rather than being a reheat. The beef teriyaki was similarly excellent and we ended up having seconds for both.

The only letdown was one of my big reasons for Japanese restaurant dinners: the salmon sashimi. It wasn't "off" but it seemed partway there and not fresh. I asked about this and was told that this was because they use Norwegian salmon which is oilier, but I guess you'll have to decide if this is accurate or not. Regardless, the meal was otherwise excellent. The service was excellent and friendly, and the price of $19.99 is really excellent for the Toronto core, and the fact it doesn't get jacked up on weekends is another bonus. Would I return? Absolutely... in fact I have to, because somehow (probably due to asking about the sashimi) I seem to have skipped making notes on the desserts!

Rating: 9/10.