Update 2021-Aug-30: Sushi House appears closed. It can't be found in Google Maps, is Closed in Yelp and its phone # is out of service. It is unknown whether this is due to the pandemic or not. This seems like enough evidence that it is no longer around.Sushi House is located at 209 Dundas West in downtown Toronto, just east of University Ave. It's very transit-accessible being on the Dundas streetcar line as well as a short walk east of St. Patrick subway station. It's a modern place frequented by mostly young people; there are plenty of booth seats. It must be run by Koreans as loud K-Pop played constantly from a big-screen TV at the rear of the premises. Unfortunately disposable chopsticks are still being used, but at least the soy sauce was fresh and all low-sodium. Ginger is also white, ie not food-coloured pink.
Mishy and I actually went twice to this place before this writeup appeared, one of the writeups got hidden under other papers and I only found it today! So it's high time I get this one online before a third visit is required! Thankfully I do have both to compare for consistency.
Starting off with the miso soup, it's an odd sweet variation on the classic and has green onions. I liked it better the second time around but Mishy wasn't impressed and said it was flat and boring. Mishy liked the spring rolls, however I didn't care for the sauce. Green salad had also improved the second time and Mishy described the light dressing as being of a "happy flavour." Cheese wontons were excellent with plenty of cheese (many times they are too doughy or airy.) Gyoza dumplings were very good and nicely spiced the first time around, the second time they were merely OK and Mishy didn't care for them. Happily there was no ambiguity with the chicken teriyaki; we both loved it on both visits and Mishy used the "best ever" descriptor, and I agree it was among the better we have had.
Spicy chicken was unfortunately a different story... we didn't order it the second time as Mishy found it unpleasantly hot and had accidentally ordered two portions so had to finish both of them; I agreed that the heat overpowered any other flavour of the dish so I would not recommend it. I liked the General Tao chicken, but unfortunately Mishy did not (although I don't think it's one of her favourites anyway.) Chicken cutlet was good and savoury; very tasty. Assorted tempura was excellent and Mishy described the smoky BBQ flavour of the sauce as "amazing". Shrimp tempura was very light and flaky. Chicken fried rice was good but needed a little more flavour.
Another Sushi House caveat is to watch out for the sizes of the rolls; they are large and in eight rather than six pieces so go sparingly on the orders! We tried the tempura Boston roll and enjoyed it, the avocado/cucumber roll was good with larger chucnks of cucumber but had difficulty holding together. California roll was also good and did not have this issue. Banana mango avocado roll was interesting and I enjoyed it... good flavour combination!
Salmon sashimi is served in smaller strips and was very good. Salmon sushi was also excellent though Mishy again noted that the rice wasn't sticky enough. Spicy salmon sushi was excellent and well-spiced.
For dessert I tried the banana crepe, which I liked; it was delicious and filled with ice cream. Ice cream was very fresh and available in green tea, mango and vanilla. Service at Sushi House was very fast, but there are two more caveats: first, a few items weren't reviewed as they were missed, and second there is a 10% service charge added on the bill... I don't pay a tip in this case as it's already being done for me. Sushi House is still a good value at $20.99 currently as it is one of the least expensive places in Toronto for dinner now; the downtown has gentrified with all of the new condos and every AYCE we've reviewed has gotten more expensive, some prohibitively. So factoring in the value, as it did hit the mark on the most important items and wasn't too far off on the rest, it's still a good place to go for a casual dinner with friends or family or colleagues after work.
Rating: 7-7.5/10.
Mishy and I actually went twice to this place before this writeup appeared, one of the writeups got hidden under other papers and I only found it today! So it's high time I get this one online before a third visit is required! Thankfully I do have both to compare for consistency.
Starting off with the miso soup, it's an odd sweet variation on the classic and has green onions. I liked it better the second time around but Mishy wasn't impressed and said it was flat and boring. Mishy liked the spring rolls, however I didn't care for the sauce. Green salad had also improved the second time and Mishy described the light dressing as being of a "happy flavour." Cheese wontons were excellent with plenty of cheese (many times they are too doughy or airy.) Gyoza dumplings were very good and nicely spiced the first time around, the second time they were merely OK and Mishy didn't care for them. Happily there was no ambiguity with the chicken teriyaki; we both loved it on both visits and Mishy used the "best ever" descriptor, and I agree it was among the better we have had.
Spicy chicken was unfortunately a different story... we didn't order it the second time as Mishy found it unpleasantly hot and had accidentally ordered two portions so had to finish both of them; I agreed that the heat overpowered any other flavour of the dish so I would not recommend it. I liked the General Tao chicken, but unfortunately Mishy did not (although I don't think it's one of her favourites anyway.) Chicken cutlet was good and savoury; very tasty. Assorted tempura was excellent and Mishy described the smoky BBQ flavour of the sauce as "amazing". Shrimp tempura was very light and flaky. Chicken fried rice was good but needed a little more flavour.
Another Sushi House caveat is to watch out for the sizes of the rolls; they are large and in eight rather than six pieces so go sparingly on the orders! We tried the tempura Boston roll and enjoyed it, the avocado/cucumber roll was good with larger chucnks of cucumber but had difficulty holding together. California roll was also good and did not have this issue. Banana mango avocado roll was interesting and I enjoyed it... good flavour combination!
Salmon sashimi is served in smaller strips and was very good. Salmon sushi was also excellent though Mishy again noted that the rice wasn't sticky enough. Spicy salmon sushi was excellent and well-spiced.
For dessert I tried the banana crepe, which I liked; it was delicious and filled with ice cream. Ice cream was very fresh and available in green tea, mango and vanilla. Service at Sushi House was very fast, but there are two more caveats: first, a few items weren't reviewed as they were missed, and second there is a 10% service charge added on the bill... I don't pay a tip in this case as it's already being done for me. Sushi House is still a good value at $20.99 currently as it is one of the least expensive places in Toronto for dinner now; the downtown has gentrified with all of the new condos and every AYCE we've reviewed has gotten more expensive, some prohibitively. So factoring in the value, as it did hit the mark on the most important items and wasn't too far off on the rest, it's still a good place to go for a casual dinner with friends or family or colleagues after work.Rating: 7-7.5/10.
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