Makimono - Pickering (Japanese)

Makimono is located at 1790 Liverpool Road in Pickering, the municipality to Toronto's east, just north of Liverpool Road's Hwy. 401 exit so very easy to find. Makimono has a very dark interior, not as extravagantly decorated as the other locations, but with nice atmospheric jazz music. Two-person as well as full size booth seating is available. I went for weekend holiday lunch. Makimono uses iPad ordering, and has reusable chopsticks. Unlike the other two locations ginger, which is not dyed pink, was delivered directly to table without asking at the beginning, as well as tempura sauce. AYCD pop is available for $1.99 with green tea with refillable hot water also being $1.99; it includes a tea bag. Soy sauce at table was rather salty, although it was fresh.

Green salad was spring mix, and was quite good; it had a house orange dressing with not much wasabi if any but was good nonetheless although a little bit on the sweet side. Hot and sour soup was full of flavor and excellent, without any flavors that did not belong, and also tastes close to traditional. Miso soup was fantastic, rich, savoury, full of umami, not watery at all. Wonton soup excellent, the broth mild but very tasty, and a wonderful flavor to the wontons. I enjoyed it very much.

Garlic pepper beef in tender cubes was very good with plenty of garlic and flavor… very nice to have this on the menu. Beef teriyaki did not overdo it on the sauce. The beef is shredded and was good. The sauce is pretty much the same as the other two locations and was good. Chicken teriyaki was very good, slightly smoky, well cooked and the sauce did it justice. Chicken katsu was very good, well cooked and the sauce was tasty although I did not have as much spicing it as the others but it worked for me.

Salmon nigiri very good and fresh and good rice. Red snapper nigiri very good, very fresh and good rice with good consistency did not fall apart as at another location. Butterfish nigiri very tasty, with a buttery texture but it was probably escolar because of this. Crab surimi nigiri good and fresh but the rice is a bit too thick like another one of the locations. Surf Clam nigiri was very fresh and good. Salmon sashimi very fresh and delicious. Red snapper sashimi was very fresh and with a bright flavor. Crab sashimi was also good.

Crab, zucchini, pumpkin, shrimp, yam tempuras were all very good with light batter and slightly al dente rather than soggy vegetables. Tempura dipping sauce is a little too sweet as I noted at least one of the other Makimono locations. Gyoza were fresh, and the sauce tart and tangy and not too sweet. Lemon chicken sauce could have been a bit more lemony, but it was still good; the chicken itself was good. General Tao chicken was good as the sauce was not overpowering or overly sweet.

For dessert, ginger ice cream had nice pieces of ginger and was delicious. Mango, red bean and vanilla ice creams were very good. Banana tempura very good, and just the right amount of sauce. Mango pudding in a shot glass was very good. Strawberry Jell-O is actually in the shape of a tiny heart as shown on the menu, instead of being served in a shot glass as at the other two locations; it was quite tasty. Steam bun was delicious with a very nice filling. Mocha, mango* and black forest cakes are the same brand used at numerous AYCEs throughout the GTA. Service was very nice and friendly, constantly picking up plates. Lunch was $20.98, and to have my favourite sashimi plus the beef dishes available for this price and on a weekend makes it a fantastic value… as good as a dinner for a lunch price, and all of the offerings were (very) good to excellent. By a slight margin. I found this one the best of the Makimono locations.

Rating: 9.5-10/10

(* Strangely, the mango cake had the faint but unmistakable aroma of rubbing alcohol, which was one of the complaints that someone had on Google Maps. I ordered a second one to confirm, and it was also there. It was in the icing, but I really doubt that rubbing alcohol is what it was, instead rather a chemical that has a similar aroma… organic alcohols are a major component of fruit aroma esters.)