COVID-19 CLOSURE - Kuu Sushi (Japanese)

Update 2021-Aug.-28: Sadly, Kuu was another victim of the lockdown, with its Facebook page confirming that it closed in March. Given that the property was seized by the landlord and that this was when the lockdown was its most restrictive, it seems to have been the reason.

Kuu Sushi is located at 1020 Centre St, in Thornhill, a municipality bordering Toronto the north in the midwest. Kuu has a nice interior with plenty of patrons. Like 168 Sushi, it is a combination sit-down and buffet, with the small buffet containing soup, salad and desserts. I went for weekday lunch. AYCD pop is available for $2.50. iPad ordering and reusable chopsticks are used. Free Wifi is also available. Soy sauce at table was very rich, fresh and not salty. I noticed that this is the first restaurant to accurately list so-called white tuna as escolar, so-called red snapper as tilapia, crab as crab stick and scallops as imitation correctly; I wonder if a law has been passed in York Region to mandate this.

Miso soup from the buffet had nothing in it except miso stock, ie no tofu, wakame or green onions, but it was still very good with plenty of umami, fresh and delicious. Wonton soup was similarly good with savory wontons and broth. Hot and sour soup was excellent, with traditional flavors and a great balance of heat and sour... another best I've had in a while and I was impressed at the freshness and quality of the soup from a buffet, as much so as from single-serving sit-down. Seafood vinegar salad (crab surimi, wakame, tobiko, cucumber and vinegar dressing) was very good;  this is available through menu not from the buffet.

Salmon nigiri was excellent, very fresh, good rice with good consistency. Honest escolar and surf clam nigiri were also both very good and fresh. Torched salmon and spicy salmon sushi nigiri was delicious and unique, shrimp pressed sushi nigiri was also excellent with a wonderful unique flavor. Salmon rose was excellent with a very good sauce topping. Kuu's maki rolls are in three pieces which is excellent as it avoids overeating and reduces waste. California and Philadelphia maki roll were both excellent.

Beef teriyaki was fantastic, with chunks of tender savoury beef, a very good sauce and much roasted garlic. Ginger beef teriyaki was similarly excellent and wonderful with great sauce. Chicken teriyaki was also excellent with possibly the same sauce, which I loved because it was not sweet but more like gravy... it was among the best I've had in a while.  Shrimp tempura also among the best I've had, the tempura breading was very light and flaky and not oily, and had a wonderful flavor to it rather cereal-like, and the sauce was excellent again, not being too sweet.

Chicken katsu was excellent, cooked just enough with good crispness and moistness, and I didn't mind that the sauce was basically unmodified ketchup. Basil chicken was excellent with very noticeable basil flavor due to large pieces of basil cooked into it... it had a bit of heat as well.  Gyoza were very good, sauce was nice and vinegary. Spring rolls were also excellent and the sauce was unique, with mandarin or other citrus hints. General Tso chicken was a bit too syrupy... okay, it was a bowl of liquid sugar syrup that didn't really have any of the signature flavours this dish requires, and I didn't like it, and was the only item in the meal I didn't like; I let one of the wait staff know and asked them to pass it on so hopefully this will be improved.

For dessert, Kuu has a soft serve machine, and the chocolate and vanilla ice cream from it was excellent. Vanilla, red bean, mango, green tea ice cream from the self-serve buffet station were all very good and fresh, without a trace of freezer burn. Service was very fast and good and friendly. Weekday lunch was $17.99, and (except for the General Tso) everything was very good to excellent making this a standout value. I've already recommended Kuu to family and would gladly return.

Rating: 9-9.5/10