CLOSED - I Love Sushi - Queen (Japanese)

Update 2021-Aug-28: I Love Sushi appears closed. It is listed as Permanently Closed in Google Maps (not Yelp yet) 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.

I Love Sushi is located at 494 Queen Street West, east of Bathurst St. It's a smaller place. Disposable chopsticks are used unfortunately, which is why I bring my own. Ordering is old school on paper templates. Soy sauce at table was green lid low sodium, and was not salty but tasted somewhat diluted. Pop is $1.50, canned not AYCD. I went for weekday lunch.




Green salad was quite good in house orange-ginger dressing, although there was a little too much water in it, but that did not matter. Miso soup had an interesting dark smoky flavor reminiscent of lapsang souchong tea, but it was not the quite the same as umami, although it was not bad. Chicken yakitori was good although slightly dry, and the sauce was good as well. Gyoza were not bad although I think they were slightly freezer burned, and the sauce was a bit thin, but also not bad. Spring rolls were slightly overdone in appearance, but were actually quite tasty and enjoyable.

Surf clam nigiri had some horizontal cracking which made it appear dried out, but it was still good. Crab surimi nigiri was slightly thinner sticks than most places but was also good. Red snapper nigiri was almost certainly tilapia but was also fresh and good. Inari and tamago nigiri both a little dry but were still good. Philadelphia roll was quite good and enjoyable.

Sweet and sour chicken was quite enjoyable and tasty as well, with generous pieces of chicken in a tangy sauce, although there was a strange aftertaste I could not identify. Thai basil chicken was quite tasty, although there was a little too much sauce. Yam tempura itself was good, but the sauce was thin and needed more tang. Chicken teriyaki was good is presented as roast chicken, with large tender pieces of chicken, but the sauce was very thin and did not adhere to the chicken, as well had little-to-no teriyaki flavor, although it was still good as a gravy. I did also find a sliver of bone in it. Thai stir-fried vegetables which were quite similar to the basil chicken's vegetables, were quite good and the sauce complimented them nicely.

For dessert, red bean ice cream was terribly freezer-burned, green tea, vanilla and mango were somewhat better but still had some noticeable burn. Lunch $16.99 including weekends. Beware the 1.5 hour lunch limit which is actually enforced here, first place I have seen. I Love Sushi has one of the lowest ratings I have seen at some ratings sites, but although it wasn't anything above alright to good it wasn't that bad either. However the price is not that low and there are plenty of places offering better for similar price, so I would probably not return.

Rating: 6-6.5/10