Ginza Sushi - Maple (Japanese)

Ginza Sushi is located at 9960 Dufferin St. in Maple, at the north end of Vaughan bordering Toronto to the north, at Dufferin St. and Major Mackenzie Dr. It's about a 20 min. walk from the Maple GO station on the Barrie line, so could be called transit-accessible. There are quite a few Ginzas in the GTA we’ve reviewed, and it’s unknown if they are related.

Ginza has a high-ceilinged modern, darker interior. It uses reusable chopsticks thankfully. Soy at table was strong and almost salty but not quite, and fresh. Pop is $2.50 canned not AYCD. Green tea is included. Ginger is dyed pink.

Miso soup was quite good with sufficient savour and not watery. Green salad had a nice house dressing and I didn't mind the sweetness. Mishy liked the seaweed salad at the start, but then changed her mind, said it had a funny flavor and it was terrible, and had difficulty finishing it. Gyoza were good, although getting close to start of stale, but no worries. Spring rolls were piping hot and quite good, and the sauce was good too. Wonton soup was okay, but rather dilute in colorless broth. 

Sweet and sour chicken was good with its sauce, not excessively sweet, bu the vegetables were slightly musty. Beef short ribs were excellent and possibly the high point of the meal, as the sauce was delicious; Mishy agreed. Tempura shrimp and broccoli were good, light, flaky and only slightly oily. 

White tuna escolar nigiri was good and fresh. Red snapper AKA tilapia had the same musty flavor as the vegetables in the sweet and sour chicken, reminiscent of the condensation inside a defrosted fridge, except it was much stronger. There was no aroma of it going off, so it seems to be stored near something that is. Tofu nigiri was very good and didn't have any of the musty odour issues. Crab surimi had a slight fishy aroma. Egg nigiri was good. Philadelphia roll was good though appears to be made with in canned salmon as evidenced by the layers separating in it, but it was still alright.

For dessert, deep fried cheesecake was excellent and would be a great dish at other places, one of the better desserts that I have had. Deep fried banana was quite good. Unfortunately they were out of chocolate and vanilla ice cream, but at least the mango and green tea ice cream were very good and not freezer burned at all.

Service was not the best; for example had to ask for water twice, thought I don’t count this in the rating. It was $27.99 for weekend lunch, with no beef teriyaki, salmon rose, or other pricier dishes. While this isn’t the most expensive these days, there were still some minor issues, and a not-so-minor one with the possible food storage issue causing unwelcome mustiness. There were a couple of very good items to be sure and most were good enough, but I still don’t think I’d return.

Rating: 6.5 – 7 / 10