Aji Sai (Japanese)

 Aji Sai is located in downtown Peterborough, the municipality about 100km NE of Toronto, at 667 Reid St. We’ve reviewed a few locations of this small chain before but this seems to be the last location. We went for weekend lunch. Aji Sai has a darker contemporary interior. Pop is $2, canned not AYCD. Soy at table was strong, dark and thick but not salty. Unfortunately disposable chopsticks are used, but we brought our own as always. Ginger is dyed pink.

Beware that the seaweed salad portion is a little larger than most other places. Green salad dressing was excellent, we both loved and it was fresh. Miso soup had plenty of miso paste, but was short on the bonito dashi umami.

Salmon nigiri and Mishy's favourite salmon rose, which thankfully was on the lunch menu, were both excellent with the salmon being very fresh and the rice very flavorful. Salmon avocado roll was excellent; Mishy indicated that the rice didn't stick together but I didn't have that issue. Chicken nuggets were not bad although a bit muted. Butterfish aka escolar nigiri was very good and fresh, as was surf clam and crab aka surimi.

Beef short ribs were very good and well-seasoned. General Tao chicken was excellent and we both loved it. However, we both agree that the chicken teriyaki was bland and didn't have much teriyaki flavour.  Sadly, the chicken in the chicken skewers was definitely off; chicken is still safe like this as long as it is properly cooked, but it was quite noticeable and I was not pleased.

Mishy didn't care for the cheese wontons saying there was not enough cheese, but I didn't find that. Shrimp tempura were quite good even though the batter was not flaky at all but instead one solid sheet. Deep fried scallop aka surimi was quite good with the sauce dollop. Potato fries are french fries and were also quite good... nicely crisp and flavourful. Spring rolls were okay but unfortunately were soaked in sauce rather than it being an optional and Mishy noticed this too and was not impressed; they were rendered soggy. Vegetable udon was delicious and had plenty of flavour, indicating that it was probably in a chicken stock rather than being vegetarian.

For dessert, red bean ice cream was good although slightly freezer burned. Green tea was the same and very mild. Vanilla was fresher. Milk pudding was odd and had almost no flavour. Milky mango and mango pudding shot glasses were quite good. Chocolate mousse shot glass had a very mild flavour but was creamy and enjoyable. Mango ice cream was the best of them (isn't it always) fresh, creamy and delicious. Weekend lunch was $25.99. This is a slightly lower price than average for the area which is factored in, but unfortunately there were several negatives especially the off chicken in the skewers that in total weigh heavily on the rating, and we would not return.

Rating: 6 / 10