Matsumi AYCE Lounge (Japanese/Pan-Asian)

Matsumi (Asian?) AYCE Lounge is in the Centrepoint Mall at 6464 Yonge St., at Steeles Ave., Toronto's northern edge. This establishment opened recently, a couple months before this review I think. It has a bright, light-toned modern and attractive interior. We went for weekend lunch. iPad menus are used. There is a limitation on the number of items that can be ordered; the first order is 12, and then 6 each time with a 5 minute gap, possibly to prevent the chefs from getting overloaded. Whatever it was slowed the service down significantly at first but then it got better. The limitation didn’t interfere with the enjoyment/quantity at all, and we still both became very full! Pop is $2.50, canned not AYCD, but at least does include Coke Zero. Unfortunately disposable chopsticks are used, but we brought our own as usual. Soy at table was slightly salty, but very flavourful and with some sweetness, and fresh. There is also a serving robot. Watermelon pieces in a bowl are provided without being ordered.

Green salad house dressing was fantastic with a fresh hint of possibly mint and Mishy described it as perfect, clean, very fresh, and with the right amount of dressing and perfect size pieces. She also enjoyed the seaweed salad. Miso soup was very good, but unfortunately slightly dilute. Mushroom chawanmushi was delicious; this is a savoury non-dessert custard with a wonderful savoury eggy flavour I enjoyed. 

Philadelphia roll was fantastic, ample rolls with big pieces of salmon and cream cheese and Mishy said it was perfect. It went beautifully with the soy sauce and my brought-from-home real wasabi. “Fantastic salmon” torched nigiri really was fantastic, and we both agreed on this. Of course the salmon rose was also... just perfect. Salmon nigiri was amazing and so good with the accompaniments. Even the mackerel and ika aka squid nigiri were tolerable.

Chicken sausage skewers were initially very good, though had a somewhat odd aftertaste. Still, it's nice to have as this isn't something that's commonly found on these menus. Cheese wontons were very good. Steak teppanyaki and black pepper steak were absolutely phenomenal, seemingly actual pieces of steak, and the black pepper sauce was out of this world. General Tso chicken was absolutely delicious and I loved it more than usual. Mishy accidentally ordered shrimp spring rolls rather than regular ones and we didn't like them at all, but I take it as more of a personal thing because we didn't really want them anyway so no adjustment. Chicken and beef skewers were both excellent, as were not dried out and included mushrooms and vegetables on the skewer rather than just being meat, which actually made them better. Chicken teriyaki was very good. Shrimp tempura was excellent with light and flaky breading, and the sauce was very good and went well with it.

For dessert, ice jelly was not bitter or herbal but instead wonderfully coconutty with raisins and nuts and moderate sweetness like granola, thoroughly enjoyable. Coconut pudding was too good to imagine... I was hoping Mishy wouldn't mind if I ordered seconds. I absolutely loved the strawberry, chocolate and caramel sundaes, which are made from vanilla ice cream that is better than the usual soft-serve and in cups. Mango yogurt, mango pudding, and strawberry pudding shot glasses were excellent. We both loved the sesame balls and Mishy said they were perfect at least in shape. It was $35.99 for weekend lunch. Given some of the offerings (small steaks and salmon rose) this is only slightly over the average, and the quality was there. With a couple of minor shortcomings we had a memorably enjoyable lunch.

Rating: 9.5 / 10 – 0.5 value adjustment = 9 / 10

Chelsea Hotel (Western)

The Chelsea Hotel is located at 33 Gerrard St. E. at Yonge St. in Toronto's downtown core. Breakfast buffet is offered in the Elm Tavern. Mishy indicated that Chelsea has been offering this since possibly the 1980s by her memory. Coffee and juice are included.

Coffee was about the best we had since Douwe Egberts at Blue Heron. Mishy drinks it black/no sugar so knows good coffee. Bacon was excellent and we both loved it; was very well cooked and low in fat. There’s Pico de Gallo available to go with the scrambled eggs. Sauteed mushrooms were excellent and moreso than expected, beautifully seasoned. Pork sausage was excellent with no off or stale oil flavour that so many other places have. Buttermilk pancakes were excellent with cherry topping which is quite unique and works very well. Apple compote was delicious and I loved it.

Everything was perfect until this point but alas it was not to last... smoked salmon was available which is always welcome, although it was a little bit stale, just enough to notice in flavour but definitely more in appearance, as edges were browning. It's also nice that you can make your own (almost) Eggs Benedict because there's Hollandaise sauce there, but Missy said that it was lacking in zip, possibly as not enough lemon in it. Also the bagel was stale, Mishy described as “rock-hard.” Genoa sausage and prosciutto were both very good. Cheddar and Swiss from the charcuterie were both very good, as was the plain and black forest ham.

Small jar mueslix unfortunately had the milk pre-added, so it goes completely mushy and loses all its crunchy character. I've never seen it done this way as it's important to eat it just after the milk is added. Overnight oats did not suffer from this and were quite good. Bacon tater keg with beans was good though I preferred the tater keg to the beans. (Was it misspelled on the sign as “tarter”?) Custom egg station eggs-over-easy were very good with the included chipotle sauce. Vegan "yogurt" was repulsively like dusty ranch dressing; I don't know if that's the way it is everywhere but it certainly wasn't good here. Some added granola, honey and raisins made it somewhat tolerable. Oatmeal with its toppings was much more enjoyable. Weekend breakfast buffet was $33. This is a little more than I would expect but not enough to count, especially with the included coffee and juice, however this is more often than not the case for breakfast buffets. There were some excellent items, but a few shortcomings that weigh on the outcome.

Rating: 7 - 7.5 / 10 + 0 value adjustment (standard pricing) = 7 – 7.5 / 10

Saravanaa Bhavan (Indian)

Saravanaa Bhavan is located in the Woodside Square Mall at 1571 Sandhurst Circle in Toronto's northeast borough Scarborough, at McCowan and Finch Ave. There are two other locations of this chain in the GTA (and dozens worldwide), but this is the only one that offers AYCE. One major and must-note caveat is that there is a ridiculously low 45 minute time limit, by about a factor of two the lowest I have ever experienced at the 300+ places I have visited. I ran a stopwatch timer and chose small sample-size portions so that I could try everything possible. It was quite busy. It's a vegetarian place and the cuisine is South Indian, similar to Anjappar Chettinad, thus many Indian buffet veg staples ie chana masala and aloo gobi were not present. I didn’t miss them as it’s good to have variety! The substitutes certainly filled in well. We went for weekend lunch.

Mini uthrappar pancake was delicious and well-seasoned. Mishy loved the dosa, and she usually does not have it; it was lightly crisp and excellently seasoned, cooked perfectly, full of flavour with a very slight vinegar hint. Vada (resembling donuts) were delicious with savoury seasoning. Butter paneer was an excellent replacement for butter chicken. Lentil soup was fantastic and we both loved it, so savoury and beautifully seasoned. Curried leaf soup was excellent ... it doesn’t say what kind of leaf it was, but at least it was tasty. Chef special dry veg was delicious. We both loved rava kaichadi which seemed to be a potato dish but is really something else. Bisibelabath Mishy was not big on as she thought it was a turnip dish so it was unexpected, but is something else with rice and I enjoyed it.

Onion pakora is a different variant of this served “loose” with much red coloration, rather than compacted nuggets, and was quite enjoyable. Mushroom biryani was excellent and I barely missed the chicken, the seasoning was excellent and very strong. Chef special poriyal is a hot and delicious potato dish which I enjoyed. Potato masala was excellent as was ghee pongal which had a lovely interesting flavour. Vatha kuzhambu had a strong and tangy flavour which was enjoyable. Ooru kootu was another tasty potato soup-like dish.

For dessert, there is no separate dessert buffet and the only options without ordering desserts off the menu are two buffet items. Pineapple kesari (aka pineapple sheera) was all the dessert I needed and was one of the best new dishes we have encountered recently, as it had just a fantastic sweet fruity flavour, just perfect. Payasam (more completely semiya payasam) was the other dessert dish and was quite tasty, though it has an odd appearance as there is vermicelli in it. Weekend lunch was $23 and this is an excellent price. Unfortunately, it would be worthy of a rating increase were it not for the 45-minute time limit, which is definitely enforced, as right on time we started to be told the bill was ready etc. Even if I would not have eaten more, I don’t enjoy the experience as much while being rushed like this... my restaurant visits are events. I’ve never seen less than an hour anywhere else, which I consider the barest minimum. So, 45 mins. is missing a quarter of this or 2.5. Saravanaa Bhavan gets a bonus point back for the excellent price. The food itself was a definite “10”.

Rating: 10 / 10 - 1.5 value adjustment = 8.5 / 10

You Don Ya (Japanese)

You Don Ya is located at 108 Dundas St. W. and Bay St. in downtown Toronto's core. Its specialty is donburi, the Japanese bowl of rice topped with gravy or sauce, and meat and/or vegetables, so that the topping flavours the rice below. It’s $18 for the weekday special, but as expected there’s only a smaller donburi set then with beef and salmon missing. We went for weekend lunch and it varies from $20 to $28. Mishy had yakiniku marinated Angus with onion for $28, I had miso-cured salmon for $24. Pop is $2 canned not AYCD.

The AYCE component is that with any donburi purchase, access to the mini-buffet of sides and desserts is provided. Mishy loved the pasta salad and said it was amazing, similar to a very good store-bought. She also thought the potato salad was made off-premises. I agree that for both it’s possible; they resemble quality store deli... certainly good regardless of origin. Takoyaki was very good and I’m usually not into it given the ingredients... I added Japanese mayo. (Mishy refuses to eat it because of the octopus: “I won’t eat anything smarter than me” she confessed to me today.) Strangely, even though there is no sushi so I don't know what it would be used for, the wasabi in the buffet condiments seems to be real wasabi; It had a more interesting flavour than the usual horseradish, and is also coarse-ground and grainy like the real thing.

Spring mix salad mislabeled as “lettuce salad” was quite good with the included Caesar dressing. Mishy loved the wakame salad, calling it the perfect blend of sweet and salty. Miso soup was fantastic with the included green onions and wakami (or kombu? It had a thickness.) Potato croquette (aka korokke), which look like small katsu, were very good with the tonkatsu sauce. Fukujin pickle I have never had at an AYCE before and completely loved it... it had a wonderful sweet-and-salty flavour with mild hints of raisin, and an addictive satisfying crunch, so I had seconds.

Kimchi radish and cabbage were as usual excessively pungent, but not horribly so. I miss the days when it was edible everywhere. Kimchi cucumber slices just didn't work for me as they reminded me of my least favourite pickles -- bread and butter -- with an odd flavour, and an aftertaste of soap. Cabbage salad was good with the sesame dressing, one of the few times Mishy was more impressed than I was as she said it tasted just like Gyubee's, but I didn't think it was as good as it lacked some of the tang. There’s “Sweet Tofu Skin” on the signage on the buffet but I didn’t see this anywhere.

The salmon in the donburi was excellent. It's served with wakame salad and slices of a yellowish something... probably takuan aka danmuji which is pickled daikon radish sliced into fruit crescents. My main course may have been healthier, but Mishy definitely got the more enjoyable of the two, as the wonderful warmth and savour of the beef went into the rice all the way down and the flavour was exceptional.

For dessert, there is matcha green tea and vanilla ice cream. Mishy absolutely loved the matcha and so did I... one of the better matcha ice creams I've ever had, just a wonderfully strong green tea flavour with no bitterness or weird overtones. Vanilla was also very good, and neither of them were freezer-burned. I’d like to return on a weekday to You Don Ya sometime even just just to get that ice cream again. It was a very good lunch with some standout items and only one I didn’t like.

Rating: 8.5 / 10 + 0 value adjustment (standard pricing) = 8.5 / 10