Mito Sushi is located at 243 King St E. in Bowmanville, which is just east of Oshawa on Hwy. 401 near the Liberty exit, although we went there simply by heading east on King St. in Oshawa, which proceeds directly to King St. in Bowmanville. Mito is a smaller place with a very warm ambiance provided by hanging lanterns, about the size of a large living room with only a dozen tables, and was very full on weekend lunch. (Unfortunately the lantern we sat under was very blue which affected all my photos… we ran it through a filter but it could not be removed completely.) Pop is $1 AYCD even though it is canned, which is uncommon but certainly not unwelcome. Disposable chopsticks are used, so I brought my own. Soy sauce at table was all indicated low-sodium, and was quite fresh and flavorful.
Mishy enjoyed the wakame salad indicating it was as good as other places. Green salad was quite good with a nice house orange ginger dressing, though it was nothing but lettuce. Miso soup was excellent, rich and savoury.
Surimi maki crab was good. Crab surimi nigiri was very good. Red snapper nigiri was almost certainly tilapia but was fresh and good, as was the surf clam nigiri. Salmon nigiri was very good; Mishy and I both enjoyed it very much. We also both liked the spicy salmon maki.
Chicken don was delicious. Chicken teriyaki was excellent and both Mishy and I loved it, the sauce was very good and not overly sweet. Shrimp tempura was excellent, light, flaky and the sauce was very good and again not overly sweet. Deep-fried scallop surimi was very good with good sauce. Gyoza dumplings were very good and the tangy sauce rich in rice vinegar. Chicken katsu was very good, well-cooked and the sauce complemented it and was well-balanced.
Curry chicken was excellent, the sauce was very good and Mishy and I both loved it. Yam tempura was also quite good, not oily and well cooked. Stir-fried vegetables were good and the sauce tasty. Unfortunately both of us did not like the beef teriyaki at all, although it is nice it is being offered, the sauce seem like teriyaki half-and-half with hot sauce which did not get along, and the beef was flat, chewy and tasteless. Beef skewers were well seasoned, but had that same terrible cut of beef as in the teriyaki.
For dessert there are banana tempura and chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, mango, green tea and (my favorite) ginger ice creams. All were fresh and good, especially the ginger, although the green tea was close to going off but not enough to matter. The service was excellent and we really enjoyed our lunch there, other than the beef teriyaki and skewers. Weekend lunch was $15.99 and coupled with the $1 AYCD canned pop this is an excellent value.Rating: 8.5-9/10
