Sushi Itto is located at 16775 Yonge in Newmarket, the municipality three north of Toronto, midway between the Aurora and Newmarket GO stations; there are fewer hills biking from Aurora so we went from there. AYCD pop is available for $3, a bit watery. When I asked the cost the waitress said “three” and I thought she had said “free” so was surprised when it wasn’t included, and given the season would have gone with tea otherwise! Disposable chopsticks are used unfortunately, but we remembered ours this time. Ginger is not dyed pink. Sushi Itto has a nice modern interior with plenty of booths and barriers between them. Free WiFi is available. Soy at table was dark and a bit salty but fresh.
Miso soup and excellent and savoury, not watery and with plenty of dashi. Green salad was fresh with a more authentic soy-vinegar-ginger dressing and we both loved it. Mishy said the seaweed salad was excellent.
Curry beef with rice was delicious and the sauce was excellent. Mishy said the beef teriyaki was slightly rubbery (again with that rubbery adjective) but the sauce was amazing. I think that the adjective that she was looking for was “chewy”, which I did find it to be slightly, but the sauce was very good and it had a nice beery flavor. Mishy said the chicken teriyaki was excellent, and although the chicken could have been a little more flavorful, it did work well with the sauce so I enjoyed it. Enoki beef was also quite good in the same sauce. We both enjoyed the sweet and sour chicken which was as good as from good takeout. Age tofu was delicious and I liked the sauce which had a nice sweet and tangy balance. Fried scallops aka surimi were quite good especially with the included sauce. Spring rolls as well were also quite good with the included sauce as it was not too hot and the spring roll was crisp and not oily. Shrimp tempura was quite good as also was not oily and the sauce added to it well.
Salmon nigiri was quite good, fresh with good rice and consistency and the soy sauce complimented it well, similar for red snapper aka tilapia, and white tuna possibly escolar. Crab aka surimi was a little less fresh but not enough to matter and still enjoyable. Pink lady roll which is smoked salmon and spicy crab was quite good especially with the included tempura crumble. Mushroom nigiri is probably shiitake and was also quite good.
For dessert, Mishy said that the chocolate ice cream was slightly freezer burned; I noted that the green tea was but only slightly. Vanilla ice cream was French vanilla and it was not freezer burned and was quite good. Mishy and I both absolutely loved the mango ice cream which was full of flavor and extremely fresh. Chocolate ice cream and plenty of bitter chocolate notes but a little low on the sweetness, but still quite good and mine was not freezer burned. Banana tempura was excellent with plenty of chocolate sauce and not oily. Weekend lunch was $22.99 which is quite good these days for the area, and we had quite an enjoyable lunch.
Rating: 8 - 8.5 / 10
