Wasabi Japanese Cuisine is located at 1730 Bloor St. W., just east of Keele, in the High Park area, an area known for fine cuisine, upper-middle-class residences and the good life. In other words, it's sadly misplaced.
The "Day-Glo" lime-green interior did resemble that of the horseradishy condiment, and it was no less irritating to the senses. They had some classical music playing on arrival, but for some reason soon vanished shortly after like the rest of the enjoyment of being there.This isn't to say everything was unpleasant. The salad dressing was tangy and uncomplicated, although the lettuce was a bit limp. I have to say though that the beef teriyaki was the best dish by far. It was well cooked (although unfortunately it did have a little bit of fat hanging off the end of some pieces). I never tried the chicken katsu myself but apparently it was also good, breaded and cooked in such a way as to be reminiscent of veal. (I refuse to eat veal or buy it after hearing how they take the calf from the mother and well that's another story) I also didn't try the crab sushi, but was apparently actual crab (which is probably why I don't eat it), as opposed to the too-perfect substitutes at other places.
The star of the show (in my view) of any Japanese sushi bar is the salmon sushi, but alas it was just OK. The second salmon order looked like it was close to going off though. One nice bonus was the (canned) soft drinks are included with the AYCE price.Unfortunately, though, too many of our essential staples didn't make the grade. The miso soup had little more flavour than cloudy tap water, completely lacking in dashi savour (not my words). Chicken teriyaki was rubbery (my words!) and the sauce's flavour was unappetizing... a too-obvious reheat rather than being made fresh for us.
All tempuras, banana, shrimp and yam, were completely non-flaky. While only mildly oily, they didn't have the crunch and lightness of good tempura, indicating the batter wasn't made with properly chilled water before being fried (I personally like this because I prefer my food lukewarm as opposed to piping hot)... the banana tempura was lightly mapled which was a nice touch though, but it didn't look appetizing and was noticeably oily. I also really prefer chocolate sauce on my banana tempura! :P
There were only two other customers there. Although it wasn't "cuisine" unlike what was indicated on the sign, the price was $15.99 for lunch! And it's $16.99 if you don't pay cash! Wasab with that, Wasabi?
Forgive me...
Rating: 5.5/10. The included pop (which I've never seen at other AYCEs) is the only thing keeping Wasabi out of the Happy Panda basement.
