I never realized how small it was until I got there. I agree with you though, sometimes these are the hidden gems. I know that I see this place almost everyday as it’s on my walking route to work and been meaning to check it out. When I first arrived, it was pretty much empty. When I was seated I noticed some nice little touches you don’t see at the standard “yet another sushi” restaurants: Cloth napkins and little rock holders for your chopsticks.

The menu has pretty traditional items as well as the ”omakase” which is apparently the chef’s choice as a dinner. One of these days I’d like to try that one out. This time we went for sushi pizza, spicy tuna rolls, Yokohama rolls (salmon, cucumber, avocado, lettuce, spicy mayo) and a sushi plate (Sushi Yokohama Set: 10 pieces of Nigiri, 6 pieces of California Roll)

You know I actually think the waiter also doubles as the owner/sushi chef… He’s a jack of all trades! As we were there, the place started to fill up. Then again, due to the shear size of the place, adding a few more people will quickly make the place full. Full house = around 16 people.

Yes the food was very fresh. You can really tell the difference here. Also I noticed that the sushi was prepared in a more traditional way where there is some wasabi already in between the rice and the fish. I like that. Your right in that the rice was very soft and required a lot of chopstick skills to handle it properly without it breaking into pieces. After all the sushi restaurants we’ve reviewed so far, I had higher hopes for your skills. A bit disappointed my friend. The proof is in the soy sauce dish!

You’re not kidding. The chef got very heated in that discussion. What I got out of it was that the “All you can eat” sushi idea originally came from Vancouver and he simply hates it. The quality of fish suffers and an overall lack of sushi skill that is required to prepare it. I think he mentioned something about seasonal fish or maybe overpopulation. Not exactly sure but what I do know is he hates the idea with a passion.

Well you know me and complimentary dessert (instant +0.5 to my rating)….and I don’t count a couple slices of oranges as dessert. Anyways, it was a rice pudding kind of thing and was nice finish to an overall excellent meal. Solo Sushi Bekkan is an easy recommend for me and especially over the other 3 sushi restaurants in the area. 9 / 10.

When I arrived, I noticed that across the street cops had closed off the area in front of Maple Leaf Gardens. It looked like a swat team was there. Later found out they were filming some scene for the show “Flashpoint” which I didn’t even know was still on. Anyways, I always like it when you enter a Japanese Sushi restaurant you get welcomed in actual Japanese and a respectful bow. I could tell that this may not be your average Toronto Sushi joint. Oh and maybe the fact that on their sandwich board out front, it said, “The best sushi in Canada”.

I know you are all over that lime! As for the menu, we opted for some sushi to share (didn’t we order sushi a la carte?) and then a number of rolls including spicy tuna roll, spicy salmon and shrimp tempura roll. They didn’t have any crazy type of rolls or bento combos like the other places. More standard sushi offerings, similar to the Ichiriki Japanese Restaurant, hence no sushi pizza this time around.

Yes the sushi was quite good. Good size portions and very fresh. I did not like the spicy rolls. Not only were they spicier than normal but it was really the kind of spice. It was more due to the chili powder I think rather than the usual spicy type sauce. In the end just didn’t think they tasted all that great. Don’t forget the handy instructional diagram on how to use chopsticks that were printed right on their personalized disposable chopstick wrapper. You are a seasoned vet now but maybe could have used that on our first sushi restaurant review :)

Whoa!? Wait, were we eating at the same restaurant? I knew something was up after you kept raving on and on about getting lime for your Corona. I give you that the service and atmosphere were great and the sushi was very good for what we tried but the rolls were terrible. Not just the spice but just not very good. 7/10 for me. I think I would have given a better rating if we had more sushi which I know now to do next time around.

It was perfect timing as we were debating on where to go. It has a decent looking menu with pictures and easy to navigate. We went with the usual Spicy Tuna Rolls and Sushi Pizza as a standard. The other dishes would be more what we were in the mood for or if they had some special type of rolls unique to the restaurant.

Gotta love the naming conventions. Also on the menu, the “traditional Japanese” classics such as Maple Leaf Combo, C.N. Tower Combo and the Young St. Sushi. Although they did look tasty! The food came out pretty fast with the sashimi coming out first then followed by the rest of the dishes.

Yes you have become quite the sashimi connoisseur after all these meals we’ve had. Agreed though. It tasted fine but nothing special. Now come out the sushi pizza and the rest of the rolls. The sushi pizza was pretty good, and it had a bit of spice to it. Also liked the fact that they were pretty liberal with the salmon on top.

Hmm….I guess my expectations weren’t so grand. I didn’t really expect any explosion so I though they tasted pretty good. I really like anything mango so that helps I guess. The Sea Dragon tasted pretty good I love tempura type rolls and throw some bbq eel on top, works for me!

Ah yes, they were large pieces weren’t they? Overall I was pretty satisfied. We arrived there a little after 6pm and it wasn’t too busy but there was a steady stream of people coming in right afterwards as well as a few waiting by the sushi bar for takeout orders. It’s a small place so it fills up pretty fast. In the end, I enjoyed it and would recommend it if you live in the area. I give it a 8/10. I also give it some bonus points for the waitress who assisted some man who I believe was quadriplegic it looked like. She went the extra mile in setting up his drinks and food in special plates and cups.

Both Sushi Sky and Kokyo Japanese Restaurant have already established themselves in the area. Will another sushi restaurant be able to survive here?

It is pretty nice decor inside especially since everything is brand new. Also they have the unlucky employee outside handing out takeout flyers trying to promote their business. Also on the front window was the “LLBO application notice” so once again, no Corona for you! The staff was all friendly and once I was seated, the waitress brings me a cup of green tea. I always like it when you get it immediately rather than having to order it separately. It’s those little things that count.

Ah yes they are very keen to take your order! The menu had a lot of options so we took a little while to look at it all over. The pressure of the waitress was almost too much! Ok maybe not that bad…Can’t get upset since they are very friendly. Your right about the Salmon sushi pizza, for some reason the deep fried rice portion kept splitting open and breaking a apart. Still tasted good but kind of messy. Your chopstick skills really come into play here.

They really should be called the Non-Spicy Tuna Roll. It’s too bad because the tuna tasted pretty fresh but could have used some a lot more zip. Felt like they forgot to add the spicy sauce. The Yellow Tail rolls were decent. Next up is their more unique rolls that seem to be a house specialty.

These rolls were great and am pretty sure unique to Takumi. I am always a big fan of different type of rolls outside the standard ones. It’s nice to see that they have a lot variety. I really like the Takumi rolls. Then again, if it’s deep fried, it tastes even better! One thing to note is that the size of rolls range from 6 – 8 pieces depending on what you order. After tackling all the food, I was still hungry enough for one more dish.

I am thinking it’s supposed to be Fairy Monster? Who knows but the second we asked for it, the waitress immediatly said “good choice”. She was right. It wasn’t spicy but overall it tasted great and a nice way to finish up the meal. To top off the meal, they also gave us some sliced oranges for dessert. Another nice little touch.

8 out of 10 for me. Good experience, sushi and rice was fresh with friendly service. Hopefully the will correct their spiciness but it’s a great start for this place in a tough sushi restaurant rich area. Here’s hoping it’s not going to be a 1 and done (last only 1 year in business) as it’s probably the best place versus both Sushi Sky and Kyoto.

I must admit that I was very curious about this place since I’ve been reading many not so favourable reviews on the Internet. We both arrived nearly the same time and the first thing I noticed when I walked in was that the place is a lot bigger than it appears. It’s narrow but the tables and seats go back pretty deep so maybe their claim to fame might be pretty accurate?

Oh interesting, the rudeness was one thing noted by other reviewers…I did see you two talking when I walked in and I guess the evil eye she gave you probably wasn’t a good thing :). Good thing I came in to save the day before the woman was about to really let you have it! Anyways, once we got seated and got a chance to look at the menus, one nice thing to note is that we immediately got served green tea. I always like when it comes like that than having to specifically ask for it.

Gotta love the big pictures in the menu to give you an idea on what you are ordering. I noticed it has lots of different combos which is nice. All the dishes came out pretty quick as well. One problem. When I opened up my chopsticks from the wrap, there was only 1!! I guess they figured I would just stab each sushi roll. It looked like someone decided to stealthily remove one chopstick from the wrap without doing much damage to burn the next person, namely me. That was a first for me.

Ah yes I was very impressed with your skills and dedication to the craft of sushi eating. I prefer to stick with the chopsticks instead of using my hands but to each his own. Maybe if/when we decide to his a “real” sushi place (actual trained Japanese sushi chefs) then I’ll give it a try. Wasn’t it spicy tuna rolls? They were good, and done in a similar to Ichiriki in that the spicy sauce was dropped on top. I agree the others were decent but nothing spectacular. I thought the rice was a bit too hard for my liking actually and the Sushi Sky rolls were kind of large where it made it a bit tough to eat each piece “gracefully” if you know what I mean.

Yeah I think that’s about it. I have to agree with you, nothing too spectacular. There’s just too many other places in the area that are much better in terms of both food and service. 5 out of 10 for me.

Ah yes, the good old TTC, as you know my favourite form of transportation (sarcasm). I get to feel the vibrations from it every few minutes while we were eating. Although since we are talking about the TTC here, the vibrations probably range from 5 minutes to 20 minutes with their usual delay schedule. Hey wasn’t this the very first place we went to when we decided to do this whole review thing? It’ll always hold a special place in my heart at least for that. Also for some reason I seem to remember it ended up raining later on that night but the patio is covered which is another plus.

LOL. I love to harp on the TTC. From what I remember we ended up getting some of their specialty rolls so it wouldn’t be too much of a shock to your system. Figure you don’t need to start off with the hardcore raw fish. I can’t really remember what exactly we ordered but I figure the name ‘rainbow’ was in there and probably spicy tuna rolls.

Wow you have a great memory. It’s sad but to be honest, the one thing I remember the most other than TTC thing is that there was some kind of shooting the very next day, literally in that very spot and time we ate. I do remember the food being good though. Perhaps it would be better next time to sit inside?

Yes, away from the windows is key to this review. 7 shotgun shells out of 10 for me.