Date of Visit: May 19, 2006 (Friday)
Reservation for 2 (sushi bar) at 19:00, seated immediately
Website: http://www.sushikaji.com/
Parking available at the small private lot adjacent to the restaurant
2 tasting menus, 1 375mL-bottle of Shochikubai (sweet) nigori unfiltered sake (tax & tips included): $345
Food
I ordered the Takumi menu and T ordered the Waza menu. The Shochikubai sake was very sweet which I found very pleasant but in retrospect, it is probably not the best choice to accompany the food.
Amuse Bouche: Asian Pear Soup with Kiwi
- a very light and refreshing shooter of asian pear puree. The sweetness is subtle. Fitting for a summer menu except that it's been a little cold in Toronto lately.
Simmered Octopus with Japanese Buterbur (Takumi) / Marinade Seabream with Grapefruit & Yuzu Pepper (Waza)
- The simmer octopus was served with a salted sakura leaf,a sakura blossom, and simmmered celery matchsticks. I love sakura flavour but the leaf and blossom used in this dish did not lend their flavour to the octopus or buterbur at all. Despite of this, this is the most memorable dish of the evenign for me. The contrast between the octopus "wrapping" and the buterbur "filling" was amazing at both textural and flavour level.
Seaweed Marinade Fluke (Takumi)
Braised Pork with Springtime Vegetable (Takumi) / Fried Scallop Stuffed Cream Cheese & Fresh Pepper (Waza)
- I was hoping for an explosion of flavour for the braised pork but my expectation came up short. The pork was lean and the flavour combined with the spring vegetable can best be described as clean. It was a very pure flavour that highlight the ingredients in their natural state.
Deluxe Sashimi
- A very nice selection of sashimi that emphasized the attention to detail at this restaurant. The variety of sashimi was served at different temperature with the toro being noticeably colder than others to highlight the quality of the fish. The live shrimp was delicious. There was two other kinds of fish as well. The dipping soy sauce tasted wonderful without being overly salty. The wasabi was okay. The head of the shrimps were later served as a deepfried crunchy snack.
Egg Tofu with Somen (Takumi) / Crab Wonton with Japanese Leek Cream Sauce (Waza)
- I like cold tofu dishes in clear broth in general, especially in summer. This tamago tofu was silky smooth in texture and went well with the grated ginger and shiso in the broth.
Grilled Bamboo Shoot with Japanese Mint Miso (Takumi) / Fresh Oyster with Yuzu Mousse (Waza)
- This was another dish that I liked. The bamboo shoot slices were juicy and sweet. They were served on a bed of wakame seaweed which was great for soaking up the sweet sauce.
Main: Sauteed Lobster with Eggplant Yuzu Pepper Sauce (Takumi) / Grilled Veal Tenderloin with Fresh Japanese Pepper & Red Wine Sauce
- The main dish was alright. The lobster and eggplant were cooked just right. They were served with a grilled shrimp (a nightmare to peel off the shell) and a beggar's purse of whisper-thin egg wrapping stuffed with marinated vegetable. Honestly, I like the beggar's purse the most in this dish.
Sushi
- Sushi is the name of the game here at Sushi Kaji. Here you will find one of the best sushi in Toronto. We first had a toro sushi that went under a torch for a slightly cooked surface. It was served with a sesame ginger sauce. Next came a trio of shell fish: cooked king crab leg, scallop with mango ume, and lobster. After the shell fish, we had shiroyaki anago drizzled with a sweet sauce and then Australian salmon that was served with a yuzu mayonnaise. All of the sushi were excellent and they were perfect examples of why Sushi Kaji is one of the best Japanese restaurant in the city. Each piece of sushi was a tiny work of art with the fish resting on top of a thumb-sized piece of rice. The careful combination of the fish with the sauce were innovative and delicious. The accompanying ginger was just right as a palate cleanser between each sushi, without being overpowering in terms of flavour. Here, you would not find any soysauce. Each piece of sushi could hold its own.
Soup: Cold Soba in Clear Broth
- Soba is soba. By this time, I was already very full from all the sushi to really enjoy this dish.
Dessert: Coconut Mousse (Takumi) / Strawberry Mousse (Waza)
- Dessert is not this restaurant's forte. Although the mousse was lightly set with the minimum about of gelatin, the biggest impression was the creaminess and the smoothness of the mousse. Flavour-wise, it did not deliver.
Service
Like many people suggested, a meal at Sushi Kaji is best enjoyed at the sushi bar where you can see the master at work and chat with them & fellow diners. T & I were sat between two single diners who are regulars. The atmosphere was convivial and more casual than the price would suggest. I enjoyed myself very much.
I was not particularly impressed by the way the dishes were served. The order that the dishes came out was different for every diner and sometimes, there would be two dishes on the table because they came out in very close proximity. Courses were not necessarily served at the same time for T & I. If I order a la carte, this would not be an issue. However, as a tasting menu, I would expect otherwise. It gave me the impression that the kitchen was not very organized.
Overall Impression
Sushi Kaji now only serves the $120 multi-course tasting menu. The a la carte menu is no longer available. It was a good meal and the portion was just a little too much. I definitely like the sushi and sashimi here. That being said, I was not blown away by the dishes from the kitchen. Sure they were delicious but they simply did not have the same refinement and restraint seen in Hashimoto. I would come back for the sushi and sashimi alone. However, seeing that I have no choice but to order the tasting menu, it's most likely that I would visit other sushiya for sushi and Hashimoto when I'm in the mood for cooked Japanese cuisine for the best of each world.
Technorati: Sushi Kaji, Toronto
