Came here with some friends for the omakase special meal…read more Such a lovely overall standard omakase experience and meal. The highlight for me was probably the set of four starter appetizers, they were flavourful, delicately prepared and perfect way to start the meal. I liked the slightly pickled dish with cucumbers the best. We also had sushi prepared with fresh seafood. The rice was probably my favorite compared to other places I've been. It was perfectly seasoned rice, warm and cooked to have just the right texture, not overcooked and not undercooked. The rice held up well when picked up by hand and complemented the flavours of the fish. Finished the meal with a matcha flavored pudding flan type dessert which had deep matcha flavours. If you're a fan of matcha, you'd probably enjoy it too. All in all, the meal was enjoyable, the torched tuna sushi was probably my favorite sushi of the set and my least favorite was the egg/eel, I was expecting a sweet egg at the end so it unexpected.

Taki is a fine dining Japanese restaurant located in the busy commerical areas of Richmond Hill…read more We recently had lunch here for a special occasion. The restaurant is super quiet and they offer great quality of food with great service, and the price is expensive if you choose to order sukiyaki set (expect $80+ per person). You can choose between sushi sets at different price level or sukiyaki from the menu. This suits the need of our group given some people prefer sushi but some couldn't eat raw food. They also offer a couple of limited appetizer dishes such as tempuras and unagi don. If you booked the sukiyaki table and want to order sushi, you need to call them in advance to notify which sushi sets you want. We tried the sashimi and sushi courses at $55, which included miso soup, 5 pieces of sashimi, 8 pieces of sushi (squid, toros, salmon, scallop etc.), handroll and matcha or black sesame icecream at your choice. The sushi is smaller than average, suitable for small eaters. The course is totally worth the money. I love every piece of sashimi and my favourite sushi include the scallop and the squid. Everything was super fresh. The dessert was also having the perfect sweetness level for me. In addition, we also tried the sukiyaki for two ($110), which includes mushrooms, cabbages, great quality of Angus beef, yummy tofu and udon. Again, all the material was with great quality and super fresh. I especially liked the sweet sukiyaki soup, the tofu and the udon. We also ordered some shareable dishes including chawanmushi, unagi don and cod. Cod was cooked to perfect (soft and flavourful), and unagi don had quite decent portion. It would be better if the unagi could be softer from my personal opinion. Chawanmushi was mediocre. Overall, I strongly recommend this restaurant to fan of Japanese cuisine. It meets different people's needs by offering both cooked and raw food options, and the sushi set definitely has great value for money.

The food was good, and portions are super generous. I appreciate how many options and variations…read morethere are on the menu. Got the original chicken karaage boneless - I appreciate that it comes with 3 dipping sauces so you can try various flavours and not just stick with 1 flavour like at normal fried chicken restaurants. If you're not in the mood for Katsu, there's other itemskke karaage, baked chicken , rice cakes, or udon. They also serve pizza from Pizza Maru which operates from the same premise. However, the menu was hard to read. The service wasn't super friendly - I almost felt like they were hoping we didn't dine in so they can focus on take out orders. We were the only 2 people that were waiting for their dine in orders and the food felt like it came out slow. The ambiance was quiet. Lots of empty seats. Perhaps it was the day we went, but even if the restaurant isn't busy the atmosphere wasn't as welcoming. Ie, it felt like I wanted to quickly finish eating and leave asap rather than enjoy my meal with my company. Limited parking spaces, but is free.

(4.5 rounded up) Food: 5 | Service: 4 | Ambiance: 5…read more It's been a long time since I last visited this location, and I was pleasantly surprised--it's now renovated and expanded to about twice its original size. Lots of seating is available, including comfortable 4-6 person booths. The only downside is that parking right on Yonge is very limited. The menu has expanded beyond katsu to include pizzas, wings, udon, and tteokbokki. The katsu was excellent with its light, crisp batter, and the special set came with a great variety of sides plus both rice and a small bowl of udon. The pizza and wings were also fantastic--we ordered the half-and-half pizza with the signature shrimbul (highly recommend if you like a little heat) and Korean bulgogi. The wings were flavorful and delicious as well. Service was decent, though we docked half a star because some drinks on the menu weren't available (only 2 out of the 5 beers listed). That said, we still had a great experience overall and will definitely be back!

Honestly everything slaps. Meals are a bit small, but pricing is fair. Fried cheese, eel, pork…read morebelly, and the star of the show is the udon. Soju specials right now for $15. Come here, and drink and eat delicious food. Charles stamp. Make sure you don't drive :)

3.5/5, +.5 for service…read more Pretty good izakaya place, I'd say it's a bit more low key compared to the likes of Kinka and Nome further south on Yonge. The menu options definitely aren't as diverse compared to other izakaya places I've been to in the city, but that could be a good thing as the quality of a smaller menu could be higher. I had the tako wasabi, shrimp cream croquette, buta, and a grilled butter squid. The buta and the grilled butter squid in particular were excellent. The tako wasabi was good, though not spectacular. The shrimp cream croquette was average, though I understand it's a new item so they're trying to work the kinks on that. I noticed many folks order udon soups here. I know Mikaku has an udon bar as well, but my mom isn't an udon person so we skipped on that. Service was excellent here. Seeing how the OG Kenzo location being converted to this made me quite happy. I'd happily add this to my list of izakaya places I'd recommend.

Food is excellent though waiting time was a bit long. We ordered more but I don't have pictures…read moreanymore. I really like the pork belly dish that we ordered. We went at night but it was really hot inside and felt so stuffy.

In the summer, I'm here for late-night meals, and in the winter, I become an Uber Eats regular…read more They're probably used to seeing my order come through with the note "no green onions please" every single time My forever favorites here are the yukhoe (beef tartare) and the shishamo. Both are non-negotiable and always hit. We still like to switch it up sometimes, and this visit we tried a few different dishes: * Kataifi-Wrapped prawn tempura: crunchy, and the wasabi mayo was my favorite part. * Nagasaki Champon with ramen: cozy and comforting. * Grilled Squid with butter: simple and done right * Beef Brisket Yaki Soba: savory and satisfying, with bonito flakes doing their little dance on top. * Karaage: coming from someone who doesn't love greasy food, this one was not greasy at all and still juicy inside. Lowkey missing their grilled beef intestine though Great highball selection as well. We got the peach highball for the one who likes sweet, and the yuzu highball for the one who likes sour. I went with the Snow beer Sapporo, topped with shaved frozen beer. Such a nice way to keep the beer cold without diluting it. Service here has always been amazing, whether they're busy or not, and that's a big reason why I keep coming back.

I've been to Yorokobi a couple times before, it's always been great! Just as good as quality sushi…read moreyou may find Downtown or in Asian neighbourhoods in the GTA. We ordered this time the Yorokobi set for 2 and upgraded the sushi to brown rice for $5 extra and upgraded the green dragon roll that came with the meal to volcano salmon roll (which is one of their popular special rolls) and paid the difference. We also added a hamachi carpaccio just for more more protein for my SO because he thinks it might not be enough, but we were left super full. I love that the sushi wasn't loaded with rice and it was thinly included, we did mention that we usually don't like that much and the server said they can even adjust the rice content in the sushi.... We didn't confirm to adjust it but perhaps they went with it because rice is perfectly thin in the maki and less than usual for a nigiri, which is great because otherwise I don't know if we would have finished the meal. $5 to upgrade to brown rice for the sushi set that didn't have that much rice is still IMO a bit steep. Other that, the sushi is fresh, the special rolls are eye catching and tasty and the hamachi carpaccio was good too, LOVE the presentation. I think the best thing here is still their special rolls though! Server is so personable and made sure we were well taken care of. Only feedback I have here is the miso soup that with the Yorokobi set is way too salty I couldn't finish mine after a sip. Ambiance was clean with little Japanese decor throughout. They have a huge parking lot at the back and you can enter and exit from the back instead of trying the front as there is very little parking in the front lot.

Came here as a party of two and it was pretty easy to get seated. We ordered the sashimi and sushi…read morecombo, along with the bulgogi udon. The food was okay, but nothing really stood out. The waitresses were friendly. Overall, it's a convenient spot for a quick and casual meal.

Hot take out from here over the phone. No issues with order,…read moreeverything was there. The miso and tempura were still hot. Sushi was delicious and everything we wanted, and it was packed really nicely. Definitely would come back here

Ikigai Sushi is a small, cozy eatery that quietly delivers some seriously high-quality Japanese…read morefood. The moment you walk in, one detail that stood out to me was the Mahayana Buddhist altar blessing the owner and visitors with health and prosperity. As a Taiwanese person, that instantly felt relatable and oddly comforting--like being welcomed into someone's home. Although the restaurant is Vietnamese-owned, the Japanese food here is absolutely top-notch. I've visited three times so far, and the quality of their bento boxes has been impressively consistent every single time. My personal favorite is the chicken katsu bento. The chicken is incredibly fresh and flavorful. Unlike many places where chicken katsu can end up greasy or heavy, Ikigai's version is perfectly crispy and airy on the outside while staying juicy and tender inside. Paired with their tangy, addictive katsu sauce, every bite just makes you want the next one immediately. I'm also a big fan of their maki rolls and tempura. You can genuinely taste the care and quality in the food--even the side salad and miso soup feel thoughtfully prepared. Considering the quality, the prices are very reasonable, and the portions are generous. The bento box is around $20 if you pay cash, which feels like a great deal. The space itself is cozy, spotless, and welcoming, and the service has always been excellent. I genuinely love this place and will definitely keep coming back.

I recently returned for my second visit and was just as impressed as the first time. The restaurant…read moreis absolutely beautiful, offering a variety of dining experiences including omakase chef bar seating, regular table seating, and teppanyaki. Same as the last, this time I enjoyed their $55 omakase set again along with some a la carte items and it was excellent. The sushi and sashimi were fresh, beautifully presented, and every piece was delicious. The cooked dishes were also prepared perfectly and complemented the meal wonderfully. I also noticed they now have a much larger sake selection compared to my first visit, which was a pleasant surprise. From the chefs behind the counter to the serving staff, the service was exceptional throughout the entire experience. Everyone was friendly, attentive, and made us feel very welcome. One thing I really appreciated was that they seemed to have taken my feedback from my previous visit regarding the noise levels. The dining atmosphere was much more enjoyable this time, showing that they genuinely value customer feedback and continuously strive to improve. Overall, another fantastic experience. Fresh, high-quality food, outstanding service, and a beautiful setting make this an easy recommendation. I'll definitely be returning again.

Came here on a Friday evening around 8pm and this place was really busy. Luckily, I had a…read morereservation and was seated right away. I opted for their summerlicious menu which was $55 and included a starter, main and dessert. Their menu choices were very appealing for m price. The starters and the mains were both good. It's not super premium quality but for the price, I'd say it hit the spot of a mid tier sushi spot. The cod was flaky and the scallops were cooked well. I overall enjoyed everything up until the dessert. The desserts were the weakest link of the entire dinner. The cheesecake was a little dry and the mochi didn't seem super fresh. It was all edible but just not amazing. The service was good, staff were attentive and food came out fairly quick. The design of the place is really nice as well. Not a first option I'd jump for but not a bad spot.

My new favourite sushi spot currently belongs to Akane Sushi and here's why…read more Sushi & Sashimi Love Boat - 5/5 I got the Love Boat B which included 24 sashimi, 18 sushi, and 20 rolls. This is good to serve 3 - 4 people and is my recommended meal to order. The sashimi are pretty fresh and they give you a nice mix of sashimi from the standard salmon, tuna, snapper to more unique ones like bluefin tuna (toro), yellow tail (hamachi), and herring roe (kazunoko). The rolls also didn't disappoint as the rice is cooked to my liking and the sauce they put on the rolls were just the right amount. I ordered this 3 times now and each time met my standard. For $89, this is worth it. FYI: Their bento combo I would give it a 3.5/5. The bulgogi was quite salty which made it harder to enjoy. Service - 5/5 The people that work there are super nice and very welcoming. They do their best to make sure that you are satisfied with your meal. ALSO, if you go on the right day, they may give out salmon head on the house. I was lucky enough to get one and it was so delicious. The people that work there is what help create a more enjoyable atmosphere to have a meal. Atmosphere - 4/5 The one callout is that the place is quite small so there are limited seating. So make sure you call in advance to reserve, otherwise you may need to wait 30+ minutes. This is located on Yonge just south of Steeles. If you're craving for sushi and in the area, definitely check this out. Also bring some cash with you as there's a 10% discount on your bill.

Food 4/5 Service 5/5…read moreAmbiance: 4/5 Food: Always good, fast & fresh when I come here. I've been here many times! This time I wanted a quick lunch after an appointment across the street. I had the salmon sashimi appetizer & a salmon avocado roll. The sashimi was fresh & delicious. Good quality. The salmon avocado roll was also fresh tasting & yummy. They even gave me a miso soup on the house. It was very hot so I only ended up having half of it before I got too full. Service: I think this is a family owned & run restaurant. They seem to be Korean. There was a lovely lady who served me & she was very nice. She kept checking on me to make sure I enjoyed the meal. At one point they were playing the song "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters & I started singing along. The lady was grinning & said oh you know this song? Ambiance: It's a pretty simple restaurant. There are I think 3 booths with curtains, and then a couple of 2 seater tables & 4 seater tables at the front of the restaurant by the window. The space isn't large but it's cozy & they keep the place very clean. There are two single washrooms at the back. One marked for ladies & one for men. But they look exactly the same. Someone was in the ladies washroom so I knocked on the men's. No one was there so I used that washroom instead. There was no urinal. Just a regular toilet, a sink & paper towels. They use the large washrooms for storage as well so there was a mop in the men's washroom. LOL. Overall: I've said it before & I'll say it again. I like this place & I'd definitely come back to eat here. The washrooms are cleaner than in the mall & the food is better than the food court. Plus I like supporting small businesses.