Ibushi — Restaurant in Markham

Ibushi has exceeded my expectations and i cannot wait to visit them again!

The first time I visited was within the first week of their soft-opening period, taking advantage of the $50 discount they were offering. Despite being a new restaurant, everything was nicely done and services were on point! The courses served were exquisite and nicely presented, and several nigiris were rather unique like the filefish! Overall, the first visit had set the bar up high for future visits.

I returned about a week ago to try out their new Spring Sakura menu and again, it did not disappoint! We started off with 2 sakura-themed apps - a riceball? in a flavorful bonito broth and sawara sashimi, followed by a seasonal tilefish that was fried with the scales on, providing a unique look and special texture when eaten. This was followed by the nigiri course of the meal which were delicious, and the chef served up a variety of seasonal's freshest, from uni to buri. The chef actually prepared two kinds of rice, each seasoned with different kinds of vinegar, in order to better pair the fish served which I thought was very thoughtful and unique. As a really nice gesture, he opted to upgrade our hotate into the tairagai isobe (pen shell) that was on the menu for an extra charge for free! We opted to add both the hokkigai (which was different from the ones you will find at the store) and the rare budo ebi, an Ibushi-exclusive. It was definitely very refreshing (and delicious!) to try out different seasonal seafood that were usually not offered anywhere else! Aside from uni, one of my favorite course was definitely their negitoro handroll, which featured smoked daikon. The smokiness added extra flavors and enhanced the negitoro, and chef even asked us which of the two seasoned rice we preferred and made the handroll for us that way!

The course wrapped up with a light fish broth with hints of yuzu, served with a small batch of somen noodles, and of course, their delicious sakura milk ice cream.

A little side note, the chef recognized both my friend and I, and when he asked us how today's course was, I mistakenly thought he was asking about something else and gave a nonchalant 'okay' as an answer. It wasn't until later reflection + my friend saying that I realized he was asking if today was better than last time. I just wanted to take this time to say yes, but I did have a marvelous times at both dining experience, and I would love to come back in the future to try out other menus, or if i just want a...

The chef's thoughtfulness is evident in the menu, which features white vinegar rice paired with white-fleshed fish and black vinegar rice paired with red-fleshed fish. While the fish offerings are not particularly stunning, the ingredient pairings are very well thought out.

Here are the most memorable dishes I tried:

Tuna Hand Rolls with Pickled Radish: This dish was innovative and one of my favorites; it was very flavorful. Rice Balls with Bonito Fish: This appetizer featured refreshing and sweet rice balls with a hint of cherry blossom flavor, hiding the bonito underneath. Amaidai: This dish included the crispiest and most translucent fish scale fry I've ever tasted. Rainbow Trout: Marinated and wrapped in cherry blossom leaves, this dish imparted a delightful cherry blossom flavor. Fish Soup Ramen: Although it looked quite oily, it was actually quite refreshing and delicious. Homemade Ice Cream: The ice cream wasn’t overly sweet and was adorned with edible rose petals. Hokkaido Uni: The uni was of extremely high quality—super sweet and creamy. I loved it so much that I ordered two more pieces. However, the quality of the seaweed was a bit poor, which slightly affected the uni’s taste.

Most of the other nigiri sushi featured common fish found in omakase menus, but their quality was impressive. The scallop was soft and sweet, while the swordfish was firm and delicate. The fatty tuna was just average; it was cut rather thin and lacked a rich, oily flavor. The amberjack was slightly overcooked, resulting in a burnt, bitter taste. It was my first time trying chicken grunt, and I found it quite good. The hairy crab was optional; it wasn’t particularly outstanding, but the sweetness of the crab meat was nice, especially with the accompanying crab roe sauce. The peeled crab was even better.

As for the yuzu peels, they had a bit of a bitter flavor. The overall taste felt somewhat light, so I asked for a bit more soy sauce. The chef’s technique for making sushi was decent—at least they weren't loose—but they weren't very visually appealing, and there were often grains of rice stuck on his hands or on the sushi. The chef himself was quite charming; he seemed a bit shy and would laugh at himself during our conversations.

In conclusion, the service was fairly good. The total bill came to $266 per person,...

I would love to give 6 starts for their excellent food and service.

First off, I'd like to point out the difference between Ibushi and other omakase places. Most omakase places have a fixed seating time. For example, 6pm - 8pm, 8:30 - 10:30pm. However, Ibushi allow customers to come at various time. We truly appreciate the flexibility.

All food are carefully prepared, with a twist on some traditional dishes, such as chawanmushi. The general manager and chef ask about our personal preferences (eg. wasabi, rice, allergy) before serving us.

They serve some rare ingredients such as akagi, female snow crab. Fish are aged and they prepared 2 different kind of rice to match with the fish.

I really enjoyed the smoked sawara, grilled kinmadai and miyazaki wagyu paired with tofu. The negitoro handroll with smoked daikon also gave a wow effect.

We opt for the wine & sake pairing, which did not disappoint. However, I do wish the pairing is a bit more spread out, as it felt like the first few courses, the pairing is almost like 1 to 1 (1 drink 1 dish) but later on when it comes to the sushi, the pairing was a bit lacking. However, keep in mind that we visited during their soft opening. I am sure that the pairing will improve as they receive more feedback from customers. Nonetheless, Yutaka-san did an amazing job with explaining the pairing and flavour profiles.

The environment is clean, bright, welcoming. Tasteful but not restrictive. Great interaction with chef Hiroki-san.

Once again, thank you for the wonderful hospitality and we will for sure be back again to try other...