Solo Sushi Ya — Restaurant in Newmarket

Came here for dinner at 6:30pm on a Saturday. Was not greeted and pointed to a table by a man who didn't look pleased that we came in. We were given a menu and ignored for a good 20 minutes and it was hard to get their attention. It was odd feeling very discriminated as he treated his regular customers so nicely but was very rude to us. When we were finally able to place our order, we were told that since we didn't reserve and he's some really popular shop here for decades, he didn't have sushi rice for us. We couldn't order 3 out of our 4 orders because he didn't have enough sushi rice for Saturday night 6:30pm dinner. This was the first time we ever heard that at a sushi restaurant. We decided to leave as we didn't want to eat the only thing offered which was Bento and he rudely took our menu, didn't even apologize for wasting our time. We've eaten at the best sushi restaurants in Japan and have never felt this level of hostility and discrimination to eat dinner. this restaurant plays favorites, not too good at attracting new customers. We will not be reserving because we will not be returning here. There are plenty of good sushi places in the GTA, don't bother wasting your time with this one. The negative reviews you read have validity to them, we wish we knew that before giving this...

The dining experience is relaxing and comfortable (only have us now). The server is talkative and friendly. We must visit again. We ordered the following dishes :

Appetizers: Homemade salad and miso soup. Salad dressing is refreshing, sweet, and savoury. Miso soup is normal.

2 set of sea urchin sushi : Sea urchin sushi is typically served as a small nigiri sushi, one set come with two pieces. It is buttery, soft and creamy that is lightly sweet taste but not really fresh and lack oceanic taste. Acceptable price💕 ($15/ set) Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Assorted sashimi don: Sushi rice is impressive, doesn't have a strong soury smell and mix with sesame seeds. I love the rice texture and its aftertaste. Don come with fresh and delicious sashimi. It will leave you feeling satisfied and full. Serve with a side of fresh wasabi (Fresh made from Japanese wasabi root🫶🏻), soy sauce. Chef taught me how to enjoy the sashimi bowl🤣

Tempura Don: it is a visually appealing tempura don have a beautiful golden color and a pleasing arrangement. The tempura have a crispy and light texture on the outside, while still maintaining a tender and juicy inside especially the shrimp 🍤😍 The batter of the tempura is flavourful. Shrimp and Veggies is cooked just right, with a slightly sweet and...

Fantastic experience.

This restaurant was an absolute pleasure to eat at. If you like sushi, you MUST try this - maybe if only to treat yourself once.

So a few things: Is it cheap? Relatively, yes. For the quality of the food, this restaurant is fabulously well priced. Is it the cheapest sushi in Newmarket? No, quite the opposite, it is one of the more expensive, but I would say it is one of the best Japanese restaurants in the GTA. They are an easy match for downtown restaurants that are twice the cost.

What should you order? Anything you want. It all seemed excellent. But here is my advice: try the Omakase. Omakase means chef's choice, it's a multi-course meal, curated by the chef. It's not uncommon for it to cost $150-200, even as high as $400 (in Canada). Solo Sushi-Ya has a dinner Omakase for $75, and two lunch Omakase Bentos for $35 or $45 depending on if you'd like to try the chef's choice of sashimi. I cannot stress enough how excellent the food is and how skilled the chef is; I do not often bother with photos for my reviews, but I was impressed enough to take one.

It is restaurants like this that make me wish I could...