Kitaya Japanese Takeout — Restaurant in Toronto

Food: 3 Stars Service: 3 Stars Ambience: 3 Stars Value: 3 Stars Overall: 3 Stars

Toronto is home to a plethora of sushi restaurants, making the competition quite fierce. I visited Kitaya, hoping it would offer a standout experience. Unfortunately, my visit was somewhat underwhelming.

The torch pressed sushi was decent but not exceptional. While it was fresh, it lacked the wow factor that I’ve experienced at other sushi spots in the city. For the same price point, there are places where the quality and flavours are noticeably superior.

I was particularly looking forward to the green matcha soft serve, but it turned out to be rather average. The texture and taste did not meet my expectations, as I’ve had much better matcha desserts elsewhere.

Service was another area that left room for improvement. Despite the staff being polite, the service was quite slow. It took a considerable amount of time to get our orders, which affected the overall dining experience. Speedier service would have made the meal much more enjoyable.

I visited Kitaya for a casual lunch, expecting a delightful sushi experience based on its reputation. The food and service did not quite meet the expectations set by other top-notch sushi establishments in Toronto.

In summary, Kitaya is an okay choice if you’re in the area, but there are many other sushi restaurants in Toronto that offer better value for the same price. I hope they can make some improvements to enhance the dining experience for future...

Already been here twice! Both times trying different soft serve combinations and croffles. The soft serve was very nice and refreshing! Amazing for hot summer days! The amount of ice cream is very generous too! I have been on a big hojicha craze this past summer and extremely loved their ice cream! The first time I had the castella classic and added on a Nutella waffle. For the soft serve, it did take me getting used to as the ice cream melts a bit and soaks into the cake it did come out a little too moist for my liking, but I did love both textures separately! Second time around, I had the pudding a la mode and mochi azuki and added the strawberry cream cheese and cinnamon sugar croffle! This time the add in of the Japanese pudding worked out a lot better and loved the textures it brought! The croffle as always has been on point! Nice amount of chew with a flaky texture as well! Service was decent and enjoyed my service more the first time around with a lady, but the man the second time seemed a little more rushed. But no major complaints! Definitely would return as they also have japanese fruit sandos, sushi offerings and more soft serve options! Great job overall!

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If I were rating the hojicha soft serve alone, I would've given 4 stars, maybe even 4.5. I was so impressed by their icecream that I returned to try their food. Boy was I shocked by how inedible the uni botan-ebi don was!! Don't be deceived by my photos. I was initially pleased with the overall presentation. The uni looked so bright and inviting, but when I actually tasted it, it was extremely bitter and slimey (aka starting to disintegrate). I'm a big fan of uni and this was probably some of the most unpleasant tasting uni I've ever had in my entire life. Without a doubt, the uni was no longer fresh. I also noticed that the shrimp lost its translucency and the flesh looked dry and discoloured. The shrimp tasted off, like it had been left in the fridge for a few days. The Katsu don was thankfully homey tasting but the uni botan-ebi don scared me off of their food forever. For $39 before tax the uni botan-ebi don was not cheap. It pains me to write this because I want to support this new and local business but they really need to ensure that their seafood is fresh before serving it to customers.

That being said, I would only return for their icecream...if I can erase the taste of that uni from my...