Miku Toronto — Restaurant in Toronto

Food: 5 Stars Service: 5 Stars Ambience: 5 Stars Value: 5 Stars Overall: 5 Stars

Miku Toronto opened in 2015 situated in Toronto’s Harbour Front at Bay and Queen’s Quay, and is the first East Coast location of ABURI Restaurants. ABURI Restaurants is known for their innovative approach to sushi, combining traditional Japanese techniques with contemporary Canadian flavors. Miku Toronto offers a unique dining experience, serving fresh and flavourful sushi that combines both tradition and innovation.

Dining at Miku Toronto was a delightful experience from start to finish. From the fresh and flavourful sushi to the attentive and friendly service, to the comfortable and ambient seating, everything was simply exceptional. I started my meal with a cup of Miso Soup (5.00 CAD), which was a classic and tasted just like any other Miso Soup I’ve had at other sushi restaurants. I then ordered the Miku Signature Selection (40.00 CAD), which offered a unique and unforgettable experience as the chef selected ten pieces of sushi for me to try, much like an Omakase.

Additionally, I also opted for the Oshi Sampler (18.00 CAD), which comprised six pieces of sushi – two pieces each of Salmon, Ebi, and Saba Oshi. Each piece of sushi was carefully crafted, with its own distinct taste that pleasantly surprised my palate. To my surprise, the Aburi Oshi sushi, or torched sushi, was particularly rich and delicious, breaking the mold of my typical raw nigiri preference.

The service at Miku Toronto was top-notch. Our server was knowledgeable, friendly, and attentive, providing us with excellent recommendations and continuously checking in on us throughout the meal to ensure that our food was good and that our experience was up to par. It was my first time dining at Miku Toronto with my best friend, and we were both craving sushi, and our server made sure that we left with satisfied cravings.

The seating was just as fantastic as the food and service. We were seated in a booth/chair setting near the wine display wall, which offered a comfortable and ambient atmosphere. On the other side of the restaurant, we could see the kitchen and the sushi chefs behind the counter, working their magic, which added to the overall experience. Although Miku doesn’t have its own designated parking, there are several options for parking nearby, including underground parking lots, parking garages, and street parking.

In total, I ordered 16 pieces of sushi and a cup of Miso Soup for $63, which I considered an excellent value, especially since I treated it as an Omakase experience. Usually, Omakase dinners cost $80 or more and only offer ten pieces of sushi, leaving you feeling still hungry. Miku, on the other hand, exceeded my expectations and didn’t disappoint.

Note: This review is based solely on my sushi experiences in Canada and does not reflect the quality of sushi in Japan, which I...

There are certain expectations when you dine at or order from a high-end restaurant that commands $$$$ prices and is considered top 10 sushi places in Toronto – the service should be impeccable and the food should be outstanding. Unfortunately, neither of the two criteria were met in our recent experience, hence the lower rating.

Ordering online proved to be a challenge. The app gives you something like 9 minutes to complete your order. That’s to pick items, to review the cart, make adjustments, register, add payment information and click ‘place order’. I ran out of time, lost everything I had in my cart and the time slot I was ordering for was no longer available. The next available pick up slot was 1 hour and 45 minutes away. That’s quite a wait, but OK…

To add insult to the injury, when we showed up a couple of minutes before 3:30, our specified pick-up time, the order was not even worked on, it looked like there was some sort of a mix up with our order. We had to wait about 20 minutes before our order was brought out.

In a rush, trying to not run out of time again, I missed the fact that Unagi Don was actually frozen. Frozen like a pack of grilled eel you get from an Asian supermarket frozen food section. It came pre-cut on a bed of rice. We heated it up in a microwave, as per the instructions on the package… well… the old adage held true here – nothing good comes out of a microwave and this was no exception. The reheated rice was quite bad.

The rest of the food we ordered was very good, I must say. Aburi Salmon Oshi, Aburi Saba Oshi, Miku Roll – all were very tasty. I only wish the ratio of fish to rice was a little higher.

I picked based on the recommendation from the other reviewers and the picks were spot on. Red wave rolls, which we also ordered, were also good but we all preferred the Miku rolls.

The letdown with Miku as with many other high-end sushi places is that It’s like they’ve never heard of NIKIRI SAUCE or WASABI ROOT. It’s a crime to serve sushi with fast-food type packages of fake wasabi and soy sauce. Even if it’s a take out. By the way, the food at Miku doesn’t even come with wasabi and soy sauce, you have to remember to add them as separate items.

We ended up enjoying our food with homemade nikiri sauce and freshly-grated wasabi root that we picked up on the way from a Japanese grocery store. Heavenly!

The dessert, Tropical Tahitian Vanilla Bean Cheesecake, was fantastic. I highly recommend it. Just make sure to order 2-3 of those per person, Miku makes them smurf-sized which I didn’t realize at first given the...

We wanted to try some elegant Japanese cuisine and Miku’s name came right at the top. We drove to Toronto, and the parking was easy to find right next to Miku, although it’s quite expensive.

We ordered a spicy sesame edamame, a Japanese crispy chicken, and ebi fritters for appetizers. The chicken bursted with flavour and had the perfect amount of umami, and subtle tastes which enhanced the experience. The ebi fritters were huge, juicy shrimps and came with a very tasty sauce. The salad on the side also added to the freshness. Both the chicken and the fritters, although deep-fried, were very light on the palette. Edamame, which are usually served bland, surprisingly paired very well with the spicy dressing.

As for the mains, we ordered a salmon sashimi, the garden select, and of course we had to try their famous salmon aburi oshi. For the uninitiated, aburi is their torched salmon sushi. The sushi was creamy and had a subtle hint of jalapeño peppers which contributed to the flavour. It came with two types of soy sauces, the homemade sweet soy and traditional soy. The homemade soy went well with the sushi. The salmon sashimi came with salad. Upon first glance, it looked incredibly fresh. It was melt-in-the-mouth and very satisfying. The garden select came with miso soup, and an assortment of vegetarian sushi, agedashi tofu, and lotus stem. The plate was very creative and beautiful-looking, and every sushi had a unique flavour. The miso soup was mild and had flavourful seaweed.

For desserts, we ordered a strawberry / raspberry sorbet, ichigo mochi dome, and a coffee cake. The sorbet was sweet, tangy, and light, and came with a sugar cracker. If my son was not bursting by that time, he would’ve definitely gone for a second serving. The mochi was stretchy, as expected, and had toffee bits to complement the subtle mochi flavour. It also came with an ice cream, which paired very well together. The coffee cake was top notch and came with an ice cream. The bitterness of the coffee balanced very well with the sweetness of the ice cream.

The servers were very courteous and took time to explain every dish as they served it on our table.

Overall, a 5-star experience and highly recommended to anyone who wants to experience the Japanese cuisine in an...