Shoushin — Restaurant in Toronto

Have you ever had a meal so bad that it makes you want to avoid that whole food group for the rest of your life? That's how the omakase meal from Jackie Lin at Shoushin made me feel.

The food was delicious, the servers were lovely and the restaurant was beautiful but the behaviour of the head chef/owner Jackie Lin overshadowed all of the above. We visited his restaurant on Friday Feb 3rd for his Obsession Perfection Omakase which starts at $520/pp. One of my guests is friends with a VIP at this restaurant and she requested that we are served by the head chef. The meal started off ok, the appetizers were unique and tasty. However the chef was cold and silently worked for the most part. One of my guests tried to engage the chef in conversation many times but he was met with 1-2 word answers. I can't imagine how we would be treated if the VIP didn't ask the chef to take care of us.

I was feeling full after the appetizers so when the sushi came out I took smaller bites because I was feeling nauseous and didn’t want to risk gagging. The chef didn’t like that I bit the sushi into smaller pieces and asked if I wanted less pieces, I said no. He also kept looking in my direction as if to make sure I was eating properly, it felt really uncomfortable. By the time the ikura bowl course came, he decided to serve my husband and our guests but not me on his own accord. I was left feeling awkward and even more uncomfortable. We ordered the melon (an extra $35) for dessert and it was very juicy but tasteless for the most part. It's no wonder his restaurant was mostly empty and easy to book on short notice. I will not be returning to his restaurant.

Edit: I shared my feedback with the Shoushin team via e-mail and Jackie replied to me to share his side. From the email it becomes evident the chef lacks emotional intelligence and customer service skills. He may also have poor memory and arithmetic skills as he claims I got 10/13 pieces but he only served me 2 less. In actuality he served me 4 less pieces in total (uni roll, ikura bowl, uni+ika roll, toro roll) but I'm not going to focus on the technicalities. It's evident he takes his craft seriously and I don't blame him. Unfortunately he cannot see past his craft to understand it is also important how guests feel in his restaurant. This experience makes me want to avoid omakase for the rest of my life. He could've simply acknowledged my experience with a small apology and it could've rectified this whole situation. Instead he insists there was no wrongdoing on his part. Ultimately it seems he is set in his ways with no room for flexibility so be aware if you want to visit...

Our attempt to dine at Shoushi was a fiasco. They mishandled our reservation, took no responsibility for their lack of proper communication and kept our deposit. Below is my letter to the chef/owner.

July 25, 2025

To Chef Jackie Lin,

We are writing to convey our deep disappointment and frustration with the appalling experience we had at your restaurant on July 16, 2025—specifically the mishandling of our reservation and the unacceptable conduct of your Manager, Brandon Lee.

On July 13, during a phone call with Brandon, we requested to move our 7 p.m. reservation to 6 p.m. He assured us this would not be a problem. Yet when we arrived at 6 p.m., the restaurant was locked. Upon calling, we were informed our reservation remained at 7 p.m. Brandon claimed he had sent an email and left a voicemail to inform us the change wasn’t possible. We received neither.

When we explained this, Brandon became defensive, prioritizing his own absolution over any attempt to resolve the situation. He accepted no responsibility for failing to confirm that we had received this critical change in information, and made no effort to follow up when we hadn’t responded—something any competent manager should consider essential in such a situation.

Errors can happen, but this was a clear failure in basic communication and service. What made the situation truly unacceptable was Brandon’s dismissive, unprofessional behavior. We were left standing outside a locked restaurant in dangerous heat for 20 minutes, as Brandon repeated, with no empathy or urgency, that he had done “everything he could.” Only after our suggestion did he reluctantly agree to let us in.

By then, we were overheated, insulted, and in no frame of mind to enjoy the evening we had been looking forward to. Instead of a special, memorable dining experience, we were met with indifference, poor judgment, and a staggering lack of accountability.

Given the prestige associated with your Michelin recognition, this level of service is inexcusable. We expect, at minimum, either a full refund of our deposit or a sincere effort to reschedule our dinner under proper conditions. As it stands, no service was rendered, and no effort was made to rectify the harm caused.

Please be advised that we will be bringing this matter to the attention of the Michelin Guide, American Express and relevant public platforms. The dining experience encompasses far more than food—it is built on hospitality, care, and integrity. Your team, and Brandon in particular, failed on all fronts.

We await your...

Expensive omakase but food is not worth that price. I have had many experience trying out Japanese food in Japan, Asia and here in Toronto. I am quite impressed of a few restaurants in the GTA area so I had high hope for this place.

The menu has 3 Omakase options, lowest is close to 200/head, then 300 to 400 each. I picked the middle to try out. I have to say, the first few appertizers were highly disappointing because the taste of the food was... too simple, no detail of Japanese cuisine arts, not "perfectionate"(極致) at all! The batter from fried shrimp was not fried till crisp, and it was served cold. Portion was also tiny, not small, but tiny.

One signature appertizer that was mixed with caviar, uni and minced toro. That to me was very weired. The toro taste was not that pronounced (not the best toro) which was supposed to be, sturgeon caviar kinda bring up the taste of the toro but also kind of wasted the caviar... then you mix these with uni and it then covers more the toro taste. Overall it is a fatty, luxury mix of all 3 kinds of seafood delicacies with their unique tastes, but now they are ovverriding each other.

The middle price Omakase comes with the Wagyu beef with 2 options of cooking to pick. I picked the fried version... but I was again very disappointed. They used bread crumb to coat the beef for frying as last step, after frying process with bread crumb it would cover the true taste of the beef. They also give you 3 condiments for the beef... salt, mustard and sweet red miso. You can simply forget abt the miso, it will strongly override the beef. Not need to say, i believe I've got 3 tiny pcs total maybe 20 grams of beef.

Sashimi plate...when they say premium, it is not high end fishes or nice seafood that you would expect, but rather using cheaper seafood, some marinated, some well cut, placed on nice dishes for presentation. Again, tiny portion.

For sushi... supposingly the famous spot light of the restaurant. The Chinese Chef (tell by his last name) seems to have good nigiri skill because rice is cooked and marinated to good taste and texture, but rather not "warm" enough. The fishes are not premuim, out of 10 pcs, I find 3 pcs were happy ones and the rest were just so-so. Its still lack of surprise taste and freshness of each bite compare to those very good Japanese sushi places in GTA. Don't even compare those in Japan.

I am writting this review because I paid $300 but I don't think that was...