The Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Toronto

The black cod sushi ($10 for 2 pieces) is an interesting take on the fish, the nigiri torched tableside so the fish’s fat begins to melt forming slight layers in the cod. Being a denser fish, it does need a fair amount of flavour and while the sweet soy was a start, it needed something else for interest. After the experience, I’m still on the fence of whether a nigiri is the best use of this prized fish.

My preference is still for the baked miso marinated black cod ($15) where the fish is hot and flaky and infused with a slightly sweet umami flavour. The palm-sized portion is just enough for sharing amongst two people.

Sushi Bar’s other a-la-carte nigiri is just as good with large pieces of barbeque eel on the unagi and a thick slice of ruby red tuna on the maguro (both $7 for 2 pieces).

Displaying the lobster on top of the lobster roll ($18) was a great idea as it becomes the first thing you taste, and diners can see the full tail in its glory. However, it was already overcooked and blowtorching it at the table made it even more dry and chewy. Ideally, they should undercook it to begin, and the torching will help heat and finish off the doneness at the table. It’s a dish with promise and the thin cucumber lantern a great idea for a beautiful garnish.

Starting every meal is a bowl of rice crackers that arrives with drinks, a pre-pandemic tradition that I’m glad has been kept, providing something to snack on as we peruse the menu. A new addition is an amuse bouche of seafood, squid, and seaweed salads, enough for a bite each to enjoy while the rest of the meal arrives.

As the temperature drops, the complimentary starter is sometimes a rich hot bowl of miso soup with cubes of tofu and seaweed flakes. A welcomed respite after a cool walk to the restaurant.

With a variety of maki available, the black dragon ($17) was an interesting take on the fancier dynamite roll. In this case, sweet-glazed barbeque eel, tempura bits, fish roe, and green onion wrapped around the shrimp tempura. It’s a colourful creation offering a variety of textures and flavours and it’s ideal that the pieces aren’t overly large so that they are enjoyed in one bite.

The red dragon ($17) is just as good, substituting the barbeque eel for salmon instead. If you’re in the mood for shrimp tempura ($8 for 3 pieces), I’d recommend having it in maki-form as the fried shrimp by itself is underwhelming, the batter too thick and the temperature tepid at best.

Upsold to the tuna tartare roll ($10), we should have stuck with the tried-and-true spicy tuna ($8). In the tartare, the tuna too pulverized and the filling including dreaded tempura bits that causes the roll to become gummy. It also needs more heat to be considered spicy tuna.

Despite their name, Sushi Bar also makes a variety of non-sushi dishes. You get a hefty portion of hamachi kama ($19) with the full portion, a meaty cut of the fish’s jaw. A thicker cut, there were parts of the fish that could have been done a touch less but being a bone-in piece, it can be hard to gauge. Nevertheless, the skin was crispy and the fish hot and delicious. Served with a radish ponzu soy sauce, a bit more salt sprinkled onto the fish would...

Our friends K & V invited my partner and I to join them for dinner at The Sushi Bar on Yonge St in Bedford Park hood. Parking was a challenge to get, and it was a cold walk to the restaurant. We were greeted at the door by Ju, who knew K&V from previous visits.

The restaurant was busy with what looked like a neighborhood crowd. It’s cozy with simple wood seats and tables – fitting for a Japanese spot. We were immediately served hot green tea which was welcome given our chilly walk. The menu is extensive, offering a range of typical Japanese starters, salads and soups, sushi pizza (looked interesting), lots of a-la-cart sushi and sashimi, rolls and maki, a couple of bento boxes, larger platters for sharing, and something called Omakase, which looks to be a large chef curated platter. There are lots of noodles and rice options to choose from and larger party trays. For drinks there was a range of Japanese beers and sakis. If you are not that familiar with Japanese food, which I am not, it can be daunting and a pit paralyzing deciding what to choose.

Three of us ordered Sapporo Beer. C and I started with Yam Tempura and Shrimp Tempura. The shrimp was as expected; the yam was different – it is baked tempura battered purple sweet “mini” potato – not as sweet as the larger yam slices typically served. Not my favorite, but likely very Japanese. A nice touch was that our server brought each of us a complementary salmon tartar, buttery salmon with a wonderful umami flavour - outstanding. Be sure to ask about it.

We continued with the Osaka Sashimi platter (12 pcs) comprised of salmon, tuna, white tuna and butter fish, spicy tuna rolls, Chirashi Don (9 pcs of tuna, crab, salmon, white tuna, yellow tail, shrimp, egg butter fish, and scallop), 2 orders of Rainbow Roll (tuna and salmon California Roll), Spicy Tuna Roll (tuna, cucumber, spicy mayo), and Green Dragon Roll (avocado, tempura bits, fish roe, green onion on spicy shrimp tempura). Collectively this offered a very filling and satisfying meal. C and I finished with mango and black sesame ice cream. The mango was pleasingly fruity and sweet; however, the black sesame was a bit bland for a dessert – not complaining, just observing.

On our departure, Ju inquired to our satisfaction with our meal and made a point of inviting us back again soon – a genuine, warm, gesture which seems almost archaic in the Toronto of today.

In summary, going for sushi/sashimi in Toronto can be an expensive hit-and-miss experience. We are often disappointed with what seems to be dry, day-old sushi rolls, or greasy tempura. Not so here at The Sushi Bar. While not the "best" sushi I have ever had (that was at a hole-in-the-wall, Tokyo-based sushi bar on Denman Street in Vancouver), it was a very satisfying dining experience that did not break the budget. The Sushi Bar is a great spot to visit when you are craving sushi/sashimi. I want to go back and try one of those sushi pizzas.

Unfortunately, I did not take any photos on this visit to share here, being fully engrossed with our conversations with our lovely...

This sushi bar place has been my go-to sushi joint since 2016-2017. Many years we have either go there for casual dinner, anniversary dinner, school lunch, takeout , birthdays and etc. This is a family run business. The owners are always working very hard and their food is always taste very good, very fresh, good looking, pack with quality. The master chef is Japanese, if it is a deal breaker to some of you. He had years of training back from Japan.

His Miso soup is amazing! And I am telling you this because I have been to Japan eating those sushi bars ;Tokyo, Hokkaido, and Kawaguchiko. Sushi bar miso soup beats all of them.

We love their Salmon Sushi pizza a lot. Unagi topping Sushi pizza is also very good. I like their Yukke dish. Here are the list of some of our favourite; Hotate sushi, saba sushi, , salmon hand roll, spicy salmon roll and black dragon roll.

They also have many rare Japanese whisky to offer, sake, soju and...