Yukashi Japanese Cuisine — Restaurant in Toronto

Yukashi-san (the chef at Yukashi) is a master of combining flavours in harmony to make something amazingly delightful that I've never had before in Japan, New York or Europe.

Yukashi is a classic Kyoto-style, Kaiseki, Omakse, multi-course Japanese dinner restaurant with counter seating for up to dozen people (Omakse means there is no a-la-carte food menu. Kaiseki means that the meal is prepared for each person with the freshest, high quality, seasonal ingredients). Yukashi-sans' ingredients and techniques are from traditional Japanese cuisine, but his food ideas and personal style are reflected in a unique instance of Japanese cuisine of his own creation.

I will long cherish the memory of the combination of madai (Red Sea Bream) sashimi with chrysanthemum - that combination was out-of-this-world fabulous. I never had Nodogura (blackthroat seaperch) before my most recent visit to Yukashi. I was impressed with the delicious preparation of the Nodogura - eating it made me happy. There were two different soups - both worthy of lingering over and savouring every spoonful (something not often said by me about soup). The chestnut appetizer was more than worthy of being served alongside the legendary Rokusaburo Michiba's hors d'oeuvres at his Ginza restaurant. I feel echoes of the charm of Nobu (the original New York one at Hudson and Frankin Streets) not by exactly copying Nobu Matsuhisa's classic Alaskan-Black-Cod-with-Miso-marine (which so many, many Japanese restaurants do), but instead with Yukashi-san's own secret-recipe homemade fruit-infused sakes.

The staff is small in number, but attentive, effective and efficient. This is a modest, cozy place - not a large style restaurant. There will not be two dozen nearly invisible staff hovering around you and popping up if maybe you need something (a wonderful quality in a larger restaurant, but not in harmony with the comfy feel of Yukashi). Because it is a small restaurant, there may be times when you will have to ask the staff for something, but this in no way detracts from the appeal of the evening spent in their company and sometimes the interaction makes the dining experience more fun.

Yukashi-san takes his food very seriously, but dinner does not have to always be sombre. As Yukashi-san prepared my food, I really enjoyed moments of chatting (questions/stories) with him. Yukashi-san can sometimes be playful in his moments with the customers - but never at the expense of every morsel of food being perfect.

Even if you have to go out of your way, I highly recommend you try Yukashi and see what flavor is new for you. Dining at Yukashi once each season can easily become a habit, to enjoy Yukashi-sans' mastery of combining flavours into his own memorable style of...

Elevated Michelin-quality fine dining featuring the rich Japanese cuisine culture.

Yukashi is definitely not your typical omakase restaurant. Most omakase restaurants in Toronto offer only sushi and sashimi. The rare ones offer a full omakase meal built around their tempura dishes. However, you are treated to a full 9-course meal at Yukashi conceived and constructed by executive chef Daisuke Izutsu.

Chef Izutsu was brought to Toronto from Japan as a private chef for the Consulate General of Japan in 2001. He served the Japanese royal family, heads of government and celebrities from all over the world in that role.

When we were at his restaurant last weekend, he was quick to point out that he was a Japanese Kaiseki (formal meal) chef, not a sushi chef. And the 9-course meal we enjoyed that evening was inspired by Kaiseki and interpreted by Chef Izutsu. All the ingredients were flown in from Japan, from yuzu to musk melon, wasabi plant to sea urchin.

The evening started with an appetite constructed around sea urchin served over egg custard. The mixed textures and tastes of the two elevated the sea urchin to the next level.

Then a soup was prepared fresh in front of our eyes, with Chef Izutsu explaining the ingredients and how to enjoy it. And enjoyed the soup we did. The taste was delicate and layered. The soup was followed by a deep-fried fish with very small and delicate scales providing the texture of batter, and the dish was outstanding.

Thinly slices Wagyu beef were torched with foie gras, sea urchin and freshly prepared wasabi together. The concoctions just melted in the mouth when consumed rolled up with a sprig of shiso.

The main course was a smorgasbord (I know I am mixing cultures here…) of delicacies from tempura to eggs, with copious number of interesting touches in between to cleanse the palate. I will not go into details to describe each item as they could only be experienced together for full effect.

We were the treated to the chef's interpretation of shabu-shabu and it was followed by Japanese style risotto with a mix of rice and barley. Needless to say, both were outstanding.

Chef Izutsu was friendly and hospitable. He was also precise and exacting. It was apparent that he loved his art, and he was a tremendous artist.

If you are looking for a Michelin-star meal that is out of the ordinary, you should give Yukashi a try. You will gain a memorable experience and new appreciation...

Had high expectation after reading all the great reviews. However the food was totally underwhelmed for the price tag.

Sort of understand that maybe the chef wants to go for the "zen" aspect and present food as art. But before you go to the "zen" concept or have any sort of theme you should work on the food.

The sashimi plate was beautiful but I am not sure the square cutting is the best for Ootoro

The fish / mushroom soup has the taste of mushroom umami but it is too salty

The harvest dish - as i was expecting seasonal ingredients the "harvest dish" obviously doesn't suit with the winter theme. It should be an autumn dish. In addition, the rice crisp (?) was very difficult to chew and also lacking flavor. The dishes are the plate are also not impressive.

Agedashi tofu has some sort of sour taste I'm not sure whether that is normal

Wagyu/uni/foie gras - the mixed of 3 expensive ingredients sounds luxurious but there is a lack of harmony/balance. I couldn't taste the freshness or taste of uni after the torch. In addition, for a restaurant at this price tag I would expect the dishes are designed properly for taste or proportion - clearly this dish doesn't do the justice. My husband's plate has bigger uni pieces than mine and to me this is not quality. Also when my husband tried to eat the piece without torching (by mistake) the chef stopped him and torched the whole thing he put together including the shiso - this is not a professional gesture. Of course, my husband could be rude by trying to eat before he torched the piece, but as a professional chef he should ask him to remove the shiso leave instead of torching that until it disappeared.

list goes on....

the only thing i enjoyed the most was the melon in the end as it was very juicy. However for the price tag i would expect plates with more delicacy and professionalism demonstrated in both service and food. For a culture that is promoting 匠心(shousin - meaning effort/willingness to do everything perfect/properly), Yukashi is by far the most disappointing Japanese restaurant I have been in Toronto.

for a $150 dollar experience i would save my money and spend it somewhere else - will not return and do not...