Toriton Asahikawa — Restaurant in Asahikawa

One of my friends suggested to try Toriton received lots of good Google reviews. I was like sure why not, then I realised how far out it was from town. It seemed so tedious to get there but surprisingly it is less daunting than it looks.

For those of you who are interested to give Toriton a try, just head over to the Tourist Information Centre and asked one of the guides who will be more than helpful to assist you on how to get there. It’s literally as easy as taking a bus ride.

Wait at the designated bus stop number which services bus 70 or 76 (you’d need to ask the guide as the guide told us it used to be stop number 10 but hey moved it to stop number 5 recently) Board the bus and enjoy the ride. Then get off at Kyokushin 3 jo 5 chome or something like that (don’t worry the guide will most likely write it down for you, if not you may ask him to write it out for you) The bus so happens to stop right in front of the restaurant just across the street. So after getting off of the bus, just cross the street and you’re there. You can’t miss it.

After the bus journey, I was starving for some fresh sushi. Unbeknownst to me, Toriton is a conveyor belt sushi restaurant and I only realised to my horror after stepping through the door. I’ve never been a fan on such restaurants and I doubt I ever will be. However, since everyone is there and eager to try Toriton, I decided to have an open mind and go for it.

They have an english menu so it’s very tourist friendly and makes ordering a breeze. If you’re feeling lazy then you can just pick right off the conveyor belt.

Now whether the sushi is good really depends on the freshness of their ingredients at the point of time when the order is made. The fresher the ingredient, the better quality and taste it’ll have. This is very true cause the 1st plate of uni we had tasted like it was left out for too long but the 2nd plate tasted more refreshing and sweet. Then there was the crab meat with innards which was pretty good but suddenly did a 180 with the the salmon. There’s inconsistency with the quality of their items and it makes me feel like a game of luck.

Toriton is one of those passable restaurants which gets a...

Arriving at 6 p.m. on a bustling Saturday evening, I was greeted not by a friendly host but by a door sign warning of a 1 hour 45 minute wait. My first thought? Surely, it won’t be that long. Yet, as other diners exchanged knowing glances and murmurs about the restaurant’s acclaim, I convinced myself that perhaps the wait would pass quickly.

Well, it didn’t.

By the time we were seated, I was dangerously close to hangry. But as soon as the first dish arrived, all was forgiven. Toriton, it turns out, lives up to its sterling reputation. With prices that are surprisingly affordable given the superb quality, this was an experience that satiated both hunger and expectations.

The homemade almond jelly, the star of the show, nearly slipped through my fingers. Recommended with almost too much enthusiasm on the menu, I almost dismissed it — what a mistake that would have been. Soft as milk, it was the perfect sweet conclusion.

Then there was the chawanmushi, as unassuming as it was sensational. True to its number one spot on the “highly recommended” list, this silken custard proved that simplicity, when done right, can be extraordinary.

Honorable mentions go to the grilled flounder fin, delightfully tender and smoky, and the melt-in-your-mouth albacore fatty tuna. These, among other standouts, turned a long wait into a distant memory.

Would I wait 1 hour 45 minutes again? On vacation time, probably not. But for anyone with the patience and a love for exceptional sushi, Toriton is well worth the visit—and the wait—if you find...

Can get quite busy, worth queuing early. When you get in there is a digital screen to select your number of parties. Once you do that you get a receipt with QR code which you scan to see the numbers before you. There is a LINE option which says it notifies you once the table is ready but for us it didn't work. The numbers are called in Japanese so do keep an ear out and make sure you check the QR code so you don't miss it. Overall it took an hour wait during lunch for two people. Very affordable and delicious sushi which is made to order. A wide range and the specials are definitely worth ordering. I loved the squid sampling fish where you could try three different squids to compare. Order everything via tablet which does have English and images. There is also a timer on the tablet, which I believe the allocated time was around 1 hour from sitting down. However, we were done in around 30 mins as the items do come...