Dinner at Ten-Ichi Sushi

My friends and I went to Ten-Ichi Sushi in Scarborough for dinner on Saturday. It's an all-you-can-eat restaurant, which many of you know, is my favourite. Though, at $28.95 a pop, this place was a little more pricey that I was hoping for.

Our original plan was to meet there at 6:00 p.m. I had a few errands to run beforehand and arrived ten minutes early. No one else was there, so I got a table for four. It was only after I sat down that I noticed the text that Gabe sent - Doris was running late and the new meet up time was 6:30.

He had actually sent a WhatsApp message earlier, but I don't have data. So, if I'm out, I have to be contacted on my cell. He didn't remember that until too late. I ordered some tea, nigiri and maki rolls and snacked by myself while I waited.

Justin arrived next. He was actually early too. But he had grabbed a coffee and cookie next door at the Timmies and waited there. If I had only known.

Gabe showed up next. By himself. Originally he was going to come with Doris, but decided he couldn't keep us waiting by ourselves for too long. We ordered a few more items and then she showed up.

I have to admit they have an extensive selection of items at Ten-Ichi. There are things such as the quick-seared sushi items that I won't get at the restaurants I go to. The photos in the menu are a bit deceptive as well. They look really amazing. What you actually get when the food comes to your table isn't so much. It doesn't affect the taste of course but, hey, presentation does count for something.

Still, the top tier items (at Ten-Ichi and at other sushi restaurants) is the sashimi. That's what you pay the most for. So, really, I'm not sure a few more special maki rolls or dessert items are worth the extra bucks.

Birthday Week

It was my birthday last week. I was privileged enough to be able to spend time with a lot of my friends. Most of it was spent doing my favourite activity - eating!

On Wednesday, Peter, took me out for fried chicken and beer at Buldak, a Korean restaurant on Yonge, north of Steeles. That was nice of him. I actually hadn't planned on doing anything that day because I worked late and didn't think I'd have time to meet up with anybody. So it was sort of a last minute thing.

On Thursday I met up with my friend, Will. We normally meet for each other's birthdays and quite often we have AYCE sushi. So, this time, I gave him a choice between that and India's Taste, a buffet restaurant on Denison Street in Markham. He chose that one. I've been there a few times and the food is both good and reasonably priced.

On Friday I met up with Gabe. We were hoping our other friend, Daphne, could join us, but she was unavailable. We picked a place Gabe had gone to in the past. It was called Café Hollywood and it serves Hong Kong-style food. There was a special where you could get a pitcher of Sapporo beer for $9.99 if you ordered 20 wings. So we had that.

On Saturday I met up with a few others from the Foodie Group. We went to a Japanese restaurant near Peter's condo called My Sushi. I didn't know it was an all-you-can-eat restaurant until I got there. Most of you know those are my favourite kind of places. So I was happy when I found out. I was also glad William and I had Indian food two nights earlier. Because, even though I like AYCE sushi, I don't need to eat it twice in just a few days.

Thanks, everyone, for being such thoughtful friends! I really appreciate your kindness.

California Roll on Bayview

Lawrence and I went to California Roll AYCE sushi on Bayview last Friday. If you know me, you know I really like sushi. Especially All-You-Can-Eat. It's one of my favourites. So much so it was actually the second time I went in a week. The previous Friday I was at Gallery Sushi at Village by the Grange with Gabe before we saw Black Mass at TIFF.

Before going to California Roll I had checked a few places on-line. There were two things that I considered in choosing a place - the price and proximity to my place.

Echo Sushi was the closest at only 10 minutes south on Yonge. I thought they were a little pricey at $22.99 for dinner plus a $2.00 surcharge Friday through Sunday and holidays, but they turned out to be the same as the other two places I looked up.

I found Yonge Sushi on-line. It's prices seemed all right at $22.99 and their menu selection was okay. But they were a bit further up Yonge north of Lawrence for a 40-minute walk.

California Rolls on Bayview south of Eglinton was supposed to be the same price as the others. It's menu selection seemed a bit better than Yonge Sushi and it was only 25 minutes away. So I suggested that one.

Lawrence called them and made reservations for us at 8:00 p.m. Of course I arrived at 8:00. And, of course, he ran late blaming traffic. No biggie. I ordered a plate of sushi ahead of time just for myself.

When the menu came I noticed they raised the price to $23.50 (plus $2.00 weekend surcharge). What can you do? I ordered a number of my favourites - Rainbow Roll, Eel and Avocado Roll and a variety of nigiri and sashimi. I have to say the White Tuna sushi was amazing. So fresh and tasty.

I had just about demolished the whole plate when Lawrence arrived. He was hungry so I reluctantly allowed him to eat the last piece of sushi on the plate. Of course we ordered more. A lot more.

I tried a few more rolls - the Spider Roll (soft shell crab) and Volcano Roll (avocado, cucumber, tobiko, chopped grilled scallop and "crab" meat). Lawrence ordered some sashimi (surf clam, red snapper, mackerel and white tuna).

For the next round I ordered more nigiri and I tried a couple more rolls - the Crystal Roll (white tuna, avocado, crab meat and "crispy") and the Salmon Dragon Roll (shrimp tempura, tobiko, cucumber with salmon on top).

I finished off dinner with a scoop of red bean ice cream and their deep fried ice cream (mango flavour). I didn't think it was that good. Still, overall, the food was quite good as was the service.

The price was a bit more than expected. Plus, on the bill, I noticed we were charged an extra $1.00 each for green tea. Who charges for tea? So, instead of a total of $30.00 each, it ended up being about $35.00 each after tax and tip. For that price I might just go back to Echo Sushi.

Smurfs Team Dinner - Osaka Sushi

We organized another team dinner for our Cornerstone Sports Night team. Originally we had nine people who said they could come out. But, Annie and Dan had to back out because they had just returned from vacation overseas and their baby was a bit cranky.

As well, Mike, lost his wallet right before we were supposed to meet, so he had to go look for it. So it was just Lily and Lemei, Chuan and her husband, Anthony, and Derek and I.

Since I had AYCE sushi the week before I suggested either going to Amaya the Indian Room or AYCE meat at Korean Grill on Highway 7 and Leslie. Derek suggested Osaka Sushi on Highway 7 west of Markham Road. He found it on Yelp. He didn't think the girls would be interested in AYCE.

After looking through the menu at Osaka Sushi and seeing that it was a little pricey we all agreed AYCE would have actually been better. Next time.

For the six of us we ordered a large sushi/sashimi boat, plus a couple of their specialty rolls - the $16 Toronto Roll and $15 King Spider Roll.

The food was good for sure. But, we weren't quite full and didn't really want to spend much more money there. So we hit a Chinese dessert place at Midland and McNicoll afterwards.

Oh... and, Mike... he eventually found his wallet. Whew.

Sushi & Bento on Dundas/University

Yes, I went to All-You-Can-Eat sushi. Again. It's becoming quite the habit I know.

This time I went to Sushi & Bento on Dundas, east of University with one of my friends. She has a condo nearby and I had gone there the previous weekend to take some pictures because she wants to sell her unit. I came by to drop the pictures off and we went to dinner.

This was the first time either of us had been there. It's a somewhat small restaurant with a simple-looking interior. Nothing fancy by anyone's standards.

What drew us inside was the sign outside that advertised AYCE sushi (including sashimi) for $19.99. That's a decent price for what they were offering (considering some of the other places I've frequented ran from $24.95-$25.95 for dinner).

Their selection was fine. They had a reasonable selection of items. The fish tasted fresh. The service was all right.

I have to say the nigiri had quite a bit of rice. The dragon rolls were larger than I've seen too. Most places serve them cut into 6-8 pieces. Some of the ones here were cut into 10-pieces. Though I should mention they were thinly sliced. The nigiri with too much rice could be easily offset by ordering sashimi and combining the two if you wanted. Or if you don't care for the rice at all, you could just order the sashimi on its own.

There were only four items listed under dessert - green tea ice cream, vanilla ice cream, deep fried banana and mango yogurt. But, for the price I wouldn't consider it a big deal. Just fill up on fish and you can't go wrong.

I'll be back.

Walk at Tommy Thompson Park

Emily and Gabe asked me along with them on a hike at Tommy Thompson Park on the Leslie Spit. It was a pretty nice day out. Though it was still a bit cool the skies were blue, so that was good.

The park has undergone a lot of changes since I last was there a few years ago. It's been developed quite a bit for the better. As well as the main road for cycling and service vehicles, there are separate paths just for walkers. There are also a number of small ponds that I hadn't seen before where water birds and other birds can rest/nest. Unfortunately we didn't get to stay for very long as Gabe had to head out to Mississauga to look at a used bike he was interested in buying.

The trip to Mississauga was fruitful. Gabe ended up buying the bike for $75. The fellow selling it said it was his sister's. But she hardly rode it so they were just getting rid of it. Even though it's old it's in good condition.

Next we headed to Ajimi for dinner at Yonge and Davisville. Keith joined us for all-you-can-eat sushi. After that we called Daphne and headed up to Twister for Karaoke. It was fun.

I stayed until just after 10:00 p.m. then headed out to join Donald Chow and his friends to play hockey at Pleasantview Arena off Victoria Park south of Finch.

Birthday Dinner #2

After my visit to High Park to see the cherry blossoms I quickly drove home. My friend William had planned a birthday dinner for me at what I thought was supposed to be 5:30 (but was, in fact, 5:45). We had decided to go to Ajimi, the all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant in my neighbourhood.

Will invited Dickie, Big Jon and Lawrence along. Since I got the time wrong I arrived there first with Will. Dickie and Big Jon came together, next. Lawrence was last. Late as usual. We started ordering ahead of time so we wouldn't have to wait too long for the food to come out.

It was nice having a slightly larger group. It gave me the opportunity to try more things. Normally I come here with only one other friend. So I don't get the chance to order so much. The food here is great nevertheless. And the price, $18.99 (-10% if you pay cash) for dinner is very reasonable.

Even though I see most of the guys semi-regularly, it was nice to meet up again. I'm grateful for their friendship over the years. ... Now I sort of feel old (which I suppose I am) ... Cheers.

Echo Sushi - $13.99 AYCE Lunch

My friend Ying and I went to Echo Sushi for lunch a little while ago. I had gone there once before with my roommate, Naomi, and her friend Markus. It's an All-You-Can-Eat Japanese restaurant on the west side of Yonge in between Eglinton and Davisville.

My previous favorite place for AYCE sushi was Ajimi (at Yonge and Davisville). They charge $11.99 for lunch. Echo Sushi is a little more expensive at $13.99, but you get a lot more selection. And better stuff too (like rainbow rolls and things like that). Ajimi doesn't even offer dessert at lunch time (and Echo does).

So, while dinner (at $18.99) is great at Ajimi... I'd say pay the $2 more and go to Echo for AYCE sushi at lunchtime.

Ajimi Sushi

Ajimi Sushi is a new favorite of mine for great all-you-can-eat sushi. Located just north of Davisville Avenue, I'm sure I must have passed it many times on my frequent trips up and down Yonge Street.

I don't remember exactly why I first went there, but I believe one of my friends and I were hungry one day and decided to go in and try it. It probably had something to do with the fact you could get dinner for $18.99 less 10% if you paid cash.

The food turned out to be very good. They have quite a few items to choose from including a selection of dragon rolls, one of my favorites. The dinner menu also includes a variety of sashimi which a lot of people like too.

Lunch is $11.99. The same 10% discount for cash payment applies. Now, while the price is quite reasonable during lunchtime, the selection is pared down quite a bit. They have maki rolls and sushi, but no dragon rolls or sashimi.

Nevertheless, I don't think you can go wrong whatever time of the day you choose to go. Just bring a hearty appetite and be prepared to enjoy.