Yonge Sushi

I went to Yonge Sushi with Lawrence on Saturday. It's just over 3 kilometres from my place up Yonge in between Lawrence and York Mills. A 40-minute walk.

Though I've driven it many, many times, it was the first time I've walked that stretch. There are actually a lot of nice restaurants and other establishments in the area. I had no idea.

I picked this particular all-you-can-eat restaurant because it's a little less expensive than Echo Sushi which is much closer to me. Yonge Sushi is $21.99 for dinner while Echo is $24.99 (including a $2.00 surcharge for Friday-Sundays & holidays).

Yonge Sushi isn't very big. They have, perhaps, seating for 40. As usual, I got there earlier than Lawrence. He's coming from Etobicoke though. But I walked. So it should have evened out.

Like last time I ordered ahead of time. I wanted to order a selection of rolls, sushi and sashimi that would look nice for photos. Lawrence usually orders a hodge-podge of things that aren't particularly aesthetically pleasing.

The servers were nice. Quite attentive until it got busier. Then they were running from table to table taking and filling orders.

The food was good. Normally you can't go wrong with raw fish. My first order consisted of the usual salmon and tuna sashimi; salmon, tuna, egg, shrimp and eel sushi; and a caterpillar and rainbow roll. It was followed by more of the same with a different selection of rolls thrown in for good measure.

The dessert selection was limited at ice cream, ice cream and more ice cream. One flavour they had that not many places have is ginger. I believe I've only gone to one other Japanese restaurant with ginger flavoured ice cream. So, of course, I ordered a scoop of that along with red bean.

A nice surprise was the fact they give you a 10% discount if you pay cash. So our bill was around $20 each plus tax and tip ($26.00). Not bad. Not bad at all.
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Note: I went back to here for lunch on a Friday. It's a dollar more Friday through Sunday at $14.99. And there's no 10% cash discount at lunchtime for some reason. The lunch menu is much smaller with way less selection. For these reasons I'd only suggest going for dinner if you're looking for a good deal.

Wingsanity @ St. Louis Bar & Grill

My friends and I went to St. Louis Bar & Grill on Saturday. They had their annual Wingsanity deal - All-you-can-eat wings for $19.99 (with the order of a large beverage). This year we were at their at Fairview Mall location. Last year we went to the one at Scarborough Town Centre.

I have to say this location wasn't very big. I was a bit surprised at that. We made reservations for 6:30 so we didn't have to wait (though the line at the time wasn't very long).

I'm not the biggest fan of wings I must admit. But, I am a true fan of anything all-you-can-eat. And I like beer to boot, so this suited me fine.

The rules are you have to order 1-1/2 pounds of wings with fries on the side first. They include the fries to fill you up of course. After that the next order is 1 pound and each successive one is 1/2 a pound, all sans fries.

For our first round we got Lemon Pepper, Honey Garlic and Hot Sweet Asian. Our second was Caribbean Jerk, Frank's Red Hot Dry Rub and Medium Dry... and that was it. We averaged 2-1/2 pounds each. I believe I ate closer to 3 pounds though. I sampled my friends' wings more than they sampled mine.

After dinner we went to the nearby Timmies to hang out and chat more. A good evening out.

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.

Mizuki Sushi

My friends and I went to a new AYCE sushi restaurant at Don Mills and Finch called Mizuki Sushi. I heard about it from my mother who went there with a friend.

It's a nice looking place on the inside. The outside seems a bit tacky with all the grand opening signs pasted all over the storefront. I suppose they'll get rid of them soon enough.

The food was tasty. Quite fresh I thought. Though the lunchtime selection is only so-so. They have the usual variety of nigiri and other items, but not as many rolls as one might expect.

The service was okay. Nothing to write home about. If it's busy the servers may take longer than normal to get to you. But, that's not uncommon for most of these types of restaurants.

The price is on the higher end of the AYCE scale. Fri-Sun/Hol lunch is $15.95. Fri-Sun/Hol dinner is $25.95.

A Feast of Meat

My friends and I went to Korean Grill House on Highway 7 and Commerce Valley Drive West (West Beaver Creek) on Sunday for dinner. We had the all-you-can-eat menu (Friday-Sundays and Holidays) for $16.99. It includes beef, pork, chicken, beef ribs, sausage, ox liver, salmon, squid and fish fillet. For $2.00 more you can also get lamb and shrimp. Also included are the traditional Korean side dishes as well as steamed rice and beef broth soup.

It's been awhile since I've gone to an AYCE meat restaurant. Normally I hit up the sushi/sashimi establishments. Even though I'm a little impatient with having to wait while cooking the meat, I have to admit it was a nice change. I really enjoyed eating all that tasty marinated beef and pork.

After dinner we headed across the parking lot to Chatime for a beverage and to chill out. My friends had a cold beverage (I think it was lichee flavoured tea or something like that), while I opted for a hot latte.

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.