Tucked in a narrow white room on Harbord Street, Osaka-raised chef-owner Yasuhisa Ouchi serenades his patrons with the best sushi in Toronto. The city's first sushi-only omakase restaurant, Yasuhisa's edict is simple — "In a global world where borders are becoming seamless, Toronto can now have access to the freshest seafood like what we have in Japan." The chef can be found behind the bar night after night, carefully preparing each nigiri of the omakase meal, assisted by one or two sous chefs, with each course focusing on the freshest seafood flown in fresh from fish markets all over the globe. He uses classical methods to draw out the umami of seafood, with fish that is freshly sliced and placed atop warm, loose rice then brushed with a touch of nikiri soy for a perfectly balanced bite. In short, Yasu is all about capturing the essence of sushi. Seasonal ingredients are prepared at the sushi bar and served immediately for maximum flavour and freshness, for a true omakase sushi experience — served only just-warm, vinegar-seasoned rice draped with superlative fish, made to order right in front of you and served one single bite at a time.
Our favourite omakase in the city, the menu is Ouchi's choice of 20 impeccably fresh pieces of edomae sushi for $135 per person, which can include Striped Jack from Kyoto, Ocean Trout from Scotland, Uni from Hokkaido, Horse mackerel from Portugal and Unagi from Nagasaki and sublime hay smoked Bonito from Japan. The fish selection changes constantly, and the sake pairings, served in glasses cradled in a traditional wooden masu box, are a delightful trip through the various styles of Japanese rice wine and well worth the price. For sushi enthusiasts, Yasu is an experience unlike like any other. Place yourself in chef Yasu's hands, and you'll leave in a blissful state of sushi 'oishii' every time. And very soon, Yasu will be launching a new location in LA, which means Americans will soon be able to enjoy Yasuhisa's sensational sushi south of the border.
Hay Smoked Bonito from Japan
Sous chef preparing the seaweed salad
Seaweed Salad
Shirako is the milt, or sperm sacs, of male cod and is in season during the winter months
Striped Jack from Japan
Uni from Hokkaido (R) and Vancouver (L)
Fluke from Japan
Firefly Squid from Himeji Prefecture, Japan
Atlantic Mackerel from Norway with sliced daikon
Lobster from Nova Scotia with fresh grated yuzu
Hot Homemade Fish Broth made with Striped Jack
Trio of Bluefin Tuna from Mexico: Akamai - Lean (R), Chutoro - Medium Fatty (M),
and Otoro - Very Fatty (L)
Chefs busy behind the sushi counter
Monkfish Liver from Boston sitting atop shiso leaf and topped with minced daikon
Amberjack from Japan
Finely diced Fatty Tuna and Ikura over sushi rice, garnished with sliced scallions
Scallop from Hokkaido garnished with sea salt and yuzu juice
Snow crab with crab liver from Nova Scotia
Anago from Kushi, Japan
Tomago
Homemade Black Sesame Iced Cream
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