Tuesday, April 16, 2013

- Food Review: Solo Sushi Ya -

I decided awhile back that distance shouldn't be a consideration when trying out new eateries. There are so unique restaurants around Toronto, so why limit myself to Scarborough?

With that in mind, we made our trek all the way to Newmarket to try out Solo Sushi Ya. I suspect most people have heard of Newmarket ("404 to Newmarket") but few people have actually been. I found that most of Solo Sushi Ya's clientele are either doctors in the area or out-of-towners like myself. Makes sense considering their main draw is their omakase.

Omakase is fairly common at mid to high end sushi restaurants. Essentially, there isn't a set menu and you're leaving it up to the chef to create the courses, so what you eat depends on the chef's whims and ingredients on hand. A unique experience (compared to other cuisines), and also quite expensive. The omakase here cost about $60 per person - already on the lower end of pricing.

The restaurant itself was very quaint - literally a mom and pop shop. There was the head chef making the food and his wife was the server. Everything about the shop felt personal: knickknacks along the sill, different chopstick holders for everyone, menus with a plea to pay with cash or debit, wasabi that was true wasabi - liquid and slightly sweet. The chef would drop by and ask us how we liked our food and talk about how business was slow because of the construction work outside.

The food was fresh and delicious. There was the standard sushi and sashimi, but also steamed egg with clams.

Interesting appetizers and desserts. Two types of white tuna - a sweet and spicy one. The spicy white tuna was our unanimous favourite.

No doubt other people's experiences will vary; they happened to have a lot of white tuna on hand.

Food: 4.5/5
Service: 5/5
Value: 3/5
TL;DR: Super pricy, but worth going to for a special occasion

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