6th Review: I Love Sushi - A Taste of Japan - $-$$

Konnichiwa! SpponfulofReviews is back yet again this week, bringing you yet another review! As the greeting to this 6th blog has perhaps indicated, this week's review was based on Japanese cuisine. For this review, I chose a well known spot in Etobicoke, named I Love Sushi. ILS is a little restaurant between many other well reviewed establishments on Dundas St. W- Major Intersection: Bloor St. W and Islington Ave. ILS is almost obscure among the many restaurants that surround it but upon having the prepared dishes from this establishment you perhaps won't miss it upon future visits.

Upon first entering ILS, you'll perhaps notice how small and cozy this restaurant is. Definitely not a great spot for a larger group as there are many small tables and booths decorated in traditional Japanese decor. The restaurant is dimly lit, perhaps adding to the "cozy" atmosphere. The hostess quickly approached me upon entering the establishment, and she allowed me to take a seat wherever I felt comfortable. Finally taking a seat in a booth, I was brought a menu and asked for my choice of beverage. Taking a look at the menu can be a little overwhelming, especially if you're new to Japanese cuisine. However, I personally liked the variety of menu options because there were familiar items and items I'd never heard of or tasted. Also because ILS (like many Japanese restaurants) don't believe in wasting food, you can order as many pieces of the majority of menu items, and order more once you've determined what you like and what you're not quite fond of. When ordering, because there are so many options, each table comes equipped with small pads of paper and pencils, and as you run down the menu items, you mark off the numbers associated with your options, and how many pieces you'd like.

I should also mention that you can either choose the "all you can eat" option or order pieces from their "take out/dine-in" menu as shown in this picture:

However, if you accumulated the prices of all the items you might want to try, it's definitely more worthwhile to go with the all you can eat option.

Anyways, once my options had been made I handed my list to the server and within 20 minutes she had arrived with several plates of all the different items I'd ordered. I ordered the crab meat roll, spicy salmon roll,  shrimp tempura, teriyaki chicken skewers, and a mango salad. Let me first start off by saying that everything tasted incredibly fresh- I mean apart from the "raw fish" thing- it was freshly made and delicious, not to mention so nicely plated. The mango salad was well seasoned- it was coupled with some pickled vegetables but the mango still stood out and was refreshing for my palette. The shrimp tempura was some of the best tempura I've ever had- it was still rather hot as it was made upon order, and the accompanying condiment complimented this item well. The spicy salmon roll and crab meat roll were also very good- I enjoyed both items, especially the spicy salmon roll, as they apply a type of spicy sauce on top of the maki pieces that really kick up the flavour. Lastly, my favourite part: the teriyaki chicken skewers. They were still hot, a bit spicy and cooked to perfection- I was sad I hadn't ordered more... of course you do have the option of ordering more, but as with all "all you can eat" buffets, you can't necessarily take home any left overs and by this point I was stuffed. Also as you can't really waste any pieces of food, as sushi grade meat is much pricier, if you do choose to throw out the pieces you can't eat you will be charged an extra $5... in such a case it's perhaps best to visit this restaurant in small groups or couples.

My only criticism would be that the bathrooms weren't very clean which was a little bit of a downer once visiting the restrooms after the end of the meal. Other than that I received excellent service and the food was fantastic.

SpoonfulofReviews.blogspot.com - Overall Rating (out of 5 stars) for I Love Sushi - A Taste of Japan:

Service:    ¶¶¶¶  

Food:                     ¶¶¶¶ 1/2 

Experience:         ¶¶¶¶