Ta Ke Sushi

We visited Ta Ke Sushi a few weeks ago and decided that it's the best sushi restaurant that we've had so far. I had first learned about it from reading a review on it from another food blog and was determined to take Ann there.

The restaurant is located near Union Station at 22 Front St. West. 

The atmosphere of the restaurant is great for dates and casual meet up with friends and colleagues. I really like the way they decorated the interior. The bamboo shoots, the lighting, and origami samurai helmets on the walls. 

Yes, origami samurai helmets.

 

Lots of them. And on every wall.

And they also decorate every table with origami cranes, nice candles and neatly arranged napkins.

Right after we sat down at our table, the waitress came by with hot cloths for us to wipe our hands. Fancy smancy.

This is their menu:

  

Drinks menu:

 

We ordered a plate of Regular Sushi (has an assortment of sushi and rolls for us to try out) and miso soup.  

 

There were a bunch or peculiar sushi that we never had before, like (I think) octopus, mackeral and others.

The quality of each rolls and sushi were amazing, but the tastiest one that Ann and I thought was salmon.

The wasabi was amazing as well. Ann thinks it's the real stuff in comparison to what they have at other sushi restaurants that we've been to, since it gave us both the "shoot up the nose" sensation. It was the first time for Ann to experience it. 

The miso soup was great, it had these chopped up enoki mushrooms, tofu and green onions. I never had miso soup with enoki mushrooms but it's a nice addition. Possibly the best miso soup I've had. It wasn't too salty unlike some other restaurants in Toronto.

We also ordered a plate of spicy salmon rolls. The quality and taste was amazing. You can never go wrong in ordering spicy salmon rolls anywhere but Ann and I agreed that this is by far our favorite Spicy Salmon roll yet.

We washed down our food with a large Hakutsuru (hot sake). I've always wanted to try these when I see them in movies or Japanese dramas so when I saw this on the menu, I just had to order it. It was enough for the both of us since Ann and I aren't big drinkers.

For dessert, we ordered Green Tea Brulee. It's kinda like green tea ice cream/pudding with caramel crust on the top (which I didn't eat because it's too sweet).

Overall, Ann and I had a really good time at Ta Ke Sushi and it wasn't just because of the hot sake. It definitely met our expectations and more. The food, atmosphere, service... just about everything you look for in a restaurant was great. The only thing that I would caution readers is that it's a little pricey as our dinner for 2 was a bit over $70, but it's definitely worth the experience!

Big Sushi

As part of its name entails, Big Sushi is a restaurant that serves sushi and some other Japanese dishes. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it's actually quite spacious inside and can seat more people in the "back area." There is possibly room to seat 60 people (of course I am guesstimating). Maybe that's why it's "Big"?

Its carrying capacity is good for big groups, such as my fellowship on Friday nights since we like to dine out together and can be a group as big as 20 people.

The restaurant is located in the Annex, at 388 Bloor St. W.

This is the back area of the restaurant.

Ann and I found it strangely funny how their menu doesn't have a cover page. We kept trying to look for one through several menus and they all start with the beverage page. It gets straight to the point.

I made a paper ninja star/shuriken when I was waiting for my food to come.

Origami: something to do while waiting for food aside from conversing or taking pictures of things.

Some of the dishes come with complimentary salad and miso soup. Pretty standard stuff for a Japanese restaurant. This salad tastes a bit better than it looks.

I ordered the Spicy Salmon/Tuna (crispy) roll. It has a bit of a kick to it as the name suggests, but if you can get pass that.. the taste is simply amazing. Maybe best spicy salmon crisp roll yet? (comment if you think otherwise). I tried my friend's the previous time we dined here and had craved it ever since. This shall be my "pork bone soup" for Japanese restaurants from here on. That or... chicken/beef bentos.

This is what Ann ordered: Vegetarian Udon. I didn't try it but I think it needs some meat or some sort of protein.

I really like Big Sushi, however, I should caution readers that their tempuras can be really greasy/oily. At least that's what I found for the tempuras in their bentos, it was enough to give everyone indigestion afterwards.