diehardlasallejai's Profile
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
Well, for new AYCE I have tried Nine Up Sushi(Midland and Finch) three times already since they turned into an all you can eat place. Nine Up is located inside the new Chinese plaza mall and it has been there for less than a year, I believe. It used to be an ala carte restaurant using conveyor belt to deliver their foods and you picked what you wanted and got charged by the colour of the dishes you had taken off the belt. Well, they still use the belt for shooting out some sashimi and sushi dishes, but for all other cooked foods you still need to order from the menu. Overall, I like their tuna sushi, their grilled whole suid, sushi rolls and salmon sashimi. You can easily get $2 off coupons from Chiense newspapers and megazines to make the meal $21 per person. They also give you 50% off one person when 5 adults paid, and one person free when 10 persons paid. I think it is a pretty good deal if you go there once in a while and collect the stamps with the stamp card they give you after you pay the bill. Kiku Sushi is still #1 on my list for about the same price, but for some conveyor belt delivery fun I like to be at Nine Up Sushi. The place is not big at all, but their service is great. Give it a try if you are in the neighbourhood and report back here what you think of the meal. Their address is 3278 Midland Avenue, Unit D118.
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
Welldone jennjen18,
Hardly see any pictures here with reviews and for sure you are one of the first. I will start taking pictures and post them here to show fellow chowhounds---a picture soemtimes beats a thousand words. I will try out Gallery Sushi when I am in down town next time.
We went to try out this brand new all you can eat place called Sushi Kiku(used to be the Crazy Sushi) at 808 Yorkmills(intersection Leslie and Yorkmills north east corner). Could not find any reviews at Yelp so we were the guinea pigs. Well, the place was not hugh but comfortable without being seated back to back with others. By 7pm the place was packed to the fullest. We ordered about 20 items and none was poorly done. Their sushi and sashimi chefs were very good in term of plate presentation, and the dishes came out looking like they were ala carte quality and style. I was very impressed by the way they folded the salmon sashimi on the plate. Red tuna sushi was offered and we had 24 pieces of them. No easy to find red tuna all you can eat these days. Their salmon was quite fatty and I could taste the fattiness of the fish eating their salmon sashimi. Shrimp tempura was done well so their deep fried department was quite all right. Their handrolls and maki rolls were all done appealing. Too bad their hot sauce was not up to par for me so I stayed away from their spicy rolls. I do have a few complaints about Sushi Kiku:(1) Drinks were not included, (2) seating time limit of 1.5 hours, (3) their desert ice cream flavours were lousy. Other than that, if you want a quick fix for superb sushi then swing by this place and chow down some good quality sushi and sashimi, but it is definitely not a place to chit chat and mingle. Their price is very reasonable at $21 per adult, and their staff was very courteous and prompt. One thing suprised me a lot was their dinner start time, 3:30pm, which I had never seen at any other places . You can literally have sashimi and some special sushi items from 3:30pm on without having to wait till 5 or 6pm like most other Japanese all you can eat places that only serve them at dinner. I promise I will add pictures from now on, and hopefully the picture tagging interface is not hard to manage at this site. Stay tuned because I will meet up with 5 friends at T J Mix this coming Sunday for dinner again to see if they can sustain the same quality of food in a Sunday evening.
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Gallery Sushi
275 Dundas W, Toronto, ON M5T3K1, CA
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
I will pay them a visit soon to do some scouting. Is this place the previous Outback Steakhouse????
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
Sorry, I do not know why the TJ Cafe link was there, because I did not put it there, and I did not even know it was there until you mentioned it. I just deleted it so no more misleading link now, Thanks!
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
Ferrier Street and Steeles Avenue East(Markham)
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
Went to try T J Mix at Metropolitan Sqaure again, and they had reduced their price from $26.99 on weekends(at grand opening) to $19.99 any day for dinner. Everything was good except for the fried squid, which was over done. My friends who treated us for the meal were very impressed and they recommended the place to their friends. In case of a fluke we deliberately went back two weeks later on a Saturday to see if there would be anything different from the last Friday night dine in. Once again, their service and their food impressed us with consistency. I think this will be the all you can eat Japanese place we will be going from now on until we find a better one, if there is one though. For the pirce and food quality T J Mix is best for now. We especially like their Japanese squid sushi, sweet shrimp sushi, masago sushi and scallop sushi.They had cheese cake for desert and quite surprisingly it was very very good. Drinks are included so for that price you cannot go wrong.
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
Both favourite all you can eat places have bene closed for business, namely Sushi tomato and Rice Paper. we were quite saddened by their closing. We have tried a few other all you can eat Japanese palces but none has impressed us so we went back to Sushi Fun on Yonge at Clark to see how they fared. Pleasant surprise, their foods were still quite good, and we were quite satisified with their prompt service. the place was half full on a Saturday night and I am sure we will return when we crave some sushi and handrolls. The only problem is that it is quite far for us, a whooping 29KM from our home. We will have all you can eat Japanese this coming Friday and I will report again after we try a new place out. This thread has did down quite a bit since last August and let us revive it for 2011's good finds.
Open on Christmas in Detroit
Hi jjspw,
Thanks for you reply. I will try Que Huong and Thuy Trang first for sure, because I really want to see how good the Pho is in the Greater Detroit Area, and if they are both closed, then I will resort to Tomatoes Apizza. We cannot really return to Windsor for dinner that evening, because we need to be out of Canada for a continuous 48 hours to take advantage of the $400 exemtpion per person, and if we cross the border again Saturday night we will have to stay longer to accumulate the needed 48 hours. Some of us may not be able to stay longer. As for Trizest, it is probably good for me but not for some amongst us, because not every one is like me who can tolerate hot pepper dishes. Thanks any way, and if you suddenly think of a place we can try do let me know before Saturday. : )
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Tomatoes Apizza
29275 14 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI
Thuy Trang Restaurant
30491 John R Rd, Madison Heights, MI 48071
Que Huong Restaurant
30820 John R Rd, Madison Heights, MI 48071
Open on Christmas in Detroit
Thanks, Jim M and Fibber McGee,
We will try Que Huong first and they are not open this Saturday we will call other places you recommend to see if any of them are open. My wife and I always like to try Pho places around the USA any way, and Cleveland's so far tops our list. If Detroit has one that can compare to TO's, then I will be extremely delighted and astonished. Pho is one of our comfort foods and I really do not mind to have a couple bowls as Christmas dinner with my family and friends. : )
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Que Huong Restaurant
30820 John R Rd, Madison Heights, MI 48071
Open on Christmas in Detroit
Hey jjspw,
Is there a China Town, or something similar, that we could look for a meal on Christmas Day????? A bunch of us will be coming down from Toronto on the 25th, and staying in Madison Heights. China Towns in Toronto open 365.25 days a year and I assume Chinese in other major US cities do the same. Please let me know so that I can plan where to have our dinner that night after we have arrived. It does not matter if it is a Vietnamese Pho place or a family run Chinese restaurant. I do not mind to try out Tomatoes Apizza at all, if they are open on that day.
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Tomatoes Apizza
29275 14 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI
Best Pho in T.O.
Deliberately drove 33KM to try this location out last Saturday evening. The place was busy with customers came and went continuously. We ordered two XL Pho's and one BBQ broken rice dish. Well, the broth and condiments were all good and I consumed it all---the whole bowl with nothing left behind, but the noodle was still not as good as the ones in Cleveland we had had the previous weekend. Do not get me wrong, Pho Dau Bo's noodle was as good as we wanted in Toronto, but we were just very itchy to see if we could repeat what we had in Ohio, but nope, unfortunately. The BBQ plate was mediocre at best, even though for $7.50 it was a good serving size plate. The XL Pho we had cost $8 and it did not even fill me up. I was quite disappointed at their XL size. However, having said that, for sure it was way better than the US$9 large size bowl we paid for in Cleveland down town, which was as small as our medium here. Well, done that and we will stick to the location on Markham road for now, and we are certainly prepared to give Pho Metro a try after reading some of the posts here in this thread. I will report back soon!
Best Pho in T.O.
Pho Dau Bo is definitely one of the best in Toronto, and we go to their Markham Road and Lawrence Ave East location a lot nowadays since it is not far from where live at the bottom of Scarborough. We have not yet found a Vietnamese resto that serves (Pho) rice noodles with texture like Japanese Ramen---soft but yet chewy. We tried one of them In Montreal claimed by many Chowhound members to be one of their best, but we also came out disappointed. Surprisingly, we just came back from Cleveland for the Labour Day long weekend, and we have found the best Pho we have ever had in North America thanks to Chowhound members from the US Mid West forum. We tried two that are highly recommended by the forum members there, and we both felt their Pho was just superb. It cost a lot more down there, but it was worth it. I just do not want to believe Toronto, with such a large population of Vietnamese from Vietnam, can lose to a small city like Cleveland, Ohio, for the Pho contest, but looks like it is a fact. I have eaten Pho in Toronto since 1982, as far back as I can remember as a boy, but not even one time I was as impressed as I was having it at #1 Pho and Superior Pho in Cleveland down town on Superior Street.
Moderators, please do not delete or move this post just because I mention Cleveland's Pho.
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
I find most recent reviews of Sushi Fun on line here: http://www.just-eat.ca/restaurants-Sushi-fun, and it seems like they are still doing a good job. No reviews given at Yelp, for which I am also a member for resto reviews. UrbanSpoon has one review from April and it is all good: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/10/1469907/restaurant/Toronto/Thornhill/Sushi-Fun-Japanese-Restaurant-Markham. TripAdvisor has one from a year ago and it is all good as well: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g983899-d1482507-r36678764-Sushi_Fun-Thornhill_Ontario.html. Well, let us know after you have gone there to try it out. We await your review!
Visiting from Toronto -- tips and guidelines
I am from Toronto, and am planning a trip down to Boston with my family for the Labour Day long weekend in September. Although I was not born in Toronto, but have lived here for 28 years, long enough, to say that genuine Italian, Portugese, Chinese and South Asian cuisines are more than enough to favour here north of the border with immigrants comprising 52% of the population in Toronto. Brazilian I have never tried, but when I am down in Boston I would like to try cheap good eats local people would go for, regardless of origin. Would some of the Bostonian Chowhounds give me a hand so that I can plan out our 4 day trip? Thanks in advance! I am going to do a search myself in this forum as well.
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
We have not gone to Sushi Fun for quite some time since we had Sushi Tomato to turn to for couple of years. We like Sushi Fun a lot because they offer tuna sushi, and food quality in general is very acceptable. They do not offer free drinks but each can of pop is only 25 cents so it is really no big deal. Now Sushi Tomato has folded we may have to go back to Sushi Fun to try it out again to see if it is still worth the while. They have bene there for a while now, and they are still open so they must be doing something right. AYCE places usually come and go in a short cycle and whoever can stay in the business more than 7 years they must be good at something.
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
I actually know the owner and one of the managers there, even though the manager always gives us one round of free drinks, but then we still have to pay for the drinks after the first round and it is quite costly. For that reason we have not gone to Ten-Ichi for a long long time, because many other AYCE places offer bottomless drinks and at a cheaper price for more variety. I do realize the quality of food at Ten-Ichi is very consistent, and their staff is undoubtedly polite and prompt, but the choices are lacking and the seating plan sometimes makes me feel very sqaushed. For now we will stick to Rice Paper until they go under.
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
Are you referring to Sushi Fun at Yonge and Clark??????
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
All right, I know it is a bit off side for this thread, but after trying this place for 5 times I have the courage to recommend them to other Chowhound members in the GTA, or Chowhounds visiting from out of town.
Rice Paper Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese all you can eat at Finch and Leslie is the restaurant I would like to introduce to any one of you who frequents this thread.
Their strengths are not from their Japanese department, and that is why I say I may be a bit off side to put them under this thread, but nonetheless, their Japanese selections are quite all right with no distinction to be mentioned about, that is all. Nevertheless, the cooked Japanese food items are as good as any other all you can eat places, for example, the tempura shrimps.
If you like Thai and Vietnamese, then this is the place to go because you can have some lovely Pho and spring rolls, and at the same time some nice Thai curry beef brisket with French bread. Add $1 and you can have all you can drink pop, iced lemon tea, iced milk tea and iced coffee. For $21 it is a steal and I highly recommend them before they fold. I seriously do not know how they make money because the food quality is just plain good and service is prompt and accurate. I really like I can just check off the items I want on a sheet and hand it to them for them to prepare right away. We ate till they closed at 10PM last two times we were there so I guess they do not have seating time limit enforced like some other counterparts. Their black sesame seed ice cream and mango coconut yogurt are couple things you ought to order at the end! Ask them for them because they are not listed in the all you can eat menu. Go try it and come back to let us know what you think, enjoy!
4 years since I started this thread, keep them coming fellow members!
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
Okay, this thread is still alive and kicking, which is good to see.
I went to the new TJ Mix Japanese and Thai all you can eat that replaces Sushi Tomato inside the Metropolitan Square Mall. Well, food choices were far from plenty, but food quality was good except for the Thai items. Do not bother with their Thai selections because they were absolutely unauthentic and not very good to eat. The waitors and waitresses were really attentative, but for $25 on weekends I do not think I will return, especailly they charged my 5 years old son $16. There was not really one thing that I could recommend so I am going to rest my case.
Best All You Can Eat Japanese in Toronto GTA
It is nice to see this thread getting revived once in a while after being in existence for more than 3 and a half years now. Any way, we went to the previous Wasabi in Scarborough, now called Cafefest, on Silver Star Blvd., and please allow me to warn you---do not go there for your all you can eat Japanese cravings. The service and the seating comfortness was good, but definitely not the food they offered. Good grief! I cannot remember when was the last time I had such low quality all you can eat Japanese food. After Sushi Tomato closed at Metro SQaure(used to be our favourite for the price versus food quality factor) we have tried couple other all you can eat restaurants to see if we can find another one close by to make it our regular, but unfortunately we still have not found one yet. Moreover, trying Wasabi(Scarborough) again for the third time just gave us nightmares. No wonder the restaurant was only less than half filled when we left at around 8:45pm on a Sunday evening. If they say the newest Wasabi opened in Mississauaga provides worse food than the one in Richmond Hill, then I want them to give Cafefest(old Wasabi Scarborough) a try and tell me what they think. We went to Fujiya at Steeles and Middlefield two Sundays in a row and we all thought it was quite all right, but ex-Wasabi has let us so down we lost sleep last night! : ) I started this thread in July 2006 and if I have any merit at all, then please listen to me and do not go to the new Cafefest at 668 Silver Star Blvd. at any cost, I beg you!
Calgary chowhound visiting Toronto and Niagara-on-the-lake sept 16-22
When you are at Sheraton on Queen, you can go to Ruth's Chris in the Hilton Hotel, which is again a stone's throw from your hotel. Since there is only Ruth's Chris in Edmonton for Alberta, if you have never been there, then perhaps you would want to consider trying in Toronto? http://www.toronto.com/steakhouses/listing/212868
Since your hotel is right across the city hall, you will see a lot of fries and sausage trucks parked on Queen from morning to late evening. My wife and I love their Italian sausage and fries combo with gravy. Every time we go down we would stop by the first truck closest to the old city hall and grab two combo's to go. However, if you are health conscious, then ignore what I just said and move on to the next paragraph. : )
For dinner and cocktails just walk south 4 blocks to Canoe Restaurant and Bar in the TD Bank Tower on the 54th floor. You will enjoy the view as much as the food they serve you. http://www.toronto.com/restaurants/listing/213648
When forecast says it is going to be a good clear day all day, then quickly make a reservation for Restaurant 360 in the CN Tower, because the revolving restaurant will give you a splendid view of the whole city. I have been there many times since I always bring my out of town friends up there, and they always love the view. Do not forget your camera at the hotel. http://www.toronto.com/restaurants/listing/213962
For cheap eats go to St. Lawrence Market. Try Canadian peameal bacon burger there. http://www.toronto.com/attractions/listing/100230
Further to the east side of town venture to the Distillery District for dinner or coffee. My wife and I always go there and sit in the patio on a nice cool, sunny day. They have occasional live jazz for entertainment too so if you like jazz, go go go! http://www.toronto.com/attractions/listing/100510
There are just too many places for me to name, and I think other Chowhound members will pitch in their ideas for you. I am sure your 5 day stay in Toronto will seem too short, if this is your first time visiting, because Toronto is a pretty big city when compared to the city of Calgary.
Enjoy your stay. You will love Niagara on the Lake too, for sure.
Calgary chowhound visiting Toronto and Niagara-on-the-lake sept 16-22
For cocktails go to Panorama on the 51st floor of the Manulife Centre, it is just a stone's throw away from your hotel at 55 Bloor West. My wife and I like the atmosphere up there overlooking the city in the evening. http://www.toronto.com/bars_clubs/listing/000-212-569
Pretty much right across the Intercontinental Hotel you will see the Royal Ontario Museum with her Crystal extension and inside the crystal lies one of the best restos in Toronto, C5. Go there for dinner and you can just stroll back to your hotel after. http://www.toronto.com/restaurants/article/524760
If you like Dim Sum and Chinese food, then just walk over to 131 Bloor, Dynasty Chinese Cuisine for lunch. I used to go there a lot when I lived in down town. http://www.toronto.com/restaurants/listing/213013
I think that is enough for your Intercontinental area and I will try to think of some for your stay at Sheraton on Queen St. West, which is also a prime location. Lucky you!
Calgary chowhound visiting Toronto and Niagara-on-the-lake sept 16-22
Which Intercontinental??? There are two in down town, one on Front and the other on Bloor. Are you going to drive or you prefer walking distance and locations close to the subway stations?
Good resto to stop for lunch close to either hwy 40 or hwy 25?
We had one whole chicken with 3 egg tarts, and the egg tarts were fine, but the chicken was kind of dry with not much taste to it, except the tatse of carbon. I had yet to find a place that could beat wood grilled chicken from Kenny Rogers Roasters, and I thought Romados would be the place, but unfortunately it was not. Nevertheless, all the other restos and bistros we went too we were very satisfied. On a side note, the Pho at Pho Lien was good, but their BBQ dishes were very weak. Hopefully this time we have better luck in Quebec City with the places recommended by numerous Chowhounds on this forum.
Good resto to stop for lunch close to either hwy 40 or hwy 25?
Oh gosh! Now I have more than enough to choose from, and I wonder if we can hit two restos instead of one before heading to Quebec City.
Good serving sizes??? Hmmm, I would like to see that, because I am a big eater, but of course not very good when I have to drive 2.5 hours right after.
After reading a long review about Di Menna I am very very tempted now. Maybe I should rbing my family when we return to Montreal on the last day before we check in the hotel in down town. Man, this Chowhound correspondence and internet technology have put me into many enjoyable restos and bristros in Montreal last time we spent 5 days there. The only let down so far was Rostisserie Romados.
Thanks you!
Good resto to stop for lunch close to either hwy 40 or hwy 25?
Hey thanks! We may very well try this place out, because we have never had Lebanese food before in Toronto.
What the heck is baklava, excuse my being ignorrant. We won't be passing through hwy 40 to return to Toronto on the last day, because out last night will be spent in Montreal so we will be going home on hwys 720 and 20.
Oh man, now I want to try both. If you were me and you could only choose one, which one would you prefer???
Thanks a bunch for the recommendations.
Good resto to stop for lunch close to either hwy 40 or hwy 25?
No, we do not mind getting down to Marche Jean Talon at all, because we spent a day there last time when we were in Montreal and we enjoyed Little Italy very much. It is a matter of time constraint this time because we want to get to Quebec City around 3pm, that is all.
Good Eats Close to Hotel Best Western Centre-ville, Quebec?
cherylmtl,
Thanks and that is good to know. We stayed right outside the city gate last time so it was a piece of cake for us to get in the fortified city, but this time it is way over there in down town and we have heard about the walking from friends who stayed at Best Western before and we began to worry a bit since we have a 4 years old.
Good resto to stop for lunch close to either hwy 40 or hwy 25?
Thanks guys,
If no one else recommends any Italian or French places we may go for an Indian meal instead, but we do have a lot of good Indian restaurants in Toronto with an Indian population of about 750,000 and we prefer to try something different and perhaps rare. Thanks in any case!
Good resto to stop for lunch close to either hwy 40 or hwy 25?
We will be driving to Quebec City next month from Toronto and plan to stop by Montreal for lunch around noon. Would some Chowhounds be kind enough to give us a few suggestions where to stop for lunch close to the highways? We prefer French or Italian, thanks!