Monday, October 24, 2011

Sushi Couture

There is just a ridiculous number of Japanese restaurants on Bloor; yeah you know what I'm talking about, that stretch between Bathurst and Spadina, it's insane! I don't know exactly know how many Japanese restaurants there are but all I know is that every time I walk or drive by the Annex, I'm always in awe. Having said that, I also have no desire to try any of them except for Sushi Couture, reason being that the chef at Sushi Couture used to be at Japango (see my Japango post here when I went for their omakase).


I've been to Sushi Couture twice so this post will combine pictures from both dinners.


The white chairs and red booths really stand out inside Sushi Couture. I think the clean lines and the overall decor gives Sushi Couture a more higher-end feel compared to the other Japanese restaurants on Bloor (at least from the outside anyway). I find the spotlights really bright but they do dim it later on.



Daily sashimi special for the night is written out (left) and I ordered hot sake one time (right). Sooooo good especially after a long day at work.


Salad & miso soup came with our sashimi dinner.


Sushi Burger - Not at all what I expected as it looks nothing like a burger; we thought it would be two pieces of the fried rice patties with sashimi in the middle or something. I guess this is more of an open face burger? =D Anyway, my friend and I really enjoyed this because the fried rice "ball" was hot and crispy with the rice not too densely packed.


Agedashi Tofu - deep fried bean curd ($3.99) - Hot, soft tofu with a slight crispy shell, these were a great start to my second dinner at Sushi Couture.


Ikura - Salmon roe ($5.50) - Ikura is not my favourite but my friend wanted to order it. Lovely presentation with the purple flower in the middle.


Spider Maki - Soft shell crab, avocado, tobiko, mayo ($8.99) - Crispy soft shell crab in a tightly rolled maki, perfect amount of rice and spiciness.


Sushi Couture Maki - Salmon, scallop, tobiko, spicy mayo ($10.99) - Their signature special maki is a must-order. I love the texture of scallop and with the spicy mayo and salmon, I would order this roll again and again.


Sashimi Don - Sashimi on rice with homemade hot sauce ($11.99) - Salmon, tuna, and butter fish sashimi were chopped up along with cucumbers, egg, and other veggies. Although it tastes good I would not order this again because I didn't like how the fish were chopped up into small pieces (I'd rather have chirashi). There was a lot of rice too underneath and even though I like hot sauce, I didn't like it with this sashimi don since it was served at room temperature rather than hot like a bibimbap.


Sashimi Dinner (16 pc sashimi) ($15.99) - From top: Butter fish, albacore tuna, salmon, tuna, and seabream. We ordered the O Toro Belly (with the flowers on top) separately.


Every single piece of sashimi was extremely fresh.


The butterfish stood out the most for me. So soft, smooth and...buttery!


Sesame Ice Cream - I love sesame ice cream and will always order it if I see it on the menu. I still prefer the sesame ice cream at Yuzu as I find that the one at Yuzu has a more intense sesame flavour. This one was still good just not the best I've had. Good portion size though.


I actually went to Sushi Couture a third time but that time I didn't bring my SLR, might as well since I ordered mostly the same things as the first two times anyway (the server recognized me and asked me where my camera was =D). Needless to say, I haven't been to a Japanese restaurant, let alone a restaurant, three times in approximately a month's time so that it in itself is an indication that I like Sushi Couture a lot.

Sushi Couture is definitely not the cheapest place for Japanese on Bloor but it delivers quality food along with presentation that I don't think any other Japanese place in the Annex offers currently. However, please let me know if there is I would love to try it out (no all-you-can-eat please).

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