Kushi-Ya

Enjoyed the spice level of spicy miso romen portion is very generous, hamachi kama «grill fish» is good but I prefer it replace soy sauce with lemon and salt.

Came here last night for a birthday dinner with the fambam. I’ve driven past this place a billion times and had high hopes for it. The resturant was quite empty for a Sunday night, probably because of the snowy weather. The resturant layout has not changed much compared to its former self (a Dimsum resturant). As a table of five, we were sat at the back windows, it was quite drafty so we opted to keep our jackets on.
As we were hungry, we choose the all you can eat menus which provided us with a variety of options for their hotpot, kushi, and sushi.
Hotpot: the soup choices were very limited, there were options to upgrade soup bases though. We ordered the salted duck egg and parsley for half the pot, and the satay soup base for the other half. The soup bases lacked in both color and flavor.
On the order sheet there were many options available, but we opted to stay within budget yesterday. There is a healthy selection of items to choose from for hot pot. We found the portion size to be quite large for each order. We had requested for watercress, but instead we got cabbage sent out to us and they would not take it back. The meatballs were small in size and were severally underseasoned.
We ordered a variety of other meats and seafoods as well, I loved their baby octopus! I think I could’ve eaten another dozen of them if my stomach could handle it.
Condiments were provided when asked, a condiment and sauce bar would be a better option as it was awkward having to take from the saucers communally.
Kushi: by word of mouth, I’ve heard in passing that their kushi is really good. I found that their skewers were all very similarly flavoured. Didn’t fall in love with the ponzu flavoured items like I thought I would though. They have beef tongue here! I haven’t had it from a resturant in forever! It was a bit on the chewy side though.
I think that if sauces were provided to eat the kushi with I would have enjoyed it more.
Sushi: last but not least; the sushi.
If your looking for authentic japanese this is not the place to go. The cuts are large but the rice is on the hard side and quite sour. The fambam ordered a good variety of nigiri to sample. I found the Tamago nigiri to be a bit on the chewy side, thin and lacking flavor. Their take on the special scallop is different. The pieces of scallop are cut into large chunks and mixed with misago and mayo; it left a bitter after taste as well.
No real complements or other complaints in regards to their sushi as my expectations were not ugh from the start.
Overall… Dinner was a success. We left the resturant with our tummies full of good beer and food. It’s good value for the price. Will be primarily going back just for the kushi though at my next visit.

We were the only people in there aside from a party of 20 (that I’m sure were friends of the owners kids…) On a Saturday night and we were completely ignored. The service was dreadful and the food sub par. The kicker was when we were leaving the waitress commented that we left less than 10% tip (it was just over 9 which is what it worked out to with our cash…). At this point I turned and told the server to get my change, to which she refused. I told her that the service was abysmal and that since she questioned the tip, she would receive nothing. Turned out she was the manager/​owner too…
Definitely avoid this place like the plague.

Recommended by a friend for the skewers. Specifically the chicken skin and pork intestines. Wasn’t disappointed. All the skewers were good, and that was a new experience for me. Which makes me happy. Also ordered the rainbow roll and a couple of sterling salmon which were on special. Also very good. Even the house sake, served cold, was quite serviceable. Surrounded by many Japanese families and couples, which I take to be a good sign when eating at a Japanese restaurant.

#125 Open barely a month before my friend, Al C., was nice enough to bring me here, located on the corner of Centre Street N and 7 Avenue NE.
First impressions:
Parking will be difficult so carpool or take Transit, #3 bus
Clean but be sure to get a window seat for views of the Bow building
Well lit, based on the time of day
Quick service
Daily specials on drinks AND food but arrive early as they run out
Several televisions at low volume
Mostly gray and black interior gives this a low key feel; could be improved with some paintings or hanging plants. There are varying sizes of tables and booths so almost any group size under 10 can be easily accommodated.
Now, on to the food and that’s really why we’re here… Holla!
Out of the real crab California roll which was one today’s specials at $ 5, the same price as the imitation version, I had to settle for a spicy tuna roll consisting of tuna, cucumber, green onion, and spicy sauce (Menu, Page 5) and tuna trio that consisted of red and albacore tuna, and tuna belly also known as the Otsukuri Plate (Menu, Page 4), still freshly chilled so would advise to let it set for a few minutes once it arrives at the table. The spicy tuna is actually more sweet and less spicy probably because of the sauce used. They should call it the sweet tuna roll.
I am always excited when a new Japanese restaurant opens but so far, this one is a little in the boring side, from a sushi perspective. The kushi-​ya set of skewers of beef, pork, chicken, etc. is a little better for the money but there are better places for this as well.
Overall, this restaurant does hint of promise and I will come back to see what changes since I think this restaurant is trying to find its footing and identity.