Kirei Sushi + Bar

Place is out of business. See photo of front door notice. One less monster truck roll emporium, no loss to the city.

Has gone out of business

My kind of sushi place when I have time to take a complete lunch. Also because one of my friends jumps at the sound of Kirei Sushi and is willing to give up anything to go here. I order the chicken teriyaki mostly and wash it down with green tea (for which they charge you so you better drink the entire thing)

Been here only 2 – 3 times and really like this place! Décor is okay, nice place to go with friends, family or coworkers for a casual but nice/​quiet lunch. In the back, they have a few tatami style rooms with chairs that have a back rest. Very nice spot to have lunch/​dinner in.
They have good quality sushi, real non-​artificially coloured ginger (suppose to be white-​yellowish not pink FYI), and huge visually appealing speciality rolls. After you order, they usually give you a very very tiny but tasteful bowl of noodle soup to try while you wait. If you want miso soup though, that is an extra $ 2.
I have tried the spider roll, salmon roll, spicy salmon roll, unagi roll and California roll. All very good. If you want a bit more value for your $$ you could also try their special bento boxes but they are a bit limited. Available only from 11:30 — 3:00pm.
It’s typically quiet here and for some reason not as popular as Nami. Yet quality I believe is better. Maybe it’s because of the prices? It would be my go to place if only prices were a bit more affordable. I only go here if I am looking to splurge a bit.

Ordered sashimi queen combo (if i remembered the right name) and green tea ice cream. Preserved with a tiny bowl of noodle, but definitely traditional asian taste, which is good for me. Sashimi is not bad, i like green tea flavor. Servers are good to talk, pleased me a lot.

This is my new favourite local sushi place. I’ve often walked by to see a full house inside, and had been meaning to check it out for months. Finally had dinner with a friend a couple of weeks ago and it was great! The service was super attentive, the food was delicious, and the prices were reasonable. Additionally, they were very sensitive to my food allergy which was greatly appreciated.
I was so impressed that I called ahead the following week and ordered a tray of sushi for a client meeting. Although they don’t open until 11:30, the chef offered to come in early to prepare our sushi.
Delicious Sushi + Five Star Service. I just know I’m going to be a regular.

I loved the place when they first opened in 2012 but they have gone downhill since. It’s not bad but mediocre, replacing the former fish with common and cheaper qualities. It doesn’t wow me.

Make reservation private booth as too much sun can warm the fresh awesome tuna and salmon. Luckily my kids gulfed down the food really quick. Much better than AYCE. My wife and kids love this place it is now our favourite non-​AYCE.
Worth the drive from Brampton for kids. This would great date night too. Even have booster seats for kids.
Parking is available since we came at 3pm on Saturday. Food is 4.5, drink selection is good though I could not order as I am the only driver. Prices is fair $ 30/​person should cover it though we had order with voucher from team buy.

Do you like ambiance? Darkness? Spacious dining? (versus elbow-​to-​elbow cramped up dining in fluorescent lighting?) This might be your spot.
Prior to stepping foot in this establishment, I always wondered how Kirei stayed open because it always looked dark and empty inside during dinner time! I must admit that the darkness in fact kept me away from trying them for a while… but I’ve gotten over my skepticism and dined there a few times since. Kirei might not be my top choice but I would not unfriend you if you suggested to go there. The self-​confessed sushi snob in me of course frowns because they are not authentic Japanese, but hey, I’ve finally started to accept that I live in Toronto and not Vancouver or Japan! This is adaptation at work, guys, check it.
They have a daily special consisting of some kind of drink/​roll/​sushi. I can’t give you the whole range because it so happens that everytime I go in it is a drink + salmon sushi/​sashimi for $ 6. Not bad! Servers are friendly and attentive. Food comes up at a decent pace. I don’t think it’s an especially inexpensive place to dine but I think that comes with the territory of edging the financial district and St Lawrence Market.
And yes, sometimes we get so lazy that we do order takeout from them as well (party tray take out date night for two… whaaaattt!!! don’t judge). Fish quality is alright, the assortment is nice, price is fair, and they are quick. I would recommend that the next time one of you folks dropped the ball on your turn to cook and want to not be in the dog house ;)
Atmosphere — ⁴⁄₅
Service — ⁴⁄₅
Food — ³⁄₅
Price — ³⁄₅

All the convenience of a downtown restaurant. Note the + in the name. While it does have a sushi bar, it is also a bar, a sushi restaurant and a venue in the heart of downtown.
I stopped in prior to a meeting for lunch. As usual, I had the sushi combination off of the lunch specials. Certainly nothing bad to report here-​the sushi was fresh and tasty, and there was no hint of the dreaded «white tuna» (read my other reviews for a diatribe on that issue).
Coupled with a nice Miso soup and tea, it was an enjoyable lunch. Service was a bit slow, even though I had arrived prior to the rush, but I suspect any downtown restaurant has the same problem. It was not unreasonable.
Upon leaving, it was nice to see a Starbucks a couple of doors away so you can follow up with an after lunch beverage for your walk back to wherever you are going.

We came here for dinner using a wagjag coupon, which was an awesome deal at $ 20 for $ 40 of good food.
This is one place I would return without a voucher, but having one makes the meal/​experience sweeter!
They serve up Korean and Japanese dishes.
The portions were generous!
I had one of the best tasting bibimbap here!
Their chicken udon noodle soup was pretty big.
Definitely left the restaurant very full, as the meal came with salad, miso soup, small side of edamame beans, and noodles.

I really like this place. I purchased a Groupon/​Team Buy coupon for Kirei and I always assume I would get sub-​par service for using a deal, but they proved me wrong.
We received complimentary fried fish pieces and small servings of noodles before our actual meal. We ordered 3 rolls and chicken katsu dinner. The Kirei roll was amazing– big, crispy goodness. But we were so surprised with the chicken cutlet dinner plate since we got 3 cutlets! The dinner also came with a bowl of rice, miso soup and salad. Not bad for $ 13.00.
Kirei really delivered and were smart in using Groupon to promote their place because we’re definetly making this place our go-​to Japanese spot.

I would rate Kirei 3.5 stars. This restaurant is huge! I mean for a place in downtown core they definitely are oversized. They even have traditional Japanese style seating which I am quite excited to try out. Overall the ambience is nice. It has a very convenient location in the heart of downtown, right at Church and Adelaide.
The first time I tried this place was on a weekday night. I was working late so I got the Kirei Dinner Box. The restaurant was completely empty when I went in to get my take out order. I wanted to use my master card and the waitress immediately asked me if I could use cash instead because they have to pay fees for using a credit card. If you don’t like that maybe make it a cash only place then… don’t ask the customer to do something for you.
The Dinner Box was $ 23 plus tax and was huge! It came with 9 pcs of sashimi, 5 pcs sushi and 6 pcs rolls and your choice of teriyaki. I got the salmon teriyaki. The red tuna sashimi I got along with it was dry… yuck. I wonder if it was even safe to eat. The salmon was overcooked as well and overall the meal didn’t taste fresh at all. I was just left wondering if they gave me left over food from the day before or something.
I decided to give this place a second chance. Also, they had a teambuy available, so at least I won’t regret it that much if it turns out to be terrible and it would assure me that my first visit was not just a one off experience.
We were a group of 6 and again the only ones in the restaurant on a weekday at 12:15 pm. Service was fast and efficient. Ordered lunch special bento boxes ($ 10– $ 14) which came with salad, miso soup and a few sushi rolls. Everything tasted good and this time the salmon teriyaki was not dry and was pretty falvourful. There was enough food for the price.
We went again recently since I had a much better experience the last time. The restaurant was pretty packed probably due to Winterlicious. Even though it was very busy the service was not too slow. We got our soup and salad right away. The entrees took a little longer to come but everything tasted fresh.
1. Tuna Tataki ($$$!?) — This is an appetizer and had 6 pieces of pan seared tuna. The pieces were a decent size but it was definitely not worth the $ 14 you pay for it. The fish was not seasoned at all. I am not sure what an authentic Tataki is supposed to taste like but I don’t think this lives up to it in any way.
We had a bad start to the meal with the Tataki but the miso soup and salad made up for it.
2. House salad ($ 4) — This definitely didn’t have as much avocado as they show in the menu.
3. Sushi and sashimi bento box ($ 14) — They had a little bit of fried eggplant with 5 pcs of sushi, 6 pcs of roll (not all had fish, some were veggie rolls), and 8 pcs of fresh sashimi. The flavours were pretty good for the sushi and rolls but the sashimi was undressed.
4. Sushi and salmon teriyaki box ($ 12) — This had the same 5 pcs of sushi, 3 pieces of shrimp roll and delicious salmon teriyaki.
5. Pork bone soup ($ 10) — It was a mediocre soup and you can get much better in chinatown for a much cheaper price.
Overall the place is a tad expensive if you don’t use Teambuy/​Groupon. The lunch specials are not a bad deal if you are in the area.

The server is very bubbly and nice which is rare to see at a sushi restaurant. The special rolls are unique, HUGE, and delicious. Normally I don’t prefer large rolls, but when they taste this good… I don’t mind. They also have a nice choice in desserts. It is however quite pricey, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get what you pay for.

We had a reservation on a Friday night at 6:30 and the place was practically empty. We asked for a room which had space for our legs below. Service was fine.
The food was fine. Nothing above and beyond what you would expect. The sashimi pieces were a good size. The sushi rolls didn’t have too much rice. My tuna/​avocado tartare appetizer was bland so it tasted like a tuna roll without the rice.
I probably wouldn’t come back.

Service: 4 stars — waitress is very friendly and helpful. We notified her that my lunch mate has some dietary restrictions and she did a great job to notify the kitchen and manage to meet the requirement in all the courses.
Food: 4 stars — sashimi fish is fresh and tempura is crunchy. Portion is generous. My friend ordered a salmon steak and it is well prepared.
We also ordered dessert — black sesame ice cream. Ok but not impressive.
Dinning hall is spacious and comfortable for having a quiet dinner with friends.
Definitely will go back. The daily special is quiet good on top of the regular lunch special.

This is a great restaurant. The staff is great, and the sushi chef (s) know what they’re doing. We were very impressed with both taste and presentation. I would return next time I’m in Toronto, Ontario.
–Vince (Rochester, NY)

A bunch of us order delivery here on the reg (think: weekly)! This place is good stuff. Always fresh, though, it can be quite pricey.
Kay, down to biz… the good quality stuff:
Dragon Roll
Caterpillar Roll
Geisha Roll* (mango — yumm!)
Kamikaze Roll
Shumai (so cute!)
Pacific Salmon Sashimi
Atlantic Salmon Sashimi (MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH)
Dolsot Bibimbap (you can ask for more than one egg!)
Black Cod dinner (the Sea Bass is fried… so this is a the healthier alternative)
Any of the sashimi /​maki trays
If you’re in the financial district, they’ll get you the order in under an hour!

Sigh. This review was tough to give, as it could’ve been anywhere between 2 and 4 stars.
Let’s start with the positives. I came here with a friend for Summerlicious this afternoon at 12:30, and we got the last seat in the restaurant (it helped that we reserved). We were given the menu and our order was taken in about 3 – 4 minutes. Not bad to start.
I ordered the miso soup, green salad, ebi shiumai, sushi/​sashimi/​maki, and green tea ice cream. The miso soup and green salad tasted nothing special (the soup was a little salty though). The ebi shiumai tasted really good! The sushi/​sashimi/​maki tasted very good as well, and I especially love how there’s a much higher raw fish-​rice ratio compared to other restaurants I go to. Finally, the green tea ice cream was a great dessert to finish.
Everything with the food satisfied me. The service, after having the order taken, was a near disaster. I understand it was a busy day today due to the fact it was a nice Friday, but many of the servers were confused in their roles. There was a long lineup of orders by the sushi counter, and at one point I saw 15 dishes lining up ready for serving, but no servers were going to pick them up. I didn’t receive my shiumai until 1:00, and my sushi/​sashimi/​maki until around 1:20. I finished everything by around 1:30, but the ice cream didn’t come until around 1:40, and finally the bill didn’t come till around 1:55. After 1 hour and 35 minutes, I finally left the restaurant at 2:05, since I had to ask for the credit card machine, in which no server was around for about 8 minutes before I finally got one’s attention.
What probably saved this from a 2-​star (or even a 1-​star rating) was the fact the manager came out to me as I was signing my receipt saying how they were horribly understaffed and completely underestimated the demand for Summerlicious this year. They only had two sushi chefs, four servers, and two chefs serving what was a full house restaurant. In a way I felt bad, but I did give them just less than 10% tips; something I almost never do in restaurant.
Free wifi! Password is the phone number. Perhaps as a sucker for free wifi that might have contributed to the 3-​star rating I gave. However, be warned.

Classique, sans plus sauf peut-​être trop d’espace et pas suffisamment fréquenté.

Kirei Sushi + Bar is located at the corner of Church/​Richmond. As Vanessa G. mentioned, the space is gorgeous. I like the natural sunlight that beams through the large windows (if only it is meant to slow down the feeling of wanting to fall asleep after a meal). There are also private rooms in the traditional Japanese style with tatami floors and chabudai tables which make up a small perimeter towards the rear of the restaurant.
The lunch specials are great. For $ 10.95 I got a Nigiri Bento Box which came with 8 pieces of sushi in addition to:
Starters of:
Miso Soup
House Salad
Noodles in a Bonito (?) Broth
The Nigiri came along with:
1 pot sticker
1 variation of a siu mai
Edamame
Tempura Veggies
Spicy Salmon Roll (6 pcs)
The thing I liked most was that the Nigiri here is made with less rice which = less fillers/​calories. The sushi is thinner in shape and less round.
I will say though that I feel the fattiness of their fish pales in comparison with some of the other sushi restaurants I’ve eaten at around town. This could be the cut of fish they get, or perhaps that they do not let the fish «rest» long enough for the fat to do it’s thing prior to serving.
The service was pretty good.
Prices are quite decent for downtown. I’d definitely come back.