Sushi 101

Yes I am one of the people who come here when sob is packed. At first this place didn’t seem bad. Nice ambiance and the food was passable. But whenever I ordered a Korean dish and one of the Korean appetizer is finished, they are very very VERY unwilling to stock up the appetizer, sometimes just telling you a straight out no that they don’t have that dish anymore. Absurd. Almost every other Korean restaurants stocks them up! Recently they raised the prices by a lot and just yesterday when my bf and I were walking along bloor we saw that it has closed down. Surprise surprise.

Low-​cost sushi tastes exactly like it sounds.

I wanted to eat at Sushi on Bloor but it was like 11:45 and they said I could only get take out. So, I decided to check this place out. The service was pretty good, and the food was pretty good the prices were decent, and they brought us separate bills without having to be asked. The lady was polite, I’m not sure what else I could really ask from the place that they didn’t provide.

After spending an evening at Snakes and Lattes, our group thought sushi sounded like a good follow-​up plan so we headed to Sushi on Bloor. Of course, as it was after 8 on a Saturday night, there was nearly an hour line. Too hungry and cold to wait, and surrounded by sushi options, we figured another place would be just as good! (I should point out here that only one in our party had ever been to Sushi on Bloor, so I can’t compare the two).
I admit that walking in after being next door was a bit of a shock — there were a lot of empty tables. Never a good sign. But we took a seat nonetheless and perused the menu. They have the standard options and a few specialties so we got a nice assortment. This is the first time I’ve been served sushi as if they were separate courses — they came out one or two plates at a time. I like being able to mix and match (kind of the point of ordering family style), so that was a downer.
The sushi itself wasn’t bad, but definitely wasn’t great. They didn’t commit the cardinal sin of making the pieces too big to eat gracefully in one bite (although that may just be my personal annoyance). But it definitely wasn’t anything special.
The service at the beginning wasn’t terrible, the servers came by a few times to try to take our order since we were too busy chatting to make our selections. They were also very good about refilling our waters — I don’t think my glass was ever dry, and I drink a lot of water.
Then came the bill. Or should I say, then came the bill situation since the bill was nowhere in sight. At first we didn’t realize because, again, we were deep in conversation. Then we realized that we’d gone through two rather long stories since we’d finished our meals, and we hadn’t seen a server yet. It had been at least half an hour. At that point we stood up to request the bills. I should mention at this point that we were a table of two guys and two girls. She only brought one bill. Not that unexpected so I won’t fault them too much on that, but we didn’t have enough cash to split it ourselves. Amongst ourselves, we decided that we would ask her to split the bill in two so that two of us could pay with credit cards. She came back with the bill split in 4. We didn’t feel the need or desire to correct her at this point, so we just put two bills in each folder with our credit cards. Again, it took about 15 minutes for her to return and take them, then we were finally out of there.
All in all, if you’re not picky about your sushi and you want a place where you won’t feel rushed on a Saturday night, this may be your place — but the quality is definitely low, as is the service.

i decided to take myself out on friday night. and was craving sushi so i came here. i was seated almost right away but i sat for OVER 20 MINUTES without ANYONE coming to my table, saying hello, bringing water, taking a drink order, a nod of acknowledgement to say they’d be there. i thought it was maybe due to the booth i was in (why build a booth around a table if it will result in neglecting your customers!?)… so on 3 separate occasions i stood up to get their attention but had no luck. i was so upset, i got up and left and went to a place that was eager for my business. i was initially happy for them to be a little busier than normal but they need to have enough staff to accommodate busier nights. the last time i was there it was slow, but not this bad, i have a strong feeling the service is going downhill. i know it isn’t an easy balance but service like that (or complete lack thereof) is entirely unacceptable, and at this point unforgivable.

Good service, their portions are a lot bigger than other places, and it tastes delicious. I’ve tried a few of their dishes but the Super Canadian Special remains my absolute favorite, everything I love about sushi on one plate! Overshadowed by Sushi on Bloor (a usual crowd favorite), this place definitely deserves a lot more recognition. I’d pick Sushi 101 over Sushi on Bloor for as long as they carry the Super Canadian Special on their menu :)

Where did my super-​efficient server go? Why are there weird pressboard walls separating me from the now ample staff so I can’t make eye contact with them and get my miso already?
The sushi is still mediocre, but I can’t really balance it out with fantastic service anymore. I miss you, fantastic server. At least they still have the inexplicable hieroglyph menus.

I thought it was a bit odd for another sushi place to open up right next door to Sushi On Bloor, but then quickly clued in that 101 Sushi was anticipating on being the place people settle for when there’s a line-​up at its neighbouring competition. Sure enough my first time at 101 is when I didn’t feel like waiting for a table at the superior Sushi On Bloor, and assumed that all sushi is relatively the same anyway.
The place lacked a little in the décor, but they have these really nice and high booths that are quite comfortable. The menu also had a nice pattern on it so I thought maybe things were looking good. Waitress was kind, but then realised it was only here and one chef working. And people starting pouring in behind us…
Things were a tad slower than I am used to at sushi places, but this was clearly from the lack of staff. Food and prices seemed both fair to me, but I didn’t think the rolls were quite as good as SOB or most places I frequent. I was full and satisfied after my meal so I can’t complain too much… Though it’s unlikely this will ever be my first choice for sushi in the Annex.

It would be *easy* for this place to be 3-​star, and 4-​star is reachable, but it isn’t there, yet.
Sushi 101 is pretty new, but not so new as to excuse the long waits at every stage of service — water/​tea often taking 10 minutes, lunch entrees sometimes taking 40 after that.
The execution is pretty sound if you stick to their strengths — decent maki, and a Korean section at the back of the menu with a pretty great Dol Sot Bibimbap. The prices are reasonable, too, and there’s always plenty of space.
I want very much to recommend this place on the strength of the Bibimbap alone, but I can’t send you, my Unilocalers, to a lunch spot that takes an hour to get you your food. If you end up stuck here anyhow, though, the good news is that the kitchen is decent.
PS — Avoid the mayo-​tastrophes on the «Chef’s specials» page except perhaps as novelty. They aren’t exactly «food.»

I’m surprised anyone even gave this hole a 3 star review!
Located right next door, you think the restaurant would actually fill up just taking customers who didn’t fancy waiting in line at Sushi on Bloor.
WRONG.
On a Saturday you will still see 15+ people queued up outside Sushi on Bloor while Sushi 101 has 20 empty tables.
The service at Sushi 101 is incredibly, incredibly bad. We waited over 10 minutes to be served and then another 30+ minutes to get our food. Considering there were only 2 tables occupied in the whole restaurant, that is pretty inexcusable.
How this place even manages to remain in business is beyond me. There are always 2 dodgy asian guys sitting in a booth at the back who clearly work there or own the place, yet never lift a finger to help with serving or running the place. I’ve heard whispers that Sushi 101 is really an undercover drug op… seems absurd but it would make sense for the complete lack of customer service and very mediocre sushi.
My advice — just bite the bullet and wait in line at Sushi on Bloor. You’ll still get your food quicker even if you wait 15 minutes for a table.

Not sure what you expect from a sushi place but this gets the job done. It has a very large variety but you might be missing the super-​expensive dishes from other places.
Did I say that it has very good prices?
My favourite dish is the «Canadian something something» (what a good memory).

Though I’m a big fan of sushi and routinely crave the stuff, I realize that my enthusiasm, as genuine as it may be, by no means makes me any sort of authority or aficionado, which I’m acknowledging from the get-​go. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I still haven’t graduated to eating sashimi and need my lovely lumps of tuna and salmon to be swathed by the protective merchants of yumminess known as rice and seaweed.
Ok, still with me?
My second, or maybe third (?) time at Sushi 101, which is a name I sorta dig since it acknowledges its not-​too-​lofty ambitions, was by far the worst.
The place was empty save for one girl who was apparently waiting for someone and was there before we arrived and two girls who were settling up before we ordered. Service should be lightning-​quick then, one would think? Wrong.
I ordered the maki combo, which comes with California rolls, tuna and salmon rolls, which I asked to be made spicy. Obstacle number one. Our waitress seemed a touch flummoxed by my request and then said she’d have to ask. (I’m pretty sure that making said rolls spicy amounts to adding some sort of hot mayo-​esque sauce to the fish, but I could be wrong.) She then tried to up-​sell me another combo, which had more and/​or different fish but came with the spicy varieties. I told her that I still wanted the same amount of fish, just hotter, and really was going to go with whichever was cheaper — my original option it turns out.
My friend ordered the vegetarian combo with no special requests, thankfully. We both ordered a glass of wine and water, which didn’t arrive until after our dinner, and even then when we were in the throes of wasabi-​overkill.
We then waited for over half an hour for our fish. Thankfully, we had (slightly too-​salty) miso soup and salad to tide us over, but given that we were effectively their only customers at this point, I wasn’t sure what the holdup was.
When the food came, granted it was pretty delish, and my tuna and salmon rolls were appropriately fiery and given the hefty portion size, I even had enough for lunch the next day.
Which brings me to asking for it to be wrapped up. Maybe this is common practice and realistically, it wasn’t a deal breaker for me, to quote Liz Lemon, but the waitress simply brought me the carton and was on her way. I’ve never been asked to put together my own doggy bag and wasn’t appalled by the request in an ‘I’m-too-good-for-that’ way, just more taken aback since I wasn’t expecting it. My friend, though, seemed pretty livid and hissed, «Like an animal!» which actually made me laugh. How many animals package their own leftovers? She’s funny.
All in all, the food was decent, middle-​of-​the-​road sushi, which is usually enough to satisfy me since I really just want that fish-​rice-​seaweed-​soy-​sauce combo but the service left me wanting more.
Can’t imagine how this place would fare during dinner rush hour — eep.

Sushi 101 lives up to its name. It’s a basic sushi joint with not much of an umph to it and slow-​ish service.
I found myself there one day in an effort to try something new (which is really hard because New Gen is just down the street) and ordered typical maki. Originally I tried to order some of their more exotic rolls, like the «vegetarian California roll» (cucumber and avocado, come on!) and but for whatever reason they couldn’t really accommodate my requests so well.
I thought it was a bit on the expensive side but I noticed that everyone else at the place had heaps of food and I had only stuck to two items. Maybe I was at a disadvantage as the only meats I eat are salmon and tuna, but the other tables seemed pretty happy.
What Sushi 101 has going for it is that it is directly next to Sushi on Bloor. Either it will profit hugely off of the spillover from SoB (what a great acronym!) or it will simply be unable to compete.
I am not sure how long Sushi 101 will be around for but I think it will improve with age.

Another sushi joint right beside Sushi on Bloor. Nothing special, I ordered the chicken teriyaki & tempura bento lunch special. It came with the usual rice, salad, miso soup.