Sushi and Bento

Sushi and Bento (187 Dundas Street West, Toronto)

(416) 977-0424

Vivan's mountain roll (spicy salmon inside with salmon outside)

My caterpillar roll (spicy tuna inside with avocado outside)

The end piece on Vivian's roll was kind of collapsed. My spicy tuna roll was apparently significantly more spicy than the mountain roll, which was fine with me. The roll portions are pretty large.

Would I return? Sure. The prices aren't the cheapest around, but the location is pretty convenient. The rolls are decent enough. Plus, the staff is pretty nice.

Total damage: Approximately $13.

Sakura

Sakura (Village by the Grange food court, 109 McCaul Street, Toronto)

Chicken katsu. 

I honestly didn't have enough time to eat this properly. I basically shoved it down my throat in under five minutes. From what I could gather, the chicken was crispy, and the rice could have used more sauce. In my rushed eating, I noticed no awful bites. 

Would I go back? Yes. It's affordable and decent for students. With anything deep fried, if it's crispy, it's on the right track. It took maybe around five minutes for my food to be done, and it was served hot. I also like how they made the price with tax into a nice amount that returned no stupid change.

Total damage: $6.25. 

Hosu

Hosu (254 Queen Street, Toronto)

416-848-9456

The "new menu" was there last time I visited this place, too.

141. chicken teriyaki, shrimp tempura, and California roll. ($10.95)

There's quite a bit of food in the bento box. The chicken was good and sauced up, the tempura was crunchy, and I'm still not a huge fan of the raw bean sprouts under the chicken. Vivian actually replaed the salad in the box for glass noodles. The shrimp tempura actually included some vegetable pieces as well. I feel like there was more chicken in the box when I ordered 140 last time, but it was still a lot of food.

Would I return? Yep. I can rely on being full, and the spider roll is a pretty sweet deal.

Snacks from Wal-Mart

I liked the cartoons on this bag of kettlecorn, but not enough to buy it.

Josie's snack of choice: Apple chips. Makes me want a dehydrator. 

Mel's snack of choice: plantain chips. They're salty. They're sweet. They're not quite banana chips.

My snack of choice: Bits & Bites. I was a little boring, but these are addictive and they were on sale.

Sushi Tei

Sushi Tei (115 Times Avenue, Thornhill, Ontario)

905-882-1110

Hours: 

Mon - Thurs 11:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Fri - Sat 11:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.

Sun 10:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

First impression: they have awesome cups!

K-8 spicy Udon ($9.95)

The sashimi dish that was part of Renée and Simon's Osaka course dinner ($49.95).

I like what they did with the green onion.

I liked how the cuttlefish was soft and not chewy. I was also very pleased that the shrimp was peeled - no tail. There was one that had the tail, and I think it was supposed to go into tempura batter because it had been straightened out. The broth looked spicier than it was, but it still maintained my interest with enough flavour. In terms of seafood count, there were about 3 shrimp, 1 nice piece of cuttlefish, and 1 mussel. There could have been 1-4 more pieces. Vegetables included onions, mushrooms, and green peppers. 

Would I return? Yeah, I'd go again. I tried one of Renée and Simon's spicy salmon roll and I liked it. It tasted different from the ones I've had before. The sauce wasn't as creamy looking, and it was very spicy. The place looks clean and the gimmicky projected music videos on a piece of glass in the middle of the restaurant is kind of cool to stare at. The menu is pretty long, including both Japanese and Korean dishes. The servers were pretty on the ball with tea refills.