‘’SUSHI KAJI ‘’ - Still hands-down BEST-VALUE quality Omakase tasting Menu in town!

THECHARLES · September 25, 2023, 3:29am

For me, our family’s re-visit to this Toronto institution tonight, within just a relatively short span of two months, embraces more of an ‘ investigative report ‘ element than a regular family dinner outing.

With sky high inflation forcing the hiking of Omakase prices at reputable, authentic Sushi-Ya to match. Nowadays, normal Omakase menus, featuring a few otsumami dishes plus 13-15 nigiri courses and priced well north of $200 are regular and common sights. As such, for Sushi Kaji to maintain its current unbelievable $160 price point is quite a feat…assuming the past high standard of food can still be maintained?! Well folks, this is what I was there to find out!

Lo and behold, to my surprise, the food offered tonight was as impressive if not more so than before! Ingredients used for Neta and Sashimi were pristine, fresh and top notch. A large majority were of the exotic and uncommon varieties, a rarity by Toronto standard. Products were sourced directly from Japan as well as North American and European waters. Kaji San did not skim in their use and quantity.

Our omakase consisted of the following:

Otsumami - Mizuna Salad w/ Wild Scottish Ocean Trout and Moroccan Octopus
( Sweet, tangy and refreshing )
- Grilled Black Cod, Hatcho miso sauce, Miso Broad Beans, Pickled Cucumbers
( The piping hot Black Cod was sweet and nicely caramelized, the miso
infused beans turned out to be the star of the dish with its amazing taste and
crunchy character )

Sashimi - Akami, Shima-Aji and Hamachi
( Photos depicting the sheen and freshness of the fish speak for itself! )

Wanmono - Buckwheat Soba Noodles w/ Gobo Tempura & Quail Egg
( Wow! What a bowl of amazingly tasty Soba noodles. Umami level was out of this
World! Great textural interaction amongst the Gobo Tempura, wild mushrooms
and various condiments! Full marks in my book! )

Sushi - 14 Nigiri pieces featuring the following Neta:
Shiro-Ebi ( baby shrimps ), Akami, O-Toro, Sharks-Skin Flounder, Anagao, Hokkaido
Uni, Wild Scottish Ocean Trout, Bluefish from Japan, Madai from New Zealand,
Shima-Aji, Golden Eye Sea Bream, Aburi Hokkaido Hotategai, BC Botan Ebi, Moroccan
Tako, Spicy mayo chopped Tuna.

         Most Neta were pre-dressed and did not require any further enhancement from Kaji’s
         excellent home-brew soya sauce. The Sizzling Oil and Scallions topping for the
         Madai and the Garlicky Mustard Sauce for the Octopus were two fine lip-smacking
         examples!

Dessert - Homemade diced Apple Crumble with vanilla Ice Cream!
( What a delicious ending to a near perfect meal! Bravo Chef! )

Seldom does one come across such a delightful, wonderful and near perfection meal at such great and unbelievable price point/value!

Food-for-thought!!..At 4 times the cost, does Sushi Masaki Saito’s offering really 4 times more tastier than Kaji??? Uummm! I seriously doubt that?! With my hard earned money, I much prefer paying for taste than rent, knife work, gold leaves or Caviar ( which I can get online! ) Ha!!
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elvisahmed · September 25, 2023, 1:59pm

Nice Charles I think a visit is due too bad the location is bit hard to get for me. Maybe combine it with a Costco trip to the Etobicoke Costco location

THECHARLES · September 25, 2023, 3:02pm

Talk about Costco…sadly those jars of Anchovies that re-surfaced you mentioned in your previous posting were NOT available in my Richmond Hill store! Sigh!

elvisahmed · September 25, 2023, 3:04pm

Well you could have picked them across the street from Kaji the Costco is right there

THECHARLES · September 25, 2023, 5:21pm

plragde · September 25, 2023, 7:10pm

Thanks for this report. I remember eating there at some point in the previous century, when the omakase was under $100. Good to hear it is still going strong.

THECHARLES · September 25, 2023, 8:30pm

My first meal there was only $45!! Can still remember being wowed by the ’ Bonito sashimi in sweet yuzu soya sauce '! First time exposed to such an amazingly delicious taste profile!

gborges · September 25, 2023, 9:51pm

Thanks!

Daniel · September 28, 2023, 7:38am

It is unfair to compare this with Masaki Saito. I think almost all of their ingredients are imported from Japan and likely using all wild, not farmed, fish. The knivework matters too. It affects the texture and flavour quite a bit

cakumadesu · September 28, 2023, 2:16pm

While I am not a fan of Kaji’s sushi nor Saito’s sushi … Kaji and Saito are 2 different tiers. One of their many differences take into account the use of mostly farm vs mostly wild fish/ingredients.

Even sushi restaurants in Japan have different tiers. People mostly choose where they go based on their budget, their preference, and among other reasons.

THECHARLES · September 28, 2023, 5:54pm

I totally agree with you, Daniel, especially from a Sushi aficionado view point!
However, to the younger, uninitiated foodie members in my family say, who only spend the occasional, infrequent vacations in Japan. If I am willing to splurge and treat them to a good quality sushi-Omakase, at a Japanese owned and operated Sushi-Ya, I seriously doubt they could appreciate and differentiate a level of enjoyment and quality as reflected by a 4X price point difference.

Though quality might not be of top tier calibre, however, according to Kaji San, most of their fish and seafood products are air freight from Japan with the occasional products from Europe ( Portuguese blue fin tuna , wild scottish ocean trout…) or other pristine waters like Madai from New Zealand water.

One thing though, Masaki saito will for sure offer ’ Shirako ’ but Kaji will not! Ha!

cakumadesu · September 28, 2023, 6:55pm

Just want to clarify … fish “flown in” from other countries (including Japanese and wherever water they are from) include both farmed AND wild seafood … as well as frozen products.

If anyone wants to be super picky and specific, in addition to asking about the source location, you might want to ask chef which ones of his/her products are farmed vs wild vs unknown.

Not just Japanese restaurants outside Japan … Restaurants within Japan (including many high end ones) will use farmed instead of wild products for different reasons, for example the cost, availability, etc. Many of the items you see for example kurumaebi, Japanese tuna, even the uni, etc. are farmed. Even the Yamayuki corp at Toyosu sells wild, farmed and frozen products. The wild products tend to be more expensive.

Daniel · September 29, 2023, 4:47am

Hahaha, I think there is only one way to find out! Treat them to Masaki Saito and see if they think it is different!

I do think high end sushi is a bit like cars or hifi? Surely a Ferrari is not 8-10x better than a Kia but the pricing escalates dramatically at the top end?

THECHARLES · September 29, 2023, 5:13am

Unfortunately, someone in Toronto…but NOT me won the $68 Million lottery jackpot last night!..so right now, for Masaki Saito, the kids have to wait…and wait…and wait!!!