Yasu

My friend from Edmonton was in town for the Christmas break and she sent me an article about Yasu. So we made reservations a month in advance for the $80 course meal with 18 pieces of sushi at Toronto's own 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi' experience.

 Cute transformed semi-detached house into a 12 seater restaurant

And so it begins:

Striped Jack from Japan

A nice start to the meal: very simple with a light dash of soy sauce. 

Ocean trout

Oishi! The trout just melted on your tongue. It was a little less oily and softer than salmon. 

Mackerel from Norway

I'm usually not a fan of mackerel since I find it pretty salty, but this one wasn't that salty. 

Monkfish fois gras

Great smooth and creamy texture

Hokkaido scallop with rock salt and lemon

Wow - so this is what Hokkaido scallop is supposed to taste like! It went down so smooth and was so soft and delicious. I could eat 10 of these. 

The texture doesn't really look like fish after you put the soy sauce on top. 

Lean tuna from Hawaii

So red - and a contrast from the previous Hokkaido scallop's texture since it was firmer. 

Grouper from North Carolina

Another fish I thoroughly enjoyed! Also really smooth and yummy with a stronger flavour. 

So pretty...

Amberjack

A tougher fish than the Grouper - meatier

Uni (sea urchin)

I'm usually not a big fan, but this was so soft and creamy - it definitely makes a huge difference when it's fresh. 

Salmon roe

I like the bubbly and pop-able texture of the roe, but this was a little difficult to eat. 

Fluke

Another delicious white fish! I'm learning so much about different textures and flavours of fish. 

In the past, I thought salmon and tuna were the best types of sashimi, but I've been proven wrong multiple times tonight. 

Anchovy sushi (?)

I have to admit: I was too busy staring at all those tiny little eyes to pay attention to what I was eating (or what kind of fish it was). 

Hamachi or yellowtail

I've never really appreciated this classic sashimi fish, but it really is quite beautifully coloured. 

Toro or tuna belly from Spain

OMG TORO! I love Toro. I feel like any high class sushi meal I has to have it. 

It's just so fatty and delicious...mmmm

Bonito

I've eaten bonito flakes and I never really appreciated the flavour because it's so salty. However, I never knew the fish was so pretty and colourful! It's like a feast for the eyes - until you eat the actual fish and realize that it is that salty by itself and the same bonito flavour is there. 

Can't say I'm a fan, but I appreciate it more now.

An up close picture because it's really beautiful

Tuna hand roll

Hmm...all I can say is that it's a lot of seaweed

Sea eel

It's different from unagi (bbq freshwater eel) because a little tougher and has a lot of tiny little bones. 

I prefer unagi over sea eel. 

Tamago

Egg sushi is difficult to make and the texture of this one kind of reminded me of sponge cake. 

Golden snapper

We had the option to get another piece of sushi and went for it! The golden snapper was really good! I'm glad we chose the option to try something we haven't really had before. 

Green tea panna cotta and black sesame ice cream

A nice finish to our meal

Overall: It was a fun experience eating all those pieces of sushi and I found it really interesting learning about all the different types of fish and their textures and flavours. I probably wouldn't pay $80 for the meal again, but it was enjoyable and delicious while it lasted. 

Website: http://www.yasu-sushibar.com/