courtesy of sushi couture on bloor street (and jeff).

p.s. this place is by far the best one on the bloor street sushi strip…a notch above the rest

check out the corner of Bloor and Spadina near where i live in Toronto. 1890 vs today.

it’s amazing to me that the bank of nova scotia (or scotiabank) is in the same place 120 years later! and the other corner still has a convenience/candy store! so wild.

those trees would have been spectacular if they were still around…

if you’re a sushi eater and you live in toronto, chances are that you’ve visited the bloor street strip. many of those countless sushi joints have attained cult like status…..sushi on bloor….new generation….etc. lines busting out the doors with locals and 905ers alike jonesing for a dose of sushi pizza . and there’s no doubt that when you’re hankering for some comforting spicy tuna (high on the sauce and crunch and low on the fish), new gen and the like will no doubt satisfy the craving…and for cheap. 

well, after 10 years of grabbing sushi at every one of the dozen or so japanese restaurants on the strip between spadina and bathurst (well, except for the all you can eat place….ick), i have found a gem.

sushi couture is different. ignore the stupid name. i’ve walked past this place for months, scoffing at the cheesy label of “couture”, but in order to truly master my knowledge of raw fish in the area, i had to give it a go. and 24 hours later, i’m still actively thinking about my dinner (sushi dinner set delux - 12 pieces of sushi and 8 butter yaki maki). the quality was impeccable. the pieces are smaller than the mass produced monstrosity rolls in the neighbourhood, but there was marked difference in the fish…it melted in my mouth. the butter fish in particular was smooth and lovely, grilled ever so slightly on the outside to enhance the flavour.

it’s a few bucks more. and totally worth it. welcome to the neighbourhood sushi couture. the name already seems more fitting.