| rev:text
| - I've visited Mariko on Bloor (near Bathurst) twice now, and was surprised to see it wasn't listed on Yelp yet.
My first visit to this location was initiated by their signage. They always seem to have some sort of special on, which is great for students. They have a $10.99 AYCE menu (albeit VERY limited), and a $14.99 AYCE which includes sashimi (2 or 3 types). They also have "FREE DAYS", where each day of the week, you get something free with your meal (ie. tofu & miso on Sundays).
Both times I have been there, service has been brutal. There were times that the waitress was just sitting at a table with her head down, and one of the chefs would come over to serve us after our failed attempts to get her attention.
The first visit, I ordered à la carte, and the food came out beautifully prepared and displayed. (see picture I will be uploading)
The second visit, which was AYCE, it was as though they couldn't care less. It was all just laid on a big plate in rows. The salmon sashimi came out in super thin slices, yet all still stuck together by some fatty tissue at the corner. I have never seen sashimi cut so poorly in my life! And the fish just did not seem like sushi grade. I was so disgusted, I didn't re-order anything but basic rolls. But even the spicy salmon roll was purely mushy, and it appeared that the chef hadn't cleaned his prep area between preparing rolls. Rolls that weren't supposed to have fish eggs on them had a few scattered bits of tobiko around the outside, that clearly didn't come from just being on the plate. It's so important for sushi chefs to use clean surfaces when preparing different rolls or fish. For a second time, I was disgusted.
The interior is a cold blue, and the lighting is just as unwelcoming. I think they've installed fluorescent lighting panels on the walls, and put transparent images of bamboo over them, as if they could act as sconces. FAIL
We overheard a diner behind us asking the waitress to recommend something delicious he hadn't tried before, and she suggested the dynamite roll. I couldn't believe it. The customer looked pretty disappointed too. If I had to rank the million sushi places on Bloor, Mariko would be wayyy down on my list. If you're going to try it, my only advice is not to go for the AYCE. It's just not worth it in the end if you can't enjoy your meal. Part of the joy of sushi is the presentation and preparation. It should be a feast for the eyes as well, and Mariko seems to think that it's alright to offer an inferior meal to their AYCE customers.
Later found out they had a conditional pass back in April '09. See here for details: http://app.toronto.ca/food2/DineSafeMain?userRequest=view_history&ESTABLISHMENT_ID=10186766
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)