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| - Yes, my star rating is low, but please read my review to understand why I would still RECOMMEND THIS RESTAURANT. We opted for the $11.99+tax lunch. It is the same price as Kyoto House and $1 less than most Durham Sushi Restaurants were the going lunch rate is $12.95-12.99. Significantly less than Tatemono type places which run $15.95-19.95 just for lunch (this is the dinner price for most places). The dinner menu has only a few more options on it. I would recommend going before 3:00 pm when the price is bumped up to $20 for the not much better dinner menu and the Tepenyaki rush starts.
Sorry about not taking any pictures, I wanted to but I went with a friend and we always laugh our asses off so I forgot. "Crabmeat" is imitation crabmeat.
Okay, so let me list everything we ate:
(nigir is the oval shaped rice with a strip of fish on top, maki is the roll) HR stands for "hand roll"
Fried Scallops
Salmon Teriyaki
Chikcen Tempura
Red Snapper nigiri
Red Tuna Maki (surpirsing because most placed only offer white tuna with their menu)
Futo HR (crab meat, avacado,sweet pickle, cucumber)
Lemon Chicken (basically just chicken breast temperua with a lemon sauce)
gyoza
Sui Mai
Salmon Nigiri
Crab Meat Nigiri
Dynamite Roll (avacado, prawn temperua, cucumber)
Another, similar roll (can't remember the name of it but the entire roll was deep fried like the golden rolls)
Calamari
Inari sushi (I still have no idea what it is, I asked the waitress and she had no idea. The search online calls it fried Tofu pouch but what I was served here was a sheet of sweet, sticky something on rice in a nigiri format)
Let's look at the things I would say I liked
Salmon Nigiri, Fresh, balanced
Didn't like
Everything Else
This is actually okay for me, I'm really picky, if I like 1 thing at a menu then it's fine.
Overall, I'd give the food a 4.5/10, but adjusting for the ridiculously low price of $12+tax, I'll bump it up it to 5/10.
My friend was more generous, giving the food 6/10. He didn't try most of the things (mostly because of "halal" but also because he was full before a lot of the later stuff came). He loved the crab meat nigiri, and liked the salmon nigiri, calamari, fried scallops, and dynamite roll. He did actually end up trying the chicken tempura hesitantly (despite the halal issue) which he liked, suggesting to me he would have liked the other fried dishes such as the lemon chicken as well.
We both hated the fishy Salmon teriyaki, it was not the same salmon as the salmon nigiri.
Overall the sushi is the best sushi I've had in Durham (I have been to Tatemono, Adora (twice), Oshi Maki, Kyoto House, and now Shogun). It was all technically sound, the rice was cooked well (could have had a bit more vinegar and some wasabi), the slices were thing and even, the rolls were tight, etc. The temperua fried dishes were crispy and light as they should be and the sauces were satisfactory (check my other reviews, this is a compliment).
Just the food for the price, I would give it a 2.5 or 3 stars because the salmon nigiri was the best piece of sushi I have had in Canada (including the $150 per head placed in Toronto) but the service was so slow. The food came out piping hot but slowly and the waitress was inattentive and there was a very apparent language barrier. So I'm bumping it down to 2 stars. If you want sushi, in Whitby, go here. There are only 8 sushi places in Whitby, I have been to 5 of them and out of those this is number 1).
Edit: Forgot to mention, the decor is beautiful. Hand painted murals of ships and fishermen line the walls. I have a rule about not going to the same restaurant twice for the same food, unless it is exceptional. But I might be trying this place for its Tepenyaki and update my review.
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