As a patron of *almost* every sushi establishment on the Bloor Spadina to Bathurst strip, I had to try Noka. The street seems to alternate between Fro Yo, Sushi and Coffee Shop now nearly exclusively.
I've been both earlier in the day and later night, both times the service was excellent and at night it was absolutely cheerful, with some lively music and smiling server.
To drink I ordered Toronto's own Sake Izumi Genshu (http://ontariosake.com/products/) and it was served in the neat little wooden box where it's poured overflowing the glass in to the box.
To start we ordered the Hot Sake Stone, where beef is cooked on a sizzling rock rectangle; you use a fat cube to grease it up and the beef cooks quickly for dipping in to two sauces. I opted for the gluten-free teriyaki sauce which was fantastic.
The most memorable and well executed item we had on the menu was the lamb; the portions were better than a similar restaurant would deliver and it was tender and cooked just right, placed on top of a delicious sauce. I would order the lamb again and again.
The Ex-Girlfriend roll was interesting with it's mango wrap and strawberry sauce drizzle, a bit girly for me but still done very well. They have an Ex-Boyfriend version as well that was mentioned as a special.
The Happy Hour menu was in effect for our late night dining and the house wine at $3 a glass is a steal. The simpler rolls are a value at around $2.50-5.00
Noka first showed up in my social media stream with a menu controversy; I'm a big fan of doing what's right and copying the menu of another place doesn't fit that but the website has been modified.
It's not quite an icon like nearby Guu but I think it beats most of the rest of the street by a long shot with its better interior, food and service. They're just in soft opening now and already pretty darn good, so I look forward to seeing Noka get even better!