I've been going to Ichiriki for nearly seventeen years. Shortly after it opened. I've been dozens of times, although less so in more recent years because I moved out of the neighbourhood. I always told people that it's the best Japanese restaurant in Toronto. In a lot of ways it still is.
Here's the problem. Yonge and Bloor has seen a huge influx of condo owners in recent years. The new 75 story tower on the southeast corner is just starting to fill up. As a result Ichiriki has gone from being busy/lively to a mob scene.
I would argue there's no sushi chef in Toronto who works harder than Riki-san. But based on my recent dinner, there's no question that the workload has become too much for any one person to handle. My husband and I always sit at the sushi bar and let Riki-san serve us whatever he likes. Always wonderful. And the quality of the sushi on my recent visit was excellent as usual. The problem was that the sushi was slow in coming, small in the number of pieces and overpriced. Over the course of the meal we each got seven pieces of sushi and three small California rolls. The cost? An even hundred dollars.
In the end the bill after drinks, taxes and tip was over $180. And we left the restaurant still a bit hungry. Would we have liked more? Yes. Did anyone care to ask? No. But I wouldn't say that Riki-san or the staff were lazy or neglectful. On the contrary. Riki-san was basically a tornado of activity. He was dealing with an ever growing stack of orders piling up. He simply didn't have time to serve us more or to even check to see if we wanted more.
What's the solution? Perhaps more than one sushi chef. Ichiriki will never again achieve the level of excellence in terms of service if the staff has to deal with the thirty takeout orders coming in from the hungry condo owners. In the end it was my first disappointing visit to Ichiriki. A negative review from one of Ichiriki's most loyal customers won't do them any harm. Business is too booming to even notice. Which is good news for Ichiriki. But bad news for its most loyal customers.