Review: Asa Sushi

Since we moved to Toronto, Dave and I have been searching for a great sushi restaurant in our neighborhood. There are plenty of kickass, inexpensive sushi joints downtown, like our favourite HoSu Bistro, but we just couldn't find a clear-cut winner in our neck of the woods. That is, until one of Dave's coworkers suggested Asa Sushi at Jane and Bloor (18 Jane Street).

Asa Sushi occupies a clean, bright space with light wood screens dividing most of the tables -- you get a lot of privacy from fellow diners. The open sushi bar is manned by a stern-looking fellow in traditional garb (presumably the owner) and the adorable, super-friendly waitresses are quick to greet you when you enter.

The menu at Asa includes teriyaki and soup/noodles, but we're all about the sushi and maki when we visit. The maki selection is huge, with a lot of really creative rolls. There's a large selection of vegetarian maki, as well as some non-traditional deep-fried rolls. In addition, there's the usual tempting nigri-sushi offerings. It's really difficult to choose what to order!

One of our favourite dishes has been the 12-piece tempura, which is crispy and light and includes some unusual items such as salmon and asparagus along with the more standard prawns and vegetables (all for only $4.95!). I am also a huge fan of the vegetable tempura maki, which is at least 2 inches in diameter, and is stuffed with tasty vegetable and onion tempura. The yam tempura maki is similarly huge, with big chunks of yam tempura rolled up inside-out style and sprinkled with nutty toasted sesame seeds. Delicious. On our most recent visit, a ninja roll was ordered ("Ninja Roll!" exclaimed our devestatingly cute server), and it came drizzled with both a sweet teriyaki-style sauce as well as a very spicy cream sauce, making for a great, interesting contrast of flavours.

Prices at Asa Sushi are low, and the servings are large. Complimentary green tea is refilled frequently, and every meal is started with a green salad in Japanese orange dressing (which I find is more bland at Asa than at other places I've been). The combination of great value, friendly service, and maki variety found at Asa make it a winner in my book, and I'm ecstatic that we finally found ourselves a go-to neighborhood sushi joint.