There are quite a few sushi restaurants in the Y&E area. There is Sushi Rock Cafe, Sono Japanese Restaurant and the latest one to the scene, Blue Zen .

The restaurant is about half the size of its competition, with a more modern style design - simple white walls and glowing blue floor accents.

The focus of their cuisine is stated as Japanese fusion but with one glance at the menu, they really serve many of the traditional offerings.

During this visit, the dining room is packed. With just 8+ tables, it gets busy very quickly. I had no other choice then to order some take-out.

I order the Assorted Tempura ($6.95), 2 pieces of shrimp tempura and a mixture of vegetables that includes sweet potatoes, broccoli, beans and carrots. It is actually not bad, even though I ate it about 15 minutes after it was cooked. The tempura remained crisp.

I also have the Sushi regular meal ($13.95), which comes with 6 pieces of sushi and a California roll. The fish is surprisingly fresh, each melting in my mouth. The California roll is also very good, the avocado is ripe and the salmon, just right.

On top of that all, I have the Alaska Roll, one of Blue Zen's fusion offerings. Although there is nothing special to this salmon, cucumber, avocado wrapped roll, what matters is it is so fresh. I devour each piece.

Blue Zen may not provide the Japanese fusion I was hoping for, but for fresh sushi, this is definitely my choice within the neighbourhood's offerings.

PS. They deliver in the neighbourhood too!

Blue Zen

2561 Yonge Street

416.481.3355