Mazz Sushi
993 Bloor Street West
Phone: 416.536.7631
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Mazz Sushi is a little Japanese & Korean resto in Bloorcourt with a big menu, terrific service, and impressively fresh fish at reasonable prices. Unlike the Sushi-crowded Annex, Mazz doesn't have much of any competition further west at Bloor & Dovercourt, yet offers amazing quality out of sheer pride in their work.
Maybe that's all I really need to say about Mazz, but then where would I put all the delicious sushi photos?
Sitting in one of a pair of more traditional Japanese booths (screens and all) one side of the resto, a friend and I start off the meal with an order of Edamame Beans and Kani (crab) Tempura.
The hot Edamame beans ($4) arrive quickly along with some small complimentary appetizers: marinated cold tofu cubes and an Okayu cup for each of us.
Kani Tempura ($6) arrives soon after. It's crispy, yet not too batter heavy -- a great seafood portion for $6.
My fellow late night diner orders Bento #1 ($12) which features Salmon teriyaki, California rolls, watercress, beansprouts, glass noodles and rice. He asks for cucumber-less California rolls and Mazz works it out for him without hesitation. The rolls are big and jam-packed - even with missing greenery.
The Teriyaki salmon steak is really the highlight of this box though. Once again, the portion is quite generous yet the quality of the food remains high. It's perfectly cooked and a pleasure to eat (I was plenty happy to "help" him polish it off).
Sure, there are great bento offers elsewhere for a few bucks less, but by the time you "upgrade" to California rolls, you're usually about even, so why not start with a fine box from the get-go.
On my side of the table, an order of the Rainbow Roll ($9) is a little best-of sushi dish and perfect for my indecisive mood.
Pictured at the very top, the rainbow at Mazz includes a long row of California rolls topped with four kinds of fish and avocado. I'm pretty picky about fish as I can't stand overly fishy smells and tastes, but truly fresh raw fish is neither and this roll is a dream. Even the seaweed is tender and effortless to chew through. Each piece, with its own subtle flavour, melts in your mouth.
Comments (12)
Looks Great!
Terrific review, i just can't get into that sea weed salad though.
Although my wife sucks it down like coca cola
hmmm...thought id post it here just in case someone does know the answer and the review is about sushi.
does anyone know where I would be able to find Inari wrappers? they are the tofu rice pockets.
one of my favs whenever i go for sushi...been trying to find where i would be able to get my hands on them.
thanks in advance.
Tanja thank you again for another great review.
I went to sushi 101 when i got the chance and thoroughly enjoyed it.
what's with all these korean/japanese hybrids?
are these korean owners trying to tell us that their own cuisine can't stand on its own?
and contrary to popular belief, korean and japanese cultures are not the same.
There's PLENTY of "hybrid" restaurants in Toronto. If I go to a steakhouse, but I see that they're offering seafood as well, am I going to assume that their steak "can't stand on it's own?"
And contrary to your belief, Korean restaurants are opening like CRAZY all over the city, so there is obviously a demand for traditional Korean cuisine. Walking near Yonge and Wellesley, I was astonished to find about 10 restaurants offering either Korean BBQ or traditional Korean dishes along the Yonge strip.
a steakhouse serving seafood is complimentary not contradictory.
your argument about korean restaurants opening on younge may have some merit. however, the fact remains that there are numerous restaurants that are korean/japanese hybrids. again, i ask why?
this might be off topic, but i also ask why all the korean/japanese restaurants are all owned by koreans or other non-japanese persons. sadly, most of these hybrids do a disservice to japanese cuisine because they prepare sub-par japanese food.
perhaps it's not entirely the fault of these owners. most torontonians don't know what good japanese food is and, thus, will frequent these hybrids for "japanese" food. what a shame.
You obviously do not know that there aren't a lot of Japanese people in the city of Toronto. "most of these hybrids do a disservice to japanese cuisine"? What about the Thai, Caribbean, Vietnamese, Japanese and even Korean restaurants owned and run by Chinese people? From personal experience, Japanese people who visit these "hybrid" restaurants love the food. If anything, the Japanese should be satisfied that their culture is being spread around the city.
What is UP with Japanese food fans? They're constantly crapping on this city and how many of the restaurants here are not "authentic" or "pure" or worse, not Japanese-run, as if that's a flaw that is even remotely related to food quality. I'm glad you love Japanese cuisine so much that you want the highest quality served to everyone, but the fact is not everyone can afford it and can settle for less.
If it offends you, try to suffer quietly as a martyr for all of us. I thank you in advance for saving my culinary soul.
I myself am not a huge fan of "hybrid" restaurants, but I don't think it's related to thinking one cuisine can't "stand on its own" but the fact that a lot of people do like eating or choosing from many different types of cuisine in one place.
What is the "contradiction" between Korean and Japanese food?
And WHAT "popular belief" that Korean and Japanese cultures are the same?
I was very surprised to find so many Korean- and Chinese- owned Japanese restaurants in Toronto. Service and food they provide are essentially different from what I'm used to in Japan. All those colourful exotic rolls that would only be considered disgusting in my traditional taste (you just don't mix different fish sticking together like that!) and shockingly thick lukewarm sashimi (sashimi should be served CHILLED grrrrr), and boiling-hot miso soup with no fish broth, give me a break. But no matter how "hybrid" they are, good restaurants serve great food, and there are not so good ones even if they are Japanese-owned. When I really miss Japanese service, I have a few Japanese-owned restaurants on my list that I would cling to, but that doesn't mean that they would be appealing to everybody just because they are run by Japanese. If Korean-owned Japanese restaurants suit your taste and satisfy your appetite, that's fine. But often, Korean- and Chinese- owned Japanese restaurants disappoint me, just because they don't prepare food as I'm used to. That's all.
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