The Best AYCE Sushi in Toronto
The best AYCE (All You Can Eat) sushi in Toronto revolves around a core assumption: the more the merrier. The more friends you have in your party, the merrier. The more variety in menu items, the merrier. The more time and stomach room at your disposal, the merrier. This may lead many to think that the enjoyment of AYCE sushi is defined by gluttony. I, however, prefer to call it the art of indulgence. I'm hoping I'm not alone here.
That said, both good food and good bargains can be had all across the city. The sheer number of quality, affordable AYCE sushi spots in Toronto (including Highway 7 and other parts north of the 401) makes it easy for fans of Japanese cuisine to eat to their hearts' content.
Here are the top 15 AYCE sushi restaurants in Toronto.
Aji Sai
Queen and Spadina is a mecca for all things trendy, and Aji Sai's stylish and comfortable vibe fits right into its surroundings. A $10.99 AYCE lunch with over 100 menu items makes the restaurant a favourite for those who want to sample a variety of Japanese cuisine items without forking over tons of cash. For AYCE sashimi, however, you'll have to wait for dinner. More...
Sushi Island
On College between Bathurst and Ossington, Sushi Island's AYCE starts at $13.99 and includes brown rice. Among many more common items like sushi pizza and enoki beef rolls, their menu contains novelty items such as Orange Fever Rolls (BBQ eel, crab, cucumber, old cheddar cheese, and tobiko caviar). If you venture into their appetizers menu, you can even order grilled whole squid. More...
Sushi on 7
Located on Highway 7 right by Yang's Kitchen, Sushi On 7 is aptly named and reasonably priced. Their AYCE lunch is available seven days a week for $12.99, with a dollar discount for seniors and two dollars off for children. Interesting items like the ultra-orange "one colour roll" and fried mango ice cream further spice up a menu that boasts over 190 items. Service is lightning fast--and necessary for the 1.5 hour dining time limit. More...
Hockey Sushi
The service at Hockey Sushi in Thornhill is a bit on the slight side, but the quality of the grub makes up for it. A large party room downstairs is ideal for bigger groups. They have a great selection of hand rolls, udon, teppanyaki, and maki. Try the flying fish roe salad. More...
Asahi Japanese Restaurant
Asahi's nondescript exterior conceals an unexpectedly small but cozy interior. Their small staff and made-to-order philosophy means that dining parties may have to wait a while for their meals, but are not overwhelmed by rapidly arriving, haphazardly prepared dishes. It costs a steeper price of $20.95 to enjoy a more relaxed take on the AYCE dinner experience, which can be a good thing, if you're not looking for a quick and dirty sushi gorgefest. More...
Wasabi
Wasabi in Richmond Hill is big. Really big. Think cavernous, open-concept paradise of sushi consumption, where you can enjoy the AYCE experience from start to finish as you watch chefs prepare your food right before you eat it. With seating for approximately 450, don't worry about finding a table for your party, but be prepared for a lot of noise during busy times. A full bar, a range of desserts, and Chinese food options means the $11.99 for lunch and $20.99 for dinner will get you variety and value. More...
Bikkuri (Beaches)
If you're looking for your sushi fix in the Beaches, you might want to wander into Bikkuri. A small space with a small menu, Bikkuri serves up quality hand rolls, maki, gyoza, and more in a quiet and relaxed environment. It's a relief from more frenzied and loud AYCE spots, and their lunches are only $11.99. More...
Masa Sushi
At $10.99, Masa Sushi's AYCE lunches are unexpectedly cheap, especially in such a stylish, open-concept dining environment. The menu runs a little short, but a very attentive and efficient wait staff means that tables are refilled with food as fast as diners can clear them. Located just off the heart of Yonge Street's cheap eats strip, Masa caters to university students, businesspeople, and the transient peckish. More...
Maison du Japon
At Maison du Japon, there are differently sized rooms to accommodate very large (think full-blown banquets and weddings) or smaller numbers. Sophisticated decor, pleasant staff, and reasonably priced AYCE ($11.99 for lunch and $18.99 for dinner) make it worth the trip to Markham for a casual lunch or more formal dinner gathering. More...
Sushi D
Sushi D's attractive, peaceful interior houses super-fresh sashimi, terrific teriyaki, yummy yakitori, and eel pancake. Yes, eel pancake. People who visit the College Street establishment can't seem to come to a consensus--as loved as it is pooh-poohed, you'll have to see for yourself. More...
Kimono
Just west of Eglinton and Avenue Road, Kimono prices their AYCE based on the day of the week. You can expect to pay $16.99 on weekdays and $18.99 on weekends for a selection of over 100 items. Try their beef sashimi or their house special, the Kimono Special Roll (spicy tuna, tobiko, avocado, lettuce, green onion, mayonnaise, and tempura bits). More...
Yang's Kitchen
Yang's Kitchen on Highway 7 is a forerunner in the AYCE sushi scene, and their expertise certainly shows in their service and quality food. If you aren't convinced, just walk through the front doors and watch their staff dexterously preparing rolls from behind glass. With a vast menu, plenty of seating, and TV screens, you're in for a great casual lunch ($14.99) or dinner ($21.99) with every visit. Pay in cash and you'll even get a dollar off. More...
Kaze Japanese Cuisine
Markham-based Kaze is know for its location-themed rolls like the Markham Roll (deep fried crab meat, salmon, white tuna, yellowtail, and house sauce) and Woodbine Roll (cream cheese, BBQ eel, cucumber, avocado, and BBQ eel sauce). They have more than 100 items on their menu. More...
Echo Sushi
A short walk north of Davisville on Yonge, Echo Sushi's AYCE starts at $13.99. Health-conscious diners have the option of brown rice, and patient, knowledgeable wait staff ensure that first-timers to Japanese cuisine can distinguish their udon from their unagi don. More...
Thee Asian Kitchen
A fusion of Thai, Japanese, and Chinese cuisine, Thee Asian Kitchen's cleanly designed, modern interior hosts extra-long tables for big groups of more than 12. They also have a salad bar, dessert bar, and unlimited drinks with their AYCE--which, with over 100 items on the menu, is by no means insubstantial itself. If in addition to the more standard AYCE options you're in the mood for dim sum, or unexpected items like sweet and sour ribs with lychee, this is the place for you. More...
Comments (62)
Went to Aji Sai and it was the worst sushi I've ever had in my life, the service was terrible, the waiter forgot to bring out several items that we ordered. The only thing worth having was the unagi. After our first roll we found ourselves just ordering to get our money's worth. This place is sooooo overrated. I find myself paying half the amount at somewhere like sushi on bloor and coming out far more satisfied than this ayce.
Echo Sushi is not north of Eglinton as it's written above. It's north of Davisville. They also charged my boyfriend and I a 'fuel surcharge' last time we ate there.
Echo Sushi is in 14th? Rediculous. The freshest Sushi in town and some of the friendliest staff with a HUGE selection of rolls make that place unbeatable. Who goes into an AYCE sushi place for lunch anyways?
Places like Yang's and Hockey shouldn't even be on the list for their awful service alone.
Aji Sai provides good value for lunch, less so for dinner. That said, I can honestly say they provide the WORST service of any restaurant I've ever frequented. Slow, forgetful, sometimes argumentative.
I used to be rather fond of Sushi D on College (right near Sushi Island), though I haven't been there in a while.
I didn't know Asahi on Carlton had all-you-can-eat... thanks for the tip! :)
If you want to have decent sushi, don't go cheap. Well trained chefs don't bargain. Personally, I think Toronto's sushi culture is so doomed ... some places even don't bother draining water from salad bowl which sits in the kitchen for a looong time, basic stuff. Saying that, I can't afford good Japanese restrants so often. My choice is to get a take-out from Sushi Marche, or Taro fish. If I am lucky enough to have a weekday off, I'd go for Ematei or Ichiriki for reasonable lunch. They are much better than buffet.
Regardless of food quality (we ARE talking about AYCE sushi), Yang's service is horrid. I've never had a good experience there - staff are incredibly rude.
Sushi Island is awful!!
If you like 'good' sushi, try RAAW in Liberty Village. Best affordable sushi in TO. Take the Ossington bus south and get off at The Brazen Head. Follow the signs!
SO GOOD
Look, N. Americans have to stop doing 'all you can eat'. Look at the size of people!
Also, raw fish is not something anyone should eat on a budget.
The location info for Echo Sushi and Kaze have been fixed. Thanks for letting us know about the errors.
RE: Lab's post (Sept 21st @12:35pm)
Sounds like you work there, Troll. Let's all boycott the place.
can I make a suggestion on articles about places to eat? i think it will make more sense for you to include the address for each restaurante immediately after the name before into extensive blah blah blah about the place..I think most people are using this as a directory.. the last thing i need is click on it, then just to find out that it is not conveniently located... btw, wasabi is very good as a friend of mine works there as a waitress... the best strategy to have ayce is to go to a newly opened restaurant, after 6 months, usually time to move on...
Sushi Island is horrible. My friend and I went there once on a weekday. We ordered and they 'misplaced' our order. After waiting 30 minutes and complaining twice, we finally got some food. The waiters were rude & terrible. I would never go back there again.
I must agree that every time I've been to Aji Sai though (weekday or not) it's been amazing. Regardless of how busy they've been - excellent service and always got the order right. Plus, they've checked up to see if we wanted anything else. That is service.
I got food poisoning from eating the salmon sashimi at Sushi Island in March this year, and I found out later that a few friends had also gotten food poisoning here the week before. I will not be going back anytime soon!
Are you kidding? The one time I went to Asahi, my dining partner and I actually concealed uneaten sushi in napkins so we didn't have to finish it and bailed after the first course. What a waste of $42+tax!
Sushi fun at Yonge and Clark is my staple for AYCE sushi. But the place that is by far the best place is Ten-Ichi at 4810 Sheppard Ave East. Ten-Ichi is one of the best sushi place even compared with non-AYCE place. Although you have to reserve ahead of time as it is jammed packed and there's never any empty tables for casual walk-ins.
I LOVE Makimono sushi in Ajax. I do not believe in all you can eat but this place is worth the price everytime. It is fresh and tasty. It is worth the drive to Ajax.
Still waiting for an even reasonably ok experience at Sushi Island. I live in the neighbourhood and keep trying - have gone at least 6 or 7 times over the past year and sadly Sushi Island = fail every time. For cheap+cheerful AYCE sushi, we head over to Sushi D ... but would love to try some of the others on this list!
Try BlogETOB.com :)
Basshat on September 21, 2009 at 3:56 PM
One day, Blog T.O. will find a writer who isn't scared to travel west of Islington...
Bikkuri Beaches is on the list, any word on the one just East on Little Italy near Lippincott & College?
+1
Finally they realize that Toronto includes areas OUTSIDE of the downtown core... then again as 'Basshat' stated, they seem to avoid area surrounded by Islington, Weston, Jane, Finch, Steeles, Martingrove, etc. where there is a TON of good food.
Yang's Kitchen is a regular AYCE stop for me, I occasionally hit Aji Sai in Thornhill, and Sushi Bon in Little Italy impressed me.
How is Kuni Sushi on Baldwin not on the list?!?!?! Best spicy scallop maki ever...and nothing is better then eating AYCE on such a great patio.
Any of you authorities on cheap sushi (yech) ever been to Japan to eat? Hell, even been to Vancouver?
These "Best Of" lists are a compilation of votes submitted by site visitors, and not by the writer. So blame yourself for not voting.
Elle is right. We folks at blogTO travel wherever readers vote for us to travel to. We don't avoid or favour any establishment or area of the city in particular. Don't miss out on the next call for Best Of nominations...you will be heard!
Thanks for the comments and happy eating, everyone.
Oh god, shut up you pretentious asshat. Touring around Japan on a student visa doesn't make you a renowned expert on sushi, so stop pretending that you are one.
That was directed at jamesmallon. Sorry to be so harsh... it's late.
Yes, BlogTO should save themselves some grief by explaining the context of these best of lists in the writeup, so that they don't have to do so in the comments.
There are two awesome places not on this list that favorites of mine - both are on Baldwin Street (just north of queen&john off beverly st.) One's called Kuni Sushi Ya, the other is Sushi Baldwin.
Check em out!
Artic roll at Sushi Baldwin is the best roll I've ever had.
What about SHIMA on dundas?
the menu is super long and definitely get your your money's worth especially with their proportions with the fish.
maybe blogto should treat its readers to a AYCE japanese meal so we can decide without any bias
your ranking system is stupid. you must have horrible taste. sushi on 7 is 3? the food there is terrible. such a bad list.
The locations for yang's kitchen and sushi on 7 are wrong
they're both near hwy 7 and kennedy.
Aji Sai was the worst place i have ever been to!
The service was downright disgusting! I had never been so disrespected in my life!
They forgot our orders and kept us waiting for half an hour and repeatedly asked us if we wanted the bill while we waited for our food. In the end we had to reorder everything... I think we were asked if we were ready to leave a total of 7-8 times that day. Then they told us that the time limit for the meal was 90 mins. After they told us we should leave so many times, we decided to give up waiting for our sushi and just order some ice cream and go. And after we finished our ice cream, all of the tempura and the sushi that we ordered before came!!!!! And when we paid the bill, they checked the money in front of our face (and by check I mean counted every single bill)!!!! That was just disgusting! I wish I gave them no tips (in retrospect I should have taken back the tips we paid them and counted the tips in front of his face).
Sushi Island is horrible. We had lunch there recently and dropped one piece of maki on the floor. We explained to our waitress what had happened and she appeared to understand. Then we were charged for not having eaten that piece that fell on the floor. We were already entirely unimpressed by the quality of the food, not to mention the service (they were mysteriously missing some of the more expensive items on the AYCE menu: "sorry, we don't have that today" or "sorry, we're all out of that now"). I refused to back down and ended up in a shouting match with the "head" waiter for 20 minutes. In the end, they did not make us pay for the dropped maki, but what a joke!!! We still paid $40 for a lunch and left with a very very bad taste in our mouth.
There' a place up on North York called Oishi Sushi (Keele and Finch). The sushi there has been excellent. $9.99 lunch and $12.99 dinner. The rest of the food is average at best but the sushi has been excellent.
It would seem that the people who came up with this list have never actually had decent sushi. That can be the only explanation.
VIP Sushi at Yonge and Royal Orchard in Thornhill will always be my #1....the only all-you-can-eat that's fantastic. Attentive service with excellent and fresh fish/meat/vegetables...plus it's never too busy which is always a plus...I won't even venture and try anything else...my bf tried aji sai and hated it with a passion!
How is Sushi Eaton not on this list?? Hidden gem.
Most people forget that finishing everything you order helps speed up service! Fill those little sheets out people. And tip well! That also helps. Especially if its busy. They will remember you next time! Honest!
Be careful with some of these places. If you don't finish the sushi brought to your table you have to pay full price for all the sushi you've eaten.
I am absolutely SHOCKED at this list. What authority do you have to put these places in the order you have? Hockey sushi is by far one of the WORST sushi restaurants out there!!! BAD quality (food poisoning!!!) and HORRIBLE service.
You left off some amazing restaurants including Maki Sushi on Desira (Bathurst/Centre).
I suggest you get your facts straight before posting the best AYCE restaurants!
Sushi Fun is the worst AYCE I've ever had ever. Rubber fish, cold teriyaki, slow service.
Aji Sai has been reliable in the past...but my vote goes to Maison Du Japon. Definitely the freshest, most delicious and consistent AYCE I've had in the GTA
So impressed that Kaze is on this list! My cousin and I have been going there monthly for years. Big ups
Why bother with this list....this is only further advocating and promoting rubbish and low quality food. There is already plenty in Toronto.
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