YuSushi is Toronto’s secret destination for super cheap elevated takeout sushi, hidden in a drab mall food court. Open seven days a week, platters top out around $60 for 100 pieces and they specialize in uni and toro.

The chef behind the counter here has actually been making sushi in Canada and the U.S. for 25 years, and it shows in sharply angular knife cuts, fresh rare ingredients and borderline glamorous presentation.

A strange sense of peace washes over me in this oddball upper-floor food court, sunlight streaming in through grubby skylights.

The space is an atrocity (or marvel) of marbled tile, but the low number of shoppers shuffling around means there’s plenty of table space. Complimentary brown rice matcha tea is another nice touch that puts YuSushi on a similar level to dine-in.

Assorted sashimi, sushi and roll party platters start at just $30 for 40 pieces.

The massive selection includes six pieces each of spicy tuna and California roll.

There’s also the five-piece Pop Up Roll of avocado, crab, cucumber, shrimp and spicy salmon topping with generous amounts of spicy sauce, caviar and tempura flakes.

From there we have albacore tuna, snapper, salmon, red tuna, shrimp and crab nigiri, plus salmon, surf clam, and albacore tuna sashimi.

I’m impressed not only by the knifework and fanned-out, concentric presentation, but sheer size of the pieces — nothing outlandish, but good value. The thick slices of fish taste fresh, the albacore meaty and the salmon oily and luscious.

16 pieces of assorted sashimi is the cheapest platter at $15, and I can definitely see that being an indulgent yet economical go-to dinner.

Deluxe Kaisendon Donburi ($16.99) is 12 pieces of assorted premium sashimi on rice, including huge bright orange salmon roe, inari, hamachi, ebi, surf clam, beautifully scored salmon belly and cooked baby tako.

The Mango Tango roll ($9.99) will appeal to anyone who likes super sweet sushi drenched in sauce with avocado, crab meat and mango inside and avocado, salmon, mango and mango sauce on top.

Botan ebi sashimi ($8) is served with the head and tail on, the body plump.

Ikura sushi ($6) is overflowing with salmon roe and presented lovingly with a little fanned cucumber. I usually wouldn’t order these kinds of items for takeout, but these versions far exceed usual expectations.

There are a ton of other food court options in here that seriously pique my curiosity, from Thai to Chinese, bento boxes and sandwiches. Alas, Shoppes of the Parkway is far from my home, so it’ll be a long journey back here to try any of it.