Sushi - Dynamite and Spider Rolls

[sasgirl]

Looking for a reasonably-priced sushi restaurant in downtown Toronto or Mississauga with really good Dynamite or Spider rolls. Just tried it last weekend and loved it!

I'm pregnant so I can't eat raw fish (missing it a lot!) and my husband doesn't like it. :)

Did some research on here and came up with Sushi On Bloor, would like something in their price range. No AYCE, just a nice sit-down restaurant. Do you chowhounds recommend that place or is there a better one?

TIA! sasgirl

[orangewasabi]

I love the spider roll at Natural Sushi (West side of Young, south of Charles) -- good quality crab all the way through.

[tartetatin]

I think that Japango is fantastic. You MUST go there. It is wee, but is delicious and of course you can get take out. Note: the menu and food are not at all like Japango on Queen St. East in the Beach, which is just average (or less).

[deelicious]

Japango on Elizabeth street must be the best in the city for moderately priced sushi. It is hard to imagine that it can get any better. New Gen is very good. Japango is fantastic.

[sasgirl]

Thanks Derek!

I work close to Bay and Front, do you know if they have takeout? I want to order a roll to take back to work. :)

[Derek]

Sasgirl.. they totally do take out..call ahead as they make the spider rolls fresh - they are worth the wait as my buddy loves them and always has time to sit at the little private bar and quietly await the experience! Enjoy and let me know what you think. Derek.

[sushiluver]

Sushi Bong's rolls aren't THAT great......... So dirty and unfresh.... -_- It's not that tasty either..... I used to like it there, but still... I don't know how to word it, but I wouldn't recommend anyone to go there... Yes, their rolls are gigantic, but they put in things that aren't needed to be put in and they don't even tell the customers about it.. What if someone is allergic to it or something? Comparing to other sushi places... I don't really like sushi bong..

[deelicious]

If you really mean dirty and unfresh, you probably could have stopped there. Nothing else needs to be said.

Do people really eat unfresh sushi at a dirty resto?

[Derek]

My colleauges rave about the spider and dynamite rolls at TAKESUSHI on Front Street just a wee bit east of Yonge. They say they are always fresh and extremely tasty - one co worker goes daily for 2 orders of each! Give it a try - reasonable and very friendly service. Always packed, a usually good sign!

[traceym]

oh...everyone already said japango...yeah, my fav

[Wil]

I have to disagree with a previous poster about the Sushi Bong spider roll, it is one of the best spider rolls around. The dynamite is not that great, but the spider roll is delicious, with alot of crab inside and the roll is very large. Highly recommended.

[Attknee]

Had a Spider Roll from Sushi Bong on the weekend. Big and tasty. Everything else was good too.

[deelicious]

Second "I love Sushi" for Spider and deep fried crab!

[qtxniki]

"I love Sushi" on Queen street west makes the best tasting Spider Roll (with an extra side of deepfried crab, -ask for less sauce), and they make alot of "cooked" sushi. Also, Crispy Roll on Queen west makes a very fresh tasting spider roll, (but I'm not impressed with much else there).

The best tasting dragon roll I have had is from New Generation on Bloor West. Sushi Inn makes a good dragon roll, too, but i havent been there in 5-6 years.

I've been to Sushi Bong and really wasnt very impressed with the sushi/sashimi. Also, the tempura is Korean-style and isnt as light and crispy. Very expensive for what you get.

Best sushi pizza = Sushi Supreme by far (that sweet soy and onion oil makes it so darn tasty!), followed by Sushi Sky.

[peppermint pate]

Well, I have to admit that I was skeptical about a place called "I Love Sushi". But we had a hankering for sushi at lunch today and this place delivers so I figured it was worth a shot.

One of the people eating was pregnant so we ordered mostly cooked sushi. We tried a bunch of different rolls - soft shell crab (missed your note about asking for less sauce - good call), unagi with cucumber and avocado, spicy avocado and california - maybe one other too. Given that the food was delivered and so the crab had lost some of its crunch, I have to say that I was really pleasantly surprised by all of the food. Nice proportions of rice to filling, tasty flavours, good texture on the rice - all quite good. Not in the same league as Japango or Omi, obviously, but for those days when you don't feel like splurging, I'd say it is definitely a cut above. Plus they couldn't have been sweeter on the phone.

The one really disappointment was the steamed spinach with peanut sauce and sesame seeds - dried out little spinach rolls topped with (quite literally) Kraft peanut butter.

But otherwise - tasty. Thanks for the tip!

[torontoeh]

New Gen is definitely the best on the Bloor strip, but I write this hoping it gets back to them.

I have eaten there religiously (short of the fire) for 5 years, if a day.

The spider rolls and dynamite and dragons are still great, but they used to have SO much more crab and salmon respectively. The spider rolls used to pour over with huge pcs of crab and the dragons were draped with large salmon slices. No longer!

I wish they would raise the price accordingly rather than skimp on the fish.

If you haven't tried the green tea ice-cream at New Gen because it sounds unappetizing or you didn't like it somewhere else, I urge you to try it there. It's great.

[sasgirl]

Wow, I can't believe all the suggestions!

Will definitely check out Japango after all the glowing reviews about this place in this post and other ones.

I have also heard about Sushi Bong in North York after reading another chowhound's review on his website. The pictures in his review of the spider roll look so mouth-watering, makes me have cravings for sushi whenever I see them!

Definitely agree with Sushi Inn, pretty bad!

Thanks to everyone for your help! :)

[cat]

new generation on bloor between spadina and bathurst, cute place and reasonable prices. Very good selection of rolls. i believe the website is http://www.newgenerationsushi.com/

[Atahualpa]

Yes, I like New Gen. too. Best of that strip. Certianly better than Sushi on Bloor. Mind you, a lot of that opinion is based on the fact that New Gen. has much better and cheaper sushi.

[squeaks]

ASA Sushi (at Bloor and Jane) has some really creative rolls, including many without raw fish. I love their vegetable tempura roll.

[oracle347]

Sushi Rock Cafe at Yonge and Eglinton. I've mentioned them on other boards here, but they simplly have some of the best rolls around, not to mention some of the innovative - like the salad roll. It's made without rice or seaweed, but cucumber and packed with ingredients....

I agree with you folks about Sushi Inn - Yikes! I don;t even know if it's Japanese food!

[Atahualpa]

Shogun has what I think are the best Spider rolls. They're on Cumberland and aren't the cheapest ($9). However, the crab is nice and crisp yet still slightly moist in the middle and the roll is very well assembled and all ingredients fresh.

Japango is truly excellent too and has a much wider menu, better atmosphere, easier parking, washrooms and access.

These rolls are usually hard to do poorly. The notable exception being Sushi Inn on Cumberland which is so bad you should pay for you meal before eating it and then leave! Seriously. Everything is bad. The Spider roll is no exception -- the one I tried had clearly not been cleaned and had been fried in very low tempurature oil (greasy, greasy, greasy)! I thought I'd mention this just so you don't ruin an afternoon by mistake.

[spigot]

God, I *so* agree re Sushi Inn, Atahualpa. I went there once based on a rec here on Chowhound, and I bitterly regretted it. Rock-hard densely-packed-rice hockey-puck maki, how I loathe it...

[Pebbles]

Ninki Sushi on Adelaide West @ yonge is a nice sit down place, reasonbly priced and great choices - even for the none fish eaters

[dinin and dishin]

Japango. Look no further.

Right behind City Hall in TO. Fabulous dynamite and spider rolls. Check out this site for many more raves about this wonderful little gem in the city. Reasonable, always crowded and in addition to be the best sushi I've had in this city or in Vancouver, their specialty maki rolls are as beautiful to look at as they are to eat.

[spigot]

Japango Japango Japango, yes! It truly is a gem; I wouldn't change a thing.

[olivergail]

It's a bit north of downtown, but I had the best spider and dynamite rolls ever at a new place on Eglinton between Bathurst and Allen Rd., called SADO SUSHI. The maki rolls are very reasonably priced, the fish is glisteningly fresh, and there are some dishes I've never seen on other sushi menus.

[cwong5]

Sushi on Bloor is good. Try Miroko on Danforth. (next to Second Cup). All you can eat for 15 bucks. (Yes they have those rolls..) yummm

[Atahualpa]

FWIW it's Mariko. Also, have you been since they moved? I found the service awful and all the staff I knew seem to have left. I think the former owners sold the business. I could be wrong though. I didn't really give them more than a couple of chances post-move and both were pretty close to the event so maybe I should go back. The have a second location on Bloor just east of Bathurst.

Anyways, for the original poster's purposes it isn't a bad suggestion other than being in the east end.

[cwong5]

You know, how you mention it, I know what you mean. The last time I walked in, the food wasn't as good and the wait was very hidious. Pre-Move, the restaurant was great. I chopped the last poor experience to "growing pain" for them. I hope they improve.

[xtal]

Sushi on Bloor is a great choice for reasonably-priced sushi. I would also suggest, in a similar vein, Jun Jun Sushi, which is on College, between Spadina & Bathurst.

372 College St.