Finally a place in Toronto for Japanese knives and knife sharpening!

[chefhound]

Just read this bit on the Toronto Life website. A new place just opened on Queen West that sells and sharpens Japanese knives.

Knife, 658 Queen St. W., 2nd flr., 647-996-8609, knifetoronto.com.

Check out the article:
http://www.torontolife.com/daily/dail...

[Kagemusha]

Think the sharpening biz will fly. Knives? Dunno. So much is available online now that they might suffer huge amounts of tire-kicking but low sales if the same merch is available discounted elsewhere.

[JennaBean]

I know I could send my knives away and have them sharpened cheap, but frankly, I'd rather pay more to drop them off one day and pick them up the next. If the service is good, I will be a loyal customer.

[aser]

That is true, it's very hard to beat online selection and lower pricing. That unfortunately affects all small brick and mortars no matter what they sell. They win us w/ the personal touch, and some people are still adverse to online shopping.

Me, I've bought the majority of my knives online because of the selection available compared to what we have locally.

[haggisdragon]

I prefer shopping in person rather than online. If I can try out a bunch of different knives at this place I'd be likely to buy one. As long as the prices aren't outrageous.

[JennaBean]

I really need to hold a knife before I buy it. I don't want to deal with the return if I get it and it really isn't what I'm looking for. I'm a little old school that way I suppose! :-)

[SMOG]

Just bought a couple knives from this store. It's a tiny place with a relatively small selection, but I found a couple knives that I liked. The prices are VERY reasonable. To be honest, I didn't know any of the names he carried, as my knowledge was limited to the stuff you find in stores (Shun, Global, Mac, etc). My first surprise was that the knives were unique, hand made and no more expensive than run-of-the-mill knives. I didn't compare online until I got home and am surprised that his prices compared quite well. One of the knives I bought was 25% more than listed online, and the other is actually a few dollars cheaper. But you get personal service, feel the knife and get the first sharpening for free ($12 per knife).

So all-in, you pay only a little more, but it's well worth it!! Plus you're buying local. I definitely recommend this place if you're looking for a Japanese knife.

[chefhound]

I bought my Masamoto Gyuto online and I love it! But next time, it would be nice to be able to try it out and hold it before I buy.

[xiolablue]

does anyone know the store hours?
thanks

[jmarcroyal]

is this purely for cooking knives or do they sell other japanese knives like folders or a fixed blade pocket knife?

[Derksen]

I was in there yesterday, and I didn't see anything except for kitchen knives.

[Nyleve]

I got two knives sharpened there last week. Service was great - I dropped them off around 4:00 and picked them up at 7. Tiny place, but nice guy. He was busy but because I was from out of town, he did my knives right away. I'm happy with the sharpening too - knives turned out well.