Yutaka Japanese Restaurant

This is our third visit to Toronto downtown and we just discovered this hidden gem on our last evening of this visit. This place is quiet and spacious and both sofa seat area and bar table are very comfortable. We were greeted by very friendly and informative staff to each and every entry of those dishes we ordered. We sat by the window and ordered edamame and deep-fried bean curd with tempura sauce as a start. It was done in the way in very nice Kyoto restaurants. As we are not too hungry, we tried the ramen and the chef's sushi dinner set. It's worth trying the chef's version as you are offered the most seasonal selection of delicious fresh fish on rice. You know you are into a treat and a premium quality when the sushi are presented with the right cut, sushi rice at room-temperature means that each bite is a delight. The ramen has an authentic not over the top broth with very nice aroma of house-smoked pork slice, a hint of ginger and the texture of the noodles is spot on. We are delighted with the quality of both warm and cold dishes given that we think the place is a champion on seasonal sushi and sashimi, their kitchen in delivering warm dishes is to the standard you would expect any authentic Japanese restaurants will deliver. After our mains, we decided to try three more types of sushi on-order and the salmon roes and flying fish roes are presented very nicely. This is to us the best way to end the meal rather than to order a dessert. We definitely will come back in our next trip to try their lunch menu and is looking forward to the tempura udon. Please do let us know if you have tried that in your next trip :-)

Tried the bento Sabino box and it was quite good. Evo mayo was delicious and quite full of shrimp and the rolls were good too. Maybe I would say server was to anxious removing stuff from the table that she even took a place that had some food we wanted to it. A part from that, good place but a bit pricey

We stoped by this place for dinner and ended up ordering ramen and a few sushi roles. Overall the food was delicious, customer service was super friendly, and the place was clean and modern. This place doesn't specialize in Ramen and it was still very good. The reason for 4/5 is because our server would disappear for a long time a few times.

I like Yutaka. Their menu consist a mixture of "crowd pleasers" (such as roll-type sushi) and some pretty authentic tasting Japanese dishes that are not as common. The fish here is fresh, and you can get really good sashmi here if you are willing to splurge for it. I myself prefer to eat more cooked, izakaya-type foods. The Chawanmushi (a small bowl of very smooth textured steamed egg with enoki, mitsuba and shiitake mushrooms, chicken and shrimp, dash of yuzu) is extremely nicely done and I highly recommend it. So is the braised pork belly (kakuni), which is veyr tender and juicy. The sushi rolls are ok. I got the green dragon roll (unagi, avocado and cucumber) and though it tasted good, it is a pretty ordinary item. I would suggest trying something more adventurous. Overall, I would come back to Yutaka again.