Japango Sushi & Noodle Restaurant
122 Elizabeth Street
416-599-5557
dinner for two with beverage, tax & tip: $100

Click. The lid of the slim wooden box slides shut and the contents make a small flourish across colourful rows as their owner plucks a selection and deftly pops it into their mouth. Similar motions play out on the other side of the table but I am stalled. My fingers loosen their grip around my disposable twigs, I am distracted by the smooth and brightly tipped chopsticks these diners are using. Questioning their existence throughout the meal, I watch as they’re cleaned and placed gingerly back into their case to be passed to a server whom lines it up along the wall behind the cramped sushi bar with others. Coveting another table’s food isn’t unfamiliar territory, but utensils?

Perks often come with being a regular, but at Japango you can have your own little part of the restaurant. The price of this novelty comes at approximately three meals a week, a frequency I have gladly attempted after dining under the masterful hands of Bruce Bu and his small team of chefs.

With only twenty seats available in the tiny shop, the simple dark wooden tables nearly hug the edge of the sushi bar to make for an intimate experience. Prime dinner hour fills the space quickly and reservations are necessary as we watch expectant patrons being turned away. Tea is offered up and a scan of the menu seems to include the usual, until a closer inspection of accompanying photos show dishes not listed. A little pointing at the photos plus a query to the sushi chef about their freshest fish sets our order in place.

Miso soup and wakame salad (a $2 upgrade from regular salad, both included with our Sushi Dinner) arrive first and are a delightful start. The broth of the miso is hot, deep and rich but only contains a couple of diced cubes of tofu and seaweed leaves. Wakame salad has a slight pucker and a sweet crunch in every bite of the chilled emerald green strands. Appetites awakened, cooked items make their way to the table. Salmon Belly ($6.50) is simply a large piece of delectable fatty broiled fish. Flaking easily off of the tasty skin, the moist flesh is saturated with flavour. Two very large plump oysters coated in crispy breading provide a great contrast in texture with the velvety rich inside of the cooked bivalve, kakifry at its best ($9.99).

Sushi requires some patience as two small bowls are eventually placed in the centre of the table and each contain two pieces of blushing kampachi nigiri (market price), one of the fish in just earlier today. As a cousin of hamachi, my expectations are high but falls short with a very mild, almost seemingly watered down, flavour that doesn’t compare to a previous meal. Alternatively, tuna tartare in a cylindrical form topped off with a raw quail egg, finely diced green onion, crispy fried garlic and a mound of tobiko is spiked with a touch of wasabi and soy sauce to play with your tongue (market price). Salty, sweet, rich and spicy meld together and each bite differs depending on your own personal mix. A colourful plate arrives as the sushi portion of the Sushi Deluxe Dinner ($21.99) with twelve nigiri and six pieces of shrimp tempura maki. It’s chef’s choice and I’m more than pleased with ebi, scallop, sake, maguro, o-toro, kampachi, and tai. With a few repetitions and even an extra scallop nigiri squeezed onto the side, all the fish is fresh with tangs of sweet and salt where appropriate. The rice is room temperature and tastes slightly sweet and vinegared, just perfect in flavour and soft texture.

Passing on the choices of sesame or green tea ice cream, I consider making dessert its own visit. Anything to get to that three times a week.