Makimono in Ajax - Japanese Restaurant with Some Unique Dishes

Makimono is one of the earliest Japanese restaurants in Ajax, and for a long time it has been serving an all-you-can-eat buffet. It appears that most Japanese restaurants in Durham region, or at least in Ajax, are desired mostly for their all-you-can-eat buffets.

Omi Japanese Restaurant

 Omi is located on Carlton, near Parliament. It looks a simple place and after some ordering warm sake (the menu said only cold sake, but warm sake is also available) and some hesitation, decided to skip the Omakase, and went for our own selection.

They present you a box full of sake cups to choose from. I like the roughness of ceramic cups, so I chose this one.
They also provide tea for free.

 

Appetizers

Ordered Soft Shell Crab Roll and Beef Enoki Roll for appetizers.
The Crab Roll was unique – in some Japanese restaurants the rolls are about 2-2.5 centimetres which I think is too big while the Omi ones were about 1.5 cm – with some new ingredients. The rice was also good without too much sourness that I have found in some restaurants. They tasted really well, even though this was one of the rare Soft Shell Crab Rolls that I have eaten cold.

On the other hand, the Enoki Rolls were warm. Short stems of the mushrooms were enveloped in thin and soft beef slices and grilled. They came with a sauce with a dash of sweetness. The mushrooms were fresh and the beef very juicy.

 


Main

For main, we had Chirashi Bi Bim and Omi Sashimi. The first one came in a bowl with slices of salmon, tuna, sweet shrimp, crab meat etc – all on a small ball of rice. In retrospect, it was not a good idea to have selected both because they were almost identical, except for the container – the Omi Sashimi came in a long plate.

At the end of it, I still felt hungry. And this was stimulated by my neighbours who were being treated to lavish courses of Omakase by the chef. All salivating dishes.
I called the waitress for the menu card and told her to give me a few minutes.
After about ten minutes I was considering the option of calling for the bill when the waitress came, so I ordered appetizer Tempuras. We had shrimps, carrots, green beans (this was my first ever) and Zucchini. It was fresh.

The small size of the tables reminded me of JapanGo but Omi is more spacious and they have an open kitchen concept. I never had the chance to talk to the chef. 

Japango -- An Exciting Sushi Joint In Toronto

Japango is a Japanese sushi joint tucked away in a rather quiet small street off Dundas Street.
Once inside, one might feel like having stepped into the wrong place; or at least for me the notion of a Japanese restaurant conjures up the image of rather spacious restaurants with elegant (usually black coloured) tables and chairs and Kimono-clad waitresses floating around, bowing all the time.

But this is more like a hotdog-in-a bun with fries type of a place – small and congested. Moreover, and this could be very challenging – the tables are small and not very sturdy. I am small-made but even I once tipped the tea cup as I got up to go to the washroom.
But then the food is a different matter.

Kirin Beer
To wash-down my meal, I went for a 330 ml Kirin beer – Ichiban Special Premium. I like beer off the tap or from the bottle and avoid the cans, and this was one reason I opted for Kirin.
The beer had soft but its malt was strong.

Deep fried Oysters for Appetizers
I checked for the seasonal fish available for appetizer. They had mackerel and went for it, along with fried oysters.
The oysters were deep-fried and despite my initial scepticism (I have found that deep-fried food is usually very heavy and kills the taste for the other dishes), I found the pieces to be soft and smooth.

Spicy Maki Rolls
I have always liked the spicy version of Japanese maki rolls. They use some kind of a spicy sauce but they are different from the hot sauces we know in the west. In fact, the type of sauces used and the strength of their piquancy, also differ from one restaurant to the other. So, I ordered spicy tuna maki and shrimp tempura with spicy sauce.

I rarely leave a Japanese restaurant without ordering flying fish roe, so besides the Tobiko sushi, I also had amber jack, octopus and butterfish sashimi. I was so glad I went for the latter. The cute, small pieces of off-white coloured fish tasted excellent.

Tasting Madai For First Time
Then the chef asked me whether I would like madai – supposedly a Japanese favourite. Well, the chef himself was taking an interest in us and whom am I to desist that temptation?
Madai was a fish of multiple textures and tastes. I found as if it was slightly heated but it looked raw. And it had a dash of the sourness of mackerel and saltiness of dried fish. It was excellent.

Special Wasabi
Along with that, came two different types of wasabi – one the ‘normal’ one and one ‘special’. Needless to say, I went for the special one. Taste-wise it was almost the same – ma be little stronger – but it dissolved neatly into the soya sauce. I checked out with the waiter who told the special variety is basically kitchen, and not mass-made.
All in all, the food was excellent and fresh as always, and even the maneuvering the tight pace is an adventure.
I have heard comments that Japango resembles a typical sushi joint in Japan. Hopefully, one day I can check that out.