Sushi is one of my favourite foods and it’s no surprise why Rui and I choose sushi restaurants like these popular ones as well as all-you-can-eat sushi places over other cuisines on a day off from the kitchen. Sushi is literally our go-to food whenever we have cravings for something delicious on Friday nights. 🙂
So, my cousin was over today, and she mentioned that Kibo Sushi House is one of her favorite sushi places. When we found out there was one nearby my area, we knew we had to try it.
Because it was getting really late, we decided to do takeout instead of dining in, and it was a great decision.
Rui went to the website to look at their menu and decided to order over the phone. Here’s what we tried on a Friday night for 3 people.
By the way, I was so excited and happy to know that they offered brown rice!
Yes, we substituted white rice for brown rice for all of our rolls except for the Kobi signature roll because my cousin loves her white rice. The one downfall is you have to add $2 to each and every roll you substitute, so in the end, we had to pay an additional $6 just for brown rice.
Veggie Grande Maki (5pcs)
The veggie grande maki was filled with shiitake mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and avocado. This is music to my ears because I love shiitake mushrooms and sweet potatoes.
The avocado added a nice creamy texture and the sweetness from the sweet potatoes was great! Plus, the maki had a nice crunchy texture due to the tempura.
I do have to admit I didn’t like the tempura as much – I prefer the sweet potatoes to be baked or steamed over the fried version, but there was no choice. Other than that, it was still a great maki topped with a nice savory sauce for taste.
Kani Salad
My cousin asked for a Kani Salad, which was filled with some greens topped with a lot of crab meat – yes, fake crab meat.
I have to say I really dislike fake crab meats in sushis and salads!
Anyway, her first impression was that the size wasn’t as big as she remembers.
When Rui and I saw the salad, we thought it was ridiculously small – it was almost like a sampler. You can call it a snack size if you want.
Despite the small size, my cousin enjoyed it and thought it was a nice and light side dish to have with the Kobi Signature roll.
Kobi Signature Roll (6pcs)
My cousin also ordered a classic California roll topped with torched salmon and scallop for herself.
She said the salmon was fresh and torched to perfection. There was also a nice fill of creamy sauce that adds a nice flavor to the roll.
I was really impressed with the presentation, too. It looked like a work of art and I can tell they put a lot of effort into the presentation.
Rui also tried a few rolls and thought it was pretty good. He did mention that it’s only because of the torched salmon and sauce that made all the difference to this roll.
10pcs Dynamite Roll and 3pcs salmon sushi
The dynamite maki roll included tempura shrimp, avocado, cucumber, (fake) crab meat, fish roe & Japanese mayo.
As mentioned, I don’t generally like crab meats in a sushi roll, but you’re really left with no choice since it’s a common ingredient in most sushis.
My husband and cousin had no problem with it, and it’s just something I have to accept. Other than the crab meat, the sushi was delicious with the perfect ratio of fillings and the tempura shrimp was great.
The salmon sushi, on the other hand, was average, and there’s really nothing to rave about. However, when you eat a slice or two of ginger prior to the sushi, the taste was elevated!
8pcs Spicy Salmon Roll and 8pcs Spicy Tuna Roll
This order wasn’t bad but it wasn’t amazing. We all prefer the other rolls over something like this.
One thing that really bothered Rui was the oiliness – he thought both the spicy salmon and spicy tuna rolls were very greasy.
Surprisingly, I actually didn’t realize or notice. That is strange because I’m always the first to spot the oiliness in any food.
My initial thought was that the rolls are tiny. I generally enjoy special rolls like Dynamite, Spider, Volcano, etc. so this was too small for my liking.
But ignoring the size, I personally thought it was good. Rui, on the other hand, wouldn’t want to order this again.
Food: 3.8/5
There were some misses, like the spicy tuna and spicy salmon rolls, but the other maki and sushi sets were really good!
I personally liked the Dynamite Roll (minus the fake crab) and Veggie Grande Maki (minus the tempura). The freshness of the ingredients I would say was pretty good compared to many other sushi places.
The presentation was also great, but I think it would be better if they increased the portion size for certain items.
Service: 3.5/5
Overall, the service was quite good. The staff was friendly and attentive. Mind you, this was takeout, so we can’t really say much about it.
Ambiance: 4/5
The place is nicely renovated and fairly modern. We didn’t dine in, so we can’t accurately comment on the ambiance. But there was nothing to complain about the place itself.
We would love to come back and check out their dining area one day!
Price: $$
They offer a 10% discount when you pay in cash. With the discount, we paid $68 including tax.
Rui and I thought that for this price, we rather dine in and do an all-you-can-eat sushi dinner. You do get a lot more food in addition to variety for roughly $100 for two people (after tax and tips).
We only say this because we didn’t feel full or satisfied with very little food in this meal. We are mindful and acknowledge that if we order more, the bill would add up. At that rate, you may be better off going to AYCE restaurants like Matsuda or KaKa – Matsuda is one of our favorites in the North York area.
Overall Rating of Kibo Sushi House: 3.7/5
Kibo Sushi House offers pretty decent quality sushi at a reasonable price. We found that their specialty rolls are quite good, but the quantity isn’t as satisfying. We’d recommend Kibo Sushi House for takeout, but if you’re looking to dine in and get more bang for your buck, then try an all-you-can-eat place instead!
Lastly, Kobi Sushi House is a great place to get sushi without having to leave the comfort of your home. It’s easy to order over the phone and they allow you to substitute white rice with brown rice, which is hard to find in most sushi places.
Leave a Reply