Rolltation specializes in poke bowls, sushi burritos, as well as burgers. It’s not surprising that this place is considered one of the best picks for healthy lunch choices in Toronto. It’s perfect for those who have no time to cook a nice healthy lunch or dinner after a stressful day at work.
As you may already know, poke bowls and sushi burritos are all the rage right now, and for good reason. They’re healthy, filling, and can be customized to suit your taste.
Poke bowls are Hawaiian in origin and typically consist of rice, fish, and vegetables. Traditional poke bowl seasoning includes soy sauce, sesame oil, and green onions, which are heavily inspired by Japanese and Asian cuisine.
What we like about Rolltation’s poke bowls is that they take this concept and add a delicious sushi twist! Their bowls come with either white or brown rice and are topped with your choice of protein including salmon, tuna, or tofu. Each bowl is then finished with its signature sauces and a variety of fresh vegetables.
Rolltation Menu
You can have a quick look at their menu here.
What we appreciate is they allow you to build your own burrito, bowl, or salad. I have to admit this task can be daunting because there are 5 steps, and within step 3, they give you a choice of 6 toppings. That can be overwhelming unless you already know by heart exactly what you want.
The great thing about Rolltation is you can just choose from their signature list without having to think about what you want in your burrito, bowl, salad, or noodle. A disadvantage to that is you don’t really get to control your ingredient and it may already come with a few things you don’t like, but you can always quickly ask them to swap a couple of things for something else.
They also offer hot rice bowls including their beef brisket and chicken. If you’re looking for something healthier, you would probably steer away from the chicken karaage since it’s deep-fried chicken.
They also serve burgers, which is interesting to see at a restaurant that is best known for its sushi burritos and poke bowls. We haven’t tried their burgers yet, but for now, we would recommend these best burger places in Toronto if you’re really feeling for a juicy and delicious hamburger!
Rolltation Sushi Burrito and Poke Bowl Review
Rui and I love Japanese food from the top a la carte sushi and the best all-you-can-eat sushi places in Toronto.
We also can’t deny that we love ramen noodles from the best-made in town!
But what we really can’t resist are Hawaiian poke bowls and the Japanese-American fusion of sushi and burritos combined! This is especially true when we don’t have time to cook something healthy. So, what better place to head over than a takeout that offers poke bowls and sushi burritos?
Due to a busy schedule, we always turn to sushi burritos, poke bowls, wraps, or salad bowls as a healthier alternative, hence we decided to do a review on Rolltation today.
Here are our honest thoughts about Rolltation’s sushi burritos and poke bowls.
Classic Salmon Burrito
Today, Rui decided to pick up the classic salmon poke burrito, which is likely their best seller. It comes with your choice of white or brown rice, sashimi salmon AKA sake, kale, red onion, carrot, tangerine, sweet corn, avocado, edamame, wasabi tobiko, tempura bits, and Sriracha mayo.
What we really appreciate about this classic salmon poke burrito is it tastes lighter and “healthier” than other poke bowls or sushi burrito takeout restaurants.
One of our favourite places to stop by is Poke Guys or Makirrito in Markham because they have better flavour and are less tailored towards the Westernized-style like Rolltation.
If you’re really feeling for a “Japanese sushi taste” but in a bowl or burrito form, we would definitely recommend Poke Guys or Makirrito. Otherwise, you may like Rolltation better if you prefer it to be more Westernized.
Other than that, we can’t say the salmon burrito was bad. It was quite good, and we liked the tangerine inside as it give the burrito a nice fruity taste.
What are the downfalls?
There weren’t a lot of sashimi chunks compared to other restaurants. You would have to add an extra $3.99, which we don’t think would be worth it at the current price. Another problem is that most of the flavour was at the bottom of the burrito, so we’re guessing the person who made it did not evenly distribute the toppings and sauce throughout.
We have to admit that the sashimi did not taste as good as the one from Poke Guys or Makirrito. And it obviously doesn’t taste as good as the ones from these top Japanese sushi or AYCE sushi places. Despite that, Rolltation’s sashimi is still decent. It just lacked flavour, but luckily, the sauce and tangerines inside made up for it lol!
Build Your Own Bowl (Shrimp Poke Bowl)
I decided to build my own bowl because I feel that I can control the ingredients and flavours. Plus, this time, my brain juice was working better than usual, so I didn’t mind making decisions.
You could become indecisive though due to so many options and choices.
Anyways, I decided to get the boiled shrimp as my protein base.
By the way, for those of you who like shrimp tempura, they do offer that here. But it’s not the Japanese cuisine-style shrimp tempura you’re thinking of. From what we saw, the shrimp tempura from Rolltation is fried like how restaurants would fry your fish at a typical fish and chips joint, so we can imagine how much greasier and oily that would be compared to the classic shrimp tempura.
To us, it just looked like Western-style fried shrimp, not really “shrimp tempura”.
I don’t generally like fried food, so I decided to stick with boiled shrimp with brown rice, kale, edamame, sweet potatoes, asparagus, sweet corn, kidney beans, and avocado. For the sauce, I went with the teriyaki mayo, which you can ask for on the side if you want to control the amount of sauce you use.
Did I like my bowl?
Not as much because they packed it with so much brown rice and less kale along with other veggies. I personally think that Rolltatin’s burrito was better because there was less rice on it compared to my bowl. Had there been less rice inside my bowl, and more protein, I would have enjoyed it more. But thankfully, they didn’t give me as much rice as Kitaya’s poke bowls, which was probably one of the worst I’ve ever had.
Another thing is this bowl reminds me so much of Freshii, another place we stop by whenever we have no time to cook a nice healthy meal. The brown rice is very similar in taste and texture to Freshii’s, but they don’t give you as much rice as Freshii does, which I have to appreciate too. Freshii just loves to pack on the rice for you! 🙁
Food: 3.5/5
All in all, we can’t really complain about Rolltation. They still serve good-tasting sushi burritos and poke bowls whenever you’re looking for a healthier alternative.
But in our opinion, you can get something better from Poke Guy (at multiple locations) or Makirrito (if you’re ever in the Markham area). You can still eat healthier by controlling the amount of sauce and ingredients at these places. And their sashimis seem to be better marinated too!
We would say that Rolltation’s bowls are quite comparable to Freshii’s because it’s more westernized, but we prefer Rolltation over Freshii’s because you get sashimi as a protein option along with tastier sauce choices.
Oddly, they also serve burgers, so that is something interesting for Rui and I to try if we ever decide to stop by again. For now, we will stick to the best burgers including these crispy chicken burgers until then.
Service: 3/5
The service wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t horrible. They just did the job of serving you.
We like is its fast service and how they pack everything up for you so quickly. Again, nothing memorable about their service triggers me to write an entire paragraph about it.
Ambiance: 4.5/5
The ambiance was pretty good!
Although it wasn’t large in the Yonge and Eglinton area, it was still pretty cozy and chill. We liked how they had a few small tables and chairs inside for people to sit and enjoy their food. They also had one big table where the sunlight shines into the big window. The sunlight that shines in makes it feel more spacious and the overall look and feel of the restaurant is very clean.
The design and layout of Rolltation was also very modern and more city-like, which we always appreciate.
We also like that they have these nice drawings of Toronto city on the walls. That just makes it more fun to look at while you’re waiting for your food.
Price: $$
The price is very comparable to other poke bowls and sushi burrito places.
It’s also very comparable to other healthy takeout restaurants like Freshii, iQ, and Kupfert and Kim. We were actually going to drop by Kupfert and Kim at the Yonge and Eglinton since we were in the area. It brings back memories of the one we used to go to at 150 King Street whenever we’d go down for lunch from the office building. But, we didn’t realize Kupfert and Kim was a restaurant dine-in style at Yonge and Eg, so we came to Rolltation instead.
Anyways, for my bowl and Rui’s sushi buritto, the total price including tax was $33. That’s about the price we pay for a lunch of two at today’s prices.
We didn’t get any drinks because we usually take room temperature or warm water. It’s a healthier way to stay hydrated during the summer weather compared to juice, sweet drinks, and soda.
Rolltation Review: 3.5/5
Overall, we give Rolltation a 3.5 out 5 stars.
We would come back to Rolltation for their sushi burritos (not really the poke bowls) only if we are nearby. It’s not worth the drive here just for it. Plus, gas prices are no joke in 2022!
The quality of the food is good and it’s a healthier alternative to other places. We also like that you can control the amount of sauce and ingredients in your bowl or burrito.
The service is nothing special, but it gets the job done. And we really appreciate the modern and clean ambiance of the restaurant.
The price is comparable to other healthy takeout places, so we think it’s worth it! But we have to admit we’ve had better poke bowls and sushi burritos elsewhere that are less Westernized.
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