Sushi Legend Review: The Good, Bad, and Ugly!

There’s no denying that all you can eat sushi is one of the most popular choices in a foodie city like Toronto. And when you’re tired from a stressful week of work or looking for a special treat this weekend, Sushi Legend is one of the best places to enjoy a delicious AYCE Japanese cuisine.

There are two locations – one in Scarborough and the other in North York.

I believe the Scarborough location may be more popular, but Rui and I decided to stop by the North York restaurant just because we’re bored of going to the Chartwell Shopping Centre.

Sushi Legend Scarborough and North York both offer an all-you-can-eat menu that features over 100 different items. From their special Sushi legend rolls and popular teppanyaki menu to the most random dishes, like bittermelon and fried wonton with cheese, there’s definitely something for everyone to enjoy no matter what your dietary requirements are.

Sushi Legend Review

It was 5:30 PM on a Saturday and somehow I was just craving sushi as a special treat, so I told Rui to stop by this restaurant. It crossed my mind that we could take pictures and post them up for review here. Not only that but this is considered one of the best all you can eat sushi restaurants in Toronto.

And if you’re wondering, yes, we try to have early dinners before 6:30 PM to avoid late-night eating. Plus, you probably don’t want to wait in line or be seated in a crowded restaurant. 😀

We were lucky enough to get a table right away and started our meal with some miso soup and green tea. The waitress gave us the menu and here is a list of delicious dishes we ordered. It was our cheat day, so we went all out and ordered the best stuff from this restaurant. Well, there were several disgusting dishes, which we’ll elaborate on later, but let’s focus on the yummy ones for now.

We also ordered mainly their special rolls and ditched the basics like California, yam, avocado, and anything that didn’t seem like it would be worth eating. We also skipped their grilled salmon (which I’m sure is good) but because we usually cook our own salmon at home, Rui and I didn’t think we would find any pleasure eating this at a restaurant.

Today, we only tried items that we don’t always eat on a regular basis, which are mostly special sushi rolls and tasty and full-of-flavour stuff!

You’ll also want to check out these other Japanese sushi cuisines in Toronto:

1. Miso Soup

For starters, I usually like to get the miso soup because it’s a light way to begin the meal and get ready for all the good stuff that will come. Sushi Legend’s version was pretty good and had a decent amount of seaweed hidden underneath. Nothing special stood out to me, but it was a good way to start the meal.

2. Bittermelon

I thought this was interesting, but I was confused at the same time to see a bittermelon dish like this at an AYCE sushi restaurant. Because I love bittermelon, I was really happy to see it as an option and decided to give it a try. The dish consisted of cooked bittermelon with cabbage, which tasted quite light. Nothing spectacular but it’s a nice dish to have for those of you who are vegetarians or want to include veggies into your meals.

3. Beef Tataki

We almost never get to enjoy these since we limit our consumption of red meat especially when it’s raw. I have to say this dish was quite addicting and good! The beef sashimi had a nice texture and went well with the sauce. Rui enjoyed it so he decided to order another round. Certainly not the best we had compared to a la carte and more upscale restaurants, but it was good enough to make us happy!

4. Cooked Mini Mushrooms

This was my call because I love to eat mushrooms. I include them in a lot of my meals because they’re generally good for you. You’ll find that a small plate of mushrooms makes a good compliment to many of your other dishes. The mushrooms were cooked in some kind of savoury and liquid sauce. I would recommend this to those of you who love mushrooms!

5. Seafood Ramen

This was also my call because I like ramen in general. It’s my excuse to enjoy carby noodle soup while we’re out eating! Obviously, the ones in AYCE sushi places aren’t amazing but it was a snack size, which does the job of satisfying my ramen cravings. If you’re a big fan of ramen, then we suggest trying these best Japanese ramen restaurants in Toronto.

6. Beef Enoki

Sushi Legend offers two types of beef enoki – one classic and another with green onions. We tried both versions but prefer the classic without green onions because the flavour of the onion was overpowering. Their version is very similar to the ones we’ve eaten at other AYCE sushi restaurants like Matsuda and Kaka.

Beef Enoki is one of our favourite appetizers to order, so we called a few more rounds of these tonight.

7. Signature Sushi Legend Special Roll

Their signature roll called the “Sushi Legend Roll” was one of the best! You can’t come here without ordering this special roll along with the other ones we mention in the list below. This roll was packed with so much flavour including the creamy cheese sauce they use inside – very special indeed!

8. Sushi Legend’s Special Torched Beef Roll

Another win – this is one of their “thumbs up” recommended orders on the menu. You can’t afford to miss out on their torched rolls. The best part was the torched beef with tobiko on top combined with the savoury sauce in between the roll.

9. Dish of Torched Rolls

We pretty much ordered most of their torched rolls. I have to say it’s comparable to Kaka and Matsuda’s torched rolls. The only thing we didn’t like was their bigger portion of each roll, so be mindful of your order. It’s about 25% to 30% bigger compared to the smaller bite sized sushi.

10. Torched Sushi Salmon

The torched sushi salmon was absolutely delicious! I love salmon and this was cooked to perfection. The slightly torched skin added a nice smokey flavor to this sushi!

11. Torched Escolar Fish and Beef

Here is an image of the torched escolar fish and torched beef. I can’t say which one tastes better because they’re both different. However, because I’m a fan of fish, I’d probably go for the escolar. It’s a white fish that’s similar to cod but with a buttery texture. The torched beef was also good – it had a nice char and the meat was tender.

12. Torched Sushi

Here is a closer-up image of their torched sushi rolls. Again, the only downfall was the amount of rice they give you, but I guess that’s just how they are.

13. Sushi Legend Volcano Roll and Mango Tango Roll

Next up is Sushi Legend’s Volcano roll on the bottom right corner. We enjoy the crunchy texture of the fried tempura on the surface of the seaweed wrap with topped tempura bits. The spicy mayo and eel sauce that comes in this roll went well with the deep fried crunchy tempura. I actually don’t prefer tempura, so I have no choice but to eat it since they come in a lot of their special rolls. 😂

The Mango Tango roll on the bottom left corner was also a beautiful special roll. It has shrimp tempura, and mango slices topped with avocado and sweet mango chill sauce – yummy!

These two special rolls were super delicious and we would order them again.

14. Sushi Legend Sunny Roll

The Sunny Roll is another one of Sushi Legend’s best special rolls and we highly recommend you order a dish. It has cooked salmon and avocado along with tempura bits topped on the thin slice of sashimi. The chef topped it with a thin squirt of spicy mayo, which was a great ratio to the sushi itself.

Now, if they offered brown rice, this roll would be the perfect “healthy sushi roll” because it wasn’t flooded with a lot of sauce like their other rolls. Plus, creamy avocado with salmon – what’s not to love? ❤️

15. Sashimi

The sashimi was great – we loved it and ordered many rounds. We sort of lost count, haha! The sashimi here, in my opinion, was better than the one from Kaka AYCE sushi, but comparable to Matsuda. I usually eat them with wasabi for the kick, but you can dip them in your soy sauce with wasabi for extra flavour! These taste good with and without any sauce!

16. Beef Steak

Rui is a huge fan of juicy beef, but since he limits his intake, he’s a happy camper when he gets to indulge at a sushi restaurant. This steak was well cooked and pleasant to chew on. Oh, and the garlic on top elevated the taste of these tiny steaks. If you enjoy beef, then you’ll find this dish delightful.

17. Grilled Chicken Skewer

The only thing I don’t like about chicken skewers is the fact that most of them are dark meat. However, it’s forgiving since I’m only eating dark meat once in a while. I have to say it was okay but nothing spectacular. This skewer wasn’t juicy, so it’s something I wouldn’t prefer eating again. Since it was in front of me, eh, I may as well have one.

Rui said it was good enough for him!

18. Grilled Beef Skewer

Not as chewy as the beef steak, but still enjoyable. The grilled beef skewer was a hit with Rui! These are actually one of his favorite orders. This guy sure loves his meat!

19. Grilled Ribs

Not as great as your mom’s homemade, but still tasty! The charred grilled ribs were a bit dry for my liking, but the sweet and savory sauce (possibly even the fat content) helped moisten each bite. 😂😂😂

20. Seasoned Shrimp

Great source of protein, so don’t be afraid to order up, seafood fans!

21. Eel Sushi Pizza

When was the last time we ordered sushi pizza? I think it was probably over 10 years ago!

We don’t often go for sushi pizzas because they are usually packed with carby white rice, but since we’re writing a review here, why not?

The eel and sauce were pretty tasty but too much rice for our liking. After all, we’re already being fed rice from all those special rolls, so what is the point in ordering dishes that flood you with even more rice?

If we want real pizza, we would be heading over to the best and top pizza restaurants in Toronto over here!

22. Fried Vegetarian Spring Roll

I don’t think we expected much from these deep-fried spring rolls, especially at an all-you-can-eat sushi place. Hence we only ordered 1 piece to share. You must think we’re silly for sharing this, but we’re glad we did because the spring roll was a total miss. It was very soggy inside and not something I’d want to eat again. We can say this tastes like cheap spring rolls you heat up from the frozen packs at your local grocery stores.

23. Fried Wonton with Cheese

Same deal here. I’m actually surprised this was considered a “thumbs up” on their menu because it was probably one of the most disgusting wontons I’ve had in my life.

To make it worse, there wasn’t melted cheese, which I was expecting. Instead, it seemed like they used cold feta cheese. I’m not a cheese expert, but all I have to say is this was a weird combination that didn’t go well together, especially with the sweet sauce they provided in this dish.

If you’re a curious George, then order 1-2 pieces and try it yourself. You’ll know what I mean by “weird”.

24. Edamame Beans

Yuck – these were probably the worst edamame beans I’ve had. Not sure if you’d say it’s equivalent to picking on food from the dumpster, but they were horrible.

These beans were not edible for anyone. I hate wasting food, but we had to ask the server to toss them away. Honestly speaking, they were probably expired because the batch was soggy and beaten up. I had to spit it out immediately after the first bite – the taste was seriously not normal.

Definitely not like the good ones we had at Matsuda or the ones you eat fresh at home.

I’m never trusting the edamame brands from this place again!

25. Condensed Milk Dessert

I’m glad I didn’t order more than 1 piece. It was so nasty that I couldn’t even gobble down this tiny square. I ate half and it doesn’t seem like something that would sit well in your stomach. The fried dough was soggy and the condensed milk inside wasn’t very fresh. Not sure why they would serve this?

26. Sushi Legend Desserts

We ordered several more desserts including classics we enjoy like green tea ice cream and creme brulee. Here are our honest thoughts.

Green Tea Ice Cream – good but not as good as store-bought or Kaka’s green tea ice cream. If you want one of the best, try Kitaya’s green tea soft serve ice cream.
Creme Brulee – good but not as good as Matsuda’s vanilla creme brulee if you’re comparing AYCE sushi restaurants.
Herbal Jelly Dessert – I would not order this again because it had no flavour and it tasted like cheap grass jelly (not really real herbal jelly dessert).
Red Bean Tapioca Dessert – I would never order this again either. It was edible, and not nasty, but not worth indulging in.
Coffee Pudding – meh, another dessert item that I would not eat again.

Overall, Sushi Legend offers a variety of desserts but they are not as good as Kaka’s green tea ice cream or Matuda’s dessert menu. If you really want to order a dessert from Sushi legend, I recommend sticking to classics like green tea ice cream or creme brulee. Or, if you’re a dessert lover at heart, then you’ll enjoy these awesome dessert places in Toronto – they are the absolute best you’ll ever have! You’ll even wonder why you never heard about them or tried them out!

Food: 4/5

If you come to Sushi Legend restaurant for all you can eat sushi, we recommend ordering mostly their special rolls, torched sushi, and several items from their teppanyaki menu. In our opinion, they have one of the worst desserts, but their overall food is delicious!

One thing that stood out to us is the bigger portion of each sushi piece. They tend to be bigger compared to other AYCE sushi restaurants like Matsuda and Kaka. That’s a bummer because it means you will probably get full faster if you don’t limit the number of pieces, so be mindful when you’re ordering your sushi rolls.

Service: 3.5/5

Their service isn’t the best but it’s not the worst. We’ve had better service at other restaurants but we’ve also had worse. They were attentive and quick to clear our plates, but they did forget to bring us our bills. And we waited 15 minutes for our condensed milk dessert order. This is probably a sign that it’s not a popular item, so it’s best to avoid it.

Ambiance: 3.8/5

Sushi Legend restaurant in North York is clean and spacious. It’s not glamorous or elegant like Matsuda but comparable to the dine-in experience at Kaka. If you want to hold a birthday gathering or celebration, we recommend going to Matsuda.

Price: $$$

According the Sushi Legend’s website on pricing, it says the following:

Lunch: Monday to Thursday is 25.95 for adults, $22.95 for seniors (65 years+), and $16.95 for kids under 10.
Lunch: Friday to Sunday and Holiday is $26.95 for adults, $23.95 for seniors, and $17.95 for kids under 10.
Dinner: Monday to Thursday is $35.95 for adults, $29.95 for seniors, and $19.95 for kids under 10.
Dinner: Friday to Sunday and holidays are $38.95 for adults, $32.95 for seniors, and $20.95 for kids under 10.

However, we got charged a little more, so I believe the website is not accurate.

This was a pricey meal. Our bill for two adults came out to be $92.55 after tax and $106.43 including tips. That means the price for one adult is $40.95 on Friday and weekends, NOT $38.95 as per their website.

Not the cheapest meal but considering the cost of living in Toronto and inflation, I guess you can say this is your “normal” today, which is comparable to other AYCE sushi restaurants.

Sushi Legend All You Can Eat Sushi Rating: 3.9/5

Overall, we would come back to Sushi Legend again for their special rolls and items from their grilled menu. The food is delicious and the service is good. It’s a great place for sushi lovers!

Pros: really delicious special rolls and teppanyaki selections, and pop is included, unlike other AYCE sushi places.
Cons: desserts aren’t as good, the atmosphere isn’t the best place to celebrate an occasion, and too many selections (over 100) that aren’t worth ordering, which can be very overwhelming.

Have you ever been to Sushi Legend to try their AYCE sushi? Let us know your honest thoughts in the comment below!