JaBistro

Blowtorched Canadian-Japanese sushi for a treat (COVID-19 update)

JaBistro is one of two famous aburi oshizushi restaurants in Toronto. The other is Vancouver transplant Miku. While Miku has the edge over variety and is slightly better executed across the board, JaBistro has better prices and the single best aburi sushi dish in Toronto: the JaBistroll. Both offer more than aburi sushi and have traditional nigirizushi as well. They also have entrees and lunch specials but Miku has more variety and offers desserts too.

Before we go on a detour about what aburi oshizushi is, I want to complain. Why do so many high-end restaurants try to look invisible? JaBistro looks like an abandoned steel workshop from the outside. If you are not looking for it, you are likely to miss it. Whether it is to keep the riff-raff out or to maintain an air of secrecy and prestige, it clearly doesn’t work in the world of Yelp and Tripadvisor. When a restaurant is outstanding, people will come.

Canada’s own sushi: aburi oshizushi

Most people associate sushi with two forms. Nigirizushi (握り寿司) is a rice mound shaped by hand and has a slice of seafood pressed on top of it. Makizushi (巻き寿司), also known as maki roll, is encased with seaweed and rolled with a bamboo mat. The fillings are in the centre of the maki roll.

A lesser-known sushi type is oshizushi (押し寿司). It is formed with a rectangular mold and requires the least amount of skill. But if you are into geometrical shapes, this looks the prettiest because everything is angular and precise. This form of sushi has really taken off in Canada in the past decade, starting in Vancouver and spreading to Toronto.

To be precise, it is aburi oshizushi that is a Canadian specialty. Aburi (炙る) means scorched. Aburi sushi is blowtorched on top to give extra colour and flavour. This is not new. Aburi nigirizushi has been around in Japan for a while but remains a novelty there. The Canadian twist is to apply this technique to oshizushi and use non-traditional ingredients like jalapeños.

Some people say that aburi sushi is a way to mask poor quality seafood and shoddy knife work. I say aburi has a more tangible impact on flavour and a better test of cooking skills. Knife skills can make something pretty and mold texture but it won’t help a lot with taste. If aburi sushi allows chefs to use lower grade seafood and reduce prices accordingly, I am all for it.

Oh, and if you are wondering why sushi is sometimes spelled as zushi, that’s because the Japanese s sound changes to z when it appears before certain words.

The food

The signature items here are the various aburi sushi. If this is your first time, get the Aburicious, a platter of assorted aburi sushi. It’s a great deal because it includes the best aburi sushi in Toronto, the JaBistroll. With a list of ingredients that include snow crab, scallop, and fish roe, it’s hard not to taste amazing.

This tasting of Aburicious was done before COVID-19. The platter included 2 ebi (shrimp), 2 saba (mackerel), 2 salmon, and 2 JaBistroll. They were all great, but if I had to pick an order:

1. JaBistroll. This is the first aburi makizushi I’ve seen. It also handily beat the other aburi sushi. Exploding with umami. A riot of textures. Puffed up on top from the blowtorch. I could not discern between the scallop and crab because the decadent seafood melded harmoniously with the rest of the roll. A joy to eat.
2. Saba. It’s a toss up between this and salmon for next best. I personally like crispy mackarel skin, so I gave this an edge. The distinct taste of mackerel was there and not fishy at all. Bits of daikon radish on top lightened up the oily fish.
3. Salmon. The fish melted in the mouth. Literally. It’s impossibly soft and delicate. Just to remind you that there is some texture, a thin slice of jalapeño chilli sat on the salmon. It added extremely mild heat, but assertive enough to change the flavour dynamics. The blowtorch added welcome caramelization to the salmon.
4. Ebi. Nothing wrong with this, but compared to the others, it was a little boring. Maybe some contrasting ingredient could be added to liven it up. The shrimp was fresh and moderately torched on top.

For COVID-19 takeout, JaBistro offers a condensed menu that can survive longer than 30 minutes. No more nigirizushi but aburi sushi is still available. They have also added 2 new rice bowls: maguro (tuna) don and salmon don. They were offering a 30% discount from March to May but reduced this to 15% in June. It’s still a steal, so take the opportunity to try JaBistro if you haven’t.

The salmon don was presented well, which is a marvel for takeout. Salmon slices were arranged like flower petals. Shredded snow crab and pearls of ikura (salmon roe) topped the centrepiece. A shiso leaf, a ball of wasabi, and gari (pickled ginger) were pressed artfully on the sides of the container. Clearly, they took a lot of time to think how to pack this meal.

As expected, the rice bowl was great. The quality of salmon was definitely better than cheap Japanese takeouts. The slices were large and showed off the marbling of the fish. The tataki pieces (seared on outside, raw in the middle) were not caramelized enough for me, but it was still tasty. The snow crab salad was nice in theory but the pepper and mayonnaise overwhelmed the delicate crab flavour. It might have worked better if it was seasoned simply with salt. The rice was textbook sushi quality.

The place

JaBistro is styled like a trendy izakaya. Warm lighting, brick walls, wood paneling. It’s dressed for its price range, which is between mid-range and fine dining. There is one long bar counter and some tables squashed on one side of the restaurant.

Verdict

Aburi sushi is a flavour explosion. If only portions were bigger or prices were 20% lower, I would come more often. 8.5/10 (updated October 2020).

Practical information

Name

JaBistro

Rating

8.5/10

Recommended dishes

JaBistroll (also included in Aburicious set)

Prices (including tax)

Aburicious: $24.86
Salmon oshizushi: $17.86
Nama (set of 7 nigirizushi): $32.77
Salmon don: $18.98 (after 30% COVID-19 discount)

Address

222 Richmond Street West

Hours

Monday to Sunday 1130h – 1430h, 1700h – 2100h

Date of visit

October 2018 (dine-in), May 2020 (takeout)