we went for dinner on thursday night after reading the good reviews on here. what a disappointment...
i had the spicy celery sake cocktail that tasted mostly of overly-sweet ginger without a hint of sake. not unpleasant, but i would have believed you if you told me it came of the virgin list. gf had the shiso smash with bourbon, that was also too sweet. we later followed these with a draft sapporo and a very small pour of a very forgettable albarinho
the pork belly "snack" was tasty, but not memorable. the accompanying shrimp toast was the best part of the dish.
there was nothing terribly wrong with most of the sashimi sampler that we had. most of the fish was respectably fresh, and the variety was refreshing for toronto. the geoduck and uni were of good quality and a nice change from the standard offering, but the cuts on the toro and mackerel were inconsistent, while the sea bream was completely butchered. it was literally a tangled mess that looked like someone had gone after a beautiful fish with a pair of dull children's scissors.
the last dish was the biggest disappointment. i love soft shell crab (even enough to order it out of season) but Ja's version was overly battered, excessively oily, and served with "chili". silly me for thinking chili would be some sort of chili sauce. silly server for not explaining that it was actually chili. the type with beans. it was actually a decent white chili, but not a good pairing with oil soaked fried crabs, and definitely unexpected.
the server also extolled the virtues of "fly fish eggs" at one point and couldn't answer questions about what was on the sashimi plate without going back to check twice.
in summary, it felt like an amateur effort at best. which would be fine if the price point was lower ($150 all in for 4 drinks and 3 small dishes).
i would not return
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