Toronto Trip: Hiro Sushi

I am spending a few days in Toronto, and one of the restaurants I am visiting is Hiro Sushi. I went with my friend Dana and we ordered the omakase from both the kitchen and the sushi bar. We also had some sake, dessert, and an extra dish. It was very good and I highly recommend it.

The first dish was the extra: seared beef tongue. There were some chewy pieces that I didn't care for, but some of the thinly sliced tender pieces were very good: it simply melted in your mouth.


This is the first course of the omakase: raw mackerel marinated in ginger, green onions, soy, ponzu, soy sauce, and olive oil, topped with grated ginger and carrots. It was very good: the fish was "cooked" by the marinade and was very flavorful. The taste was more like the canned tuna but much more subtle. The fish was thinly sliced and very tender.


Second course of the omakase: purée green pea soup with "homemade" croutons. It was pretty much the essence of peas concentrated. I can't tell if there was anything else in the stock. Not quite sure if this was truly Japanese, but it tasted good and it was a nice departure from the usual miso soup.


Third course: BBQ eel on rice (the little green pile is fresh grated wasabi). This was a classic with a twist:the rice was actually sweet rice (maybe even the same as Chinese glutinous rice) and there was melted (mozzarella?) cheese inside the rice! I believe there was also a clam and maybe mushrooms mixed into the rice. It was an interesting combination but it was good.


The fourth course was, I guess, more trendy: braised pork belly, deep fried fig, and a fermented bean sauce. I didn't catch the name of the bean sauce, but it tasted like hoisin only less sweet. The pork belly was really good: flavorful and melted in my mouth. I also ate the fig: I believe this was the first time I ate fresh figs...I hope I won't be too sick tomorrow. The pork belly was one of my favorite. The fig was certainly not very ripe, but I guess ripe figs wouldn't hold their shape when fried. It did provide a nice texture contrast and also cut the greasiness of the pork.


Fifth course: the sushi! There were tuna and cucumber maki in the middle, and a number of pieces nigiri sushi (clockwise from the top): toro, marinated tuna, eel, two kinds of salmon, yellowtail, shrimp, shitake, sardine, scallops, and sweet shrimp. Every piece was good, with my favorite being the salmon and toro. The fish were definitely thinner than many other places, but they were good. They were very fresh, and the texture of the fish was much firmer than many other Japanese restaurants. My guess is that the fish has never been frozen.


Dana's dessert: spicy strawberry sorbet. I believe the spiciness came from chili peppers. I had a taste and it actually was surprisingly good. You get the sweetness first as it hit the front of your tongue, and as that melted away the spice hits the back of your throat. I only had one bite, though. After all, my adventures are supposed to be fruitless.


My dessert: basil ice cream. It was very refreshing, and not as harsh as mint which is in the same family. In fact I think I will try making this some time. It's an interesting fact that I have only been to Hiro Sushi twice and both times I came away with a new ice cream flavor that I want to try making myself (last time it was black sesame). The picture shows the ice cream being a lot whiter than it really was because of the flash.


Overall, it was definitely worth the trip. The food was good and unpretentious, and it was more "cutting edge" than I thought it would be: I had the impression that the meals would be more traditional. Still, everything tasted good so I have no complaints.