Salmon Oshi

Kizami opened up earlier last year in a tiny strip mall on Leslie Road. Parking can be quite difficult here during peak hours and I would recommend making reservations as the restaurant itself is quite small. The restaurant seems to be Chinese run but the quality of the fish is quite fresh. This comes at a premium price though and they seem to enjoy upselling whenever possible.

To start, we tried the Salmon Oshi. I thought the rice was a bit too dense and although a lot of salmon was provided, it didn’t really have that melt in your mouth texture like Miku’s. For $13, I much rather go to Yui’s which is the closest I’ve had to Miku’s salmon oshi.

Sakura Roll

They don’t really offer any classic traditional rolls, but rather all creative rolls. We tried their Sakura Roll which features spicy tuna, cucumber, and topped with chopped scallop and tobiko. Not bad, but for $13, this is a bit pricey given I could get something similar for around $8 at most sushi joints.

Dungeness Roll

Another roll we tried was the Dungeness Roll which features real crab, salmon, asparagus, avocado, and topped with tobiko. The roll was well constructed but again quite pricey at $13. This is a pretty common roll you can find elsewhere, but I guess they use real crab so it increases the prices.

Yakitori

Kizami has a large robata menu which I quite enjoyed. The Yakitori was glazed with a sweet soy sauce. Each order comes with 2 skewers, so these came to around $2.50 each which is comparable to the ones at Zakusshi. I just wished they had more of a char flavour.

Enoki Beef

The Enoki Beef was one of my favourite. The enoki was wrapped with tender beef and was full of flavour and juicy. Each skewer came with 3 beef wraps. Each skewer was around $3.50.

Chicken Wings

The Chicken Wings were quite tasty as well but interesting how they stressed them out. It made them much easier to eat as the bones easily fell off. Skin was grilled to crispy. Each skewer had two wings and came to $3 per skewer.

Beef Tongue

Last but not least, the Beef Tongue was thinly sliced and lightly salted and flavoured with a sweet soy. Topped with a squeeze of lemon, these were chewy and flavourful. Keep in mind that one order comes with 4 skewers for Beef Tongue and therefore one order is $9.

Sake Clam

Moving on to some appetizer dishes were the Sake Clams. The clams were sweet and plump in a milky sake broth. We were upselled to add uni (sea urchin) on our dish, but it literally was just a dollop of uni and when mixed with the broth, it just melted. I’d much rather just order uni as sashimi or with sushi as I thought this was a bit waste and pricey.

Mentaiko Tofu

I think the Mentaiko Tofu was off their daily special menu and the mentaiko was topped on smooth tofu along with some creamy mayo and seaweed. Not bad but I thought the tofu itself could be a bit more seasoned.

Eggplant

The marinated Eggplant was doused in lots of sweet and savoury sauce with a hint of spice and topped with lots of bonito flakes. The eggplant was cooked to soft and tender. Quite delicious!

Chef’s Choice Sushi

Lastly, we ordered the Chef’s Choice Sushi which features 9 pieces for $28 which isn’t too bad given you get foie gras and wagyu beef topped with a quail egg and these along normally cost $7 each here. All of these nigiri were aburi-style so lightly torched. I’m personally not a huge fan of aburi nigiris unless they are done oshi-style as I much rather enjoy the fresh sashimi itself. If you like aburi nigiri though, then this is a pretty good choice given the quality of ingredients you get and reasonable price.

Overall, I thought Kizami offers some decent dishes if you’re not looking for traditional Japanese cuisine. However, it comes at a hefty price. I do appreciate that they have a good variety of sushi and robata items though and also a large drink menu.

Pros:
– Robata dishes are good
– Quality of ingredients are pretty good

Cons:
– Dishes are on the pricier side

Price Range: $30-$40 per person

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3.5 Service: 3 Ambiance: 3 Parking: Free parking in complex Overall: 3.5