The bright Scandinavian feeling dining room is perfect for
sushi, I like that airy feeling of cleanliness when eating raw ingredients.
Even their service has an element of Swedish efficiency and organization, if
Ikea ever served sushi, it would be similar to Project:Fish.
Shortly after placing our order for the premium set ($32), a
trio of appetizers arrive: warm edamame
dusted with pepper rather than salt, Albacore tuna slices dressed in a light
citrus soy on a bed of seaweed, and a plain cabbage salad tossed in a what seems
like sugar water... the cabbage salad definitely needs an upgrade.
Before you can get through half of the starters, the
efficiency kicks in and the platter of sushi arrives. With great memory, our
waitress rhymes off every piece and its garnish. It’s like reciting a memorized
passage and done so quickly that I retained very little. Consequently, my post
will rely on their menu and guessing what the ingredients could be.
I started with the warm pieces of oshi (pressed sushi that’s then topped with sauce and blowtorched).
The salmon contained too much of the mayo-based sauce, which is generally the biggest
drawback of Project Fish’s oshi – the
sheer oiliness that you see pool under each piece. Maybe it has something to do
with the timing of placing the sauce (pre vs. post press), but the greasiness
really detracts from the rice.
The shrimp oshi
worked better given the seafood itself is leaner. While one piece was earthier
on account of the mushroom basil mixture, the other was refreshing from the
plum paste – this is a nice one to finish off with as it cuts through the oshis’ heaviness.
Project Fish can even consider changing up the sauce combo.
For example, with miso topping the mackerel oshi,
it worked remarkably well, the salty sweetness cutting through the stronger
fish.
As much as I normally enjoyed blowtorched sushi, the
traditional pieces were more enjoyable. Some pieces had similar flavour
combinations without being pressed: shrimp topped with mushroom basil, but was
slightly sweeter due to the shrimp; albacore tuna with the refreshing plum
accent; the typical salmon with mayo, but at least it was just a small dollop;
and miso again, but this time a little too strong as it was placed on a much
milder fish.
The plate would be even better if they had more pieces with
brighter and lighter garnishes. Sure, they used plum, but surprisingly negated
green onion, ginger, and yuzu, which
although are common ingredients works really well with fish. Or even adding
more vinegar to the rice and wasabi under the fish would help cut through the
richer pieces.
It’s a fairly filling meal as it then ends with a kaisen rice bowl with spicy sashimi (made
with various pieces of scrap fish, a great way for reducing waste) and blue
crab salad (actually made with real crab). Overall, the bowl was too sweet for
my taste. Perhaps they meant for this to be dessert, but I would prefer it to
end on a stronger savoury element: element the sugar from the crab salad, make
the spicy sashimi actually have some heat, and skip all the sweet diced pieces
of tamago and just have on piece on
the top.
Also, maybe the Ikea-like efficiency isn’t always the
greatest idea, as it does detract from the experience. Aside from waiting until
people are done with their appetizers to serve the main course, Project Fish
should consider plating the sushi and oshi
separately to draw out the meal – consequently, it may help ensure the oshi arrives warmer. Regardless, their
reasonable pricing for fairly good sushi is a big draw. In any case, efficiency
does have its perks.
Overall mark - 7 out of 10
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 16 Park Home Avenue
Address: 16 Park Home Avenue
Website: https://www.projectfish.ca/
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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
Is That It? I Want More!
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