Crosstown Zen Sushi

Wakame salad is not made in house.
I saw the chef smoke inside while cooking and did not bother to wash his hands…

Came here for a quick dinner on a Sunday evening. I was in the Yonge-​Eglinton area and I remembered that I’d been wanting to check this place out after seeing a decent amount of good reviews on Unilocal.
First of all, it isn’t the easiest place to find… It’s located at the back of a convenience store and, to the best of my recollection, there is no obvious signage that clearly indicates what this place is called. There is no separate entrance, so you have to go through the convenience store to get to the restaurant.
I was the only person there at 8 PM on a Sunday. I was greeted and seated promptly and a cup of tea (lukewarm and bland) arrived soon after. Although it wasn’t busy and I arrived long before closing time, I felt very rushed throughout the entire meal. The hostess came around me if I was ready to order at least 5 times within the first 5 minutes of sitting down. Conversely, after she brought my food, she disappeared completely. No «how is everything?» No offer to refill the tea. But then, miraculously, she appeared again as soon as I had finished my plate to clear the table and bring the cheque. No offer of a dessert or anything.
Now the food. I ordered the wakame salad and the volcano roll (salmon, cucumber, masago, tempura bits in a roll topped with spicy salmon). The wakame salad was average. The flavour was very one note, lacking acidity and the roasted savouriness from sesame seeds/​sesame oil. The wakame also lacked crunch, which suggested that it had been sitting in the marinade/​dressing for way too long. The volcano roll tasted pretty good and it had an appropriate ratio of rice to fish, but the roll was sloppily made and presented on the plate =(
After reading the largely glowing reviews of this place on Unilocal,I was kind of disappointed by the food that was pretty average and the service that was pretty poor… Maybe I will return when it’s a bit busier and they might actually give a damn.

The freshest sushi I think I have ever had! The tuna was so tender and the chef is an artist. The place is very humble in appearance but the money is spent on the quality of the seafood. I hope the pictures can give some indication of the quality.

Food is consistently good. Never disappointed, always served quickly and reasonable price!

My girlfriend and I come in here regularly once every two weeks and I cannot understate how much of a hidden gem this place is. I was super skeptical of getting sushi from a place connected to a convenience store, but we keep coming back because the quality trumps all of the other spots in the area. We’ve tried Tokyo sushi and sushi ocean and they just aren’t as good.
The staff are always friendly, they serve you quickly with nice extras like miso soup, and they make up a bit for the atmosphere by playing nice classical music.
Finally, the price is very reasonable and you get good portions!

The owner’s were rude! He started screaming at me because I was parked in his «spot» when I came to pick up an order. There was no designation marked for the «the owner of Zen sushi parking only» It was an horrible experience and I will no longer be doing business with them again nor my friends. If you cannot treat your customers with dignity and respect, You should not be in the hospitality business Jack– Ass!

It’s been a while since the owner of this place has been changed as I know.
I was surprised with the review here.
I looooooooooove sushi so I have tried a lot of sushi restaurants
and this place is definitely one of my favourites!
The restaurant is very small as they are more focused on take out than dine-​in.
I usually do take outs too but sometimes eat in there as well.
The owner is very nice enough to give me something on the house whenever I eat in.
and they always give edamame or spring rolls on the house when I get over $ 30.
I love their rolls.
rolls are super tasty and beautiful!
I’ve tried most of the rolls here and my favourites are black dragon roll, zen love roll, and volcano roll!!!
their sashimi is very fresh as well.
It is very thick and nice fattiness to the salmon which melts in mouth.
and their combo specials come with miso soup and salad.
Overall their quality of foods is very good with reasonable prices.

Always fresh and speedy delivery. Best sushi in the Eglinton area.

The sushi at Crosstown Zen Sushi is disgusting. Definitely one of the worst sushi experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve never made sushi before, but if I did, I’m sure I could come up with better sushi than this place. It felt like sushi was made by a blindfolded 5 year old.
The miso soup tasted nothing like miso. It had a different colour (bright orange) and the taste was completely off. The sushi was sloppily made. The whole thing fell apart as soon as you picked it up with your chopsticks. When you bit into it, it became a big ol’ mess in your mouth. There was absolutely no contrast in textures and flavours. The fish tasted awful and the consistency made me want to gag.
Stay away from this place.