Omi Japanese Restaurant

Visited on a Friday night party of 5. The servers too so long to come to the table to take our drink and food orders throughout the night. What should have taken 1.5 hours was dragged on for 2.5 hours. I like that sheet to order all you can eat clearly specifies the number of pieces, a carbon copy would have helped so that we know which things we ordered and which ones are still coming. Total for 5 people came to $ 250! The 4 Sapporo’s and large Sake really put a dent on the bill. For a $ 50 per person dinner I would have wanted much faster and attentive service. I would not come back again. The sushi was ok, nothing to write home about. I usually don’t hang out in this part of Toronto. That intersection seemed ok safety wise, but nearby areas are a bit scuzzy.

It is confusing that there are two Unilocal listings for this restaurant.
We came here because Qi Sushi on Gerrard was closed on Mondays which was our first choice.
The décor is nice. The server was very soft spoken. It was a bit tough to get his attention. The restaurant was quite busy.
We ordered the all you can eat lunch buffet for $ 11.95 each which seemed reasonable.
I enjoyed the spicy salmon roll and the salmon sushi pizza. the butterfish was also delicious.
Regrettably, we ordered Saba (Mackerel) and it was definitely off. To serve a customer a piece of fish that is not completely fresh is not only bad for business, it can be negligent.
Both of us had gastric issues after.

The food and service here is really great for couples or individual. Atmosphere is also pretty nice, we’d enjoy the experience here. I would recommend this place to you, the price is reasonable and service was being great and fast. You can’t expect more from a sushi shop with this price range.

Ayce option now offered with a nice variety of selections. Really enjoyed their curry on rice. Friendly service and very attentive to details. My new go to sushi place!

They just started all you can eat in Monday and I came on Thursday. I think this is a high quality all you can eat sushi restaurant with fair price. Very nice environment if u are very hungry and want to eat a lot while Chilling with a friend. Quiet environment, small size restaurant, classic music, and friendly services.

High quality food and cool décor — will definitely go again

Typically I don’t write reviews, but avoid at all costs… Seems like an owner change. Sashimi was served frozen!

I gave this spot a second chance after having a bad experience the first time with not so fresh fish and very small rolls. The second time was much better and I will now considering going on a regular basis. The sushi was fresh and the service was good.

First time here. Food was very fresh, service was fast and attentive, menu was not overwhelming like so many sushi places. I would even hesitate to call it a sushi joint, its so much better. Still thinking about my yummy garlic seared albacore tuna and can’t wait to go back for more… Cool décor and wine choices too!

omi is a step above your generic sushi place down the street. ive been here twice, and both times very impressed with the quality of their dishes.
i enjoyed the lunch special today, total deal for $ 11.99. We shared an order of maki rolls and sashimi combo. it came with soup. everything i had was extremely well flavoured. i didnt feel like i was ‘filling up’ on sushi, but enjoying a well prepared meal.
to top it off, this place is so darn cute. from the orange-​fish soy sauce bowls, to the comfy wooden chairs, its a cool hangout.

A salt lover to the core, I’ve always been a great fan of miso soup. I love getting a bento box and slurping up the bowl of white miso broth, piping hot, rich with umami (I used the word! For once it feels less snobby). OMI dishes up the classic with only a light spin, enough to make me tilt my head in amusement without being totally blown away. Miso soup is so simple that adding or modifying much means you’re having a completely different appetizer very quickly. Here the broth was peppered with a few stalks of enoki mushroom, the citrus stalks playing with the very mild salt of OMI’s broth. There was a curious flotilla of what I think was rice puffs, forming a layer over the soup. Served near boiling, as I like it. Simple and mellow.
Here must I profess a great and undying love, no, an ever growing love, or weeds from the sea. Sea weeds. Ever since I started perusing that massive superstore in little Ko9rea, I’ve been spoiled for choice. I like to nibble on salted, roasted nori, and will happily soak wakame in preference to chopping iceberg for salad. There are many, many varieties of seaweed, all with a unique taste, and generally bursting with vitamins. I love the flavor! Much for the same reason people enjoy oysters, seaweed taste wild, and like the water. It tastes fresh. This trio of salads comprised of two kinds of seaweed and one cabbage leaf’d construction hit the spot. It’s a great salad for this still-​hot days. The seaweeds (one was certainly wakame, the other MAY have been arame, though it wasn’t as black as I recall arame being) were moist, and slid down my throat like refreshing tentacles. Appealing, I know! They tasted basically the same, though the arame was milder tasting. Both had a hint of sesame, maybe from just the seeds, maybe from a drop of oil. The other salad was a super-​fine julienne slaw of white and red cabbage, crisp as anything (daikon, also?). There was a simple and juicy dressing of lemon, and a sprig of carrot added just a tease of sweet. So finely crafted! I tried them all separate, and then messed together for a grand finale of flavor.
On to the rolls! A certain writer for the star has been posting to his blog about all this crab consumption, and I wanted in. I’ve been feeling the seafood lately, especially the crustacean kind. I am also growing more aware of how unfamiliar with the fast array of crabs I am! I’ve had tinned crab, fake crab, and disappointed, overcooked snow crab legs (they were not worth the fight to free the dry meat). Softies, come to me! This roll, with the rice on the outside and the crab snug in a wrap of nori, was delicious, but not the best dish to flex my taste buds with. Why? Bonito. LOTS of bonito! Like dandruff, but more appealing, the top of the nori was loaded in dry flakes of dehydrated tuna. And it was STRONG! The flavor of the roll wound up being mostly fishy, with a hint of green onion and mayo. It came served with zippy pickled ginger that skipped the pink dye, and surprisingly mild wasabi.
On the website, this is listed as a special for November. Is it possible OMI hasn’t updated their specials in almost a year? I won’t complain, so long as they keep this on when the menu does change! In a way this is not unlike a sushi inside-​out roll– just substitute rice for stringy sweet potato (they must seriously love their mandoline here), flash fried around the tempura catfish until it’s crispy AND chewy. That’s right, both, the best of both worlds. The natural sugar of the sweet potato keeps it a little moist even after cooking. The log of four pieces sat in a little puddle of watered down tamari– let it sit long and it gets soggy. Each section was topped with something different, wasabi, roe, mayo, a mystery. I wish there had been a more substantial portion of fish under all that orange spud. I am happy that the fish was so fresh and meaty, though.
Dessert was a fun and weird delight! These fish-​shaped ice creams (based on something called bungeoppang, wikipedia tells me) aren’t made by OMI. They’re a snack item, like a Klondike bar but from Korea (no, they aren’t Japanese!). Learning that this is a cheap snack food (made by a company called binggrae) has changed my opinion of it a bit– not because I didn’t like it. Actually, I enjoyed the thin wafer and soft serve, with the earthy and sweet red bean jelly layer. It wasn’t fresh, didn’t taste fresh, but I liked the novelty. What bothers me is knowing your can get this for $ 4 in a grocery store. Is a $ 5 surcharge a bit much, especially considering it wasn’t even dressed up? For something processed and not fresh? I think so.

Omi is my favourite Japanese restaurant in the city. Why you ask?
From the moment you walk in the door until the second you leave full of delicious goodness you are treated like royalty by the staff. The décor is casual yet classy with small tables lining an exposed brick wall and a small sushi counter off to the other side where the chef can be seen using a blow torch to cook the scallops for the sushi pizza.
I’ve been to OMI about 5 times now and have always been served by the same server… I’d like to think he owns the restaurant because it is obvious he is passionate about great service, quality food and ensuring that each customer has a great dining experience.
Moral of the story: Go check it out for yourself. Believe me, food is incredible. Order the daily catch items… I swear the server must go out and fish it himself between delivering you the hot saki and bringing you your miso soup. Also order… beef Enoki Rolls, Agadashi Tofu, blow torched scallop sushi pizza… and everything else on the menu. You will not be disappointed.

Fresh, creative, delicious. What a relief to find — for a change — a wonderful Japanese restaurant in Toronto.

This isn’t a sushi joint, it’s a Japanese restaurant… and it’s delicious. Since moving to Cabbagetown I’ve been three times. I always go for the chef’s roll special and a side of safe.
The interior design is both adorable and chique, and the food is impossibly fresh.
You get what you pay for, as without alcohol dinner is about $ 50 for two w/​tip. Yes, that is expensive for ‘sushi’ as everyone seems to be pointing out, but it really is worth it.
Also, you can get a great lunch for one for $ 12– it’s not $ 5.99, but it is way more than double-​y better.

Came here for dinner tonight (12.21.10).
The décor of the place is pretty cool. It’s hidden on Carlton that it took me a couple of minutes to find this establishment. Luckily my dinner date had just arrived so they didn’t have to wait too long for me as I parked my car.
I found the pricing of menu items to be overpriced considering what was being served. The clientele seem to be able to afford 2 little pieces of scallop for $ 9, which is why they continue to charge these prices … I suppose. We ordered a few raw fish dishes, including the Rainbow and Spicy Salmon rolls. It was by no means fresh, thankfully I didn’t order Sashimi. The sushi rolls were so sloppily cut. «Sushi Chef» or not, I think being able to use a knife is key in any kitchen.
Eek, me thinks not.

I’ve only had omakase dinner here, so the rating is not related to menu-​ordered dishes.
Chef Lee puts a lot of passion into his food, and you can taste it. If you care about quality and freshness, go to this place. Once I asked him if he had any uni, he pulled out a little tray of the stuff to show me, told me they weren’t the freshest, therefore not good enough to be served to his customers. That IS good quality control.
No sushi bargain here. You get what you pay for, in a good way.

If you’re looking for a sushi bargain, don’t eat here. But if you care about fresh fish, prepared with care, and great service and ambiance, then OMI is the place to go.
It’s true that it’s a little pricey, and I’m usually there for lunch. But as another reviewer pointed out, there are plenty of cheap and cheerful sushi places in Toronto. But there are only a handful to which I would give 4 stars.
If you love your fresh fish, check this place out — you won’t be disappointed.

Omi serves the best sushi I’ve had in Toronto. Their menu changes regularly and is inventive – not just the same old California rolls. They do amazing things with tuna sashimi. The gyoza taste like they’ve been prepared fresh. It’s also a cute little place, tastefully and originally decorated.
It would be my favourite restaurant. But the portions are tiny, sometimes verging on microscopic and you pay through the nose for them. The wine list is absurdly expensive. (One secret: they have affordable hot sake, but it’s not listed on the menu.)
I’ve been for dinner twice now and both times my companions and I left feeling hungry despite spending a small fortune. Oh, Omi. I want to love you, but you’re just not quite worth it.
One exception: on weekdays, they offer several sushi lunch specials for $ 11 or $ 12 that include miso soup. If you’re not starving it’s not a bad deal for top quality fish and rice, especially the chirashi.

Omi is hit or miss. I am now a regular customer, but not with out a few and by a few I mean 3 or 4 tries.
In all honesty, the first time I went I was very disappointed, the food I found was over priced and not all that great. I’m of the mind that you need to give a place a second chance, unless it’s AWFUL like my visit to Voglie. As my visits increased so did the service. By the 3^rd time the owner had remembered by order and my special request for no wasibi or ginger. She also knows that I’m not a green tea drinker, so she brings me a glass of water with out me asking.
I tend to get my usual order of miso soup, edamame, dynamite roll and crab sushi. I know it sounds like a lot, but sushi is the one food I can pack away — the all you can eat places loose on me — ‘ll be posting about my favourite all you can eat sushi place soon — and my order normally comes to about $ 35…a lot of money for a little food in my mind, but it does tend to do the trick.
The sushi chef is very quick, the staff is sweet (I believe it’s a family run biz) and the food has improved over each visit. I’m not saying its the best sushi I’ve had, but it’s close and reasonable.

Omi is a-​ok. I had the Omakase here the other night and while the fish was definitely fresh and clean, healthy portions– the dishes weren’t mind blowing or particularly unique. The cooked dishes included with the Omakase are a bit of a downer as well and do not add much value I find. For example, a mango calarmari was nothing more than deep fried calamari in a sweet sour sauce-​meh. Cured sweet salmon tasted neither cured or sweet-​a slight disappointment for what what tasted like salmon pieces bathed in some oily concoction. I did enjoy the homemade gyoza, the berskhire pork was juicy and the bits of bacon added in were a non-​traditional twist! The omakase also seemed to be comprised of a mish-​mash of several items on the menu. A nice touch is that the house smoked soy sauce is provided with the omakase meal.
That being said, I would come here again for the sashimi or sushi platters only and the variety is good, very fresh and the pieces are cut large. You get a fair bit for $ 20 for each of the platters.
This is a more casual, less traditional sushi restaurant than some of the other places serving Omakase in town-​hip hop is played in the later hours of the evening, the décor is bright and cheery and as their bills proudly declare ‘making gangstar sushi since 1996′