Sushi Legend is the best AYCE Japanese in the GTA
Have you ever wanted to feel like noh face gorging itself at the bath-house in Spirited Away, eating a panoramic panoply of succulent meals?
I can think of no better place than an All You Can Eat (AYCE) restautant chain in the GTA known to this day as Sushi Legend.
Ten years ago when I lived near Finch station, I used to go to the North York location as frequently as conscience and wallet allowed. Unfortunately that means I’ve been to it less than a dozen times.
This summer I wanted to go back but via the magic of “not taking TTC” and “someone else GPSing it” I guess, we ended up at the Scarborough location.
Having been here (above) now, I can’t emphasize how much more worth A Trip it is to go to the one next to the Sunny Mart mall. That place is poggers. The cheapest tubs of wakame. The finest platters of soy protein “meats.”
Anyway, what does one say?
The menu has changed slightly or varies slightly by location. Some of my old favorites are gone. However, many remain. I managed to have a very good time eating enoki in beef, citrusy tataki, and raw salmon–big, fatty chunks of raw salmon. This isn’t Victoria B.C. AYCE. Oh, the overharvesting. One shudders to think. I eat AYCE sushi one or twice a year now but I’m sure this place has hyper-regulars who eat here over seven times a week. I would honestly be shocked if they didn’t. Pretty sure Mandarin does, and Sushi Legend beats their food quality hands down. The prices used to be shocking, like under $18 for lunch and under $30 for dinner. They honestly make more sense to me now. It was actually really eerie before. Honestly it doesn’t bode well for the fish stocks etc that this is still a feasible business model at all. I honestly think AYCE is emblematic of everything incoherent and ruinous about late capitalism. What more can I say other than Rush Right On Down?
I feel like this sign sees me as insapient livestock in a chute waiting to be penned in a pasture. I know the “remain calm” meme is popular in the restaurant world so let’s just say, I believe that’s how the dining public is typically seen by the people who put up these signs. I am not surprised this particular place has this particular sign. Full offense to me, but, this place is for pigs.
Do you want to dine vicariously through me, a pig, because for you it’s 2034 and nobody does this anymore except in secret clubs in Dubai?
DKM, this used to be mundane to most people:
I started small by ordering enough sashimi that it would have been at least half my total cost to get a plate anything like it somewhere normal:
So that’s 10 salmon, 6 tamago and 4 scallops? Cool, remember to eat tons of cheap Ontario salmon 🙄 right? Honestly just leave your conscience at the door or this place isn’t for you. I don’t understand how it can exist in the first place.
Moving on:
Okay? The beef nigiri were a mistake, don’t load up on rice. You’re trying to drive them out of business for even offering AYCE. That’s the game. The enoki in beef “can’t be missed”–which is to say, if you try them once you will miss them forever. Got some agedashi tofu too, that’s also a mistake. Don’t load up on tofu.
Don’t get the noodle dishes, that’s a HUGE mistake that I remembered not to make. This isn’t the place to indulge your pad thai or fried rice cravings. This is the place to eat sashimi.
And there’s the tataki. I could have eaten 20 plates of it, and should have. The only thing better about Mandarin is, it’s self-serve so the waiter-shame/wait quotient is far far lower.
You can probably tell how fast the food comes: so very.
And finally:
My salmon roses (a mistake I can’t help but make, you can’t find these in B.C.) and other nigiri (stupid, just order sashimi and tataki). One yakitori skewer left (they used to do more types, I missed that)…and the salmon head. I used to get salmon heads a lot at Ginza for lunch. Wasn’t feeling it as much here, would have been better to start with it, lol. Anyway stick to the sashimi and other cold pure proteins/similar.
AYCE is an affront to reasonability. Have at.