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Omi Japanese Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Japanese Japanese [Edit]
243 Carlton StToronto, ON M5A 2L2
Neighbourhood: Cabbagetown
(416) 920-8991
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
13 reviews for Omi Japanese Restaurant
13 reviews in English
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Review from Megan R.
Toronto, ON
10/22/2011
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 decor 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. -
Review from Evelyn W.
6/14/2011
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. -
Review from Mariko M.
12/21/2010
Came here for dinner tonight (12.21.10).
The decor 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. -
Review from Wendy C.
8/18/2010
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. -
Review from Lindsey S.
Toronto, ON
11/15/2009
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 3rd 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. -
Review from Luke A.
1/19/2010
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. -
Review from K.S. c.
Toronto, ON
8/23/2011
Nice but a bit pricy. But chef's special roll is really really good.
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Review from Mike S.
Toronto, ON
10/10/2008 1 photo
There are hundreds of sushi restaurants in Toronto, you can't swing a dead fish without hitting one, and for the most part one is just like the next. The one exception I have found so far is OMI. I don't know what they do differently but their sushi tastes better than any of the other sushi I've ever had. The store is tiny and I usually get take out, but it is a very nice dining room and if you have the time it is worth staying to eat. When you do go, get the dynamite rolls, these are made from deep fried shrimp and some sort of fish eggs and they are incredible. They are easily my favorite sushi dish in Toronto. While OMI is a little of the beaten path it is worth making the trek to try it. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone from people who are looking to try sushi for the first time to the grizzled veterans.
Like the review? Check out the link to my blog on my profile. -
Review from Deanna W.
1/18/2009
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 decor is bright and cheery and as their bills proudly declare 'making gangstar sushi since 1996' -
Review from James J.
1/1/2009
I dined at Omi on Dec 27, 2008 and was terribly disappointed.
3 of my best friends and I have been dining at fine restaurants in Toronto since 1996. With somewhat high expectation of Omi this dinner was supposed to be our last fine dining experience of 2008. And Omi unfortunately let us down.
So far, I've never "yelped" and just read other yelpers' reviews. But the service at Omi was so bad that I decided to start yelping and warn other yelpers of bad restaurants out there including Omi.
The four of us tried Omasake experience which is to "Put your trust in the hands of the chef and order" Huge mistake. Not only the server did not bother to tell us what was being offered/served to us but the waiting time between servings were super long. We constantly asked for hot tea which was completely ignored and at one point the server's thumb was touching the sauce of cheviche. The server and I made eye contact and the server without saying anything just place and food on our table and left.
Perhaps Chef Lee should fly to Vancouver and try Tojo's Omasake and learn the true Omasake experience. Our Omasake experience costed us $300 for four of us. For that amount we could've ate something much better at other Japanese restaurant. Perhaps ordering from the regular menu is better but I was so disappointed by Omi experience. -
Review from Kurt M.
Toronto, ON
3/1/2010 1 Check-in Here
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. -
Review from Lucy N.
Toronto, ON
10/2/2011
Fresh, creative, delicious. What a relief to find - for a change - a wonderful Japanese restaurant in Toronto.
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Review from Chris E.
Toronto, ON
10/21/2009
Omi? Oh my! Cool little place. Great idea. Good food. BUT!!!!....I spent $40 and left on an empty stomach. One little appetizer was, if I recall, around 8 bucks and sounded fine on the menu. But when it came, I needed a magnifying glass to find it on the plate. Seriously, I sooo wish I could support Omi. I've been twice. It's in my neighbourhood, and we're desperately in need of good Japanese food. But uh uh. It's the most money you'll ever spend, to feel hungry. Sorry Omi people!! Big it up!
