Inakaya Japanese Sake Bar.

sushi... I just posted about some cheap sushi, so it is fitting for this post to be about some quality, pricier Japanese food. I went to check out Inakaya Japanese Sake Bar, which is like a 2 minute drive from my house. The name alone intrigued me as I have never been to a sake bar in Toronto. Inakaya is a really nice place all around- from the moment you see their entrance to the small yet classy decor inside (their walls are even lined with bottles of Sake.

There were tons of items on the menu and between the 7 of us we sampled quite a bit of their menu. Each of us ordered a Sushi Moriawase ($26 + tax/tip) for ourselves, which is basically a plate of assorted sushi. The presentation of this dish was sick, as we each had a long plate with 7 different types of nigiri sushi (Tuna, Toro, Shrimp, Ikura, Unagi and 2 others that I don't remember what they were) and 6 pieces of tuna makis. Each piece of fish was really fresh, especially the Toro, which literally melted in my mouth. One thing that some people might have an issue with is that the sushi chef here has a really heavy hand with the wasabi. Upon eating each nigiri sushi piece, you can feel the bite of the wasabi (although I thought this was awesome and complemented the fish really well).
Johnson and Vivian also ordered some Uni nigiri sushi (aka Sea Urchin), which they said was really fresh and they ate them up as quick as they came to our table. A couple other items that we ordered included Grilled Cod and some Grilled Scallops. I tried the Cod, and I thought it was pretty good, but nothing especially good about it compared to other places. Since this place is a "Sake Bar," we obviously had to order some Sake as well. They had a huge 1 page list of around 30 different types of Sake. These different Sakes ranged in price as well, from as low as $6 to $200+ for a bottle. None of us are really ballin' or sake lovers, so we ordered 3 small bottles of some pretty standard sake that you could grab at the LCBO. When you order a bottle of Sake, they come around to your table and let each person choose from a variety of unique, cool looking sake cups that come in different colours, materials and sizes (we had lots of stupid fun arguing over the cups.lol).
Finally, to finish off the meal, we ordered some Black Sesame Ice Cream (~$5). This was not cheap, but it tastes soooo good. This isn't the typical vanilla based sesame ice cream you can buy at T & T. This black sesame ice cream is literally infused with black sesame as it is even completely black in colour. It tastes damn good too (keep in mind that this ice cream will make you look like you're eating dirt- it covers your mouth and teeth with black stuff, so rinse your mouth with some tea afterwards, lol).

Inakaya Japanese Sake Bar isn't a cheap place but it is delicious (typical meal would probably run you around $40-50/person depending on what you order). They also offer Omakase (お任せ) for $65/person, which is basically a higher end price fix menu with the chef's selection of a series of 7-10 different dishes. I am looking forward to try this, and I will post a review when I do.
Inakaya is located in North York on the West side of Willowdale, just North of Sheppard. It is impossible to miss as it is clearly the only Japanese restaurant in a pretty residential area. I'm not sure if they have dedicated parking spots, but we just parked on the side streets of the residential neighbourhood.

Inakaya Japanese Sake Bar
126 Willowdale Ave
Toronto, ON

(416) 224-8881