I Zu Japanese Restaurant

I Zu is no longer. It is now under new management and is called Bitturi. The place still looks pretty much like the pictures and is what I would call a traditional Japanese restaurant. The sashimi and sushi were good enough however it’s time for the tradish to park the boats. I never realized before what a road block a cheap wooden boat creates between you and your date!
Service was good and they even took 20% off the bill as an opening special. And if it were just about the food and the service, I would have given it 4 stars, but I can’t be silent about the… silence. There was no music (however cheaky tradish places get with the high pitched Geisha songs) and all we heard besides our voices, were the voices of others and the refrigerators.
It felt like closing time throughout our entire meal. Now I scored points since my date wanted a quiet place were we could talk. And I delivered on that in aces but a little background music to set the mood would have been welcome. The waitress agreed with me immediately.
Hey they just took over at Christmas so things are sure to get better.

I thought it would be a lot busier than it actually was for a 7pm crowd. I live in the neighbourhood so I’ve walked past I Zu a few times and its typically 60% full. The food was aite but not amazing. Pretty much your average sit-​down sushi place. They have a combo for two ($ 34) that comes in the shape of a boat and has 2 pieces of salmon, tuna, butterfish, squid and unagi sushi and a few maki rolls. We ate it with 3 people and it was still pretty filling.

It’s with immense regret that I have to give izu two stars.
The sushi chef is wonderful and the food is fresh and quite tasty.
Unfortunately on numerous occasions, I’ve had to deal with terrible inexperienced wait staff. The worst case being a staff member who he no idea what was on the menu and couldn’t communicate well enough to understand what I wanted. On another occasion, the waitress completely ignored me. My appetizer came last, water glass was empty for the entire meal and it took forever for me to get her attention to pay the bill.
Sadly I will not be returning to izu

This was terrible food and service. I didn’t receive my lunch at all so asked for them to take it off the bill and they didn’t. The asked my partner to pay a $ 2 surcharge for blue fin tuna as a part of her lunch. It was chewy and not at all fresh tasting. The salad I had was crudely torn apart lettuce with some dressing thrown on top. Yuck, avoid this place like the plague.

I needed to have lunch before getting dental surgery and this place was next door, so convenience was key.
The tempura lunch special was decent, nice and crispy without being greasy, but the rice was mushy.
I paid extra for the wakame /​seaweed and cucumber salad but the seaweed was not properly rehydrated and really tough.
Nice enough place but if I am ever in the Yonge and Davisville area I would probably go to Echo sushi for AYCE at the same mediocre quality.
However if someone works in the office buildings on Yonge south of Davisville, this place would be good for a quick lunch as service was super fast.

Friend referred me, said their dinner was awesome so I had to try it. Ordered the chicken bento here on a study break, came with a choice of a roll as well. Salmon roll was so fresh and soft. Chicken teriyaki didn’t look amazing but the flavours were there. Tempura was fresh and delicious. Staff were incredibly kind and attentive. I recommend it for lunch, friends recommend it for dinner. I’ll definitely be returning for dinner (for the sushi specifically) some time soon. I give this 4 stars because the sushi/​rolls were really good but I don’t know about the hot foods due to my chicken bento.

I have been going to I zu for past 4 years or so and finally got around to write a review.
Highlight for me is their seaweed salad, I have had seaweed salad pretty much every Japanese restaurant I have visited and this place just kills it.
Second for me is their seafood udon noodle soup. Normally when I visit chinese/​Korean owned Japanese restaurants, I stay with sushi and maybe teriyaki dishes because I find that they do the popular dishes but not so much on other dishes. That ended with I zu

I Zu is a neighbourhood Japanese restaurant. I’ve only been there once, but it made a good impression on me. The presentation and quality of food was pretty good for the price you pay. The service was prompt and friendly. I will surely be back soon to try other items on the menu.

The people who work here are very kind, and the quality of food is quite high for a reasonable price. I love bringing other people here as they have a wide array of sushi, bento boxes, noodles etc. and everyone can find something they enjoy!

Ordered from here via
— this review applies to delivery experience.
Started off poorly when it took them about 1 hr 50 minutes to deliver the food.
Food showed up and it was surprisingly fresh. Taste overall was ok, but rolls weren’t sliced properly and weren’t rolled properly, so they all collapsed completely when we tried to eat them. Made for a very messy dinner that required lots of use of a sharp knife to cut through the seaweed wrappings.
They gave us a $ 10 off gift certificate for the next time, but there won’t be one — too many other good options for the same «basic» sushi.

Wonderful food. Incredibly kind service. Welcoming environment. Owner is always there to greet you and make fresh authentic Japanese food — every time. Our favourite Japanese restaurant in toronto by far!

Down the street from my office so end up here quite often.
Super friendly staff and good food. The Soba Kari Age is the best thing on a cold day

I felt a little let down. Based on the reviews I thought the food would be at least a small step up from the budget sushi haunts I usually eat at. The food was exactly the same only more expensive and smaller in portion. I got a combo with 12 pieces of sushi. The fish was all fresh. The yellow tail was a stand out and I liked that the saba was garnished, I don’t see that often in Toronto. It came with a california roll which was extremely poorly executed and was falling apart on the plate before I even tried to eat it. I also got an avocado roll on the side which was a good choice since everything was so small. The rolls were excessively (offensively?) small while being charged at the same price as every other place in the city. The miso soup was ok, not a stand out. I didn’t care for the salad dressing, it was very one dimensional with the predominate flavor being ginger. It lacked the sweetness of typical sushi joint dressings. The service was friendly and mostly efficient. There was a point at the end of the meal where we waited quite a long time for the bill. I found the two servers hidden in the back having dinner and a kiki. While less fun, they might consider sending one server to eat at a time so the patrons aren’t ignored. I’d go back to this place but I wouldn’t go out of my way to dine here.

Great food, friendly staff, updated seasonal menu.
I just discovered I ZU and it’s amazing. My new go-​to spot for sushi/​Japanese. The restaurant has been running for 35 years and for a good reason. The sushi chef is very personable, down to earth, and knows what he is doing! On slower nights he will make us up special dishes to try on the house. Customer service there is the best I have experienced in a long time, and by far the best I have experienced in the area.

This is my first time ordering from I Zu, needless to say I wasn’t all that impressed.
I ordered a veggie bento and expected a bento, but that’s not what I received.
1. Salad, if you can call it that, was iceberg lettuce with ONE tomato slice. The dressing looked homemade, but that’s not really a salad. The lettuce type, fine, I don’t expect mixed greens, but come on.
2. Miso. The soup had tofu cubes that were about 2 cm blocks. They were the tiniest slivers of tofu I’ve ever seen.
3. The rolls were fine, they were 6 avocado, 6 kappa and they substituted the futo maki for my request of shiitake.
I expected a bento with tempura, rice, and rice. I also did not receive soy sauce. Just not pleased overall.
At least the wasbi tasted real and the ginger was white, not the pink grossness that usually passes for ginger.
Maybe if you like meat/​fish this place does things better, but I’d only recommend this if you’re in a pinch and have no other options.

I think the Sushi God has not been kind to me! Why every other Unilocal reviewers has experienced a ⁴⁄₅ star in term of food quality, presentations and services, and I having a 2 star experience?
Maybe I am here during lunch?
I almost have second thought when I saw that Yellow Sign «Conditional Pass» on I Zu Japanese restaurant. but I already parked my car and I am hungry.
Lunch Sushi Set ($ 10.99)
— The fish on my nigiri sushi are all kind of dry… feels like they have been out in the open for awhile… and dull looking
— The maki rolls looks likes something I made at home… they are falling apart even on the plate…
I am really confused… Maybe the usual sushi chef is on leave? Maybe it is almost 2 pm he is on his break?

This is one of my regularly frequented restaurants. From other reviews, there is not much I can add, specially since I order my regular sake maki and gyoza.
I will update with specific findings from future visits.

Man oh man.
The chef here is amazing and has very high standards. This restaurant has been a regular stop for a group of my friends for years now, and every time i go, i can’t believe how impressed i get. I have often been when the house has sent us bottles of sake. It shows generosity, customer service, and recognition for regular clientele (something i don’t readily experience at Asian restaurants generally).
The place is clean, large, comfortable booths with lots of room for larger groups. Great. Service is excellent. Feels modern.
As far as the food goes, you really can’t beat the quality to price value. It’s a mid to mid low priced restaurant, but the prices are under quoted in my opinion. I’ve eaten at high end and low end Japanese restaurants, and this is the perfect place to go to try out what better quality sushi tastes like (if you’re one of those people who think there can’t be much of a difference).
The salmon here is like butter, the octopus is to die for, all their tataki’s in their ponzu sauce is like a flavour explosion in your mouth, and they make perfectly the delicate age dashi dish.
I can’t express how worth it i think this restaurant is and how high the value you are receiving is. Oh i should also mention, Japanese friends introduced us to this place. And they don’t live in the mid town area.

Izu is a modern Japanese restaurant with a clean, spacious and super comfortable dining area. I love their dark red & black colored theme and they also have booths!
Izu offers a variety of appetizers, sushi rolls and maki, sashimi, a la cart, teppanyaki dishes, bento boxes, Japanese curry rice dishes, noodle dishes, donburi, and special combos. They also have lunch specials from 11:30 — 3:30pm. The prices are a bit higher for some dishes compared to other Japanese restaurants I’ve been too. Also, on weekends they don’t open until 4pm.
I love the food here! The food is fresh, high in quality and super flavorful. The presentation of the food is nice and elegant. My favorites are the katsu don ($ 9.99 tender breaded chicken mixed in with eggs, veggies and rice– so filling), spicy sake maki ($ 4.50 6pcs), and the spicy dragon ($ 9.99 8pcs). I also really liked their salmon sushi pizza ($ 7.99) but it was too small for the price.
The service here is excellent! The waitresses were friendly, helpful and very efficient. I like how they bring you a wet hot towel to sanitize your hands before the meal, and nicely present some complimentary watermelon after the meal.
Don’t forget to try their mochi ice cream ($ 1.50 each. Golf ball sized ice cream wrapped in rice flour). Sounds like nothing special but I’m addicted to their red bean and green tea mochi.
Overall, Izu is a beautiful Japanese restaurant that offers a variety of yummy dishes for reasonable prices. I would highly recommend this place!

This place is so good for me like on a day like today when it’s cold and damp — just around the corner for that sushi craving.
I prefer Supreme Sushi over this place because this place is a little pricey.
I like the feel of this place — it’s a little more fancier of a setting.
When you come in — you take a seat and the hand you a hot towel to wipe your hands (Kinda like Mandarin buffet).
Just makes you feel cleaner: P
At this place I usually get the Tempura Udon Soup.
It’s quite generous — I can never finish it.
It goes for $ 9.50, which I think is reasonable.
The lunch specials are not really ‘specials’ I find. The cheapest thing is $ 10.99. Usually lunch specials are in the $ 6 – 7 range.
The staff are friendly and the service is great. I’ve never had an issue with their food.