I walked by this Kyoto House many many times but I didn’t visit as either it’s a long lineup of people or the decor doesn’t look appetizing for me to make a visit.
However, today, I finally decided to give it a try after playing some outdoor app games with my friends that I was super hungry. I guess it was also fate as I originally wanted to support my buddy’s Hong Shing restaurant down the street but they don’t open until 3:00 PM, as it was 1:30 PM on my watch, I decided to go Kyoto House for a try.
At the Kyoto House, the all-you-can eat (AYCE) lunch menu is $20.99 CDN + tax which is very reasonable at today’s inflating pricing.
Mind you, I checked the Dinner AYCE menu here as well, for the price of $29.95 CDN + tax, just $9 more for dinner, I rather have dinner as you can order sashimi, shrimp tempura, BBQ short ribs, more goodies.
For lunch AYCE, they don’t offer any of the aforementioned items, lunch menu purely serves sushi, hand rolls, sushi rolls, udon, fried rice, miso soup, the basis. Anyhow, I was there at around 1:45 PM, which is clearly not dinner time yet, so I settled for the lunch AYCE. (I saw their signage that they offer special lunch options and a la carte options if you just don’t have the appetite to have AYCE).
To my surprise, the hand rolls were very good especially the BBQ salmon skin with avocado. Fresh sushi rice, hot steamy miso soup, clean oil making the fried pork cutlet nice and crispy, teriyaki chicken soup udon was great as well, so great that I ordered seconds. Green ice cream was decent as well.
I have to emphasize how attentive the staff were, they were all very competent, responsive, hardworking. They took my orders right and they often checked if I have enough water or hot tea and they automatically fill it up without me asking.
I do have to say that the resto somewhat does look a bit like a cafeteria with not much a vibe or atmosphere. There was no music being played, super quiet where everyone just sit & eat, which is fine.
Food came quick and they didn’t miss my order.
Of course, the quality of the raw fish and sushi here aren’t as good as the better quality at other AYCE uptown restaurants such as Richmond Hill or Markham ones but then again, those charges you almost double, so you get what you pay for and it did the job here at Kyoto House.
I would say this, if you have no expectations but just want a standard lunch that fills you up with rice, udon, sushi, this is the place. You have the peace of mind to order whatever you want and at $20.99 CDN, it’s one of the cheapest AYCE lunch offered in the expensive City of Toronto. Now I know why so many peeps will wait long lineup to dine here, coz it’s economical, reasonably tasted and it does the job!
Kyoto House – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Website
Address: 143 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON M5G 1C5
Phone: (416) 585-2223
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/tP8awRscBdP9Hc9F7