The city's downtown core is nestled with many sushi restaurants of various price points. Kirei Sushi + Bar is a mid-ranged establishment located nearby the Financial District in downtown Toronto. A friend and I were on our way to a food festival when the weather took a turn for the worse, and it completely poured. Deciding to seek refuge from the rain, we randomly walked to the nearest restaurant which happened to be Kirei Sushi + Bar. Upon entering, I was impressed by the large space, cozy looking booths, and modern decor of the restaurant. 

We arrived at 5:30 pm which was relatively early for the dinner rush so it was kind of empty. However, during the course of our meals; the numbers of customers arriving for dinner started picking up quickly.

My friend and I were were warmly greeted and seated right away. Our waitress brought out complimentary appetizers (two small bowls of mixed cooked veggies), and took our orders. The menu at Kirei Sushi + Bar offers a variety of different sushi, special rolls, and sashimi. Additionally, I noticed that they also have authentic Japanese BBQ and a few choices of Korean dishes such as kalbi, pork bone soup, and bibimbap.

I opted for the chicken teriyaki dinner ($14.00) which was served with miso soup, salad and rice. I liked that the house salad had a tangy yet refreshing taste to it, and the miso soup was decent.

There was a good amount of chicken teriyaki on my plate but noticeably very few pieces of vegetables. Overall, I thought that the pieces were well cooked and not dry. The marinated sauce was lightly poured onto the chicken teriyaki so it wasn't overly drenched in the sweet sauce.

I love sushi pizza and I usually get it when it's available on the menu. So, I ordered myself a salmon sushi pizza ($9.00) which was nicely presented on a white square plate. It was not the best that I have had but it was pretty good nonetheless. The rice texture wasn't soggy, patty was crunchy and the salmon was fresh. Although, I thought that they did overkill on the amount of roe that was placed on top of the pizza. Overall, I enjoyed my meal.

My friend got the shiromi katsu ($17.00) which was also served with miso soup, rice and salad. I tried two pieces of the katsu and thought that they were slightly dry even with the accompanied sauce.

RATINGS:

Quality of Food: 3.9/5

Service: 4/5

Overall Dining Experience: 4/5

Price: $$$ || Online Menu

Address: 81 Church, Toronto, ON, M5C 2G2