Kyoto Sushi House is surprisingly busy at 3pm on a weekday. I was expecting a private dining experience, but the place was 80% filled. Filled with small tables and several solo diners, many seem to be students filling up on the all-you-can-eat lunch ($21.99) that remains in effect until 5pm.

You’re not going to find amazing food but it’s not terrible either. My favourite item was their chicken udon, which arrives piping hot with chewy noodles, a flavourful broth, napa cabbage and slices of grilled teriyaki chicken. It’s better than having their single order of teriyaki chicken that’s a bit dry without the soup.

I’m glad their carbs come in personal sized bowls. With that said, I’d skip their way too oily fried rice and stick with sushi instead.

Having doubts about consuming budget raw fish, I focused on cooked items like the shrimp tempura and unakyu rolls. The former was fishy tasting, likely because the frying oil isn’t changed regularly, but the eel and cucumber roll was surprisingly good, the requisite combination of crunchy cucumber and meaty sweet seafood.

For the nigiri, I opted to try the tofu skin sushi. Interestingly they don’t stuff the rice into the sweet burn curd pocket, rather binds it on top of the rice. It was what you’d expect… cool, sweet, and juicy.

The only raw ingredient I tried was the crispy spicy salmon roll and the fishy tempera bits made me regret ordering it. In fact, all their fried items we tried - Japanese spring rolls, deep fried dumpling, yam tempura, and fried calamari – are too oily, cheap quality, and tasteless.

I wish the miso soup arrived with the fried platter to have something to wash the oiliness away.

At least I had plenty of room for dessert, ordering a scoop of the red bean and green tea ice creams. They’re like what you’ll find at buffets but satisfies the sweet tooth.

The Sushi Bar’s name isn’t distinctive; in fact, it’s not even accurate, since their menu extends way beyond sushi. They’re actually an izakaya … but I guess The Izakaya Bar would be confusing to those not versed in Japanese cuisine and redundant. So, we’ll go with The Sushi Bar.

While the sushi is decent, it’s not their strongest dish. We tried the special of the day, an aji ($8), and it’s not something I’ll re-order. Having had my fair share of horse mackerel, the fish was cut too large making it impossible to eat in one mouthful, which meant you had to bite through the chewy meat. Moreover, it wasn’t meticulously cleaned so the strong fishy essence remains. There weren’t even enough condiments to cover it up: the dot of green onion was insufficient and the fish could benefit from a swipe of a sweet soy reduction (the regular soy sauce is simply too salty).

Their maki rolls are better, the Red Dragon ($15) was beautifully presented with vibrant salmon slices topped with tempura bits, fish roe, and green onion – although the roll would be more appropriately named as Orange Dragon. Sadly, it looked better than it tasted. It was a bit chewy and seemed like the rice, nori, and shrimp tempura portion was prepared ahead of time and the roll assembled later; or maybe the rice simply lacked rice vinegar and the tempura batter's consistency too thick.

Of all the sushi, the spicy salmon ($6) was a hit: I loved the big chunks of salmon and the spicy mayo seems to be mixed with a tiny bit of cream cheese to give it a thick silky finish.

The tuna tataki ($11) starts off strong with beautifully sliced seared tuna sashimi with grated ginger garnishes on top. The bed of radish and carrot salad was also shredded to a delicate texture. Yet, it was so bland for tataki, merely a bit of citrus and drops of soy. The tuna rub could be more pronounced or at least add more ponzu to everything. The only saving grace was the freshness of the tuna.

Thankfully, the chicken yaki udon ($13.50) was tastier, the thick chewy noodles glistening with sauce and when mixed with the nori simply delicious. The chicken and vegetables could be cut thinner so it combines better with the noodles and eaten together – a small fault I can overlook.   

By far the best dish of the evening was the black cod ($10). It arrives without an ounce of sauce, but the fish is so well marinated that it floods the mouth with a lovely salty sweet essence – sauce be damned! Flaky, moist, and beautifully prepared, on return visits I’m having an order of black cod with a bowl of noodles in soup.

Although they’re no Uncle Tetsu, The Sushi Bar’s Japanese cheese cake ($4.50) was a satisfying finish – not as buttery, but incorporates a stronger cheese taste since it’s denser. Of course, cheese cake is also a dessert that’s often found in izakayas than sushi bars, but we’ve already established – it’s an izakaya.

• Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
• 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
• 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
• 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
• 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
• 10 - absolute perfection!

• The Sushi Bar for delivery
• Shinobu