Nobu’s all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch ($110 per person, $55 for children 5-12 years old) is sprinkled throughout the second floor of the restaurant. As you’re guided to your table, hot food and carving stations line the walkway, doing a great job of whetting your appetite. Front and centre in the bright dining room is the sushi bar, where a team of chefs continuously turns out maki and nigiri. Off in the corner sits the dessert table, with a ceviche and spicy cucumber salad ice bar tucked in for good measure.

I appreciated how the food stations are spaced out. There’s no dreaded bottleneck of diners waiting, nor that frantic urge to grab everything at once just to avoid lining up again.

Chef Nobu Matsuhisa was one of the pioneers of Japanese-Peruvian cuisine back in the mid-90s. At the time, dishes like spicy tuna crispy rice and yellowtail crudo felt fresh and exciting, while miso black cod became a signature that kept people coming back. These are still dishes I enjoy, but decades later they’ve been copied endlessly, making what’s served at Nobu feel far less groundbreaking than it once was.

If you’re going for the miso black cod, make sure you get it hot. My first bite, taken from a platter that had been sitting, was bland and slightly fishy. A second round, straight from a freshly placed tray, was noticeably better. It’s tasty, but it didn’t rank among the best miso cods I’ve had.

The crispy rice station is a great idea in theory, but the execution falters. The wooden spoons make it awkward to scoop up the rice nuggets, and many of the serving utensils (spring-hinged chopsticks and oversized soup ladles) are poorly suited for a buffet.

Thankfully, the soft-serve ice cream station sits right beside the crispy rice, so I grabbed a simple stainless steel teaspoon. It turned out to be the perfect tool for neatly dolloping finely chopped tuna, salmon, and mashed avocado onto each bite. The crispy rice itself would benefit from being thinner and longer for easier spreading and eating.

Unsurprisingly, the sushi was underwhelming, even when taken from freshly dropped plates. The rice was bland and too cold, though at least the pieces were kept small, letting the fish take centre stage. All things considered, it’s better than most buffet sushi, though I usually steer clear of buffet sushi stations altogether.

Some of my favourite bites ended up being the unexpected ones. Nobu’s Greek salad has a generous feta-to-vegetable ratio that leans salty but spooning it over the garden salad below helps balance things out nicely.

The prime rib carving station also drew me back for seconds. While the meat quality wasn’t exceptional, the variety of sauces made it fun to sample and customize each bite.

Despite not having a big sweet tooth, I found it hard to resist the dessert spread. The pandan-laced crème brûlée and flan-like matcha panna cotta were standouts. Just do yourself a favour and skip the dry Earl Grey beignets.

Nobu offers something for everyone including the breakfast staples of bacon, sausage, tater tots, and eggs. Just be warned: their scrambled eggs are the ultra-soft, almost runny style popular in many Asian cuisines, which isn’t for everyone.

Nobu’s Sunday brunch is fun and indulgent - just don’t expect to be blown away by anything. It’s worth doing once for the experience and is a great option for an unhurried catch-up with loved ones (they did not kick us out after 2 hours). Some hits, some misses, and plenty of options to keep everyone at the table happy. Just make sure you grab the good stuff while it’s hot.

As the holiday season descends upon us, team lunches at work are about to kick off. Walking into Afuri on a weekday, I couldn’t help but think what an ideal spot it would be for a group of 12 or fewer: the restaurant is large, bright, and surprisingly quiet during lunch.

They even have a special ramen lunch menu where $29.95 gets you a starter (some with a $2 supplement), a bowl of ramen, and a non-alcoholic drink (or beer for an extra $4). For many office budgets, that’s a festive win.

Not long after ordering, the homemade ginger ale arrived. With its pale yellow hue and lemon slice, it looks like lemonade... until that bold hit of ginger reminds you otherwise. Lightly sweetened and topped with soda water, it’s bright, zippy, and refreshingly crisp.

Afuri’s mini tori karaage hit the spot: big chunks of lightly breaded chicken coated in a thin yuzu mayo that’s tangy and light. Just eat it quickly - once the chicken cools, the lean meat gets a bit tough. A couple of roasted shishito peppers on the side add a nice touch.

Tsukemen, or dipping noodles, isn’t something you find at every ramen joint, so I jumped at the chance to try their kara-tsuyu. The spicy version had just a mild kick from the chili powder, definitely on the gentler side. Apparently, if you find it too tame, they’ll happily bring chili oil to heat things up.

I appreciated being able to choose hot or cold noodles. I went with hot, which paired beautifully with the cool dipping sauce. Made with soy and chili powder, the sauce comes on the side, and you can either pour it into the bowl or dip as you go. Dipping was my move, it let me control the saltiness and enjoy each bite just right.

Afuri makes their noodles in-house, and it shows. They’re thick, chewy, and perfectly springy, easily the best part of the meal. The soft-boiled egg was also lovely, jammy in the center and well-seasoned. The rest of the toppings were a mixed bag: the chunks of pork belly fat were too heavy (thin chashu slices would have been better), the bamboo shoots overpowered everything, and the arugula felt out of place. A mix of wood ear mushrooms or bean sprouts would have balanced things out better.

While not everything hit the mark, Afuri still delivers a solid lunch deal in a city where ramen isn’t hard to come by. If you’re hunting for a relaxed lunch in Toronto that won’t wreck the office budget, this one’s worth slurping (or dipping) over.

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.

European tasting menus that incorporate Japanese influences to play into food trends or Michelin inspector palettes don’t impress me. It’s the reason I had reservations of trying Radici Project at the beginning. Until I heard the restaurant was started by Kayo Ito, a sake sommelier, and Italian Chef Emiliano Del Frate who also happened to be married. Now this is a mashup I can get behind.

Their immersive tasting menu ($160 per person) begins with an amuse bouche trio including a mocktail palette cleanser that looks fruity but finishes savoury thanks to the garum butter swirled into the drink.

The drink prepares the taste buds for their crab takoyaki that incorporates unused portions of the crab head (in a dish to come) captured in a soft fluffy batter with bonito flakes adding an extra touch of umami. I found the concept of the savoury waffle too similar (and not as tasty) and wish the kitchen used the dollops of creamy burrata and crisp kimchi in something different.

If you don’t like dealing with the crustacean, Radici’s crab dish is ideal as the sweet crab meat is removed from the shell and paired with an almond foam and caviar. What’s finished in a few bites must take a while to prepare but makes for a great start.

The restaurant follows a zero-waste philosophy that you see throughout the meal. So, when their supplier, Acadian Sturgeon and Caviar Inc., started smoking the fish they killed to harvest caviar, the restaurant knew they needed to feature the product on their menu. And what a wonderful idea it was to pair the slice of smoked sturgeon with their crusty airy sourdough and silky whipped butter! The meaty fish tastes like a lean country ham so really works. I’d love to see more restaurants swap out sturgeon for swine. 

I was intrigued by how curing duck breast in beeswax would taste. It seems to condense its flavours as the gaminess was more pronounced, which was why the kitchen paired it with a slice of preserved plum and a pickled vegetable (?), both elements cutting the richness and gaminess of the duck.

The karaage e papacelle is a great fusion dish. It was influenced by Kayo who grew up eating fried chicken, which Chef Emiliano notes isn’t popular in his Italian village… when he ate chicken, it was usually roasted and served with potatoes. So, he decided to marry their cultures by deboning a chicken wing and stuffing it with roasted potatoes. Served with a mascarpone roasted red pepper sauce it’s deliciously addictive, the fluffy soft potato contrasting nicely with the crunchy and juicy fried chicken.

At Radici, pink dishes do not signify frilly and light creations. The beet tajarin tastes like a rich seafood pasta thanks to garum butter studded with smoked caviar. The pasta was done beautifully and left me longing for just a few more forkfuls.

If food scraps taste this good, I say give us more. The cappellacci is stuffed with veal trimmings and served in a burnt onion dashi made from various vegetable scraps. I can still taste the delicious broth that flooded my mouth with flavours, including the ingenious idea of adding small ginger slivers and sumac at the bottom so it ends on a bright note.

You can’t go wrong with halibut and maitake, one poached and the other grilled creating a creamy smoky dish. Yet, it’s the peperone crusco oil that really wakes up the fish adding a bright zing of spice that shone through the two richer elements.  

We’re told to try the veal by itself and leave the portion topped with a cilantro flower last. I was waiting for a huge pop of floral or citrus, but it didn’t taste that different. If anything, the sparkling red wine paired with the dish surprised me more. It paired well with the tender beef and silky sweet smoked parsnip puree.

In fact, I’d recommend going with their drink pairings. The mix wine and sake flight ($70 for 4 drinks) complimented the meal and incorporated such different drinks including a yeasty sparkling sake, orange wine, a white, and the aforementioned sparkling red. 

Dinner ended with a delicious honey cake topped with camomile gel and whipped cream. It tasted so light and fluffy adorned with honey and buttery cookie elements to give the dish extra pops of flavours and textures.

I’ve been lucky to have dined at many Toronto restaurants before they were granted a Michelin star and getting a reservation became difficult. I’m predicting that Radici Project will be a star contender. Their food is inventive and delicious but improving their plating aesthetics and tweaking the service is needed. It’s small things like ensuring the drink pairing is on the table before the food arrives, which can be easily solved by allowing the sommelier to be dedicated to drinks and not also serving food.

At least they have the welcoming and warm environment down. And I enjoyed the whimsical touches like the Jenga block cutlery holder that became a necessity when the wooden ones they sourced weren’t big enough to hold the cutlery. Since Jenga is a go-to game for Kayo, they bought a box, and it’s works beautifully.

As the Radici Project continues, I can’t wait to see how it morphs and grows.