Yumei Sushi

Left hungry.
I don’t like leaving mediocre reviews and rarely do so, but somethings need to be mentioned.
Went here with friends for dinner.
Saw great reviews here on Unilocal and my friends who had been here before raved about it.
I had the Kimchi salad and the Mandu soup to start.
The kimchi was very small and average tasting considering a price of $ 5.
The Mandu wonton soup on the over hand was large, delicious and only $ 3.
My main issue comes with the maki.
I had spicy tuna maki and Skydome maki.
For only 6 very small pieces in each maki at a price of $ 8. per
there was a lot to be desired for size and price alone.
The Skydome roll had few ingredients other than nori, shrimp and rice and came sitting in a brown sauce that gave that maki a burnt flavor. Did not enjoy that one at all.
The spicy tuna maki, again very small was alright but not great.
The presentation I would expect to be like any standard sushi spot.
These maki aside from being small, did not have any uniform similarities.
Almost as if each individual piece came from a separate order.
Having small unappetizing sushi is one thing, but paired with a hefty price tag is a pretty big disappointment. Judging by the great reviews of others, I can only guess that my bad experience was a one time thing and not the norm here. The service was good but sadly I will not be going back. If I had to, it would only be for the Mandu soup.

Bimbibmap is a dish I have when in the neighborhood. Substitute brown rice instead of white for added nutrition. It comes sizzling hot with the freshest ingredients. This is a good dish to have when you are feeling you need a nutrient dense choice.

Pretty good sushi as far as Toronto sushi goes. Definitely the best sushi in the Beach. Not the cheapest, but then, with sushi, you should expect to get what you pay for. Nice, intimate atmosphere.

Loved everything about this place!
Food: The sushi was excellent, for the value, the best I’ve had in Toronto. We had a combo sushi platter with a maki roll, sushi, and sashmi. Very very fresh with a nice texture, and not pre-​frozen and also not chewy tasting like a lot of sushi I’ve had recently (esp. sashimi). The miso soup and green salad that came with it were properly made and delicious. The uni sashimi is amazing as well.
Service: Very attentive and always checking up/​available. They quickly re-​filled water and seem to genuinely care about the customers and food. The owner/​chef walked around helping and chatting with customers.
Atmosphere: Typical authentic sushi bar décor, but with nice looking private booths and seats right at the sushi bar (I’d sit there next time!). It was just casual enough to visit after a day at the beaches but could be just nice enough for a date night as well.
Can’t wait to go again

We are here in Toronto on vacation in the Beaches area and decided to get sushi here. It’s a cute little place with really friendly wait staff. The food was excellent. I would recommend it if you would like to have Japanese food!

Definitely worth a visit and the money!
Food: I’m going to list the items that were ordered.
1. We started with a huge bowl of salad (larger than the average ones you’d get from other Toronto sushi restaurants).
2. Shrimp and veggie tempura. Wow, I’m not a fan of Tempura at all because you never get to taste the shrimp, but this was not the case here. First, the shrimp was thin and large and the batter is so light and crispy that the shrimp can be tasted. I later find out that the shrimp they use are imported from Thailand. The veggies were typical.
3. Sashimi boat consisting of salmon belly, red tuna, white fish, yellow tail. All very fresh! You need to try these if you love sushi. I’ve read previous reviews and those that say these are mediocre — ha… They may not know what actual fresh fish taste like — you pay what you get. This place is definitely on pricier side but once you realize that the chef gets these, particularly the yellowtail, from Japan. There’s no way these aren’t amazing.
4. Spicy age tofu — hot and delicious! Great started dish to kick off your taste buds
5. Grilled yellowtail cheek — first time ever having this, super crispy and delicious. The neat part is that the smaller bones can be eaten with the meat and is healthy for you. The veggies that came next to the fish were too salty for my likings but the others thought it was okay. Perhaps I’m overly sensitive go salt.
6. Kimchi pancake — I love kimchi, but I found this to be very average. I think it’s hard to screw up kimchi pancake so if you get a bad review from me on kimchi pancakes… That just means you’ve over-​battered it or put very little kimchi in it.
7. seafood u-​don — huge and sharable. Not salty, hot, and loads of flavour! Definitely recommend if you want noodles. Next time, I’m going to try the soba noodles.
Service: Spectacular! The owner truly cares for his customers and knows the regular locals. Chef Young comes around the tables to check up on everything and willingly takes offers on a shot or drinks with them! He teaches you some facts about the dish like eating the white radish with the sashimi aiding in digestion — preventing upset stomachs. He also lived in Japan for a few years prior to opening here and his work in Toronto reminds me of Jiro. Why? Because he himself goes to the fish market to pick his fish haha. He works every night — can’t always say that about other owners who choose to take days off.
Will definitely be returning!

Great little sushi joint. Sort of run of the mill really for Toronto — Korean owned it appears so you know you’re getting value, but not necessarily the best.

Sushi was pretty average. I’m a Californian and a bit of a sushi snob though, decent variety but no creativity… second time we’ve been here. .still takes just as long even though there were only two tables. Make sure you have LOTS of time if you come here for dinner

Decided to review after my 10^th visit. Sushi places in Toronto have a habit of not being so consistent as time passes.
Food: the menu is very consistent. All of the sushi, sashimi and maki I have tried is fresh, no one fave. Heres a pro tip. Get the chicken dolsot bibimbap (yes the korean stone bowl dish), you probably wont feel like it because you came for Japanese. However… its the best bibimbap Ive had in the city and rivals those ive had in Seoul. Remember not to scoop the bottom rice until the end when its nice and crispy!
Also, the flash-​boiled lobster sashimi (added recently as a special) is heavier on the wallet but great and was clearly fresh.
Cleanliness: extremely clean. Looking into the kitchen you can tell they run a tight ship.

What a gem! So clean, inviting & attractive. We enjoyed a delicious lunch in a both, although there are regular tables and a sushi bar as well (where sushi is prepared by owner & Master Chef).
Lots of excellent choices for lunch include various Bento Boxes and the Korean Dolsot Bibimpap among others.
I chose a lunch size Sushi lunch while my husband had a Bento Box. Both were excellent. The miso soup was very flavourful as was the salad, not mention our main courses.
The restaurant also has a large selection of cold Sushi –available by the bottle.
We will return and highly recommend this restaurant.

One of my Top 5 Favorite A La Carte Sushi Places in T.O. Amazing Fresh Sushi and Selection. Friendly Attentive Staff … Simply Yummy Yumei: D. However I do have to note the service is on the slower side. However the waitresses are very friendly. And the food keeps me coming back like a love sick puppy ;)

Nice food and nice service. Ordered crazy roll as people here recommended. Turned out really yummy. Got the fine Japanese noodle in fish soup for my daughter (a year and a half) and she finished most of it. This will be our new hangout place.

I’m lucky enough to live close by but I’ve come to respect this place as one of the best Japanese seafood restaurants in the city. I came here yesterday to try their dishes featuring seaweed, because i’m researching the new edition of the No Nonsense Guide to World Food, which features «sea greens» as a major and extremely healthy and eco-​friendly food source still to be fully used. They include wakame (sea mustard) in their seafood soup, but it is served almost on its own as seaweed salad. It is delicious, tossed simply in rice vinegar, soy sauce and lemon, and is served beautifully — not weedy in the least. If you have any doubts about the tastefulness of «sea greens,» try it. Check it out on the web and you’ll see it has sizable amounts of about a dozen key nutrients. wayne r

Very fresh high quality food. I ordered spicy salmon rolls and it was actual chopped up fresh salmon chunks… not that spicy mayo squish I’ve gotten at 99% of sushi spots. This place doesn’t cheap out. Prices are a little higher than average, but the quality makes it worth while. We even got our own little private booth/​room which turned our quick bite to eat into a nice dinner date.

I’ve been to many sushi places in the city and none of them come close to Yumei. This is simply the best sushi place in Toronto. Yung, the owner, is an amazing person and runs his place with the precision of a surgeon. All the staff are extremely friendly and the all the menu items are sheer perfection. Outstanding attention to detail and consistency in the menu items. Alway super fresh and made to order. Nothing is every waiting to be served — they make it all fresh. The chicken yakitori is the best I’ve ever had as is the soy mien soup. I love this place and will always recommend it to anyone looking for great sushi.

I’ve been to quite a few sushi places and I’m willing to say this is now my favorite. Each item is prepared with care and only the freshest ingredients. I ordered Spicy Salmon and for the first time it was actually spicy! Even the green salad was amazing. Very delicately made and not just another free item with meal. Highly recommend trying this one!

Our new go-​to Sushi place!
Fresh, flavourful sushi that is appetizing. Service is good — quick and friendly staff.
Only 4-​stars and not 5, as price point is on the higher side for Sushi. They offer a 10% discount for pick-​up.

This is probably one of the better sushi places in Toronto, at least it’s one of the best I’ve been to out of many, many sushi joints.
Everything is fresh and the presentation is beautiful. The premium rolls are absolutely ginormous and so nice to look at that it’s almost hard to eat them.
We tried the Sashimi dinner as well as 4 maki rolls, so we had a great selection.
Yumei is a small place which probably seats 30 or so, they have 3 private Japanese style booths and the other tables are open. They also have a few Korean dishes on the menu (dolsot bibimbap and bulgogi).
Service was friendly albeit a wee bit slow. Food A++

This is my favourite sushi place in the beach. its a little on the pricier side but it is absolutely worth it. You will find the quality of the appetizers are surprizing, the gyoza are melty and overstuffed with meat. I usually don’t pay attention to appetizers at sushi, my mind is always set on getting to the fresh fish asap… but I think you will find yourself enjoying the salads, soups and dumplings here just as much as the sashimi itself. The rolls are BIG, they are serious about that. Between two people we couldn’t eat more than 2 rolls, the muskoka and kamikaze rolls get a big thumbs up from us. Spicy, fresh fish, the rolls were so big you wanted to take two bites, but I know how disastrous and messy that can be! Don’t do it!
If you are in the beach, this is your best bet for sushi, if there is a line up, wait… its worth it!

This wasn’t my first choice — my boyfriend and I really wanted to go to Sunset Grill for brunch after reading GREAT reviews on Unilocal!So, we made the cold trek and soon found a long line at the restaurant so we knew it was going to be good. Anticipation all around. BUT THEY ONLY ACCEPTED CASH WHICH WE BOTH DIDN’T HAVE! (Super Fail!)
So, we searched around on Unilocal for the next nearest, good-​reviews-​on-​Yelp place and found ourselves at Yumei. We walked in and I was instantly hit with a fake pot-​pouri smell… the kind used in bathrooms. We waited for a couple of minutes before being seated in a private booth which was great — there are 4 in total. Menus were quickly brought and we decided to order: Spice Age Tofu, California and Chicken Teriyaki Lunch Box, Bulgogi and Tempura Lunch Box (which comes with salad and soup).
The menu is very, very extensive so my review basically is limited to the items we ordered and may not necessarily represent the entire food choices here. The Spicy Tofu was really gross: soggy, fried, COLD tofu that was covered in thick «spicy» sauce that only made the tofu soggier. My chicken was all white meat so it wasn’t the chicken teriyaki I was expecting (dark meat with that bit of crispy skin on top). Bland, boring, and nothing special. My boyfriend said his meal was all right but his Bulgogi looked dry and sad.
In total, our 3 dishes with one large sparkling water came out to $ 45 not including tip which I thought was expensive for what we ordered. We even wanted to order more food as we were still hungry but the waitress already brought our bill and we didn’t want to start again.
Service. I can only describe it as average. Nothing personal. I had ordered green tea and there was no checking-​up to see if I wanted re-​fills. In fact, there was no checking up on all. There was only one waitress serving tables so I would imagine service to be quite slow on busier time periods.
All in all, I wouldn’t come back here as compared to other Japanese restaurants I have been to, it’s just not up to par. If you like fusion cuisine, then you might want to try Yumei as it carries Korean dishes as well.