Dining Out: Aburi Sushi, Uni Hotate Carpaccio, Wagyu Tataki, and Black Diamond at Aka-Oni

I hadn't seen Ronsee in a couple months, so when we agreed to meet up for dinner this evening, I decided to take him out for a belated birthday meal. (His birthday is June 6. So, like, really belated.) Ronsee suggested a tapas or izakaya restaurant, so we decided to check out Aka-Oni after seeing so many rave reviews. They were extremely busy for a Monday night so it was our rookie mistake for not making a reservation, but luckily, our wait time ended up only being about 15 minutes. We spent a good 10 minutes just looking at the menu because there are so many choices, but we ended up deciding on four selections:

Aburi Sushi: Seared flounder, sea bream, medium fatty tuna, and salmon
Uni Hotate Carpaccio: Scallops topped with uni, pink peppercorns, and shoyu gel, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil
Wagyu Tataki: Lightly seared A5 wagyu beef slices topped with parmesan
Black Diamond: Foie gras, BBQ eel, crab meat, cucumber, avocado, black tobiko, and gold flakes on top of purple and brown rice
You'll notice that we didn't order any straight-up sushi or sashimi. We came specifically for the fact that Aka-Oni is an izakaya that offers unique dishes. There are dozens of amazing sushi restaurants in this area; we don't need to be paying this kind of price for something that all sushi restaurants offer. That having been said, each selection we made was phenomenal. Excellent, fresh ingredients; amazing flavour combinations; gorgeous presentation. All the fish, the scallops, the uni, and the wagyu beef were melt-in-your-mouth. The foie gras and BBQ eel were creamy and rich. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

However, the service really left something to be desired. 

I had to ask for water three times. In fact, I had to ask another server for water because ours seemed hell-bent on dehydrating me. When Ronsee asked for tea, our server looked downright offended: "Tea? Like green tea?" They offer a tablet to select and order from, and yet it doesn't work, so our server just grabbed it from our table and asked, "Did you order yet?" And we said, "Yes, we pressed the 'submit' button." And she said, as if we were already supposed to know this, "No, it doesn't work. We have to take your order." She was not helpful, not attentive, and not even polite. I mean, she wasn't hostile or anything, but for the prices we're paying for the food here, I expect at least decent service. I've been reading nothing but rave reviews on the service here, so I'm thinking our server was a one-off, or maybe was having a terribly shitty day. Either way, I'm usually a solid 20% tipper, and I gave her 15%. And that was only because she got us yuzu ice cream.

I would come here again strictly for the food. It's pricey, but they have some really incredible, truly unique, genuinely inspired offerings. That having been said, reservations are really recommended. And also low expectations on the service.

Aka-Oni Izakaya & Ramen

550 Highway 7, Unit 66

Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3Z4

(365) 366-8357