Ottawa Foodies

Originally from Vancouver, I have spent the last three years in Ottawa continually disappointed by the offerings of the various "Japanese" restaurants in this city. Turned off by either the exorbitantly high prices (Like KINKI or Suisha Gardens) or just plain awful (like MHK), I was weary of ever finding good sushi here in O-town.
This changed a few months ago when (for another reason) I found myself inside the Japanese Embassy talking with several diplomatic officials from Japan. In a break in the conversation I asked them where they go to seek out authentic Japanese food here in Ottawa. (knowing that I'm from Vancouver and have been to Tokyo) they grimaced at the question but then suggested a little restaurant called 'Totoya' and recommended their AYCE as a good opportunity to stay cheap and enjoy some good traditional sushi.
Weary but intrigued I made a reservation for my girlfriend's surprise birthday party.
Walking into the place I was a little worried, it was small and DIY decorating (I think I spied IKEA lights and room dividers), but noticed that the man behind the sushi bar looked very Japanese, very old and very professional. Needless to say they handled our large party with grace and exceptional hospitality (including taking a cake baked by another guest and hiding it in the back, followed by turning out ALL the lights in the restaurant and bringing it out for my girlfriend while singing happy birthday). The sushi was awesome. It was fresh (a common problem with AYCE places in Vancouver who have turned to pre-making sushi during the day, letting it go soggy under saran wrap.) and not slathered in Mayo, nor did it deviate from the traditional forms by including unusual ingredients in a tacky effort to be "innovative" or "fusion". It was just simple, traditional sushi done extremely well (for Ottawa standards).
I haven't had a chance to go back yet, but rest assured, when I get another craving for sushi this will be the top of my list.

I'm almost positive that the sign advertising the AYCE on Fri/Sat specifies that it's just maki rolls.

Like others have said, Totoya isn't exclusively an AYCE restaurant, it's offered only on Friday and Saturday and the quality of their dishes, I think, is much much higher than other places - I doubt doing a "true" AYCE would be detrimental to their profits.

Maybe it's done differently elsewhere, but here in town "AYCE Sushi" is understood to be a full menu, not just rolls.

This includes appetizers (edamame, tempura, katsu, udon) as well as sushi rolls, nigiri and sashimi. My understanding is that Totoya was never a purely AYCE Japanese restaurant, unlike others in the city where you pay a flat fee to eat anything on the menu (outside of drinks and dessert).

Perhaps the original poster can elaborate on their comment?

In defence of Totoya's AYCE Sushi, the reviewer might have misunderstood as to what Sushi is.

Sushi is flavoured rice so tempura, or sashimi cannot be categorized as sushi.

Correct me if I am wrong (or being too strict) with the term "Sushi".

I went for AYCE rolls at Totoya on Friday. I have to say that I was really disappointed and unsatisfied. Like I said, the "AYCE sushi" is actually all you can eat rolls. So no shrimp tempura, nigiri, sashimi, etc...

The rolls seemed bland and tasteless with the exception of a couple. All four of us were very unpleased and will probably never go there again. Their regular menu might be different, but to be honest I would go back to give it a try.

Went here for the all-you-can-eat sushi and was definitely impressed. The quality was excellent, the service was friendly and informative, and the price was excellent for what we had. Highly satisfactory :)

I love this place. I have been there 3 or 4 times now and it is always excellent.

Totoya's offers a very traditional Japanese menu full of subtle flavor and filling satisfaction. There are a few adaptation to western cooking which seem a bit odd but of which I have heard nothing but praise.

I have gone here several times, mostly for lunch. The food is consistently very good and I typicaly order something from their selection of Bento boxes or one of the Ramen/noodle bowls.

The Bento boxes are all very tasty and offer a nice variety within their contents; Tempura, Sushi, Salad and Rice compliment the main item. That said I would like to see a few more choices in this section. In fairness though I do go quite often. A nice touch, the Bento boxes are preceded by a Miso soup. While this is fairly standard in Japanese restaurants I find that it is often far too salty, which is not the case at Totoya's.

The Ramen is just what it ought to be, warm, greasy and wholly satisfying. I have seen the most dainty eaters dispatch this dish without pause. There is good but not overwhelming variety so you can always get something different.

Service has always been very good and I worry only that I have so very rarely seen the place packed. This place provides excellent food without the loud sometimes overwhelming always overpriced experience at Kinki's.

Went to Totoya for lunch after losing hope waiting for drinks at Kinki. 3 of us had the Rainbow Sushi Pizza which was quite good. The Fish, Squid and Shrimp and the Wasabi Mayo was very tasty. I really enjoy the texture and temperature of the fried rice paddy crust.

Our other friend had the sushi lunch which included a bowl of Miso soup. The platter look good and included a decent selection of maki (Tuna, California, Salmon and a few more)

Service was very friendly and we made note to come back and try the all you can eat weekend dinner.

Had ramen here last night with a Japanese friend.

We both enjoyed it for what it is, namely fast food (by Japanese standards) ... salty, greasy (a bit anyway) and good with beer!

Happy to report we received the togarashi (red pepper) mix Fresh Foodie didn't get. As well, we both had the Miso broth, which i think is a little heartier than the Soya broth -- i'm not positive, but i think FF's photo (below) is the Soya version?

Question to foodies: Are there other places in town that serve good (Japanese-style) Ramen?

The platters in which they present the sushi. The don't just set it down, that would be to coarse. They explain the two selections on the platter and you say how much you want of each.

Went to Totoya last weekend, and it was really good. I usually cannot all you can eat sushi, as it usually guarantees bad quality, but Totoya's all you can eat experience is really unique. They bring out two types of sushi rolls at a time (pictured). Its feels very classy for all you can eat, the sushi is exceptional, and you get to try out some of their very unique rolls while still enjoying the classics. I highly recommend this place if you're looking to go for sushi for dinner, even in place of Genji (Totoya may be my new favourite). O, and the nigiri is excellent too, I tried tuna and scallop, and they were top quality.

My boss sprung for sushi for our staff party. It was nice and fresh, nicely presented and tasty (although it didn't look as good as the picture of the sushi from Genji). Unfortunately there were a couple of kinds I couldn't try (allergic to shrimp) but my 11 year old daughter liked them. We also had some oysters from the Whalesbone and some curried tofu from the Thai place down the street, but the sushi trays disappeared the fastest.

I think I'll have to try some sushi at Genji to compare.

I treasure the ramen at Totoya, too. Now, let me qualify that it's not the best I've ever had, and it's wayyy too expensive at $12, but like you said, Duckfat, there's only one ramen source in Otown and we gotta keep it in business! It's too bad ramen's so rare here, because it's one of my fav Japanese dishes. This summer I gorged on it while on vacation in Calgary and Vancouver. There's ramen at restaurants all over the place in these cities for under $10. Those lucky westerners!

Here is the Totoya Ramen, which I finally got around to trying while spending a fun father-and-son half-day in the Market with my two year old. I quite enjoyed the soup except that the broth seemed kind of boring -- basically simple dashi with a heavy dose of soy sauce. To spice things up, they offered a shaker of pre-ground pepper rather than the chili-sesame-orange sprinkle that has accompanied udon/soba soups at other Japanese restaurants. I don't know if this is a universal difference between ramen and udon/soba or if the shaker of black pepper is unique to this restaurant. I do make a tastier broth for breakfast at work using chicken bouillon powder, tom yum paste, sesame chili oil, dried chives, and fried onions, but then I don't call it ramen. ;-)

As for the other ingredients, the noodles were excellent and I especially liked the pink slivers of pickled ginger. The homemade BBQ pork wasn't my thing -- in fact, when I first bit into it my impression was of a tough slice of overcooked salmon.

Is there another place in Ottawa where you can get authentic ramen? If so, I haven't found it. The sushi I've had at Totoya has been just okay, but the ramen is fantastic: chewy fresh noodles topped with homemade BBQ pork, hard-boiled egg, seaweed, bamboo shoots, spinach and pickled ginger, in a super-tasty soy-based broth. I've eaten ramen at noodle counters in Tokyo, and this stuff would hold its own. It is, unfortunately, not cheap--about $12 for a big filling bowl--and available only at lunch time. But it's worth it. I'm also a bit worried that this place might not stay in business for long--it's often empty or near empty when I've gone. I would hate to lose my ramen source, so I encourage everyone to go slurp a bowl!

I've been to Totoya a few times and always enjoyed what I ordered. My favourite item from there is their bento box. It's a nice mixture of some of my favourites (tempura, sushi, teriyaki, etc).

I've also found the same problem as Duckfat; Totoya is never really busy when I've been in or walked by. I'm hoping that business starts to pick up in the next few months with the holidays and all that.

I have had katsudon here a couple times and it is always wonderful. The meat is perfectly cooked and the texture of the rice is amazing. The egg is perfect and the seasonings are just right! Highly recommended.

The edamame were of good quality, served piping hot and sprinkled with a light dusting of snowflake-like salt. My son is a big fan of these and charmed the server by telling her, "I love edda-mommy!" when she brought them. :-)