This is my second time eating here and I'm disappointed again. ARA Sushi has very high ratings and therefore my expectations are also very high, but I just don't see the wow factor here. 1) I'm not a fan of the huge rolls. they may be filling, but I personally don't enjoy eating massive pieces of sushi for the sake of it. the oversized rolls also make it feel inauthentic. 2) the food is more on the expensive side, and I don't feel like the quality of the roll I had aligns with these prices. I spent almost $30 on the two items I had (pictured), and I even split the takoyaki with my sister! I'm always willing to pay for good food, but to me what I had was not worth it. Additionally: * the atmosphere is nice (more of a moody vibe) * the service is ok. we ordered the takoyaki for happy hour but they brought us the regular dish and seemed a bit annoyed when we pointed this out. Although I don't necessarily think this place is bad, I'm disappointed with the food considering that this place is supposed to be more upscale vs. casual. I want to give this place a last chance because I do believe it has high potential and I'm interested in trying other items (the nigiri and oshis look very good). However, I did also have the Valentine's Day teishoku set menu last year and don't remember being very impressed... I do remember liking my cocktail though. From what I've had so far, there are better places to get sushi in Toronto. read more

ARA Japanese Restaurant - takoyaki & harmony roll - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Kind of disappointed just because the reviews were good. Got a tuna and salmon roll and the fish didn't necessarily taste very fresh. Also, I didn't really like my first bite of the green tea cheesecake, it was more of a pound cake and they didn't let me choose another dessert. read more

ARA Japanese Restaurant - Sushi - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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And so, I did return back! I brought one of my good friends to Ara because I know how amazing their sushi is and I wanted her to try the teishoku. I got the sashimi lunch teishoku ($20) again and we shared the spicy fire roll. My teishoku came with delicious and fresh slices of sashimi, this fried fritter like side dish, fried vegetables, and seaweed salad. So delicious. It also came with miso soup and rice. The spicy fire roll ($17) came with spicy salmon, shrimp tempura, kani, avocado, cucumber, and chili pepper on top. Literally not spicy at all for me. We both enjoyed this roll so much and the flavours blended together! Great service like last time. read more

ARA Japanese Restaurant - sashimi teishoku and spicy fire roll - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Delicious food catering for more than just sushi lovers. Even if you're allergic to seafood there's plenty on the menu that will satisfy. Staff are understandable and will make sure the kitchen staff know about any allergies if you inform them. The Chef's specials vary regularly, so it's easy to get a different taste every time you come. The restaurant is long and narrow, so can feel cramped at times, but overall we've had a wonderful meal and experience every time we come. My daughter is always asking to come here whenever we're in the neighbourhood. read more

Service is crap and nonexistent. Sushi is fresh. But lunch specials are a ripoff. No wifi and empty water glasses for entire meal. Not sure why this place is rated so high. Maybe I am spoiled by the sushi in vancouver and Los Angeles but this place was utterly disappointing. Ordered a special chefs choice for $20. It was the worst lunch Bento I've ever had anywhere. It had the tiniest portions but it was all just side dishes. With 2 tiny pieces of fried chicken smaller than the happy hour menu which was 5 pieces for $9. Ordered the tagoyaki and it wa9s a good portion but we ordered the happy hour tagoyaki for $5 and was charged $8. Just a small mistake to leave a sour taste in our mouths at the end. I had the aburi sushi. It was good for 12 pieces for $26. They didn't have any uni available, which was disappointing. I'd skip this place. There's better places in toronto. Our waitress was listening to her earpods. And we basically had to scream to her to try and get her attention. Service is basically non existent. Won't last long and never will come back. They will get walkbys. But not regulars with this terrible service for a $80 lunch for 2 people. For that price, decent service is expected. Looks are deceiving. It's a nice place in a good area in the entertainment district but meh, I would NOT recommend it bc the crappy service is enough to ruin the entire experience. read more

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Hot and new spot nearby Uni and Queen. Fresh fish, nice space. Great for a date night. Ordered the "favourite" sushi set of 12pcs not knowing what I'll get through Ritual. The set is regularly $27 and I received a $10 off promo from Ritual. For one person without the promo, it could be considered steep for a takeout experience. I'll opt to enjoy it there and try their Teishoku next time. Yay for indoor dining! The Teishoku ($16~) was unavailable when I tried to order through Ritual for pickup. read more

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Been here a couple of times now and I always gravitate towards the teishoku for the variety of dishes and things to try. They have different items so it's not the same thing every time. Service is quick and I have gone during peak dinner hours. It's got a nice dark ambiance to the place and a nice little escape off of Queen St. Cocktails are also really good and strong for the price tag. Nice place to catch up with friends after work read more

TLDR: New spot in Queen Street West! The intricate details on food presentation is superb! The warm welcome is what you need on a gloomy weather! The cocktails are a must! The food is carefully tucked together. Freaking awesome! So, We were actually heading to my favourite restaurant after an afternoon walking around. We were really in a mood for Japanese and then we saw this place. I noticed that it's fairly new because I've never seen it before. There were no one inside so I felt the need to try it. The ambiance is good. The food presentation is superb. They chef made sure it's well presented. The sushi rice (which is super important in a sushi) is well made too! They did us a favour of torching the salmon super thank you!! The chicken karaage is sooooooo good omggg!!! I cannot stop eating it. Idk what the sauce was but it goes well with it. I got the Change roll , shrimp tempura, Chicken Karaage, and forgot what's the name of the other plate in the picture I totally recommend trying it out. read more

ARA Japanese Restaurant - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Good find for sushi in the city! We got the: - shrimp tempura (5/5), melted in my mouth! - aburi sushi plate 7pcs (4/5), wasn't a big fan of the sushi pieces they picked - Korean fried chicken (5/5) sauce was out of this world (kind of spicy) and it was served very hot! - salmon ozisushi (MY FAV!). THIS DISH JUST MELTED IN MY MOUTH. I could have had another 2-3 plates of this! Service was great. We had 2 waitresses serving us and both were very polite and attentive. Ambiance is nice - wish the place was a little bigger or had more low top tables but not a big deal. The restaurant had to turn away a couple groups of 6+ that came in after us that didn't want to sit separately. Overall great experience and would return for the sushi but taking off 1 point for the high prices (which is understandable given inflation). I also read somewhere that this place gets their sushi straight from Japan daily. I look forward to returning to try more dishes! read more

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came here for a quick saturday lunch and I have to say I was pretty disappointed :( this place is known for their teishoku (platter with many banchans? and a main). the presentation is really pretty but the food and service do not meet standards. they also don't serve lunch menu on weekends. the rolls were decent and did the job of filling me up but I wasn't a fan of the overly saucy job they did. Our server was also not very attentive and didn't check on us once while being on their phone the entire time. won't be coming back here unfortunately. read more

ARA Japanese Restaurant - volcano roll teishoku - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Upon first impression, I think the restaurant has a great interior design and I think the bar at the back is super pretty and fancy, with great back lighting. We got their pressed sushi set and it came with a wide variety of side dishes, from to seaweed salad, egg custard appetizer, seafood pancakes, garden salad, teriyaki sauce asparagus, beancurd tofu, and a fried banana for dessert. I think the sushi were fresh and delicious, but did not contain any unique sushi pieces. The rice was also not pressed as tightly, so it fell apart as we ate it. The side dishes were very unique to Ara restaurant, which made us feel like we were feasting. It definitely was a filling meal. The fried banana unfortunately was a little mushy though and I think it would have been better to come out fresh after we finish our meals. All the other side dishes were really good though and unique because it had a Korean fusion to it. I think overall, this restaurant had an interesting concept, comfortable atmosphere, fresh sushi pieces, and good side dishes. It is still worth a try to experience the large set meals it comes up. read more

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Food is terrible. Salmon sashimi tasted like it came straight outta lucky moose (chinese supermarket across the street). Ordered mostly oshizushi (torch pressed sushi) and LMAO i have never seen rice to fish ratio like this. They think they're feeding starving kids in AFrica or what?? The udon was also extremely mediocre, same quality as manpuku which sells the same thing for $8. TLDR dont recommmend!! Saku sushi is down the street is a better version of this restaurant at the same cost. read more

ARA Japanese Restaurant - Ebi oshizushi - that rice to fish ratio though???? - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Wow ! This place is so cute and so cozy at the same time . Found this place just walking by and decided to give it a try . We weren't sure if it gets busy so we made a reservation just in case . We arrived a 6pm and left around 9 and it did not got that busy, I see it like a hidden gem, I really enjoyed everything about this place. The place itself is very small , staff is great and very kind and friendly. We ordered a few of their specialty rolls, they were HUGEEE ! So for the price it was very worth it . Food was very fresh and it was really good their menu selection is huge , so a bit of everything if you go with a picky eaty. This is definitely a place I'll love to come back . read more

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Interesting atmosphere. The staff are nice and friendly. Tried out the sashimi and nigiri sushi. The seafood for the most part was fresh although there were certain cuts that were not as fresh. Overall the food was ok but not the best considering Japango which is nearby and serves one of the freshest sashimi in the neighborhood. Would only return if friends ask to go. read more

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The foods here were ok and i would say it was up to the standard ! Happy hours after 8pm for any drinks but not the foods! The service was not as good as I expected! Asked for more chopsticks for us to share foods and never came! That actually happened few time during our dinner ! Our dirty plates never got changed when got so dirty when we order more dishes since this place is considered a quite an upscale restaurant! read more

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Not sure this is really a Japanese restaurant. For one, they don't have sake which is odd in of itself. Second, they appear to be Korean. Third, the food is ok, definitely not awesome. I guess if you want rolls and some drinks this is ok but if you want real sushi that is fresh I wouldn't come here. They also oddly dont' have specials on the weekend which didn't bother me but the quality did. read more

I made a same day reservation over the phone on Saturday for 3 (taking my parents out). Ara is a fairly new Japanese resto on Queen east just off Queen and Uni. We were given such a warm welcome with super attentive and caring wait staff. My parents had small asks her and there and they were so accommodating and remembered. The food and cocktails are fantastic. So many things to try! I had the Deadly Tequila drink which is like a rocket ice pop. My parents had the wildflower a sweeter cocktail and a gimlet which is more sour. We also ordered tempura, yakatori, aburi sushi. I ordered the weekly teishoku which is a main dish with a 4-5 side dishes. It was fantastic! All the food was high quality and came out quickly. Highly recommend this place! read more

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Excellent service. The waitress even entered the Wi-Fi into my phone, brought my foot and water promptly and with a smile. The food worked together with plenty to engage the eye and palette. Wow' I'm from a foodie town with lots of good Japanese food. This place is in another league. Less perhaps to not having very many yelp reviews, it was empty at about 1:30 PM on a weekday. No wait. Cannot recommend this place highly enough. It's also an acute neighborhood if you are staying in one of the big hotels about a 10 or 15 minute walk away read more

Great korean food, but mediocre japanese food. Came here twice. The first time I came here I ordered chirashi don and a few side dishes. The sushi rice had no sushi vinegar and food was mediocre. Came a second time and ordered korean food and the food was phenomenal. Had the chicken with bulgogi weekly special. read more

ARA Japanese Restaurant - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Excellent my attentive service and the food was impeccable! We got the traditional dinner (teishoku) and was very happy with the quality and quantity of food! The sashimi was fresh, the sushi well flavored and the udon flavourful. Teishoku includes chef selected side dishes. This night we got Japanese egg, salad, seaweed salad, miso soup, pickled vegetables, fried chicken? patties, yakitori, and dessert. Yum! What great value! read more

ARA Japanese Restaurant - Sashimi teishoku with upgrade to include volcano roll. - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Quiet little spot. Place was empty so was concerned but the waitress was awesome and super attentive. Sushi was fresh and delicious. Had the tataki which was just ok. Good find while on vacation read more

Food was good but we went closer to closing time and so felt rushed. They were supposed to close at 9:30 pm but when we came in at 8:20 she said they were closing soon at 9 and when someone else came in at 8:40 she told them that they were already closed, so i felt like we should not have stayed when she told us they were closing soon. read more

On the last night of my business trip in Toronto, I was walking to a different restaurant, before I came across Ara. I checked Yelp, but they had no reviews yet; however, they had nice pictures in Google. They had an amazing food and drink menu. I had a hard time choosing what to order, but the staff was so incredible. They were so cheerful and simply amazing. A staff, Muse, recommended my drink and meal. I ordered the Weekly Special Teishoku for dinner and the Wild Flower for the drink. For the uninitiated, Teishoku is a type of Japanese set meal where all the dishes are served as a set. The drink was sweet and tasty, it was sublime. Then came the Teishoku, it was outstanding. I didn't think I'd finish the whole thing, but it was so good that I had to eat everything. Every dish was elegantly presented. Each bite was exquisite. I was asked which dish was my favorite in the set, but I could not answer because I loved every part of the meal. I recommend Ara, and I'll come back once I'm back in Toronto. So if you're in Toronto, don't look anywhere else, just go to Ara and you won't be disappointed. Just look at the pictures I took of the food, how can anyone say "no" to that? read more

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This place is absolutely amazing - the service the great, the food even better, and the price is beyond reasonable. An absolute must !

Best sushi and my favourite Udon soup downtown. Staff are extremely friendly and attentive. Would recommend 1000%

Overpriced but fresh food and excellent servers. I think they need to lower the prices to go back there on regular basis. I didn't like the tall tables and chairs, I found them to be uncomfortable to eat. read more