Annoyed Nov 08,2008

Been to this AYCE for the 2nd time in years only because I was not paying. First time rating would have been OK, nothing to write home about. This time, service was OK until we started asking where are some of the dishes we ordered. Took forever. When dishes finally came they were perched at the end of the table. "Service with a smile does not exist in this restaurant". Staff were very unattentive. Luckily I was not the one paying the bill, tips would not exist from me.
Food !! OK.... not as good as other Japanese AYCE, and I have my favourite, but I have a feeling they spike the food with something, salt/msg ? because I was not feeling right after a couple hours of eating there.

Pamela Feb 23,2008

This is my second visit to Maison. I was impressed during my first visit(1st Visit: Christmas dinner w/ friends; we had the japanese-style dining room). I wanted my family to experience ayce so i took them there. The service was ok; During the first 30 mins the waiters where attentive and almost always there. But after that, as do like with any other restaurant that i've been too, waiters are hard to find cause they are so busy. There was a few moments that not one waiter was to be found. Anyway, we stayed there for almost 1.5 hr. Near the end of it, the waiter was barely paying attention to us ordering ice cream; the waiter even let the ice cream slid on the our table when my brother ordered one extra ice cream. When we asked for the bill, it came faster than lightning ;), the whole family was laughing. Loved the beef teriyaki. Udon noodle was terrible, mom said it's tasteless. Ate lots of sushi, salmon and white tuna sashimi; Salmon tasted like it was domesticated(I know it's too much to hope that it's wild; would have cost so much). Nonetheless, the salmon sashimi was good. Seafood fried rice was good. Shrimp stir fry noodle tasted good. All in all, there were some good food, some not. Don't like the Korean tofu. I like their ice cream. It doesn't have the starch taste like other buffet restaurant. We were billed $142 and some change for 6 adults and 1 child dining on a saturday night. Roughly avg. of $23. I'm guessing calculation goes as follows: 6(ppl) * $20.99(ea) * 1.13(taxes) = $142.31. Child was free. So at $20.99, it was certainly better than avg Chinese-style buffet. I would go there again, although not sooner(I've eaten so much sashimi that it would be some time b4 i get craving for it again). And, although there were some questionable way the waiters were serving, it was obvious that they were bending themselves to accommodate all guests so i gave them the customary 15% tip. The key to eating and enjoying ayce is to have an open mind. --Peace out!!

jen Nov 08,2006

I would not go to Yang's again. A friend brought me there (I'm from Scarborough, and dont have a car) and I thought "oh wow, somewhere north of Steeles, YAY!" Boy was I disappointed. I think their way of doing business is totally unacceptable! Yes, their food is superb (sashimi was very fresh, stuff from the grill was excellent.. ) but on our second round of ordering, they tell us that its last call? And that they're all out on garden salad? At 8:15pm? I dont think so! They were sooooo kicking us out by getting us to order dessert. And so by the time we ate our dessert, paid the bill, we found out that there was a long lineup at the door. But to tell your client that the garden salad has run out at 8pm? I dont buy that at all.

diehardlasallej Jul 26,2006

Maison du Japon is a hit and miss really. Their service was excellent, but then the food there is really average.

tbone187 Jul 25,2006

I'd definitely second this rec, have gone there for lunch, $11.99, and dinner $19.99. Major difference is sashimi and tuna on the dinner menu.

kerwintoronto Jul 24,2006

I'm a sucker for their spicy baby squid (said octopus before)...just cooked little octopuses in korean spicy sauce. We tend to go with sashimi as we are not crazy about their nigiri. Rolls are decent. It's been a while since we been to Maison but because we haven't felt the AYCE need.

It is pretty good we found.

VL Jun 06,2006

i went to maison last month and I think its one of the better AYCE sushi places i've been to.

i personally really like their maki rolls! especially the specialty rolls like the alaskan dragon?? or something like that is awesome
and fyi you can get a free pop! hehe

price:

Lunch 11.99
Weekend dinner 20.99
Weekday dinner 18.99

i highly suggest making reservations for big groups.. it can get really busy there!

Jacquilynne Mar 05,2006

there for my birthday lunch.

It's an order off the menu, all you can eat restaurant, which means it's not Japango or Kaji or anything of the sort. The food is not inventive, or authentic, but it is, in fact, pretty good for AYCE.

Maki rolls were inelegant, but fine, and sushi pieces included relatively generous pieces of reasonable quality fish (though, most certainly of the flash frozen variety). Spicy salmon rolls, though were badly put together and almost impossible to eat.

From kitchen, things were variable.

Black pepper beef, which everyone declared their favourite dish from before, I thought was dry and dull, and lacking in even a hint of pepper. I enjoyed the copious amounts of garlic that came with, but the meat was boring.

The coating on the tempura was wonderful, but the shrimp were overcooked and chewy.

Spring rolls were greasy and came with packets of plum sauce - but not enough packets of plum sauce to go around so people had to share.

The salmon belly was fantastic. It's always one of my favourite foods, and it was really quite perfectly cooked. Lemon and dipping sauce on the side. As with the spring rolls, though, not enough lemon slices to go around the number of pieces of fish.

Chicken yakitori was very, very good, with the chicken almost melting in your mouth, and the sauce not nearly as drippingly sweet as most.

Gyoza were pretty good, lightly fried, and served so hot we had to wait to eat them.

The highlight of the meal for me was the ginger ice cream. It's not on the menu but it's included in the price, and they have at least mango, green tea and ginger, but possibly other flavours. The ginger had bits of caramelized ginger, but also threads of actual ginger in it, as well. It had a great texture and a lovely mellow flavour with just a hint of ginger heat contrasting with the ice cream cold. It was really lovely.

Service was as rushed and random as it is in most of these AYCE restaurants, with dishes showing up whenever, in no relationship whatsoever to when you ordered them. On the other hand, unlike many AYCE restaurants, there were always people around, and it was easy to add dishes to your order, get more drinks, etc.

My previous standby for Japanese AYCE was always Nagoya (16th & Bayview or 14th & Kennedy), but Maison du Japon has better food and better service (and a much stupider name). It's not great food or great service, but for an AYCE, it's about as good as it gets.