Shoushin, A Return Visit to One of the Very Best Japanese Restaurants in North America.

Chef Jackie Lin is one of the more talented chefs in North America rendering Japanese cuisine. He sources his fish from the very best suppliers and knows what to do with the fish to make the experience exceptional. The selections for this meal were mostly not from his routine. 

Horse mackerel with moshio (seaweed salt) and fresh wasabe. 

Kochi (flat-head fish) with Japanese green onion and daikon. 

Horse mackerel with chives in nori roll.

Steamed black abalone with seaweed salt. 

Grilled surf clam (hokkigai) served wrapped in crispy nori. 

Spot prawn sashimi topped with remarkably fresh sea urchin (uni) and fresh wasabe. 

Tai (sea bream) with sudachi lime and asparagus in a clear broth. 

Kinmedai sushi (goldeneye snapper), aged 1/2 week. 

Sumi ika (Japanese spineless cuttlefish).

Kinmedai with the skin on, aged 1.5 weeks. 

Amadai (tilefish), marinated in kelp overnight. 

Sayori (needlefish). 

Chu-toro (medium fat tuna), aged 2 weeks. 

Maguro tuna (regular grade), lightly marinated in soy sauce. 

Sunazuri o-toro, the very best part of the o-toro (fatty part of the bluefin tuna belly), aged 3 weeks. This portion of the toro is rarely available in any Japanese restaurant.

Toro from the collar of the tuna, aged 3 weeks.

Toro from the collar of the tuna, smoked over straw. 

Gizzard shad (kohada).

Olive flounder (hirame) sectioned from the portion around the fin. 

Wild Argentinian prawn. 

Nodoguro (black throat sea perch), a rare item and caught off the coast of Japan. 

Abalone sushi. 

Ayoyagi (surf clam). 

 Uni (sea urchin).

Anago (salt water eel).

Toro hand roll.

Marinated Japanese gourd hand roll.

Tamago, a folded Japanese omelette.

Matcha powder pudding in a layer with a layer of red bean (adzuki) paste.

Shoushin, A Great Canadian Japanese Experience.

Shoushin is an omakase style resto. It has no "a la carte" menu, just 3 set menus: $80.00; $120.00; $250.00. WE enjoyed the $250.00 menu.

Horse mackerel, octopus, grated marinated cucumber (sunomono) and wakame seaweed. The texture of the octopus was uncommonly good and the fish tasted very fresh. This was a very good beginning, considering my overall experiences at most Japanese restos in Canada.

Firefly squid, seasonal spot prawn, kampachi yellowtail, Hokkaido scallop and sea bream, all pristinely fresh.

Tempura, better executed than virtually anywhere I have experienced tempura in North America, with an extremely light, ungreasy, crisp batter. Featured in this dish: mitsuba leaf; marinated and grated daikon; okra; beech mushroom.

Hokkaido wagyu beef with teriyaki sauce, fried cherry tomato, wasabe and grated hot pepper. 

Toro, the prime part of the tuna belly, a beautiful, high quality quality piece selected for our toro dishes. 

Chopped, pristinely fresh (and I will repeat this observation quite often in this review) toro sashimi topped with sturgeon caviar.

A clear kombu broth with whitefish cake, winter mellon and kinome leaf.

All of the fish with the sushi below tasted pristinely fresh, had the proper texture and the rice was the proper temperature.

Amadai (tilefish).

Hiramasa (kingfish).

Kinmedai.

Hirame (flounder).

Chutoro.

Toro (no photo).

Saba (mackerel).

Prawn.

Uni (sea urchin).

Snow crab.

Cooked squid topped with eel sauce.

The rest were extras that we requested, outside of the set menu that we  had ordered:

Sea urchin and osetra caviar on squid.

Fresh abalone was wonderful.

Mirugai (geoduck clam).

Aji (horse mackerel sashimi).

Anago (salt water eel).

Making a hand roll towards the finish of the meal (back to the set menu finishing dishes).

The finish, tamago (omelette). The tamago may have been the best I have tasted in Canada.

In summary, reflecting on the actual sushi experience itself, very marginally, I would have to say that for me, Yasu is still the city's gold standard for sushi.