Located at 9 Byng Ave. in North York

Wow, I was so impressed with the sushi rolls at VIPS Sushi!  When I first decided on this place to have a nice dinner and catch-up with Wendy and Helen at, I oversaw some online reviews that mentioned fairly good ratings.  It was a good spot for us to meet up at near the Finch Station (Yonge & Finch area).  

VIPS Sushi is a very unassuming restaurant.  They actually cater primarily to take-out orders as you can tell when you walk in; they only have two four-seater tables in their space.  The rest of the space is taken up by a large counter where the sushi masters are seen making their rolls and placing them into the many take-out containers that are stacked to the side.

No frills

VIPS Sushi

Therefore, if you plan to eat here, please only eat with one or two people or aim to buy take-out.  They don’t have space for large groups at all!

Their menu is solid and targets sushi rolls sashimi.  They also have party trays and sushi boats.  Helen opted for the vegetarian options and chose the Wakame Seaweed Salad, Gyoza, and AvoQ roll (avocado and cucumber).  Wendy chose the Rainbow Roll.

Gyoza

Wakame Salad

From skimming the online reviews, I heard that any roll with crunch bits in it was fantastic, so I definitely wanted to try that.  I chose the Spicy Salmon Crunch roll which contains spicy salmon, cucumber, and all covered with crunch bits.  I was very excited to try and see if it lived up to the hype!

Rainbow Roll. $9.99
-assorted sashimi on the top. Avocado, cucumber, creamy crab meat, crunch bit

Our dishes arrived shortly and I was immediately amazed with how large the rolls were!  Wendy’s Rainbow Roll was gigantic!  I’ve never seen sushi rolls so large yet piled high with ingredients.  Usually, when sushi rolls are large, they are filled with a lot of rice and you can see clearly what the ingredients are in the roll (rolled up ;)).  But for this sushi roll, the way they made it, it’s like they pile on all the ingredients and wrap it up together in rice.  (After watching them make it, this is exactly how they make them actually.)

Spicy Salmon Crunch Roll. $9.99
-covered with crunch bit. Spicy salmon, cucumber

My Spicy Salmon Crunch roll was similarly as big as the Rainbow Roll.  It was so big that you definitely cannot fit all of it into your mouth.  I typically don’t like big sushi rolls because I find that not only if I not fit it into my mouth in one bite but that when I try, everything falls apart and it loses its taste (since all the ingredients have fallen out).  With this one though, even though one roll was so big, you could hold it in your chopsticks and eat the roll one bite at a time; the rice held the entire sushi roll all together!  I liked how the spicy salmon was just spicy enough and tasted fresh.  The rice was soft and mushy in a way that was so delicious.  The seaweed that wrapped it all up together was soft as well so that when you were chewing through the roll, you didn’t have to yank it out (some seaweed are so stretchy and elastic-like).  The crunch bits were very crunchy and added to the roll’s texture.

Close-up. Look at how big that Spicy Salmon roll is!

All in all, I found this Spicy Salmon Crunch Roll to be absolutely delicious.  I was in awe of how big it was and that I was definitely full after this plate of only 8 rolls.  There was also some spicy mayo on the side for you to dip the roll in.

(I tried one of Wendy’s Rainbow Roll and liked it; the crab meat was immersed with salad dressing and very good).

I was watching the chef make the sushi through the slot in the counter

The result of some of the sushi rolls he made — SO gorgeous and substantial rolls!

What I also really admired about this restaurant is that during the entire time that we were eating and chatting (we ended up being there for 3 hours, thank you VIP), the sushi chef was busy making rolls and rolls and rolls for take-out customers.  I was so impressed with how much ingredients they use in the rolls.  They definitely didn’t skimp out on anything!  The sushi chef would pile on mounds of spicy salmon or freshly cut cucumbers or rice like he didn’t have a care in the world.  However, the way the sushi rolls were put together with saran wrap and those sushi mats also showed the most utmost care and attention to detail.  Every sushi roll was made uniformly and cut perfectly into 8s and placed into the take-out containers.  It was amazing!  We also watched the assistant chef slice cucumbers into thin and even layers by rolling it on the cutting board.  They were so skilled and talented.

You really have to try their rolls here

It’s a very small restaurant; come with just a few people or order take-out!

Needless to say, I definitely recommend this restaurant.  You definitely have to try their gigantic rolls!  They are not only delicious but filling and well worth the price.  (My roll was only $10!)  I believe that VIPS Sushi is highly popular among the residents in the Finch Station vicinity.  The people that live in the nearby condos probably order take-out sushi from this place all the time! 🙂

Have you been to VIPS Sushi?  If so, what are your thoughts?