Sushi Masaki Saito

The Verdict

The most common misconception about Sushi Masaki Saito is that it's simply Toronto's most expensive sushi restaurant. It isn't; it's one of the most technically serious omakase counters in North America, the price reflects that. With two Michelin stars (2024 and 2025), a ranking of #60 on Opinionated About Dining's North America list (2025), and sourcing connections for Japanese fish that no other chef in Canada comes close to matching, this is a destination booking, not a splurge-for-the-sake-of-it dinner. If edomae sushi is your format, book it. If you want a more varied tasting experience, Alo or Aburi Hana will serve you better.

What to Expect

First-timers should know that the room sets a clear tone before the first piece of fish arrives. A marble foyer staircase leads into a space anchored by traditional Japanese paneling, woodwork, a hinoki counter hewn from 200-year-old cypress. The atmosphere is warm rather than austere; Masaki Saito and his team run a jovial room, laughter is reportedly a regular feature of the evening. This is not the silent, reverent-to-the-point-of-uncomfortable counter experience that some high-end omakase rooms deliver. The energy is engaged and convivial, which makes the technical seriousness of what's happening in front of you feel generous rather than intimidating.

Dinner runs Tuesday through Friday, from 6 PM to 11 PM. The restaurant is closed Saturday, Sunday, Monday, so plan accordingly. Service is strictly omakase, there is no à la carte option and no customisation of the sequence. You are here to eat what Saito is preparing that evening, in the order he intends.

The Tasting Experience

The architecture of the meal at Sushi Masaki Saito follows edomae tradition with deliberate precision. Each piece moves directly from Saito's hand to yours, never touching a plate or the counter in between. You flip it fish-side down onto the tongue. For a first-timer unfamiliar with this protocol, pay attention when you sit down; the ritual is part of the experience and signals the level of intentionality behind every element of the meal.

The rice is worth your full attention. Saito seasons it with a proprietary blend of aged vinegars and uses a prized varietal from Niigata prefecture, served warm. Watch how he stirs and seasons it in the handai, it is genuinely instructive, the rice itself is a reference point against which everything else in the meal is measured. According to OAD's write-up, tasters consistently find themselves thinking each successive piece is the leading version of that ingredient they have encountered, whether that's gari, uni, needlefish, conch clam, or tamago.

Sourcing is the structural advantage that makes this meal different from any other sushi counter in Canada. All fish comes exclusively from Japan. Dry-aged bluefin is finished with black truffle. Botan shrimp arrives with uni sauce and hanaho. Meji-maguro, the juvenile bluefin that OAD's notes describe as the veal of tuna, is served with sansho pepper sauce and myoga ginger. Toro appears under white truffles. These are not garnishes applied for effect; they are precise flavour decisions made by a chef with the supply chain to source ingredients most Canadian kitchens cannot access at all. For context on how this compares at the international level, Masa in New York operates at a similar price point and sourcing philosophy, Sushi Noz offers a technically comparable omakase in Manhattan at a somewhat lower price. Within Canada, nothing at this level exists outside of Toronto.

Recent evolution worth noting: Saito has expanded his commitments with additional projects (MSSM and LSL), which raised questions among regulars about whether quality at Avenue Road might slip. Based on the 2025 OAD ranking and the retention of two Michelin stars, the answer appears to be no. The experience, by all available evidence, has not changed.

Booking and Practical Details

Booking difficulty is near impossible by conventional standards. This is not a restaurant you decide to visit two weeks out and secure on a whim. Plan well in advance, months ahead is not an overstatement for prime dates. There is no published online booking link or phone number in the public record, which suggests reservations are managed through a waiting list or direct contact. Check the restaurant's own channels for current booking instructions.

The price range is $$$$, at the top end of Toronto's dining market, consistent with the international omakase tier. Dress code is not formally published, but the room and occasion suggest smart casual at minimum; business attire is appropriate and common. The counter seats a small number of guests per service, which is part of what makes this format work and part of why availability is so constrained.

If you are visiting Toronto for the first time and trying to decide between this and the city's other top-tier options, weigh your format preference carefully. Alo offers a broader contemporary tasting menu and is marginally easier to book. Aburi Hana provides a kaiseki format if you want a Japanese meal with more structural variety. For wider Toronto context, see our full Toronto restaurants guide, or explore hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences in the city. For comparable high-end dining elsewhere in Canada, Tanière³ in Quebec City, AnnaLena in Vancouver, and Jérôme Ferrer - Europea in Montreal operate at a similarly serious level in their respective formats.

Quick reference: Tue–Fri, 6 PM–11 PM; closed Sat–Mon; omakase only; $$$$ per head; near-impossible booking, plan months ahead.

Awards and Recognition

• Michelin 2 Stars, 2024 and 2025
• Opinionated About Dining, Leading Restaurants in North America: #60 (2025), #74 (2024)
• La Liste Leading Restaurants, 76 pts (2026), 77.5 pts (2025)