Ato Japanese Restaurant

“I hadn’t been to such a carefully run Japanese restaurant in a long time. Everything was very balanced and high quality. It was a nice touch that the chef explained each dish. The presentations are simple yet very elegant there’s no unnecessary exaggeration, it’s entirely focused on quality. The prices may seem high, but they’re worth it for the flavour. I can easily recommend it for a calm, high-quality, and thoughtfully prepared dinner.”

“This was our second time here for dinner, and it was just as amazing as the first. The fish is incredibly fresh and absolutely delicious - you can really taste the quality. Everything is prepared with so much care. Special compliments to the chef - very attentive to detail and clearly passionate about what he does. Such a great dinner experience overall. We’ll definitely be coming back again and recommending this place.”

“In the land of strip malls and bubble tea, ATO stands like a quiet temple to the sea. No flash, no gimmicks, and they’ve risen fast. One of the first in the GTA to pull off a full bluefin tuna cutting show, ATO isn’t just serving sushi—it’s making a statement. The fish? Impeccable. Glistening sashimi, perfectly tempered nigiri, rich cuts of o-toro and chu-toro. There’s a devotion here—to quality and tradition. And they’ve done it without the Toronto markup. Omakase here is serious, but accessible without feeling you are funding a private golf membership. The vibe? Zen-quiet. Multiple rooms, hushed voices, focused chefs. ATO Japanese Restaurant isn’t trendy. It’s timeless. And that’s the point. CHEERS!!!!”

“It was an enjoyable date night. The service was kind, although at times difficult to understand the fish mentioned. The sushi was fresh and very tasty. Some of the cuts of sashimi were not the best. For the price point in a city that has some top omakase experiences I would say it's on the higher side. Good amount of food, we were full but not overly uncomfortable stuffed.”

“The lunchtime nigiri pieces were quite standard, and include: 1. Shima aji (striped jack) 2. Hotate (scallop) 3. Kinmedai (golden eye snapper) 4. Sake (salmon) 5. Akami (lean bluefin tuna) 6. Chutoro (medium fatty bluefin tuna) 7. Otoro (fatty bluefin tuna) 8. Anago (sea eel) I thought the quality of the fish was fine for this price, but the rice ruined it a bit for me. It was so flavourless with barely any texture or firmness or vinegar taste, and it also just came out of a rice cooker. That made the whole nigiri taste kind of bland, and because of this, I felt like it either needed more wasabi or soy sauce to make up for the lack of taste. Idk if things have changed, but I thought the rice was decent enough when I was ordering chirashi from them 4 years ago. My favourite piece in the meal was surprisingly the salmon nigiri, and that was because the truffle on top added flavour to the piece. I would also say it’s quite interesting and contemporary. I heard Shunoko does similar concepts with their nigiri; maybe I’ll try that. Dessert was taro ice cream, and it’s actually better than how it looks. Service was alright but it felt a bit like something typical of traditional Chinese restaurant culture sometimes with the waitress being a bit loud with the clashing of tableware. I don’t really care, but just saying lol. Seating time is quite quick too. I didn’t have a reservation and just randomly popped in around 2PM and got in within 5 minutes of waiting. The restaurant itself had many dining rooms, and there was only one other family in my room. I also found it funny that they put a flatscreen TV in the room with random scenic Japanese tourist spots; it reminded me of being at the dentist waiting room.”