Toro Bar & Bar

Their lunch menu is so worthy. It tastes so good and phenomenal. I tried BC Sushi Roll and Dynamite Roll. Oh my gosh, so yummy. I tried their calamari also. Usually, every time I try calamari the seasoning is only in the outside part but their calamari is different. You must come to this restaurant. Btw they have amazing service also!! Well I forgot to say, their restaurant also has good space if you bring a stroller

the food is just amazing! our server is really friend and knowledgeable! I am surprised how beautiful their dishes are! fantastic vibe, I love their music taste!

Extremely disappointing dining experience. Upon entry, there was no host in sight. We got seated at the bar somewhat promptly and was immediately served with a wasabi and sauce dish with wasabi remnants that clearly was not supposed to be there which was disgusting. We ordered the Hokkaido Ceviche upon our server's recommendation - the scallops didn't taste fresh, the shrimp were rubbery, the sauce was overpowering, and the baby squid was missing. After inquiring our server, he apologized and brought us some baby squid pieces and told us to mix them in. The texture was fine but as you could imagine, tasteless even after we dipped it in sauce. By the time he brought out the black dragon roll we ordered, we still didn't have soy sauce which we had to ask for. The black dragon roll was decent thanks to the unagi sauce - can't go wrong with that! The most anticipated roll, the golden lobster roll was in fact terrible and we couldn't finish it. Couldn't taste the lobster at all and the ingredients just didn't go together. The wagyu nigiri never showed up and when our server came to check on us, he was not aware of that. I told him what we thought of the food and cancelled the nigiri order. He was kind about it and comped the ceviche. It's just super disappointing as this place has great reviews and We expected more for the price point. Will not return or recommend this place to anyone. Don't let the presentation/ pictures fool you.

To owner's reply: did you not see the shrimp that was spit out on the plate, perhaps just like you didn't see the unsanitary wasabi remnants on the dish you served? When we pointed out the missing squid, we had eaten one shrimp and one scallop; instead of offering to remake it, the server just brought out squid pieces and told us to DIY. As far as the nigiri, when our server came to check on us when we were almost done with the meal, I asked about the nigiri, and the server answered "you haven't gotten it yet?" Not "it is (will be) ready (shortly)." If they were already made, I wouldn't have asked to cancel it. The complaint was not about wait time but rather about the service and inattentiveness. Obviously as your other replies to the negative comments, you are defensive, passive aggressive, and condescending if you spent time and energy on actually improving the restaurant and quality of food instead of attacking your customers, maybe it would be a better establishment.

Hands down the best restaurant in Victoria. Great atmosphere, food and very attentive servers! Everything you want in a restaurant with a great menu and bar!
We started with miso soup which was really good. Then salads, I had sashimi salad which was great. We shared the lobster hot bowl which was outstanding! For desert we shared the mango cake and it was spectacular!
You are missing out if you haven't been yet! Must try the plum sake. Absolutely divine!

The ambiance of this place is really upscale and the food was great. My husband got the set lunch, which was a fun way of trying many things. I opted for sushi a la carte. All of it was fresh and delicious! Service was quick and friendly. Would come again!

Went there on a Friday night for a slightly later dinner. We were excited to try them due to all the high reviews (mainly based on Google as not many here, also appears they may have skewed some of those by providing people free dessert for a 5 star per some of the reviews) and hoping it would be like Kingyo in Vancouver when seeing menu online.

However, unfortunately would not be able to recommend anyone going here unless they just want to waste their money.

Items of note in order of occurrence
- When arriving they didn't appear to have a host so waited a little before being greeted then a tad more before being sat at the bar (liquor bar not sushi bar rail). Maybe they are short staffed which would also explain the lack of interaction with one person behind the bar when at the bar (didn't clear plates, asked if we would like a drink after the waiter did then no further interaction)
- The menu is quite large with an assortment of styles/items not in a good way but to where it doesn't appear they have a clear direction (not the typical large roll selection you see at many sushi restaurants but of various other styles/items however not yet to cheesecake factory level of menu overload)
- Wife was given a Wasabi dish with a fairly large size of old Wasabi smashed in the corner of the dish on what would be the soy sauce side with the new Wasabi and ginger on the other. Not sure how those that handled the dish to this point missed it but is horrible qc. Waiter was apologetic and brought out another one.
- First dish received was the ceviche. The shrimp was very tough to where i needed to spit it out and the sauce greatly overpowered the seafood items. They forgot the squid in the dish. We notified the waiter who then brought out a plate of the squid and said we can mix it in. The sauce was good with greens on the dish and I thought the scallops were cooked nicely but as mentioned the sauce greatly overpowered them.
- The next dishes were the Black Dragon and 39" Golden Lobster Roll. These came out timed fine after the ceviche. We hadn't received soy sauce yet so notified our waiter who brought it over promptly. The black pearl was good but pretty safe with . The lobster roll is huge and the ingredients don't really come together but make it more of a mush. Presentation on both was really nice. Waiter came over to ask how everything was at which point he was told of our opinion with the ceviche and Golden lobster. He offered to remake the ceviche at this point however that wouldn't really do much now after being told to mix in the missing ingredient ourself probably about 15 min prior.
- Waiter came back a bit later and asked if we would like anything else. We asked if the Nigiri Wagyu which we ordered with everything was coming. He was unaware that we didn't receive it so we decided to cancel the order (were also now glad to cancel as concerns about qc and delivery were much greater than when having ordered originally).
- Didn't order anymore as just wanted to get out and didn't trust anymore money would be well spent. They waived the ceviche which was appreciated even when we didn't ask them to.

Some other misc items. They didn't appear to be seating anyone at the sushi bar which is a good place to be when getting sushi. The 3 bao bao that are in many photos showing 3 different types of protein is now just 3 chicken which was disappointing to discover so didn't order.

Was originally going to provide a 2 star review however after seeing the owner's dismissive and condescending response to my dining partners experience/review there it sealed it as they have lots of stuff to sort out and they are unable to take any sort of comment that isn't kissing their a$$.

Good sushi but a few things were unusual. Ama ebi nigiri came sans tail and fried heads. We had to ask for the fried head and it took forever. We joked that they were probably saving all the heads for themselves to fry up and eat! Also, don't bother paying extra for "real wasabi". It's the same green play-dough-like ball you see at any other sushi place. We were expecting the fresh grated kind and felt a bit misled. O-toro nigiri fish slices were half the size of all the other nigiri fish. Overall, fish tasted fresh and they had good variety but there are a lot of other sushi places in the area.

I've eat at a lot of sushi places in the lower mainland - my favorites being Taka's Sushi in White Rock, Ato Sushi Kitchen+Bar in Surrey, Hanako Japanese Restaurant in Surrey, and Takara Sushi in Burnaby. I love raw salmon, toro, and wagyu (if available), so those are the staples I like to order.

I LOVED Toro Bar & Bar. If you are visiting Victoria and even have a light interest in Japanese sushi, you must try this place! I'm so sad that I live on the mainland and can't eat here more frequently. Be advised, the prices are fairly high at this restaurant, but I do believe it is worth it.

The ambiance was cool, service was fast and friendly, and food was absolutely amazing. I ordered the Salmon Oshi and Wagyu Oshi. Both nearly melted in my mouth and had a light, soft texture. Definitely allowed for a decadent, dessert-like experience. I recommend substituting the real wasabi, it makes the dishes even more incredible. You do not need to use soy sauce, try to eat at least one piece as it comes before adding anything.

The O-toro Nigiri was great - it was similar to the o-toro I eat at Hanako and Taka's, however, I like Hanako's just slightly more. I would place Toro's on par with Taka's. I noticed they do not have kama-toro, but I do not mind because it's been a long while since Taka's has had it available (at least every time I've gone there). The o-toro was fatty and felt like eating a delicious cloud.

My highlight was easily the Wagyu Nigiri - they torch it AND smoke it, serving it to you in a covered plate before opening to allow the pleasant aroma to prep you for a express trip to flavor town. If you are only trying one thing, I strongly recommend this.

I drank a mimosa, which was decent - not too sweet. The presentation of every dish was great - minimalist, but still nice and distinct from what you usually get at standard sushi restaurants.

I enjoyed this place so much I am contemplating going again tomorrow before catching my ferry back to the mainland lol.

Enjoy!

Food, atmosphere, service and presentation of sushi was out of this world amazing...
Top notice quality in the food and service.
This was our first time at Toro and won't be out last!
Highly recommend this lovely new spot that has opened up!!!

Completely epic experience! Standout dishes were the BBQ squid, the seafood ceviche and the pressed toro sushi, but everything, including the service, was outstanding!