Best of the …east?

Best of the West took a turn east this week, with our intrepid team of taste-testing judges receiving a re-education on how to hold chopsticks in order to tackle the area's Best Sushi.

As usual, three finalists were chosen based on reader nominations. Judges ordered out rolls of Kamikaze sushi and one house specialty from each of the restaurants in question and evaluated the food at The Chronicle and Cités-Nouvelles ' office cafeteria.

In third place, with a total of 425 out of 500 points, came WiSushi. The Dollard des Ormeaux based sushi place at the corner of St. John's Boulevard and Blue Haven was praised most especially for its house specialty, Gucci rolls. "Very original," noted sales rep David Seltzer. "Very tasty."

In second place, with a total of 441 out of 500 points, was Fuji, on Sources Boulevard in Pierrefonds, which served up Dragon Eye rolls along with the Kamikaze standards. "The dragon eye rolls are really delicious and original, nice colour and texture," noted sales assistant Louise Boyer. The Chronicle and Cités-Nouvelles bureau chief Toula Foscolos was pleased with the freshness of the ingredients. "Would go back in a heartbeat!" She wrote in her judge's comments.

For many of the judges, it was a tight race between second and first place, but Maiko Sushi ultimately prevailed, with 456 points out of a possible 500. "Their kamikaze rolls are full of avocado, salmon and cucumber. Excellent!" Seltzer said. The Chronicle's editor Albert Kramberger said all three finalists had great, fresh ingredients, "but Maiko came out on top due to its all-around taste and fish-rice ratio."

Five judges graded each restaurant over 100 points based on five categories: freshness, fish-to-rice ratio, flavour, originality and ingredients. Individual scores were then tallied together to come up with a total score on 500.

Next week, our judges will give their dentists nightmares as they test out the area's best sweet treat. If you have any ideas for the category coming up afterward, best salad, now is the time to send in your nomination. Call news director Marc Lalonde at (514) 685-3923, or e-mail him at marc.lalonde@transcontinental.ca by June 10.

Check out The Chronicle's print edition on the following dates to find out how your favourites fare: sweet treat (June 10), salad (June 17), backyard garden (send in your photo) (June 24), late night eats (July 1), community pool (July 8), steak (July 15), pasta dish (July 25), bagels (Aug. 5), breakfast ( Aug. 12), sandwich (Aug. 19), readers' choice (you pick the topic) (Aug. 26). <@Cp>Chronicle, Lynn Brown-Poole<@$p>