DINE FINE - MINAMI - YALETOWN VANCOUVER

 am not a fan of fusion Japanese food. To me, I feel like Miku, and its new sister, Minami focuses far too much on the art and presentation, that it lacks what Japanese food was initally all about - the flavour. 

AMBIANCE | I had a great time at Minami I must admit. The ambiance is amazing, the old Goldfish has transformed itself into a Zen and exotic restaurant. It is a very upscale place for dates and girls night outs. I shall let the pictures speak for themselves. Overall, I find the restaurant very self-explanatory, nothing too far from the norm. 

What we ordered (Party of 4): 

Hamachi Carpaccio - citrus avocado sauce
Aburi Tenderloin Nigiri - soy glazed foie gras, negisho x 2
Toro Nigiji x 4

Saikyo Miso Baked Sablefish - eggplant, spinach, shrimp-crab dumpling, wasabi-dashi broth, yuzu miso foam

Aburi Saba Oshi Sushi - pressed mackerel, miku miso sauce

Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi - pressed local salmon, jalapeno, miku sauce

Dessert - Green Tea Opera - Green tea sponge infused with espresso and Frangelico liqeur, green tea butter cream, dark chocolate ganache, azuki bean cream, green tea ice cream, green tea sauce

Passionfruit Sorbet

FOOD |  I believe Minami's presentation of the dishes sells the food more than the flavour. The sushi pieces were rather mediocre. Pricing is rather expensive for the quality I received. 

Aburi Tenderloin Nigiri - Intrigued by a tenderloin and foie gras nigiri, we decided to order two pieces of this ridiculous $6 nigiri. The sushi in general was not very surprising, the flavour of the tenderloin did not mix too well with the over all piece, and the foie gras was pea-sized. It sounds more like a gimmick then it was a well-crafted dish. 

We were told the Toro was sold out for the night, but after the waitress checked she said she can provide us with the last four. Excited as we were, we were thoroughly dissapointed. All four of us have eaten around Japan and Vancouver, we are able to spot out toro and "close to" toro. We all agreed that the waitress should have insisted on the Toro being sold out, rather than give us a subpar piece.

The Sablefish was $26, which at a Japanese restaurant, is rather expensive. Thinking we could not get full from small pieces of sushi, we decided to order an entree. But the fish piece was rather small and in my opinion, it was rather random. There was a random dumpling, and foam, which I thought did nothing to enhance the dish. I really rather received just a larger piece of fish without the fuss. The fish was good. 

The Aburi Sushi, what both Miku and Minami claim to introduce to Vancouver were decent. I find the texture of the rice very plain, and the ratio between such a large piece of rice and small piece of fish confused me. I remember when I went to Miku during their opening month, the Aburi sushi literally melted in my mouth, I find this amazing factor to be lost in the presentation

Overall, I was not very satisfied with Minami. Everyone has been hyping about the restaurant, claiming it was the new "it spot", but I found this restaurant to be full of propaganda and gimmick rather than top quality food. The food was definitely not worth it for its price, but I suppose the ambiance and presentation make up for it. 

1118 Mainland St.

Vancouver BC

V6B 5P2

604-685-8080

TRIP GUIDE - SUSHI DAI - TSUKIJI FISH MARKET TOKYO JAPAN

I have never in my life, waited in line, standing on my feet for FOUR HOURS. 

But for the legendary Sushi Dai, I woke up at 2:30AM, and had the meal of a lifetime. 

TRIP GUIDE SUSHI DAI |We finished our Tuna action around 5:50AM and sprinted to Sushi Dai. I saw a line of people (say around 40-50) and thought people were waiting for the bus. When we got to Sushi Dai we saw approximately 20 people in front of it, then obaasan scolded us to another line - what I thought was the bus line. Obaasan kindly informed us that the current wait time (at 6:00AM) is 4 HOURS. We really waited for 4 hours and ate around 9:45. Sushi Dai closes at 2pm sharp, So if you plan on arriving anytime after 8:30AM, I say you'd probably will not get in. You need to expect at least a 3-4 hour wait time. The line only gets longer and longer, and there are only 13 seats in the restaurant, people after us were waiting anywhere close to 4.5 - 5 hours. 

SUSHI DAI | I have heard puns everywhere that Sushi Dai is "Sushi to Die for". I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I honestly believe Sushi Dai is as close to the word "fresh" as anyone can ever eat. The fish are perfectly translucent and my clam was still moving when served. The moment we entered the restaurant we were greeted with multiple "thank you for waiting! arigatougozaimasu!". Because there were only 13 people in the restaurant, the chefs were able to connect and interact with everyone - such as asking "where you from!" or "how do you enjoy your stay in Japan!". The chefs are so cheerful and I suddenly forgot I just stood on the street for 4 hours.

Sushi Dai is expensive, but the entire journey here in the Tsukiji Fish Market (see previous blog post) has been unforgettable. The adventure beginning at 2:30AM until waiting in line for 4 hours, with nothing to do we were literally playing rock paper scissors for an hour, we could only wait for time to pass slowly. But the anticipation only made Sushi Dai more delicious. The desire for the hyped sushi and the feeling of seeing the sushi only to still be counting the hours until it is finally in my mouth. But Sushi isn't only famed for its line and extravagance, its quality lives up to its name and reason why it IS famed and extravagant. Four hours is alot of time, but by the time we left Tsukiji it was only 11:00AM, for some tourists, its only the beginning of their day. 

There are two course choices of "trust the chef" (3900 yen/ $51 CAD) or "standard"  (2500 yen/ $33 CAD). We just waited 4 hours, its a no brainer for us to pig out on the deluxe menu. The Chef menu or "Omakase" consisted of 10 nigiri sushi, 4 sushi rolls, tamago (sweet egg) and one extra item of your hearts pleasure. We even added on 2-3 more sushi each on top of the regular menu. 

Otoro/ Tuna Belly/ Fatty Tuna

Hirame

Miso Soup

Uni/ Sea Urchin

  

Aji/ Horse Mackerel

 

Ika/ Squid

Akagi/ Red Clam

Lean Tuna

 Shira Ebe/ Baby Shrimp

 Tamago/ Sweet Egg

 Unagi/ Sea Eel

 Scallop

 Otoro/ Fatty Tuna (again!)

Lunch Munch: GUU GARDEN - DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER

I used to love Guu. Guu gastown was my favourite, Guu Garlic on Denman was a close second. Guu Richmond and Guu Thurlow didnt cut the chase for me. 

As I grew older (uhh like in the past 2 years), I started getting very annoyed with loud and crammed restaurants.  The first time in Guu I loved the authenticity of servers yelling warm Japanes greetings around the restaurants, but by the tenth time I walk in, the excitement is gone, and I really rather not wait in line in a stuffy and crowded atmosphere. While Guu izakaya snacks are so unique - each plate being full of surprises, I chose other restaurants such as Aki over Guu. Well, until Guu Garden.

AMBIANCE | Guu Garden is located in the office area of Vancouver. Located upstairs Gyu-Kaku, Guu Garden is much more ventilated, much more open, and much more comfortable. There are floor to ceiling windows that outlook a Japanese garden shaping a simple and earthy environment. Splashed with colourful, but pastel pillow seats, and decorated with simple wooden tables, Guu Garden actually feels like a garden. A simple rural garden, not extravagant, not luxurious, but simple, easy and calm.

We ordered:

Garden Bento 1

Tonosama Bento: Deep friend breaded shrimp & veggies, grilled or stewed fish of the day, four kinds of sashimi, kobachi, rice and miso soup

Garden Bento 2

Businessman Bento: Saikyo miso black cod, three kinds of sashimi, salmon and saba sushi, kobachi and miso soup

Dessert: Sake pulp and Sea Salt Ice cream

Menu found here

FOOD | For lunch, they offered bento boxes ranging from $9-15.80. We ordered two of the $15.80 "Garden" boxes, and while the size looks small, it was actually really filling! Having just returned from Japan, in terms of presentation,Guu Garden is legitimately a restaurant that is plucked from Japan and placed in Vancouver. The placement of the foods are delicate and detailed (even a small umbrella for the grapes) and I would even call the bento box "cute" and "comfortable". The food is also finely made. Each tempura is freshly fried, each sushi is delicately made. 

My favourite of the meal was definitely the dessert. I have been to gelato places with numerous of strange and interesting flavours, but "sake pulp and sea salt" flavour is by far the most interesting and appetizing I have ever seen. The ice cream is based off a vanilla icecream with subtle hints of sake and salt. I absolutely loved it, and would recommend it to everyone. 

M101-888 Nelson Street 
Vancouver, BC V6Z2R9
604-899-0855