Miku

1055 West Hastings.

Came here for the first night of dineout. Unfortunately one of our party was half an hour late for our reservation, and she brought an extra person but our server was happy to accomodate us. Service was great, he made jokes and made appropriate suggestions to our food. Overall, the restaurant was nice, beautiful atmosphere, very open, friendly people. They also do the odd shouting thing at each other (much like Guu apparently, haven't been there myself).

To start off, I ordered a bottle of their Indigo Wind, which is sparkling sake. Can't say much, but I really enjoyed it (my first time having sake). Our appetizers arrived in beautiful presentation. Loved the aburi bincho, which was albacore tuna with masatake on top and veggies. The way it was put together really accented the true flavour of the tuna. The carpaccio was also absolutely delicious. Tiger prawns (ebi fritter) were beer battered and done perfectly, so so good. I was not a fan of the chicken nanban, it seemed a little out of place amongst all my other appetizers.

The main was exceptional, with a variety of their most popular rolls and nigri sushi. None of the sushi needed soya sauce. My favourite was the red wave roll, which was snow crab with avocado and the same masatake sauce on the aburi bincho. The pacific roll (mainly albacore tuna, cucumber, and tamago) was put together in a new way, but I just found okay because the jalapeno really took out a lot of the flavour. The alburi salmon oshi was good, but wish there was less pepper in it. Nigri sushi worth noting is their hotate (scallop) which had a very creamy sauce on top, delicious, and their bincho (albacore tuna) nigri sushi.

Honestly I would say that the dessert was a disappointment, but the appy and main made up for it. Dessert was caramelized apples on top of cobbler, with raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream. As much as it looked nice, it was just mediocre. And I would have expected something more traditionally Japanese.

Overall, I would say that the sushi here is delicious, however, may not be traditionally Japanese. Many of their rolls and nigri sushi are peaked and flavoured with sauces which sometimes overtake the taste of the fish. So I don't know, I'm no expert but I find this to be a little westernized. But, an amazing meal nevertheless. I paid $80 for dinner, $38 for dineout menu (so worth it), $23 for sparkling sake (200mL in case you're wondering), and a nice 20% tip.

I might come back if I'm feeling like I need some high class Japanese cuisine. Happy eating guys.