My friends ordered the Jidori Chicken Nanban, Coal Harbour Platter, Salmon Oshi Sushi, Ebi Oshi Sushi, Red Wave Roll, Hotate Aburi Sashimi, and the 10oz Prime Rib.
First up were the Platter, Chicken, and Hotate Aburi Sasahimi.
When they ordered the Coal Harbour Platter (which contains fresh oysters, mussels, jumbo prawns, kaisen poke (tuna), scallop ceviche, and kale gama-ae), the server wasn't sure if it would be enough for four people to share. She suggested that my friends order two instead, but in the end it worked out. They liked everything and had no complaints.
The Jidori Chicken Nanban was one of the weaker dishes, according to my friends. It was very plain and didn't stand out.
The Hotate (Hokkaido scallop, spicy jumbo prawns, cod roe aioli) was, according to them the weakest dish. It was also featured in my Aburi Sashimi Selection, which is four kinds o sashimi, flame seared with signature sauces.
I'm sorry the photo's so dark, but on this plate is two of each of the Sockeye Salmon with citrus-anchovy salsa, Maguro big eye tuna tartare with wasabi masatake sauce, the Hotate scallop, and Hamachi. The sockeye salmon was very lean, if that's what you like, great. The salsa didn't add a lot of taste to it. I'm not sure this is a signature dish they should be advertising because it really fell short. Same with the scallop and tuna. Everything was just bland and chewy. The Hamachi was the best of the dish because the fish itself had a lot of flavour, you couldn't really taste the sauce.
Then my friends' prime rib came with a side of mashed potatoes.
They didn't have much to say about the mashed potatoes, but they said the prime rib was very flavourful and cooked perfectly to a medium rare. One of the birthday girls compared it to the Wagyu beef she had at Black & Blue. She says it's not as good as the wagyu, but pretty darn good.
Lastly, and the server did this perfectly, were the rolls.
According to my friends, it was a good thing the rolls came last because after tasting them, the prime rib seemed to pale in comparison. They thought to Red Wave Roll was decent, but nothing spectacular. What really caught their attention were the oshi sushis, which apparently "melts in your mouth". I tried one of each of the salmon and ebi oshi sushi. The lime sauce on the ebi was a surprise, and at first, not a good one. I'm not sure if I agree that the salmon melted in my mouth. The Miku sauce was very good. I then had another bite of the ebi and it tasted a little better after having a bit of the salmon. The lime kind of cuts the richness of the Miku sauce. I must say I was a little disappointed by their rice to fish ratio. My co-worker from Osaka is preparing me for my trip to Japan next year, and she mentioned that authentic Japanese sushi has only a little bit of rice, with a big slice of fish showcased on top. This sushi seemed completely opposite, with a huge block of rice and a thin layer of fish. But the rest of my table enjoyed it.
It was really busy there for a Wednesday night and our server was terrific. To me, it was a little overhyped and I just can't get over Ten Sushi from Seattle, so I wasn't too impressed to return. I'd recommend going as a group to order a bunch of stuff to try. My four friends only ended up spending $50 each (after tax, tip, and $1.75 per person plating fee for a cake we brought) for so many dishes, which really isn't that bad. I don't think you should bring your own cake, though, as quite a few of us saw their Green Tea Opera dessert in the dessert menu and really wanted to try it but were too full to.
