u/allaboutandroids

Alright. Cat's out of the bag. I finally got my reservation at Sushi Nishinokaze and TLDR; it was good, not great. I'll elaborate 😄

Having this obsession of trying all sorts of fine dining and fun dining all over Canada, the US and abroad, I would like to think that I am an amateur food critic in a fair way. I also happen to have a little bit of a sensitive palate and nose which makes me pick a lot of the subtle flavours in the foods that I eat. Of course, I will always give credit where credit is due and criticize where improvements are needed. Overall, the food in a restaurant is what is supposed to be peak while the actual service, ambiance, washrooms etc. add to the experience.

I've personally done about 15 edomae omakase sushi experiences. Varying price points, varying number of courses, some had Michelin stars, some didn't. Anyway, Sushi Nishinokaze falls short when it comes to the price point to what you obtain. At $414 (this includes taxes and obligatory 20% tip), you are expected to be served 21 courses. I personally added their two supplement courses at $40 and $80 respectively. Lastly with sake carafe pairing (about 4 containers, 180ml each, shared with my friend), we add another $200. All in, this meal and experience cost me $734 and I was not marveled, the way I would expect to be from a $700+ restaurant.

Let's begin shall we...

My friend and I get to the location and there's scaffolding at the entrance. I know it's not the restaurant's fault but at the same, we wanted this to be magical so not being able to even see the restaurant's front area sucked. We ring the doorbell and we are ushered in, coats and bags are taken away. We are brought to our seats, where they pull it out for us. Then we are greeted with a fresh, lightly scented towel to wash our hands and mouth. We get the drinks menu and unfortunately 2 of the 3 pages were ripped at the holes in the binder. Small thing but I would not expect this at another 1 star restaurant. We opted for the sake pairing of 4 carafes, dealer's choice. The containers and drink ware are all art pieces, some dating over 300yrs old. Really awesome touch yet a bit stress inducing if an accident were to happen lol

Courses 1 and 2 - Sashimi

Here we had flounder (on the left) and amberjack (on the right). We have freshly grated wasabi root and soy sauce for dipping. We were told to add the wasabi and eat it with the soy sauce. I did one pair raw and one pair with the condiments. Flounder was light, sweet, delicate. Amberjack was oily and rich. Very nice opening to the night. Soy sauce wasn't anything extraordinary, very mild flavour. Wasabi was perfect 8/10

Course 3 - Shrimp

Raw shrimp mixed with white miso and cooked innards of the shrimp. Topped with fresh yuzu zest. Amazing texture, sweetness, umami. 9/10

Course 4 - Geoduck

Overall, disappointing dish. I could literally only taste the ponzu (yuzu based soy sauce). The geoduck had a gummy texture which is fine. There were some flower buds that added some chew and some jelly substances. So definitely just more of a ponzu sauce to drink featuring texture. 4/10

Course 5 (optional, $40) - Raw Lobster

I didn't know it then but this will be the highlight of the night! Raw lobster marinated in brandy, soy sauce, mirin and sake. Topped with the cooked innards once more. Super sweet, rich, boozy and balanced. 10/10

Courses 6 through 21 (Nigirizushi, fish on top of rice*.* Includes optional rare Uni, $80.)

I did a collage to highlight all of them. Usually, it's from the lightest to the richest in flavour and depth. We were also served marinated pickled young ginger on the side. Had a lovely spice kick to it. Typically recommended to have a piece of ginger to cleanse the palate before each new nigiri dish.

A quick note about the Shari (vinegared rice.) The grains were perfect. From size to texture to temperature. However... it lacked a little bit of "punch" which is what I am more accustomed to from the Toronto scene.

First two dishes were barely present. Super subtle fish. As mentioned above, the soy blend is also very light. The amount of wasabi was good and it added to the taste. The squid was excellent, amazing texture and sweetness. Mackerel with Japanese green onion was lovely. All 3 Tunas were fantastic Akami (lean), Chutoro (Medium Fat) and Otoro (Fatty underbelly). Scallop was excellent too. Smoked Mackerel hit the spot. Uni is hard to miss at these places, beautifully stacked, buttery goodness, topped with soy blend. Handroll with akami, chutoro and otoro was a 10/10. Miso soup did not impress me at all. Smoked BBQ eel was solid. Rare Uni was even more rich, more umami, a little bit bitter. Only salt was added. Minus the first two dishes without much flavour, 8/10.

Courses 22 and 23 - Dessert

Egg cake (8/10) and Crown Melon (10/10). The egg cake had a wonderful texture, density and flavour. Not the best I've had but certainly really good. Crown Melon was the tastiest melon I've had in my life, too bad it was only 3 tiny pieces.

We had a warm towel to clean up once done. The bill was brought quickly, thankfully no tipping option was presented. Just the cost of the 2 supplements and alcohol. The bathroom was immaculate and even had a super fancy TOTO bidet toilet haha

Overall, Sushi Nishinokaze is probably the best spot in Montréal to get an edomae sushi experience. Chef Vincent was warm, all staff members were knowledgeable and shared fun anecdotes of the ceramics, the sake, the dishes and the elements of preparation that went into it. All things considered, I will most likely not be back especially due to the price point to flavour ratio. I can appreciate the variety of price points with excellent flavours in the Toronto scene. They were originally from Toronto and I assume the competition was too tough. Glad they could introduce this form of art to the MTL scene. Proud of what they have accomplished and looking forward to what comes next. Maybe they will push the boundaries to have other sushi spots elevate their game.

TL;DR It's really good, excellent value for money in my opinion. Nice balance of Japanese and French cuisines.

Hey MTL gang! After weeks of working days and nights, I needed a break and sushi was what my mouth was craving. I haven't been a big fan of the sushi scene in the city since I grew accustomed to what Toronto had to offer. With that being said, I have had decent options in the past here. Jun I and Park are quite lovely but pricey, while Shoji in the South Shore gives me the best bang for the buck (Their Chirashi Don Premium usually will include Foie Gras, Chutoro/Otoro, Uni and A5 Wagyu for like $70)

Nevertheless, duty called for sushi and so I browsed the internet and Google Maps reviews. Finally ended up seeing the Nama Omakase restaurant that had a new $98 12 course sushi special. My dumbass didn't read correctly and that was set for only two services, one at 6pm and one at 8:30pm. I booked a reservation with my 2 friends for 7pm.

Long story short, I picked their Omakase option, which ranges in a small, medium and large format, $100, $135 and $170 per person respectively.

I wanted to experience their highest level of craftmanship so opted for the $170 menu. I absolutely adored it and think that this is probably one of the better sushi-fusion experiences I've had over the years. Sooo, without further ado, here's the review!

Cold Starters:
We were given 3 cold starters. The first was thinly sliced kampachi in a yuzu sauce topped with crispy shallots, chives and a sprinkle of olive oil. Excellent balance of the citrus to the fish. The shallots and chives added texture and flavour that elevated it in a simple yet effective way. The second was an Ora King salmon (From New Zealand) tartare with a yuzu espuma (foam) in a chive sauce with ponzu, accompanied by some crackers with wasabi seasoning. The salmon literally dissolved like butter, super flavourful and the sauce + foam really took it up a notch. The cracker was interesting per se (Please say you like crackers, please say you like crackers) as it only really added a crunchy texture without much flavour. The last cold starter was a beef tartare with a cured egg yolk and pickled veggies (Mushrooms, cucumbers, jalapenos). It was coated in sesame oil and it was fabulous, I'll take 14 of them right now.

Warm Starters:
The warm starters aka room temperature starters were SUBLIME. The first was toasted and caramelized milk bread with the Miyazaki A5 Wagyu, topped with cured egg yolk and garlic chips. The moment I placed that in my mouth, the world started spinning. So rich. The second was an eggplant katsu salad with a miso teriyaki dressing. The katsu part of it was so incredible because I really dislike eggplant but this had a super crispy crust on both sides of it and it paired perfectly with the rest of the salad.

Nigiri Sushi (4 pieces) and Sashimi (5 slices):
The pièce de la résistance. The Nigiri had a really nice shari (rice) and each slice of fish was the perfect thickness. Their 3yr aged Marunaka shoyu sauce was bangin! I literally drank a bit of it after I went through all of the fish haha. I ate the pickled ginger between switching from white fish to red fish. The Sashimi was fantastic with decent variety. There was only the Akami (Bluefin Tuna) and no chutoro or otoro (the fattier parts of the belly). The star of the show was the soy sauce that complimented all of the pieces of fish.

Main Course:
Since this is a fusion restaurant, we got some french cuisine for the main course. First was the medium rare Duck Magret with foie gras. It was accompanied with beets, raspberries and a raspberry sauce. They all played nicely together. The second main course was the Beef Shortrib which was more medium than medium rare but still pretty much dissolved once in my mouth. Accompanied with fennel, turnips and mashed potatoes.

Dessert:

What a pristine way to end the night. Japanese rice pudding dessert with wild puff rice, a sake ice cream, topped with a mango sauce, and some type of crunchy caramel like crisps. It was fully balanced, not overly sweet.

Added a brand of sacrifice and the Homunculus ouroboros mark to my colourful left arm 🙏🏽

Done today by im_______cat in Toronto

Just got it done today in Toronto by @im_______cat

Despite having the highest fucking tax rate in our country, the city of Montréal has the most pathetic, destroyed road infrastructure on pretty much every single street. I myself have lost 2 tires, one summer and one winter. Filed appeals both times to the city and got told that they weren't liable 🙄

So, if you want to support the volunteer work being done to actually make a difference, saving people from the hell of dealing with tow trucks, tire replacements, mag replacements etc. Give them a couple of bucks to push through:

https://gofund.me/1636e9966