CSK and Miku

So, Vancouver is trying to do their thing and match the good foods of other world-class cities when it comes to street food. I dropped by Chinese Skewer King (CSK). The meat choices were limited at this late hour, only pork available...instead of the lamb, beef and tofu that were listed. There was a girl ahead of us who ordered a tofu skewer, and instead of telling her that they were out of tofu, the vendor made and gave her a veggie skewer instead. When she said that she asked for tofu, he laughed and said that this was their vegetarian skewer, almost the same. She balked, walked and asked for her money back. Needless to say, this was bad form on behalf of the owner/vendor.
I decided to ignore this and order the pork skewer. $2.50 for one, $5.50 for three. Since we had planned for dinner at Miku, we passed on the three. Turns out my friend isn't a fan of meat on a stick, so I inhaled the whole thing on my own. 

The meat was grilled well, but the seasoning...blah. Loads of cumin and tumeric and way too salty! They also offer their skewers with a side of bread...this probably would be the way to go, something to dilute the saltiness.

Headed down to Miku on an unexpected venture...it was with an out-of-town friend who was travelling en route from Shanghai to Toronto. Deciding on where to eat was easy...I had two criterias that had to be satisfied...patio and Japanese, well, Ikura, to be specific. I know that Miku downtown has both, so I hightailed it there. The first dishes we ordered were the Miku Roll ($15) and the Cruncy Scallop ($10) roll.  

Both were amazing. The miku roll is a MUST-TRY! It's got salmon, snow crab meat, cucumber and tobiko, and for the first time in my life...Ikura. In a roll. Brilliant.

The scallop roll is exceptional too...fresh scallop, with a bit of sweet mayo, as with most places. The thing that sets this apart is the toppy...a mixture of tempura bits and dried nori. Whoa...it almost tasted like crushed up chips. The nori added so much more flavour to tempura bits...everyone should do this. It's such a cheap fix, but so good!

One thing that I always order at new places is their Tako Sunomono. I like to know what they can do with simple vermicelli, seaweed and tako. This place does their sunomono so differently. First off, there is no vermicelli. But, oh, there is so much more that you don't even miss the noodles!

The sunomono is packed with two types of nori, loads of crunchy goodness right there. The red seaweed was the best I've ever had. So fresh, so "ocean-y". The ebi and tako that came with this were spectacular, nothing to distract from their seafoodiness. Lightly dressed...perfect...Definitely worth the $7.

Next up was the Premium Aburi. For $23, you get seven pieces of their signature Aburi Sushi.

The first three you see here is the tuna, ebi and himachi. Each comes with their own sauce, and grilled perfectly.

The net three is the salmon, hotake and saba.

Final piece was another piece of tuna. You really need to try this dish. I know it's a bit pricey, but for each piece to have its own topping and sauce...really shows the dedication of the sushi chef.

This is the first time I've seen Wagyu Beef on the menu, as a sushi. And since my whole plan for tonight was ikura, we ordered that too.

You can have the Wagyu raw ($8) or you can have them aburi it for $.50 more. Taking the advice of our waiter, we got it aburi-ed. 

The topping was delightful...it tasted like the ginger/green onion that you get with Hainenese chicken. I think wagyu beef is best eaten as a huge gigantic slab...the way Glowbal Grill serves it, grilled, charred, and thick. The thinness of the beef is frustratng here, not enough for flavour or texture.

The ikura is amazing though...not too expensive at $3 per piece, the sushi here is really good. It's something about their rice...fresh, soft and not hard at all. The nori is crispy...these babies are made fresh to order...that's for sure.

Despite the sunomonos, the two rolls, and the wagyu and ikura, I was still hungry. We asked the waiter what his favourite dish was, and he revealed the highlight of our night. Can you tell what this is? It's a vegetable, simply grilled and topped with a miso sauce.

Here...a close up...does that help? Post a comment and I'll let you know what this "secret ingredient" was! Oh, and it's cheap...only $1.50...