TGIF at Miku

On a sunny day in October, we decided to head downtown for lunch at Miku. It's been a while since I've been there and was definitely overdue for another visit. We had originally requested a table outside but the weather had taken a turn for the worse and they accommodated us with a table inside. 

Nothing starts a lunch better than a few cocktails. I'm a huge fan of old-fashioneds or negronis, so this Golden Hour Manhattan ($21) made with 
saffron infused toki Japanese whisky, bénédictine, odd society bittersweet vermouth and grapefruit bitters was a perfect option. 

The boy opted for the Cucumber Gimlet ($17) made with beefeater gin, fresh cucumber juice and lime. It was a nice elevation to the usual Gin & Soda and something I can try to make at home. Both drinks were strong and packed a punch. 

We decided to share the Lunch Shokai ($41) which starts off with their miso soup. The miso broth is topped with a touch of enoki mushrooms and wakame. Warm start to lunch!

The lunch special also comes with two starters. One was the beef shank and the other option was a fish fritter. Since we were avoiding beef, they graciously offered to swap that out with their sablefish appetizer instead. 

This Fish Fritter with their homemade tartar sauce reminded both of us of a Filet'o'Fish. This is not a complaint, as we are both fans of the McD's favourite. The fish was tender and juicy with an airy batter. The sauce was creamy and tart and actually made a great dressing for the greens. 

This Sablefish was amazing. Just a hint of crunch on the skin and super buttery texture. It was mildly flavoured with a touch of smokiness. 

Now onto the star of the show...their assorted traditional and Aburi oshi, rolls, and nigiri, 10 pieces in all. Salmon, ebi, tuna, toro and more. Everything was good and we actually managed to share most of the nigiri. My chopstick cutting skills are pretty impressive. Every bite was tasty and I didn't even miss the wasabi.

Now I'm not usually a dessert person but you can add this petit Green Tea Opera (+$7) bite to complete your lunch set. Although I was going to pass on this, when I saw plate after plate of this arrive]ing at nearby tables, I knew we had to get it. As per their website, this is is green tea génoise, matcha butter cream, dark chocolate ganache, azuki bean cream, hazelnut wafer and matcha ice cream. As the description would indicate...this was creamy. It was a great way to end a wonderful lunch.

On a side note, our waitress was amazing...she had lots of stories about the A-listers that swing through Miku on the regular.  

Delicious Lunch at the New Miku

The beautiful Miku recently moved to 200 Granville St., the old location of Aqua Riva, and I couldn't wait to try it out. They have another stunning location in Yaletown called Minami. One of the things about the space that I really liked about the new place was the overall airiness of it. And the decor complemented the lovely windows with the bright lights, reminiscent of uni! Or maybe that's just me...

 

We went with a merlot, since we were likely having seafood, so a bold red wasn't really called for.   This is the Land and Sea Brochette served on the skewer over a bed of couscous.   On one end, we have some fennel and two tiger prawns. The smokiness of the char on the prawn is delicious. The couscous and broccolini had a hint of curry, which I wasn't expecting at all. The flavours were good, but it just didn't seem to "go" with brochette.   On the other end, we got some veggies, as well as a giant scallop and a perfectly medium rare NY strip. This was moist and juicy, and really completed the dish. And no, you don't have to eat the steak with chopsticks, they give you a knife and fork as well.    We also decided to try Miku Zen, where chefs from the kitchen and sushi bar select seasonal items for you to try. From the kitchen, we got fish done three ways as well as a salad. This was the Deep Fried Halibut, and the little bites were crispy on the outside and steaming hot on the inside. A touch heavy with the tarter sauce, but that's purely a personal preference.  This delicious piece of Miso Baked Sable Fish had a very buttery mouth feel, with a bit of Gomae on the side. Loved the edible flower as well!  The third item was Hamachi Sashimi. The topping was a bit sweet, but it actually seemed to enhance the freshness of the sashimi itself. These were big pieces but I still wanted more!  Now this is the Greens and Tofu Salad, and I wasn't really a fan of, but I think it's only the crumbled miso tofu that threw me off a bit. Otherwise, this was a nice refreshing salad, with crisp greens and tomato slices.   And from the sushi chefs, we got a selection of their Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi as well as traditional Nigiri. No matter how often I have the Salmon Aburi Sushi, it always amazes me with its simplicity. The Ebi also had a nice hit of smokiness. We were pretty stuffed but wait, we still had one more dish!  This is the Kaisen Don, complete with Mackerel, Unagi, Hotate, Ikura, Ebi, Salmon and more. This was the first dish that actually came with wasabi! Although the sashimi is amazingly fresh, what really sets this dish apart is the rice. There's something in the way the rice is cooked, it's not sticky at all and has a nice vinegary tang to it.

Take Note:

• Gorgeous views, get a patio seat if it's nice out
• Surprisingly good miso soup
• Food comes at a quick clip, let server know if you want  them to slow down

Some of my faves for Valentine's Day...

Trying to decide on a favourite restaurant is like trying to decide on a favourite dress...truly depends on the occasion, right? However, many of my friends have been asking me where to take their special someone for tonight, so here are a few places that have delighted me in recent months. I'd highly recommend them for dinner...and not just tonight either, I believe that everyday should be Valentine's Day.
Cioppinos <-- My review
Decandent, but if it's a special occasion, splurge. Get the zucchini blossoms!

The gigantic veal chop.

Campagnolo <-- My review
Truly amazing pastas and risottos, you can't go wrong.

Garganelli Ragu...tastes as though it has been stewing for hours.

Au Petit Chavignol <-- My Review
Cozy little place with yummy salumi and macaroni and cheese

And this was part of Dine Out Vancouver!

Octopus Garden <-- My Review
Eclectic and distintive Japanese fare in a small room, cozy and traditional

One of the prettiest presentation you will find.

L'artista <-- My Review
Wholesome Italian fare in Burnaby...none of the pretentiousness and all the deliciousness.

A simple rustic seafood linguine, just the way you'd expect it to be.

Miku -<-- My Review
Aburi sushi, and Wagyu beef sushi, and if you're going to splurge on it, you should get it aburi-ed

Amazing and unique rolls, but a bit pricey.

Market <-- My Review
Part of Jean-Georges empire, this place is elegant and serves up laarger portions than expected.

The steamed prawn salad is an amazing appetizer!

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...