All you can eat sushi at Zuri

One of the things that I love so much about my pals Maria & Josh is that they're constantly doing new, fun, adventurous things.  Case in point; the drive-in.  On a slightly chilly night in July, we found ourselves well-prepared for a triple flick (although I was having quite the issue trying to stay awake by movie #3).  It may not have been the best idea since M & I were both super sick with colds, but we wrapped ourselves in a woolen blanket and hunkered down for the night.  

Of course, no movie is ever complete without snacks, and M & I do like our snacks, so we came armed with some Stilton, sliced apple, veggies & dip, and...a sleeve of chocolate chip cookie dough...  Since I consider popcorn a food group, we got some of that as well.

The next night, M & I hit up Zuri Bar & Dining on Brunswick for their Wednesday night special of 'All-you-can -eat sushi'.  For $19 and the purchase of a drink, the staff will bring you endless platters (from a limited menu) on which to snack.  This was my first experience with sushi in Oz, and I was surprised that so much of it contained cooked meat and seafood.  

We got various plates, which contained:  Cooked tuna roll in soy and ginger w/ mayo and green onion; Chicken and Avocado roll (self explanatory); Chicken Karage - crispy Japanese chicken w/ chili mayo;  and a salmon nigiri w/ red onion. 

We also chose a btl. of Rolf Binder 2011 Riesling from the Eden Valley since Riesling is an iconic pairing for the spicy red chilies so often found in Asian cuisine.

This was a great night out since the company and the wine were fantastic. Since I generally go for sashimi - which wasn't an option - I was lukewarm on the sushi.  Still though, this would be a great venue to take someone just getting used to sushi and raw fish since it was mostly of the cooked variety. 

I'll say "yes" to Sushi Nami anytime!

One of the only meals that I'll never turn down is sushi.  I have to be in the mood for pub food, pizza, Mexican or fine dining, but it's a rarity when I say "no" to some delicious raw fish. Of late, our favorite spot to go is Sushi Nami Royale.  The quality of sashimi is great - important since we eat so much of it; there is a pretty good variety; and between 3-5 pm and 9:30-11:30 pm, they have a Tsu-Nami menu, where food AND booze is 20% off!  Ding, ding, ding! It's a no-brainer.

We make a serious effort to try different things when we eat at Sushi Nami, but one thing stays the same: the Sashimi Appetizer - a great deal at the regular price of $9.95, and even better when it's 20% off. The pieces of tuna are like candy and the salmon is plump and supple on your tongue.  I'm not a huge fan of the Surf Clam, but do love the little parcels of snapper wrapped around pieces of cucumber.

Sashimi Appetizer $9.95

2 Salmon, 2 Tuna, 2 Snapper & 2 Surf Clam

We also generally try to have a salad (or two!).  On this occasion, we order both the Kani and Sunomono  salads.  SN also does a good size portion of the Hiyashi Wakame (Japanese Seaweed Salad) for $6.95.  The Kani salad is delicious and creamy.  With shredded crab meat, and long strands of carrot and cucumber, I like to twirl it around my fork like spaghetti.  The good amount of avocado adds another creamy layer while also playing the role of the 'cherry on top'. 

Kani Salad $7.95
Crab Meat, Cucumber & Flying Fish Roe

The Sunomono salad is pretty delicious too - but definitely not for the faint of heart as serious octopus tentacles are involved.  Again, the texture of the shredded seafood is what I really love, paired with the slight crunch of roe.  The sauce here is based on soy and is quite mysterious.

Sunomono $9.95

Shrimp, Cucumber, Crab Meat, Octopus & Seaweed

And because a good roll is always nice, we opt for the Spicy Scallop roll which is pretty tasty with the spicy sauce and tempura bits.  A spicy salmon/tuna is a good 'go-to' as well, but the Fusion rolls are really special.   I'll have to make another trip to Sushi Nami soon to illustrate what they are all about!

Spicy Scallop (6pcs) $ 5.95

Chopped Scallop, Green Onion, Tempura Bits & Spicy Sauce

But you can't have sushi without a bit of deep fried...so we try the Karakuchi Shrimp Fry - three large shrimp stretched on skewers and deep fried in tempura batter, then coated with a spicy sauce. What a crunch!

Karakuchi Shrimp Fry 7.95

Lightly fried Shrimp and coated with the house Spicy Sauce

 

This is such a great deal and is really one to take advantage of.  How can you go wrong with a guaranteed 20% off almost everything in your order?  I say "almost" as there is a specific Tsu-Nami menu with limited items, but I'm sure your palate will be more than satisfied with those available.  

Fujiyama: Eat in, or Take Out!

Mmmm- sushi!  Sushi is one of my favourite eats here in Hali.  It's just one of those meals that I could eat at any time of day, and the only late-night dinner I can really get into....Unless it's a greasy feed on an early Saturday am.  You know what I'm talking about....

This particular sushi experience is Fujiyama, the sushi spot that has taken over the old Le Cave location. I like this spot because I can count on its quality and creativity.  This blog post incorporates two dinners from Fujiyama - one on site, and one take-out.  I felt the need to write about the take-out, as it's not too often that your food quality remains intact when taken off-site.  On this occasion - and many times thereafter - it was.

Shrimp and Veggie Tempura 

How could you go wrong with this one?  Tender veg and plump shrimp in a light, crispy coating.

Chef's Sushi for Two

I was so glad that we ordered this dish - it really gave me the opportunity to try all types of sashimi and decide which ones I truly liked - the Butterfish was our favourite!  We really appreciated the fact that our server let us substitute the eel rolls for an additional salmon sashimi.

Deep Fried Banana

I could take or leave this dessert.  This was the only thing that really appealed to me on the dessert menu, but it tasted kinda funny...and I'm pretty sure the whipped cream was from a can. :S

And, for take-out...

Salmon Sashimi, Spicy Salmon Rolls & 

Tokyo Scallop Roll - Spicy scallop and avocado 

rolled in soybean paper with eel sauce and spicy sauce

Soybean paper is so tasty!  If ever you come across a roll enclosed in this deliciousness, go for it!  You'll appreciate the change from the texture of the usual nori, and it's quite tasty too!

Shrimp Tempura- Just as good at home...

Decadent bites at Doraku

Last Friday night, a friend of mine and I made plans to meet at Doraku on Dresden row for a feed of sushi. Now, I've tried a couple of sushi spots in the city, but I was happy to discover that none could compare to Doraku's fresh fare. I love sushi any time of day, but it's always my go-to food when I'm going out to eat late-night. I guess it's because I know that there's nothing but goodness going into my body that I'll eat until the platter is clean. Or in this case, until I out-eat my date!

We ordered a bunch of stuff. He had the Chicken Udon soup and cleared the bowl, and we shared an order of edamame and various rolls.

Although I was more than satisfied with my choices, I went a little on the safe side, and ordered rolls that I recognized. Had the item's ingredients been listed on the menu, I might have been a little more adventurous. However, we ordered some staples; Shrimp Tempura rolls, Spicy Tuna rolls with a delicious drizzle of spicy mayo, Alaskan roll with super-fresh, meaty salmon and the Philadelphia roll with smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber. The Philadelphia rolls were a nice addition to my sushi repertoire- I'll order these puppies in the future for sure!

You can't really mess up edamame, and so these were great as well, little salty bites of goodness that went nicely with our cold pints of Sapporo. a Japanese Beer.

I'm so happy to have strayed from my usual sushi spot, which, I have to admit that I frequent mostly because of it's proximity to my apt However, after having sushi as good as this stuff, it's as though my taste buds came alive again, tasting the sweet fish, the vibrant sauces and fresh vegetables for the first time. If your usual sushi place is getting a bit dull, I'd suggest heading to Doraku to give your mouth a little wake-up call!

A Homemade Sushi Supper

I recently had one of my most memorable dining experiences to date- and I didn't even have to go to a restaurant! A friend of mine invited me over to make sushi and rice paper rolls. This is one of my favorite meals to make in the kitchen. Not only do I enjoy the teamwork aspect of making sushi, but it's so relaxing to roll up the ingredients and make such neat little parcels. The fact that, I seem to have an endless amount of stomach room for this stuff doesn't hurt either! And so, we opened our bag of veggie chips, poured a couple glasses of wine, and set to work creating our feast.

To make the Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls you simply soften the rice paper wraps in hot water, fill with your selected ingredients, and roll 'em on up! Here they are unfilled, and pretty underwhelming at this point...

We filled our with a mixture of pork, basil, cucumber, carrot, Vietnamese rice noodles and Hoisin sauce. Not exactly beauties, I'm aware, but they tasted incredible. Hoisin sauce is a Chinese dipping sauce that creates a trinity of sweet, salty and sour. Made from soybeans, vinegar and hot chilies, this stuff created in a serious pork pairing - not to mention the lovely addition of the anise flavored basil. I'm unable to admit how many of these that I consumed. It's simply not appropriate.

Next we got to work on the sushi. We had gone to Pete's earlier to get some fresh fish. Although we were in the mood for salmon, this trout looked pretty appealing; bright pink and shiny, so we went beyond the norm and made trout rolls. We used the same veg as in the rice paper rolls, as well some shrimp.

My friend Maria took photos as I rolled up the sushi. I was pretty proud of my photog skills up until this point, but Maria truly has an eye to capture great movement in images.

The next time you want to challenge yourself in the kitchen, this is the way to go. The only equipment you need is a bamboo mat, which only cost about $3.00. Then you need some rice, and nori (seaweed sheets) and typically some wasabi and pickled ginger. Then, you can choose whatever fish or veg you like. A good vodka martini doesn't go astray either...! Try this the next time you have friends over- you'll eat well and laugh the whole time!

Hamachi Sushi

OK, OK- So I know I've had a few repetitions lately, but I can't help where my friends wanna eat, can I? Last week I had dins w/ a couple friends of mine at Hamachi Sushi. It was a fairly impromptu outing as one of my gals was in Hali for one night only! She wanted to go to Hamachi, and if that was her resto of choice for her only night here, who was I to disagree?

For this visit, I was determined to try something different, so instead of going all out with the rolls, I forced myself to go the unknown route and order some new goodies. I recently finished Ruth Reichl's (past NY Times Resto critic) Confessions of a Food Critic whereby one of her reviews described her pick for the best sushi restaurant in NY. After reading her stories about Red Bean ice cream a zillion times, I knew I had to save room for dessert.

I started w/ the Kaizo, a Japenese seaweed salad. This was surprisingly delicious. I had braced myself for a slimy, fishy dish and was unbelievable surprised with the depth of flavor. This salad was both fresh and sweet- not at all reminiscent of the sea.

Kaizo

Obviously, I caved and got a roll. I knew I'd have food envy if I didn't. I ordered the Regina roll; tempura shrimp, salmon, crab, caplin roe and cucumber.

Regina Roll

For dessert, we ordered the tempura fried bananas that gives you the option of three ice creams- we went with the red bean (thus satisfying my curiosity), black sesame and the green tea. Our server came back a few minutes later to tell us that they were all out of red bean ice cream. So, I took a deep breath, and went for the ginger instead.

It was a lovely dessert, even with the hiccup. The black sesame ice cream had a deep, rich flavor, the ginger had a touch of heat, and the green tea had an underlying fruity flavor to it- almost lychee-like. The bananas were soft and warm within their crispy batter, which, it seemed, had a touch of sweetness itself.

This was a great meal- I went for some new dishes, and was happy I did. Now I just have to get back to have some Red Bean ice cream...I wonder if that's their strategy?!?

Late Night Feed at Hamachi Sushi

Last Wednesday, I went out for drinks with a friend at the Economy Shoe shop on Argyle. Between several pints of my favorite patio beer Stella Artois (well, favorite beer in general really), I informed him of the little known deal that occurs at Hamachi Sushi on Morris St. every night.

The secret, my fine friends, is this: after 10 pm, every single night, Hamachi Sushi has "Happy Maki" whereby a good portion of their appetizer and maki menu is cheap, cheap, cheap! The term maki describes the sushi rolled around or inside nori, aka, seaweed. I love late-night sushi, especially when the contents of my stomach consists solely of beer.

And so, we maneuvered ourselves down to Hamachi, at 11:30 on a school night, scored a comfy corner table and set to work making our choices. I chose a plate of the Tempura Vegetables; zucchini and sweet potato in tempura batter and deep fried. The veg selection did, admittedly leave something to be desired, but what can you expect at almost midnight?

Tempura Vegetables

We then moved on to the real good stuff; Spicy Salmon rolls flanking the Rainbow roll, a new one for me, but absolutely a favorite from now on. The Rainbow roll is a culmination of the popular California roll consisting of crab and avocado wrapped in MORE crab and avocado along with salmon and tuna. Yummers!

Hamachi Kita delivers..literally!

One of my very close gal pals and favorite partner in crime recently made the ridiculous decision to further her education, move to Australia and abandon me. Hmph. Kidding...I'm so proud of her moving across the globe, and now get regular updates of the cuisine down unda'!

When I asked my pal what she wanted to do for the "last supper", she mentioned a local restaurant that we've both been dying to frequent due to their incredible menu of gourmet comfort food. Unfortunately, when the day arrived, accompanied, in true Nova Scotian fashion by torrents of rain, we were swayed to abandon our original plan and order in.

We tossed several ideas back and forth, and decided that sushi would be just the thing to drown our farewell sorrows...but what better to pair with sushi than curry! That's right, Hamachi Kita offers a menu of both of our favorite types of ethnic foods. The Asian fusion offered by this menu is downright dreamy- we proceeded to pour over their online menu and made our selections.

We ordered our favorite type of curry that never fails to sate our hunger for spicy-sweet fare; Thai Red curry with duck is, in my opinion, a staple for any Thai restaurant visit. With the spicy broth, rich meat and sweet red peppers and snow peas, the flavors touch all of your taste buds.

Thai Red Curry

We then moved on to the sushi component of the meal; lots and lots of rolls! We compromised on this issue, getting Maria's Fire Kamakachi, a mix of rich smoked salmon with creamy avocado; my deluxe lobster roll, no explanation is necessary here...mmmm... and a classic; the well-loved spicy tuna roll.

Maria & Krissy's Special Combo
Fire Kamakachi~Avocado, spicy mayo, tempura, topped with smoked salmon
Deluxe Lobster Roll~Avocado, green onion and spicy lobster
Spicy Tuna Maki

Lastly, Maria allowed me to indulge in a little deep fried goodness - sweet shrimp in crisp, salty won ton wrappers...I felt the need for something naughty, so deep-fried normally does the trick!

Shrimp Fire Crackers Jumbo shrimp seasoned in red curry,
wrapped in won ton wrappers and deep-fried

These delicious dishes paired with vodka martinis marinating a slice of pickled ginger made for an absolutely lovely meal- no restaurant setting required. I miss my gal pal, but I know that someday I'll be hanging out in Aussie land eating Kangaroo steak...and I can't hardly wait!