Restaurants › Japanese
Sushi Kaji
- 860 The Queensway (at Plastics Ave.) • View on map »
- 416-252-2166
- http://www.sushikaji.com/
Yes, it is the best sushi restaurant in the city, if not the country (only Tojo’s in Vancouver is comparable), and yes, chef Mitsuhiro Kaji presides five nights a week over what by all accounts is still called a sushi counter. But the cooked food here, prepared by long-time Kaji sous Takeshi Okada has developed an incredible grace and kaiseki-like complexity in recent years—visiting just for the sushi would be sort of like travelling to Burgundy without ever tasting the wine. The seasonal five, seven and nine course menus ($80, $100 and $120; there is no à la carte) provide a perfect mix. Dinner might open with a dish of house asparagus tofu that’s as fresh and ephemeral as dew, saddled with a perfect tender-crisp asparagus spear, followed closely by a poached fiddlehead wrapped in a cloud of lighter, whiter tofu. There’s vinegared eel—firm, sweet, sour—with soft simmered pork belly. You might also find a pile of snowy somen noodles under ginger and scallions in a bonito broth, or a study in burdock root that toys with flavours and textures in brave new ways. All of this is interspersed with sushi and sashimi. A snow crab leg arrives alongside a hillock of citrus-yellow herring roe, (they pop a thousand pops eat time you chew) or buttery sea bream that’s finished with yuzu zest. Kaji’s prawns are also a highlight: they’re served freshly halved and still alive, more or less—the translucent pink tail, butterflied, is a sweet, clean single bite, while the carapace—the head and chest, essentially—is still flexing right next to it, where it’s propped up on the plate (we’re encouraged to leave it, so that it can be broiled and returned as a crunchy guilty pleasure). Desserts, including excellent coffee panna cotta and a haunting yuzu mousse, have seen a major upgrade. Kaji, the mischevious frontman as always, mugs for the odd photograph from behind the counter, sticking out his tongue more than a little lecherously as the flashes pop; all the other diners can do is look at each other and feel lucky to be there and smile at the experience in awe. For parties of two or less, the best seats are at the bar.
860 The Queensway (at Plastics Ave.)
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