Miku Restaurant- Like I Died and Went To Sushi Heaven

I fell in love with Miku ever since I dined here a year ago. They have hands down the best aburi sushi I have ever tasted and everything from the service to their execution of food is always flawless. They are on the fine dining end of the spectrum though so unfortunately I don’t have the luxury of dining here more often than once a year. LOL

Yesterday, I took Meta Knight here for lunch (cause lunch is always cheaper than dinner! :D) because I really wanted him to try their famous aburi sushi. Miku’s aburi-style sushi features box shaped sushi that is infused with one of a kind sauces and lightly seared with a torch.

We came quite late, around 2pm and there were still quite a few people dining in the restaurant. When the hostess was walking us to our table, she yelled out something in Japanese which initiated all the chefs to smile and greet/yell at us as well. It surprised both of us at first but it was cool. I liked it. :D

We both ordered the Miku Zen ($23) which is essentially a “bento box” lunch set. The set comes with a ‘selection of seasonal items chosen by the chefs, four items from [their] kitchen, and five pieces from [their] sushi bar and miso shiru (soup)’.

Their miso soup was good and obviously much better than the ones I normally get at casual Japanese restaurants.

The left is pumpkin with snap peas, the right is a tofu salad topped with crispy thingy-ma-jigs in yuzu dressing. Our server explained each item really fast so I missed some info here and there. The tofu salad was absolutely delish!! The texture was unbelievable as the crispiness of the fried thingy-ma-jigs paired so well with the soft and delicate tofu. It was a perfect starter to the meal! The pumpkin was soft and tasted delicious. A great palate cleanser when the other items got too heavy.

This was a potato and salmon croquette which laid on a bed of cabbage and topped with homemade tartar sauce. I wish I took a picture of the inside because it was filled with salmon! Meta Knight absolutely adored this and almost licked the bowl clean.

Now this one was the star of the bunch. The epic pork belly with bamboo shoot and green onion was melt in your mouth soft and bursting with flavour. The bamboo shoot was a little bland but I didn’t care because it wasn’t the focus of the dish. Meta Knight loved the pork belly so much, he tried to steal mine too.

Now onto their five pieces of aburi sushi. This is what Miku is known for and what I dream of every time I hear of “torched” sushi. I have yet to try a single ‘torched sushi’ that is better than the one here and proof would lie in my post on Ebisu on Robson.

I believe the salmon aburi is their most famous aburi and we were given two of them for our Miku Zen. They were very generous with the salmon and I especially loved the thin slices of jalapeno as it provided a nice kick to the sushi. 

I believe this is hamachi aburi (correct me if I’m wrong) and it was served with a nice dollop of guacamole. This was also very delicious but my least favourite of the bunch.

I really liked the ebi aburi as well as the sweet pesto mayo that it was paired with. Everything just worked so well together and  I often wonder how they know which sauce or mayo to pair each ingredient with. Meta Knight’s favourite aburi of all was the tuna aburi (right) and I have to agree. I normally don’t love the taste of tuna but this tuna was premium grade and melted in our mouths.  

I don’t think I need to say that we had an amazing time at Miku. The service was great, the food was unbelievable, and we both left feeling completely satisfied and happy. My determination to land a high paying job is fuelled by the dream to come and eat here more often!

Based on these reasons:

• close to Burrard and Waterfront station
• parking is incredibly expensive!!
• aburi sushi is a must try at Miku
• definitely more expensive than other Japanese restaurants but the quality is reflective of the price

Service Rating: 5/5

Food Rating: 5/5

Price: $$$$+ ($30+)

Overall Rating: 5/5

Happy Eating!

courtesy of http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/35329s/