MIKU KAISEKI

When Stephen and I started seriously planning for kids, I knew that dietary restrictions would be a part of being pregnant. To be honest I was sad I’d be missing some of my favourite foods (and beverages) but being a natural worrier, also didn’t want to take any risks. We’ve been incredibly lucky and are currently expecting! Since finding out I’ve been staying away from runny yolks, rare steak, soft cheeses, oysters, limited caffeine, and zero raw fish. Of all those foods, the only one that I crave and miss daily is sushi. My mouth waters just thinking of a thick slab of sashimi and I’ve asked Stephen to try sneaking a sushi platter into the delivery room.

3 months into my pregnancy I received an invitation for a 4 course tasting at Miku, one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in Toronto. I couldn’t resist accepting, even though I could only enjoy 60% of the set menu. Luckily, Miku was incredibly accommodating and able to modify my raw courses to delicious cooked variations, much to Stephen’s dismay (no double aburi course for him!).

Disclaimer: All food and drinks reviewed below were provided complimentary. All opinions expressed below are wholly mine.

For dinner, our group was seated in the private room that was separated from the main dining area by a pair of heavy glass doors. We had the pleasure of having each course introduced to us in detail by the chef. The first course was a seafood platter featuring aburi sashimi, a raw kusshi oyster, an oyster shooter, prawn cocktail, marinated mussels, scallop sashimi and poke. So much goodness in a single bowl. My variation had the sashimi fully grilled, the mussels and prawns steamed and a replacement of seaweed salad, smoked olives and various pickles for the other raw elements. Each bite was delicious with lots of seafood flavour.

Both Stephen and I chose the Kyoto Saikyo Miso Baked Sablefish for our 2nd entree. The gorgeous piece of fish was served with dashi roasted endive, a zucchini blossom tempura, kelp broccoli puree and market baby vegetable. I found the zucchini blossom a little heavy and wouldn’t have missed it from the dish. The sablefish was excellently cooked, firm but flakey and incredibly buttery.

My favourite course was the Aburi sushi. Stephen”s selection had a piece of Miku Roll, scallops, shrimp salmon and hamachi, while mine included prawn, unagi and crab. I think between the two, my “cooked” selection was even better. Each piece was garnished to compliment the fish and looked as pretty as they were tasty. No visit to Miku would be complete without having their aburi.

Dessert was a slice of Miku’s Green Tea Opera cake and a scoop green tea ice cream. The multi-layered cake takes over 24 hours to create and is another must have. Each layer adds flavour and texture to make each delectable bite chocolatey, crispy, creamy and rich.