Suika

  Suika has been on my "to eat" list for 2 years!! How has it taken me this long?! But omg, I totally get the hype now. In fact, I was so impressed with my meal that I went to Rajio (their sister restuarant) for dinner the very same day!!

  The next day I came back for lunch, and the waitress remembered me (probably because of my allergies.) I ordered their famous sweet balsamic beef short ribs and OMG, it was soo good!!

  The other dishes I tried were also very impressive. Especially their grilled gindara (miso marinated black cod!) Their lunch combos are relatively affordable, with meals starting from just $8.50!! Unlike most Japanese restaurants, there's a charge for tea - I got a pot of geinmacha and it was really high quality, so I didn't mind forking over the extra $2! 

  The staff here are all so nice! They made a mistake with my order and 3 staff members came out to apologize - which totally made my day!! ;D  I guess I'm just too use to bad, (nonexistent) service harhar

  The interior is really nice, it's pretty fancy (with the droolworthy tufted seating!)  They even have mouthwash and sanitary items in their washrooms! It's the little things that really make a difference!

Sweet Balsamic Short Ribs $19

5/5 stars

  Mijune gave this a perfect 6 stars, and I have to agree with her!! This was SO GOOD. SO worth the $19!! The beef was just perfect: it melted in my mouth!! I barely needed to chew!! The sauce was delectable, it was a nice balance of sweet, tangy, and salty flavours!! If it wasn't so expensive I would have easily downed another plate!! ;)

Tontoro Yaki 

4/5 stars

  I really enjoyed this! The pork jowl was reasonably tender and charred on the outside! It was subtly spicy, and the natural flavour of the pork was accentuated with a mixture of spices! The pork itself was pretty tender and had a great mouth feel!

Grilled Gindara - Miso Marinated Sablefish $10.

5/5 stars

  Very pricey at $10 for a small piece of fish, but it was well worth it!! This was awesome!! The sablefish was soo silky, smooth, and fragrant!! The miso flavour was really strong, like it had been infused into the fish!! I savoured every bite ;D

AAA Beef Steak

Steak: 2.5/5 stars
Flavour: 3.5/5 stars

  This was pretty tasty! They didn't ask how I wanted my steak, but it arrived perfectly medium rare! The meat itself was okay, it was a bit too chewy and it could've been more tender. But flavour wise, it was delicious! The dry rub exhibited a bit of spice and the flavour of the garlic chips really came through!

  The steak also comes with garlic butter potatoes! I asked if they could sauteed the potatoes without butter but they said that the potatoes are already premade! So they just omitted it!

Rice & Miso that came with my steak!

Rice: 2.5/5 stars
Miso Soup:4/5 stars

  My steak combo also came with a side of rice and miso soup! The short grain rice was quite nice, it was a sticky and a bit wet. The miso soup had a nice balance of flavours without being too salty!

The rice & miso that came with my short ribs!! :D

Gemaicha $2

4/5 stars

  The tea was lovely! Very high quality! Loved the roasted rice flavour! It was served at the perfect temperature too!

Complimentary salad!! The waitress took it back when I told her about my OAS! :)