DINE FINE - MINAMI - YALETOWN VANCOUVER

I am not a fan of fusion Japanese food. To me, I feel like Miku, and its new sister, Minami focuses far too much on the art and presentation, that it lacks what Japanese food was initally all about - the flavour. 

AMBIANCE | I had a great time at Minami I must admit. The ambiance is amazing, the old Goldfish has transformed itself into a Zen and exotic restaurant. It is a very upscale place for dates and girls night outs. I shall let the pictures speak for themselves. Overall, I find the restaurant very self-explanatory, nothing too far from the norm. 

What we ordered (Party of 4): 

Hamachi Carpaccio - citrus avocado sauce
Aburi Tenderloin Nigiri - soy glazed foie gras, negisho x 2
Toro Nigiji x 4

Saikyo Miso Baked Sablefish - eggplant, spinach, shrimp-crab dumpling, wasabi-dashi broth, yuzu miso foam

Aburi Saba Oshi Sushi - pressed mackerel, miku miso sauce

Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi - pressed local salmon, jalapeno, miku sauce

Dessert - Green Tea Opera - Green tea sponge infused with espresso and Frangelico liqeur, green tea butter cream, dark chocolate ganache, azuki bean cream, green tea ice cream, green tea sauce

Passionfruit Sorbet

FOOD |  I believe Minami's presentation of the dishes sells the food more than the flavour. The sushi pieces were rather mediocre. Pricing is rather expensive for the quality I received. 

Aburi Tenderloin Nigiri - Intrigued by a tenderloin and foie gras nigiri, we decided to order two pieces of this ridiculous $6 nigiri. The sushi in general was not very surprising, the flavour of the tenderloin did not mix too well with the over all piece, and the foie gras was pea-sized. It sounds more like a gimmick then it was a well-crafted dish. 

We were told the Toro was sold out for the night, but after the waitress checked she said she can provide us with the last four. Excited as we were, we were thoroughly dissapointed. All four of us have eaten around Japan and Vancouver, we are able to spot out toro and "close to" toro. We all agreed that the waitress should have insisted on the Toro being sold out, rather than give us a subpar piece.

The Sablefish was $26, which at a Japanese restaurant, is rather expensive. Thinking we could not get full from small pieces of sushi, we decided to order an entree. But the fish piece was rather small and in my opinion, it was rather random. There was a random dumpling, and foam, which I thought did nothing to enhance the dish. I really rather received just a larger piece of fish without the fuss. The fish was good. 

The Aburi Sushi, what both Miku and Minami claim to introduce to Vancouver were decent. I find the texture of the rice very plain, and the ratio between such a large piece of rice and small piece of fish confused me. I remember when I went to Miku during their opening month, the Aburi sushi literally melted in my mouth, I find this amazing factor to be lost in the presentation

Overall, I was not very satisfied with Minami. Everyone has been hyping about the restaurant, claiming it was the new "it spot", but I found this restaurant to be full of propaganda and gimmick rather than top quality food. The food was definitely not worth it for its price, but I suppose the ambiance and presentation make up for it. 

1118 Mainland St.

Vancouver BC

V6B 5P2

604-685-8080