Suki, Suki!

I met up today with my dear old friend Mark, who recently bought a house out in Delta with his wife Teresa shortly after graduating from UBC (congratulations, buddy!). He doesn't spend much time on the North Shore (except to occasionaly buy cheese from a great little shop near Cap Mall – more words on that in the future!!), so I figured while he was out here I'd show him my favorite susheria, Suki on the Lonsdale Pier.
I was fiending for a refreshing midday beer, and the $5.50 pint of Okanagan Springs Honey Brown was just what the doctor ordered. I was so excited by its thick, chilled, and branded glass that I immediately dove into its perfect inch of luxurious froth. I wish I'd taken a picture first, but I was so enraptured by this perfect pint that I lost my own head. I don't ever expect a perfect pint of draft at sushi... thanks, Suki. I went for the usual apps – miso, agedashi tofu, goma-ae. Goma-ae was 86'd, but I'm pretty sure their sauce is handmade so I can't get too upset. It's fairly labor-intensive to make that sesame sauce from hand ground toasted seeds, so I understand if I'd arrived too late in the service to take advantage of it before other savvy lunchers had bought it out. I'm not much of a miso soup conniseur, and theirs was as good as one could expect, but Suki's agedashi tofu is an absolute triumph. Steam rises off the light, crispy batter, inciting the nori julien and bonito shavings to dance playfully while they await their careful consumption. This is one of the most beautiful dishes I've ever seen.
One of my first mentors in the restaurant kitchen was a grumpy but well-seasoned old Japanese chef, who had burnt out and wound up flipping burgers in the bowels of a pub kitchen to pay off the last years of his mortgage. Through my incessant inquiry on all things culinary, he taught me a few memorable things about Japanese cuisine, and one of which is how to make a good udon soup. Every Japanese restaurant that does tempura will have small pieces of batter depart from any item being fried in the oil. A conscientious chef will strain these bits from the vat before they burn, and use them to garnish the udon. This efficient use of all its resources by Suki gives it huge points in my books, and speaks volumes to the chef's attention to detail in all aspects of execution. This is like the Japanese version of crumbling crackers into soup. And I love it.

Mark had the gyoza to start (I didn't try them but they looked light and crispy) and the sake/tekka donburi as his entree. Crazy dish for the $10 price tag. Several pieces of both ahi and albacore tuna, and beautiful ruby colored salmon sashimi as well as magnificently marbled salmon belly (perhaps my favorite sashimi). There were also very interesting garnish – which I made out to consist of thinly sliced and soy/mirin marinated albacore, marinated shiitake mushrooms, and a few small pieces of imitation crab. Mark didn't eat the pink pollock – I don't think I would have, either. When all was said and done, the waitress brought us a couple of segmented orange slices with our bill. What a perfect way to end a light lunch. This restaurant remains my favorite sushi on the North Shore so far, with Kansai a close second (zaru soba on their patio in the summer is a great way to spend an afternoon). I've gotten tips on a couple more great places, and Honjin Sushi is right around the corner from my house, so I'll have to get back to you on that soon. Salud!