Ottawa Foodies

2

One of the lunch specials. Comes with a soup. Very good, not great.

1

The SO and I have been to MHK twice in the last month - its rising to the top of our O-town sushi list! The fish is fresh, the rice is well done, the rolls and plates are well presented, the miso soup and tempura are delish.

The LED lighting at the Merivale location needs improvement (bad CRI guys!) but the decor is really very nice, and the service is friendly and quick. Recommended sushi stop in the west end for sure!

Oh - and they have AYCE every night, I think it was $23 on weekends and $21 on weeknights. Don't remember the prices for lunch. We just ordered a la carte though - it worked out to be a better price for us.

I passed by the other day and saw a banner that said AYCE sushi. Has anyone been? Their menu doesn't mention it. Seems to be around $20-$21. Would love to hear more!

Ate at the Merivale Road loacation recently and was plesantly surprised.

Sushi and sashimi were very good. The Sashimi was fresh, flavourful and the pieces were large. i'd definitely do back again for sushi and sashimi.

It appears that the Merivale location is back up and running. I noticed that it came alive over the weekend.

I'm glad to see that because I was beginning to have my doubts for a while-things were looking pretty quiet.

Ok this has become my regular sushi place. I can not find anywhere in Ottawa that stands up to value and quality of this place.(with exception of Gengi although Gengi is pricier) It also helps that it is in the westend. Love the Lobster Roll. My only thing is I wish they had Butter fish!

UPDATE: Went tonight to the merivale location and it was closed due to a kitchen fire. Will be reopening after kitchen reno is complete.

MHK is a decent Sushi spot in Ottawa. I find both of their locations on Merivale Road and in Westboro are well decorated. The food is average... OK to Good most of the time. Sometimes it seems not as fresh as I would like it to be but still not bad. I keep returning however, which likely means that I enjoy eating it! I am very pleased that they do not overcook their Edemame. Note however that I found the Merivale Road location to be VERY slow.

Chim., your description closely parallels one of my visits to MHK, except in that case, we opted for a couple Thai dishes instead of sushi.

I came away thinking that MHK is similar to the Kelsey's of the Asian restaurant sector; its a roadhouse or all-in-one family restaurant. Some dishes are decent enough, others miss the mark.

The first time i tried MHK, everything we ordered (minus the salad / kimchi) missed. I can alter my expectations for something like Pad Thai: after all, its essentially street food (in Thailand) and you can find a different style on every corner. But, even here, my SO (who is not at all snobbish about Thai food) remarked that it among the worst she's had (excluding the ones i make!): clumpy noodles, just blah. My curry was even more disappointing, lacking essential ingredients that add balance, e.g., basil, fresh chilis, etc.

Sushi is, i think, an even more hazardous choice in a restaurant that aims to represent the cuisine of 3 or 4 different countries. Its not uncommon in Japan for sushi chefs to go through a fairly rigourous apprenticeship under a master chef, and its rare to find sushi in a place that also serves the variety of styles as MHK. In Ottawa, it seems a bit of capital and an Asian physiogamy is the primary license for serving sushi. Yes, that's a bit of a rant, and not meant for the 2 or 3 places (e.g., Suisha Garden, Genji, etc.) that do a decent job. But, the veggie rolls i took away from MHK on my second visit fell apart by the time i got home, and they didn't seem any better than what i can get more cheaply from Loblaws.

All that noted, i sometimes go to Kelsey's, and likewise, i will return to MHK. As you noted, Chimi., its friendly and sometimes pan-Asian variety can be a fun distraction, particularly on the way home from haggling w/ the returns department at one of the electronic stores up the street. I think next time, though, i'll ask the wait staff for their recommendations, and hope for the best.

I went to MHK after reading and hearing good things about the place. Unfortunately, I was a little underwhelmed. We ordered a couple of beers, kimchi, inari, lobster roll, spicy california roll, tempura shrimp roll and the hawaiian roll. First the good: the service was excellent (prompt, non intrusive, fixed a mistake in our order), the atmosphere was a bit surprising (in a good way) considering the strip mall location, the presentation was fabulous, and the kimchi was delicious. Unfortunately the above did not make up for the bad, which was: all of the rolls were very mediocre in flavour, the lobster roll was probably the biggest disappointment since the lobster meat was just inundated with mayo (killing the delicate nature of the lobster meat). The inari was possibly the worst I've ever eaten - was served waaaaay too sweet. The hawaiian roll had way too much fish roe on it, which ended up killing the delicate flavour of the tuna.

Maybe I should have stuck with kitchen options instead of the sushi bar offerings? Any recommendations?

Hard not to love this sushi. I have been at least a dozen times now and everytime the sushi is excellent. Very fresh, amazing flavour, perfect presentation...

The staff are great. I recently called the wrong location to place my take out order. They were very understanding and accomodating.

MHK is coming out with 3 new rolls...the "M" roll, the "H" roll and the "K" roll. I had the opportunity to try one of them yesterday, and it was really good.

I think the one I tried may have been the "H" roll. It may be one of my new favs. It had salmon skin, avocado, cucumber, peanuts and a spicy sauce. The salmon skin was crispy and delicious. There's nothing worse than soggy salmon skin, yuck. It was 12$ for the roll, which is really reasonable IMHO.

Our enthusiastic server was keen to get our opinion on the rolls. He confirmed that they should be on the menu in the next week or two. He also let us know that between 8 and 10 is sushi happy hour, where you can pay 4$ for 4 pieces of a roll, or 1$/piece for sushi.

I didn't take a picture, but the next time I'm there (which should be relatively soon), I'll snap one of the roll...since it's a definite re-order in my books.

I really enjoyed this restaurant. The sushi was great, the decor was very nice and trendy and the service was good. I really liked the soy sauce, I wish i could remember the name of it because it was the best I've ever tasted. The prices weren't too high either. Would definitely recommend this place to anyone.

As I said above, my boyfriend and I think that this place has the best sushi in Ottawa. I always get the vegetarian platter, and the staff is always nice about substituting out avacado (which I hate). The rice is always the perfect texture and flavour, and the seaweed wrappers are never soggy. I find the amount on the platter to be just right with soup and an appetizer.

This is so far my preferred sushi place in Ottawa. I was excited to see an old favorite "Hawaiian roll" on the menu (even if it only has a few nuts inside instead of being rolled in them! - it's not as flavorful as it could be, but it's a great price at $6.95). The Volcano roll is DEFINITELY HOT (spicy). Keep your beverage handy.

I see the majority seems to prefer Genji, but I did a take-out order from them and was really disappointed. Perhaps I'll try again?

It was nice and fresh.Pieces were a bit large and difficult to fit in mouth all in one bit as I believe is intended, but definitely means great portion sizes for your money. Usually not a Maki person but they do quite a good job here. On my next visit I will indulge in more.

The Volcano specialty roll was quite good and spicy, topped with baked octopus. Check out the neato avocado "leaves" on the side!

Nicely presented but not exceptional. The unagi maki was quite good but the bbq salmon skin maki was the driest I've had (and I always order salmon skin!).

I've only had the miso, but I have to agree with From Da Rock that it's very good. I prefer it a bit stronger, but I could just have spoiled myself by making it at home.

Miso Soup was bar none the best I ever had. Just wish it was given as a palate cleanser when ordering a main meal as is at other Japanese/sushi places.

Kimchi is usually good and this was no exception. The bonus is that it's complimentary! Highly recommended to satisfy you even if you've lost your sense of smell due to a cold! ;-)

Thanks to Tiana (Tiana) for promoting these things.. they are yummy and very fun to eat! I think we'll be making a habit out of ordering edamame in the future.

This is the first time I see a tempura made like this! Obviously not the Japanese batter.

Look at this measly thing! Makes you want to cheer it up or something. I had a cold and couldn't taste much but wifey confirmed that there wasn't much flavour here.

These were decent. Light, crispy, not greasy, with a nice sweet chili sauce for dipping.

This was not good at all. There were little grease pools floating on top, it was a white orange colour, and had no flavour of lime whatsoever. The shrimp in it were very nicely done.

But here's the best (worst) part! This "tom yum" soup had pieces of what appeared to be frozen mixed peas/carrot/corn in it! Any other time I've had tom yum, it has contained thinly sliced mushrooms or chopped scallions. The default north american microwavable vegetable mix was a bit of a surprise.