Ottawa Foodies

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The Niko Niko Udon lunch special pictured here includes:

- 3 shrimp tempura
- some vegetable tempura
- a udon in clear broth
- 6 California rolls

This is a favourite of mine here. You get a little bit of everything. The broth is tasty but not too salty. The noodle is just a little chewy, not overcooked. A few of the Japanese spicy flakes also adds a nice kick to it. The sushi is very fresh.

Service is always very attentive despite the place always being almost full at lunch time. As i read the reviews below, i would agree that the quality has varied over time but it is back to high quality now.

Upon entering with my friend, I was greeted by the manager with a friendly "Ohayo gozaimasu." We were led to our seats by the hostess who then gave us hot towels to wash our hands. While deciding to order, saw an ad on the table stating that if you order before 6PM from Tuesday to Thursday, the restaurant will take 10% off.

I ordered a bowl of miso soup, chicken kara-age, maguro nigiri (originally ordered toro nigiri but they were out of toro), unagi nigiri, salmon skin roll, spicy salmon roll and spider roll. Miso soup was good on a cold day. It wasn't too salty and there were chopped green onions and cubes of tofu floating in the soup. The chicken kara-age is deep fried pieces of chicken and it was delicious. The pieces of chicken were large and moist. Sprinkling it with some lemon added another dimension to the taste. All of the nigiri and sushi rolls were well-formed and tasted good. The only complaint I have is that the spider roll was enormous. It was extremely hard to get your mouth around each piece.

Extremely good and well worth the price.

No comment on this restau specifically - just a general observation... I find 'Chef's choice' is a true test of a sushi place.

The confident, creative places will ensure at least half your plate is something that, if perhaps you've tried before, you haven't had often, perhaps with a novel flourish.

The vast majority of places play it safe, and give pretty much exactly what you got - the ever present california roll, tuna, salmon, nagiri, shrimp, etc.

Which bugs me because if i'm putting my faith in the Sushi Chef, it's to give me what's awesome, not what's to be expected.

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I'd been wanting to try this place for years but never got around to it until last week, when my boyfriend and I went for dinner.

Being a fan of pretty much anything that comes out of the ocean, I'm always paralyzed with indecision when confronted with a sushi menu, so I chose the "Fuji" combination: chef's choice of 8 nigiri and 8 roll pieces. I ended up with a California roll and tuna, salmon, shrimp and some sort of whitefish (yellowtail?) nigiri. Everything was perfectly fresh and beautifully prepared, but I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed by the chef's choice. I find California rolls in general quite boring and it would have been nice to have a couple of pieces of more exotic nigiri (although I did enjoy everything I had). It makes sense that the chef would want to appeal to the broadest possible range of tastes (including those who don't like to eat wiggly tentacle-y things), and I guess this will teach me to be more decisive next time!

My boyfriend had the steak teriyaki and thought it was very good, although he was a bit perplexed by the sides of carrots and potatoes. He had been expecting something a bit less... North American, perhaps?

Our server was very polite and attentive without being obtrusive or getting in the way -- a rarity in Ottawa! We both enjoyed our meal very much and I'm looking forward to going back and trying some more of the sushi offerings.

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Went there for Lunch today, and I really enjoyed it. I found the decor nice and such, and I liked some of the items and art they had on display.

The service was nice.

I had the Sukiyaki Beef, Teriyaki Beef and Sushi for lunch. The sushi was a piece of salmon, shrimp, red snapper and a roll. I found the sushi to be okay. Not as good as homemade, but not the worst I'v ever had. It was in the top 30% I'd say.

The beef was really nicely cooked, and the sauce was good, but I found it stringy. The Chicken however was tender and juicy and flavourful.

In short, I liked it for lunch and would recommend it.

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FreshFoodie, were you there late? Because amusingly, I went for the first time ever Saturday around 8:30pm til we were the last to leave, two of us sitting in the back past two groups.

We were hungry for good sushi, and I wanted to try something else than Genji. I'm happy I did. Prices are similar - on the higher side - but you do get the quality.

Yaki-gyoza: nice to see both types of gyoza, pan- and deep-pried. I had the pan-fried, and it was light, perfectly cooked, flavourful; could bite into it immediately without it burning your tongue from the meat cooked too much - an excellent start.

Vegetable tempura were thinly-coated, making for still-crisp but warm and tasty bites. Unusual inclusions were the nori sheet and the lotus flower (so my friend thinks). Also: eggplant, yay!

For authenticity, it was nice to see more than one type of natto in the appetizers.

Hamachi-maki: Yellowtail and onion roll. Nice soft flavour, the fish not too cold, pleasant, but maybe not worth the $9 price.

Eel roll: I was hoping for freshly-grilled eel like Ichibei used to do, but it also wasn't long-ago grilled but now cold - it still had some warmth. Maybe if we had been much earlier it would have been freshly-grilled? Worth a try. :) It still was quite tasty, the cucumber adding a nice crunch to the chewiness of the eel.

Philadelphia roll: My friend loves cream cheese as a roll ingredient, and this one was quite nicely done, coming in at the end of the smoked salmon and cucumber for a very nice finish.

Kamikaze roll: oh sweet lord, I nearly moaned loudly in the restaurant. Tuna, avocado, spicy mayo, rolled in tempura flakes. The meld of different textures and flavours on the tongue hit me and just wouldn't let go. I happily abdicated higher brain functions to it. Yes, it's $12 but it's a big roll and there's 8 pieces, so you get both quantity and quality. A clear winner.

We decided we had a little space left, so we split two orders of nigiris. The sea bass nigiri smelled strongly of that "fish" smell, and had some on the taste - I can't remember if I've had sea bass before and if it's supposed to taste this way. We finished with the very nice salmon nigiri which had no reproach. And yes, the rice with it was quite wonderful.

I should note I did not dip anything in soya sauce - it did not need to, having more than enough flavour on its own.

My friend had the ginger ice cream to finish, and absolutely loved it, the solid pieces not being overly ginger-sour. I had the sticky rice with red bean paste rolled in sesame (forget the actual name, and the dessert menu is not online), and it was quite interesting and fun, but difficult to cut. Not overly sweet, but also not overly salty.

I should have tried the green tea - it would not have added much to the total.

Final bill with tax and tip was $94 - definitely not cheap, but two apps, four rolls totalling 24 pieces, four nigiris and two desserts is quite a bit of food. I wasn't hungry at all, and I had not eaten anything substantial that day.

As pointed by FF, one of the combos with one side roll is probably a much better value, but if you want to splurge, this place offers the quality with a different selection than Genji, making them complementary rather than competitive.

Also, finally another Japanese restaurant with a decent and intriguing selection of cold sakés. Next time, if I can be with someone with whom I can share. :)

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We visited for the first time in years last night. This is a pretty restaurant, with several dining areas, tatami rooms, interesting decor, running water, and stepping stones. The furniture is starting to look kind of old. Service was perfect -- attentive, congenial, and incredibly polite.

Green Tea had a nice toasted rice flavour and is served by the pot ($3 gets you a large pot for two).
Miso Soup was excellent, served in the typical covered lacquered bowls.
Japanese Calamari (Cuttlefish) was a seasonal special, which I expected grilled (because Ann DesBrisay had described good grilled squid at this place) and was somewhat disappointed to find it deep-fried tonkatsu style. Never mind, it was beautifully tender and got some flavour from the wasabi mayo dip.
Hiyashi Wakame was especially good, with cold seaweed and tasty sesame flavour.
Tempura was perfectly done: piping hot, crispy, delicate, and not greasy. The appetizer size gets you 3 shrimp and 3 veg.

The sushi is very good here... I'll write more under that food item.

Pictured here is the Tempura Sushi Combination. It's very good value -- especially compared to the sushi prices. $19 gets you miso soup, rice, green salad (served with a huge bowl of creamy ginger dressing), appetizer-sized tempura, 3 nigiri sushi, 2 california roll pieces, marinated bean sprouts. I love how the bento box has separate compartments for pickled ginger and soy sauce, and that the sushi was accompanied by a tiny mound of wasabi, while the tempura had a similarly tiny mound of grated daikon.

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I come here often enough, and know that it is probably the best place in Ottawa to get real Japanese food. If you order the authentic items, and the sushi, you will not be disappointed.

Highly recommended by my Japanese friends in Ottawa (probably because it is one of the few places owned by Japanese people), I have never had a bad experience at Suisha. Usually, I order the chirashi which I find to be very good and authentically prepared. The wait staff has always upheld the best in Japanese hospitality as well.

Overall, this is my favourite sushi place in Ottawa.

On my last visit, I ordered the teriyaki special combo. I requested the beef medium rare, but it came very well done. Also, when you need to add salt to a teriyaki dish in a Japanese restaurant because the sauce is so bland that you can barely taste it, you know there are problems.

Sad, because this used to be one of my favourite restaurants in Ottawa. Not any more... there are too many good restaurants to waste anymore time and money on this place.

In any case, the sushi was amazing, as always. If I have to go back, I'll stick to that. That, and the gyoza, which was delicate and fantastic.

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This is the chirashi bowl.
I snagged bits of it and it was pretty good.

The waitresses kept offering to deep fry the rest of the shrimp.

We named him Bernard.

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This is stellar sushi! The rolls are small and delicate, made with rice that is both smaller and softer than usual. If you're used to the cold, almost crunchy, texture of pre-made grocery store sushi or the haphazardly assembled and variable AYCE fare, you will be delighted by the sensuality of mouth-feel available here!

California Roll was perfectly balanced in flavour and texture. Probably the best I've had anywhere.
Kamikaze Roll was very nice, with a small and welcome kick of spice.
Nigiri was as good as I would expect, but I'm not familiar with it enough to judge as I don't usually explicitly order it. My combo box came with shrimp, salmon, and some kind of whitefish. All were super mild tasting and very tender. My experience has been that "bland" is a compliment when it comes to nigiri and sashimi. ;-)

The sushi is excellent but it isn't cheap. California Roll went for $8 and the Kamikaze was $12. Yeah, my whole bento box with soup was cheaper than wifey's two rolls!! Still... you can't ignore quality, so I consider this sushi worth paying for.

I'm vegan too. I'm afraid I wasn't impressed at all by the Sushi.

Mers you need to get out more.

Where were the classics for veggies, like tempura Sweet Potato (make sure there is no egg in the batter when you have it) and Avocado - Asparagus, Oyster Mushroom and Avocado - Sticky Fermented Bean Roll or Vegetarian Dragon Roll? Probably because these rolls most likely were developed in the new world.

The veggie sushi here was basic at best.

As a vegan, I appreciate an interesting selection of veggie sushi (asparagus, seaweed, tofu...), but wow, the price! If you want good veggie sushi and don't mind shelling out, this is the place for you.

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Suisha is doing another Izakaya night for New Year's Eve.

Spread the word.

Our table ordered the tempura. A very tiny amount for the price and it wasn't even hot. Seems like it popped out of the fryer 20 minutes earlier.

I had the tempura here and wasn't a fan. I found it limp and soggy. Not crispy at all.