ciao! reviews
KIMCHI SUSHI
Neighbourhood. . . . . Fort Garry
Address. . . . . 1270 Pembina Hwy
Phone. . . . . . . . . 204-261-8888
Entrées. . . . . . . . . . . . . $10-$15
Kimchi Sushi is not the spot for
sushi purists, with rolls baked, fried,
doused in sauce and spiked with
decidedly untraditional flavours.
But what arrives at the table is a
love song to multiculturalism,
a unique fusion of Asian and
Canadian ingredients that happily
blur culinary borders.
The sleekly decorated Pembina
Highway spot offers some of the
city’s best Korean interpretations
of the ever-popular Japanese dish.
Sushi here is a wild, messy, saucy
affair, showing just how far creative
chefs can play with the building blocks of seasoned rice and
seaweed.
Case in point: sushi pizza. A pillowy bed of rice, warm and crispy
from a dunk in the deep-fry, is
layered with curls of salmon and a
lashing of sweet hoisin-like house
sauce, a sunny mango sauce, and
sweet Japanese mayo. TNT tempura
is another saucy appetizer, crisp
under spicy, sweet and soy-laced
drizzles.
Rolls are similarly playful, forgoing the severity of edomae-style
sushi for fun and unexpected
combos, like the Kingston, a
modified California roll slathered
in sauce, oven baked, and dusted
with Parmesan for funky edge. The
beautiful Geisha roll, papered with
slices of salmon, is slicked with a
line of sweet, floral fruit purée, each
piece topped with a single pearlescent orb of salmon roe.
The spot’s Korean ownership
has also resulted in a selection of
favourites from the cuisine, including a playful “I love kimchi” section
geared towards ferment fanatics. The
rendition of the cabbage condiment
served here is charged with vinegary flavour cut with a sweet edge,
with less spice than most versions.
Excellent Korean-style barbeque
shouldn’t be missed, with strands
of pork and vegetables, charred and
smoky with a marinated-in deeply
savoury flavour, dyeing accompanying rice scarlet.
The backdrop to the extravagance
on the plate is boldly minimal décor.
Black walls and sliding sheer black
curtains dividing the dining area
and booths lit by bare Edison bulbs
create an atmosphere as contemporary as the menu.
Kimchi Sushi is open Mon-Fri
11 am-10 pm, Sat & Sun 12 pm10 pm.
Classics
& COCKTAILS
featuring
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LIMITED TIME ONLY
ciao! / oct/nov / two thousand sixteen
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