J:unique Kitchen
381 Cooper St., 613-234-8877, facebook.com/juniquekitchen
Open: Tuesday to Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m., closed Monday
Prices: special sushi rolls $11.95 to $21.95, noodle dishes $14.95-$18.95
Access: several steps to front door
Before a proper baked Alaska hits your table, it should be doused with dark rum and lit on fire to set its admirers oohing and aahing. Bananas Foster, crèpes Suzette, and, on the savoury side, steak Diane would also be just as incomplete without a flaming finish.
But sushi?
At J:unique Kitchen, which opened Nov. 20 in Centretown, several of its myriad sushi preparations arrive with a side order of fire. Flanked by vividly burning tempura crumbs, the “fire dragon roll” would otherwise, I guess, be misnamed. At dinner last week, the special roll called “Gozila bite” caught us off-guard with its pupu platter-like, flaming centrepiece.
Fire Dragon Roll at J:unique Kitchen
“Gozila bites” at J:unique Kitchen
These attention-grabbing dishes, perfect for the Instagram generation, are just part of the allure at this narrow, minimalist, woody place that seats fewer than 30 people, including three at its sushi bar.
J:unique also serves such standard Japanese fare as teriyaki, yakisoba and ramen, as well as the usual raw fish preparations, plus appetizers to nibble on. But the menu gives pride of place to creatively constructed sushi rolls that are typically massive, assertively sauced, and, over all, styled to make eyes pop — even without a flaming component.
The menu also flags J:unique’s oshi sushi — a variant known elsewhere as pressed sushi, box sushi, or battera, which is made by placing ingredients into a box and pressing down on them — as well as “aburi sushi,” which is distinguished by a bit of torching on top.
Some Googling suggests that Vancouver’s sushi scene lays claim to popularizing, if not quite creating, oshi sushi and aburi sushi out West. J:unique’s chef-owner, James Park, was a sushi chef in Vancouver for almost 10 years before he and his wife moved to Ottawa last May, and J:unique touts itself online for bringing “Vancouver-style sushi” to Ottawa.
Now, a stickler might note that aburi or oshi sushi were already available, if not stressed, at the established sushi eateries Sushi 88 in Chinatown and the two Soul Stone locations in Orléans, if not elsewhere in Ottawa.
But the more important point is that J:unique’s sushi — whether unadorned for purists, elaborately accompanied and sauced for North American tastes, or torched — was usually quite well-made and generously portioned.
I should confess that after being wowed by sashimi at several high-end New York restaurants, raw fish in Ottawa rarely impresses me that much. Still, I thought favourably of J:unique’s fresh, plump sashimi and nigiri that were part of its “mega lunch set” one afternoon. It’s also been heartening to see that J:unique serves premium choices such as tuna belly and spot prawn.
Mega lunch set at J:Unique Kitchen
Of J:unique’s 26 special rolls, we tried four of the apparently more elaborate, over-sized constructions — the big boss ($16.95), beef tataki ($16.95), fire dragon ($21.95) and Gozila bite ($19.95).
The danger of such “more-is-more” rolls is that if poorly made, they can slip over into confusing and sloppy eating. J:unique’s examples, however, usually worked for us. Showiness aside, the fire dragon, with its much-larger-than-a-mouthful rolls, made sense when you took it apart and savoured it well-sauced unagi before digging into its real crab-meat-rich interior. The Gozila bite satisfied with layers of torched, sauced tuna, salmon and scallop on a bed of deep-fried rice and seaweed.
Once you got past the blanket of fried julienned sweet potato, the imposingly large big boss teemed with crab, avocado, chopped tuna and deep-fried prawn. Beef tataki was more crab than beef, but still enjoyable.
Big Boss Roll at J:unique Kitchen
Beef tataki roll at J:unique Kitchen
The less extravagant spicy “chop scallop roll” ($9.95) tasted sweet and then spicy, but less so of scallop. Next time, I’d order the un-spicy “chop scallop roll.”
Spicy scallop roll at J:unique Kitchen
Among our favourites were the aburi and oshi sushi samples we tried. Salmon tartare oshi sushi ($18.95) pleasingly melded cooked and raw fish, and its rice was spot-on texturally. Torched toro (albacore tuna belly) and salmon belly (each $4.95 a piece) were fatty-good while the spot and tiger prawns (also $4.95 a piece) were pristine and tasty.
Pressed salmon sushi at J:unique Kitchen
Assorted aburi sushi (from left: spot prawn, salmon belly, tuna, tiger prawn) at J:unique Kitchen, pic by Peter Hum
Well-filled beef gyoza, shrimp and vegetable tempura and bits of chicken karaage all emerged from the kitchen’s deep-fryer cleanly made and unoily. But chicken yakisoba ($16.95), while tasty, was oilier than it needed to be.
Beef gyoza at J:unique Kitchen
Assorted tempura at J:unique Kitchen
Not one to miss out on ramen fever in Ottawa, J:unique serves three kinds of the popular Japanese noodle soup — porky tonkotsu, a miso-enriched bowl, and shoyu ramen, flavoured with soy. A bowl of tonkotsu ramen spoke well of the kitchen’s ramen talents. Its broth was sufficiently hefty and clean-flavoured, its noodles had some spring, and its pork belly and generous garnishes had been prepared with evident care, down to bits of sweetly cooked shiitake mushroom. Plus, the soup came with a small California roll and either gyoza or chicken karaage. Those bonus items make J:unique’s ramen a stomach-filling steal at $14.95.
Tonkotsu ramen, chicken karage and California roll combo at J:unique Kitchen
Service here has been brisk and personable, and we liked the hot towels that have come at the beginning of our meals for hand-cleaning. We liked less the cleaning of other tables with a strong-smelling cleanser while we were there.
The restaurant does not serve desserts beyond some complimentary frozen grapes.
J:unique’s liquor licence application is pending. If it comes through, I would just advise that you keep any flammable spirits away from open flames.