Going back over some of my previous ‘eating’ courses (actually called Culinary Arts in the UBC Continuing Studies Course catalogue). This dates from February of 2008, when we went to Ajisai Sushi Bar to try a traditional sushi menu. Our instructor ordered some really different, really delicious sushi. In an informal vote the class picked the Ajisai Sushi Bar as the best food experience of the four places we had visited.
flying fish sushi being prepared
- prepping our flying fish sushi
flying fish sushi
- flying fish sushi as served
traditional sushi
- a plate of traditional sushi. From left to right: whelk conch; sweet prawn (with the traditional practice of having the tail facing you); flounder innards; marinated red tuna topped with grated mountain potato; sea bream and egg
‘stab body’, sashimi in Japanese
- the Japanese menu uses a mix of Chinese and Japanese characters. These ‘kanji‘ (Chinese characters) translate as ‘stab body’, in Japanese pronounced sashimi.
pressed sushi
- pressed sushi. The two wrapped in a bamboo leaves are 1. sea bream and 2. salmon, capers and basil. The others are pressed and seared salmon with asparagus (the pale orange fish) and mackerel with BBQ leaf (the whitish fish)
fruit sushi
- fruit sushi – a real treat! From left to right: kiwi berry and flying fish roe with wasabi, salmon roe with ‘golden’ berries, mushroom with fruit gelatin
sketch of the fruit sushi
- special menu designed for our eating course, with class notes
Ajisai class menu
Ajisai Sushi Bar, Vancouver, BC; Tel: (604) 266-1428 (They don’t appear to have a website but all the rave reviews on other sites kind of make up for that!)
