By Amy Van Veen (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: March 27, 2013
2362 Whatcom Road, Abbotsford BC
604-859-6877
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily
Price: up to $17.95 (excluding party trays and sashimi boat)
New sushi places tend to scare me – I’ll admit it. There’s a lot that could go wrong if sushi isn’t well-made or even properly made. It’s a big risk to walk into an unknown sushi bar and order a piece of raw fish atop a clump of rice, which is why most of my sushi adventures are based on word-of-mouth recommendations.
And this is how I heard of Sushi Nara.
A couple minutes north of the Whatcom Road exit there’s a whole set of new stores and restaurants for the bourgeoning community on the mountain, including one Sushi Nara.
The restaurant, which has about 11 booths and tables, offers a more sophisticated sushi dining experience. Instead of fairy lights and mismatched pictures on the wall, there are dark wood tables and booths with black padded seats, a collection of bamboo planters and bouquets of bright pink flowers by the bar.
Behind the bar there’s a school of ceramic fish plates lined up. The darker tone of paint gives the restaurant a more intimate feeling and the bathrooms are adorable – if bathrooms can be adorable. Sushi Nara seems to have every detail covered – even down to their environmentally friendly, reusable chopsticks.
The menu offers all the sushi staples along with several house rolls and sushi combos. My one friend ordered the magic tuna roll – a deep fried spicy tuna roll topped with sweet chili sauce, cut on a bias and arranged around a scoop of rice. My other friend ordered the crazy boy roll – a deep fried California roll drizzled with their house sauce and topped with shredded yam tempura. The crazy boy roll was also sliced down the middle, cutting each piece in half which made consumption a whole lot easier.
As tempting as it was to rack up my bill trying every delectable menu item that caught my eye, I opted instead for the more bargain friendly lunch box.
Available daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the lunch boxes range from $9.95 to $12.95 – making them the same price as the special rolls. I ordered the sushi box, which came with a starter of miso soup and contained four pieces of nigiri, eight pieces of California roll, five pieces of prawn and vegetable tempura, green salad and four pieces agedashi tofu. Every bite was scrumptious – abounding in flavour and of clearly fresh quality.
The three of us also shared a starter of gyoza – my favourite menu item, but also a dish that many sushi restaurants mess up. Sushi Nara, however, struck a perfect balance between crunchy and chewy with the right balance of flavours that didn’t overwhelm or disappoint.
I normally burn my mouth biting open the freshly made dumplings, but these were ready to be consumed the minute they hit the table – which meant I didn’t have to wait around staring at the deliciousness before diving in.
While the individual rolls can get a little pricey, the lunch box was well worth the cost – especially considering the fact that I entered the restaurant famished after a morning class and left completely satisfied with a smile on my face.
