Shirley was visiting this weekend.

Vancouver is surprisingly picky on Japanese food, since we were planning to do a shoot in Stanley Park around the afternoon, we wanted to grab lunch relatively close to that area. Given this restriction, the best Yelp could offer was Miku, sitting at 4.5 stars with 900+ reviews. I booked a reservation ahead of time, and we hopped in for lunch, all as planned.

Aside from the beautiful patio with comfy chairs, the thing that stood out to me was their Genmaicha, which was made with proper ingredients and not just a teabag. Before the appetizer had arrived, they brought us their soysauce, a lighter, sweeter one, and a house-made, darker soysauce with a lot more flavor.

Miso soup was pretty great, lots of umami and none of the weird sweetness that other sushi shops tend to add. As for the appetizer, the oysters were really fresh, but the mussels were nothing to write home about. Chicken teppanyaki was pretty good, very tender and juicy, and just the right amount of charring. Sashimi was a treat, rich without being overly fatty, though I think Guu Izakaya’s marinated tuna was still better.

The kicker is the sushi that I forgot to take photos of, but the flavor really is amazing with the right amount of real wasabi. It’s kinda hard to describe, but the flavors were almost difficult to separate, blended together to create a symphony of umami and deliciousness.

Overall, this place was definitely great, albeit a bit pricey for the quality of the food. The location is great and the atmosphere is top notch, although the inside might be a little loud, which is to be expected of a izakaya.

9/10 would come again.

-Tao