Dish readers sent me to Tawara Sushi on Lonsdale Avenue.
I wasn’t in a rush to go check it out, to be honest, as the previous two restaurants at that same location, both reviewed in these pages, one quite favourably, one not-so-much so, folded after a short period of time. I figured I’d wait it out for a while and see if Tawara would make it through the year before paying it a visit.
Since its opening, however, a number of readers have reached out to me to tell me how good their experience there had been. These proactive endorsements came sporadically and with an actual name attached to the correspondence, both fairly reliable indicators of legitimacy.
You see, sometimes a new place will open and I’ll get a sudden, concentrated flurry of emails that tend to resemble each other, most often focused on an aspect of the new restaurant that seems unlikely to elicit such consistently articulated praise.
A note to marketers impersonating diners: in my experience, everyday patrons of a restaurant don’t say things like “Chef Doe’s commitment to regional ingredients and worldly flavours is evident in every dish, especially in his signature truffle-crusted halibut on gold leaf risotto, which is winning over new legions of fans every day.” Nope, sorry. Not convincing.
Tawara’s early fans spoke of the freshness of the fish and innovation of the menu, while returning diners recounted tales of chef, owner and super host Bum Yeon Pyo hand-delivering elegant, spur-of-the-moment creations to their tables.
Wait, what? Hang on just a second, I know that name! Pulling up a photo shot around this time last year by North Shore News photographer Paul McGrath to accompany my article on Stack Grill, the former inhabitant of the Tawara space, who should I see flashing a familiar, affable smile but chef Pyo himself. At that time he was holding up a plate of Korean barbecue beef.
Walking in to Tawara recently with my friends Matt and Rose (who, it turns out, are regulars of the restaurant), I noticed a framed newspaper review on the wall at the entrance. The subjects of the review were Tawara Sushi and Pyo, only the article referenced a restaurant in Surrey. I can only surmise, based on my experience with Stack Grill last year and this most recent adventure at Tawara, that Pyo has been working out his creative focus, honing his personal style and developing his culinary philosophy.
I will say this: broadly speaking, Pyo seems to be at his best when his creativity is given room to shine, such as in a delicate and beautifully plated dish of Scallop Carpaccio with bright summer fruit, herbs, garlic, and ginger-infused olive oil. I remarked on the Italian influence present on Stack Grill’s menu last year and here it is retained, only fine-tuned considerably and given a more organic expression in dishes that lend themselves well to it, like the aforementioned carpaccio.
Of the more standard issue Japanese fare that we sampled, like Salmon Sashimi and Beef Teriyaki, I am of the mind that they do not set Tawara apart in any remarkable way and are perhaps best left for other sushi restaurants to interpret. I make this point because Tawara’s menu is ambitiously large and some guidance on the kitchen’s strengths may be helpful.
As reported by readers, chef Pyo did, in fact, visit our table to present a number of dishes. In addition to the menu version of the Scallop Carpaccio, Pyo brought us a second iteration, this one featuring the same supple, translucent disks of shellfish, only with two dainty cubes of red beet and a subtle nage of raspberry-infused vinegar.
The fruity acidity of the vinegar was an ingenious contrast to the meaty scallops and was clearly the product of an experienced hand.
Another creative and winning dish was an appetizer with the deceptively simply name, Salmon with Spinach. What arrived was a picturesque, shallow, white bowl containing a grilled roll of salmon, cut on the bias, stuffed with Dungeness crab meat and spinach, all set atop an ecru sauce of cream and mushrooms.
A drizzle of balsamic syrup and bright green olive oil garnished the bowl. The dish was fantastically rich and seductive, a revelation from a sushi restaurant.
A generous dish of Aburi Sushi (nigiri that has been lightly seared with a torch prior to plating, drawing flavourful oils to the surface) featured eight morsels of succulent, fresh fish, including wild sockeye salmon, yellowfin tuna, giant scallop, grilled eel, albacore tuna, Atlantic salmon, and tuna belly.
Each morsel was topped with its own unique garnish, chosen to complement the specific fish upon which it was applied.
We next sampled an unusual maki, the Strawberry Crunch Roll. The roll contained rice and fresh crab meat, but was deep fried to a golden brown and then topped with sliced strawberries and honey mustard sauce. The presentation of the dish was lovely, but I felt the deep frying overpowered the delicate crab meat.
A dramatically plated and delicious side of Gomae put us back on track and, with a couple of crisp, cold Asahi beers (Japanese beer makers really have mastered that whole no aftertaste thing), wrapped up the meal nicely.
Our dinner was $110 before gratuity. Tawara is located at 1995 Lonsdale Ave. 604-770-1737
Chris Dagenais served as a manager for several restaurants downtown and on the North Shore. A self-described wine fanatic, he earned his sommelier diploma in 2001. Contact: [email protected].
