What do Cherries Jubilee, Saganaki, Crepes Suzette, Christmas Pudding and, occasionally, Tarte Tatin have in common?
They are all classic dishes of the European dining pantheon that can still reasonably be flambéed tableside by skilled service professionals without eliciting contemptuous smirks and rolled eyes.
Those dishes are, by definition, flambéed (except the Tarte Tatin, which is often served without the burning Calvados) and therefore ought to elicit a certain expectation from the diner who orders them.
Sushi, however, elicits no such expectation. In fact, from a certain perspective, lighting one’s raw fish dish ablaze is anathema to the sushi tradition. The last time I had flambéed sushi was at Jordan Sushi, where owner and accomplished chef Jordan Kim himself prepared a signature flaming sushi roll for me and my dining partner, using a kitchen torch to ignite an ounce or so of rum atop a maki of barbecued eel.
Once the dramatic, bluish flames subsided, only a fraction of the alcohol had cooked off, leaving a breathtaking puddle underneath the maki that ultimately resulted in wet, boozy rice. The dish was a conversation piece, to be sure, but was ultimately a superfluous tangent in an otherwise excellent meal that featured some of the freshest sashimi around.
This week’s column considers what I have historically thought to be one of West Vancouver’s better Japanese eateries, Bene Sushi, whence chef Kim originally hails.
Their menu still bears some of his ghost, incendiary maki chief among them. I avoided this section of the menu on my recent visit with my wife DJ, opting instead for a selection of dishes that I find to be reliable litmus tests for the overall quality of a sushi joint.
We kicked off our meal with tempura. While it can be served as a main course unto itself, tempura is arguably the most popular and best known Japanese appetizer in the West, but is one that can vary wildly in style and quality. Ideally, tempura should be light and crispy in its batter, cooked in very hot oil that leaves little trace of itself in the final product, which should be a pale, golden colour (think 10-karat gold rather than 24 karat).
The interior, irrespective of what is chosen to be cooked tempura style, should be piping hot but not overdone, preserving a delicate crunch in its own right.
Bene largely succeeded in realizing this tempura ideal with their prawns, yams, and squash, but not so much with their zucchini. I am of the mind that zucchini is simply not well suited to this method of cooking and Bene’s middling iteration was less a fault of the kitchen and more one of ingredient choice.
Zucchini contains a lot of water, which is drawn to the surface when it is cooked. Accordingly, when deep fried at tempura-level temperatures, the zucchini becomes limp and waterlogged, giving the misleading impression of oiliness. The prawns, on the other hand, were exactly as they should be: meaty, al dente and light as air.
On the suggestion of the server I went for an appetizer dish called Kushiyaki, or skewers of grilled scallops and prawns topped with a buttery and rich house sauce. With its four prawns and four scallops, I found the dish to be good value at $9 and enjoyed the plump and meaty seafood with its mild, understated sauce.
DJ chose a Popeye Roll from Bene’s list of exotic maki. It turned out to be the best selection of the evening. The Popeye Roll was stuffed with bell pepper, cucumber, and pickled daikon, topped with wilted spinach and tender strips of inari (golden tofu skin), all sprinkled with toasted black and white sesame seeds. While I’m not typically a veggie sushi guy, I have to concede the inspired combination of flavours at work here, and I appreciated the significant portion for $9.
I ordered Bene’s Assorted Sashimi offering, typically the best showcase for the prowess of the kitchen team and freshness of the fish, as the naked seafood cannot hide behind complex distractions. My first comment is that the fish was exceptionally fresh and served at the ideal cool, but not near-frozen, temperature, allowing it to melt in the mouth and express its subtle flavour; great work.
Next, I would categorize the sashimi portion as very generous for $18, with hearty helpings of tuna (red, toro, and albacore), salmon (including sockeye) and hamachi.
But now about those portions: each morsel of sashimi felt like a mini steak. In some cases, especially with the salmon, a single piece was a three or four bite undertaking. Like overfilling my wine glass, under-seasoning my food, or prematurely presenting me with the bill, unwieldy, cumbersome cuts of sashimi are a dining peeve of mine.
I applaud Bene’s generous portioning, but I really feel like sashimi is meant to be delicate and understated, perfect bite-sized slices of incredibly fresh fish rather than overwhelming slabs of flesh.
I had high hopes for the one exotic maki I ordered, the Lobster Roll. The ingredients were listed on the menu as crab, avocado, asparagus, tobiko, deep fried lobster with house mayo and unagi sauce.
In practice, the roll was dominated by imitation crab, an ingredient not uncommon in maki, but one I feel to be incongruous with a luxurious protein like lobster, and particularly in a roll that costs $16.
The combination of flavours was on the right track, but for me the proportions of the ingredients were off; the lobster was but a minor player and the unagi (barbecue eel) barely discernible.
Still, lest I paint an unduly critical picture, it needs to be said that Bene’s elegant room, creative menu (that runs much deeper than the selection I chose this time) and commitment to very fresh seafood, can offer up an enjoyable night out. Our meal was $75.
Bene is located at 1574 Marine Dr. in West Vancouver. benesushi.com. 604-913-1112
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. He can be reached via email at hungryontheshore@gmail.com. North Shore News dining reviews are conducted anonymously and all meals are paid for by the newspaper.
