Sushi Hil

I'm sure the rising cost of almost everything is quite noticeable these days.  Inflation is real and is hitting restaurants hard.  To get a premium sushi experience these days, the price has gone up considerably.  Places I've visited in the past are now out-of-reach for many people.  However, there is a new spot on Main Street that offers up premium sushi for a not-so-premium price.  I mean it isn't "cheap", but the value is definitely there.  Sushi Hil by Chef Hil Nguy (who opened Temaki Sushi) is a no-fuss experience where the ingredients are high-quality and prepared with care.  I finally was able to make it out to see why it has been garnering so many accolades since it opened.

There is no Omakase here, rather, you merely order a la carte from their focused menu.  We started with something simple, yet often not done right, the Spinach Gomaae.  However, in this case, it was really good.  Beyond the perfectly-textured spinach (cooked through and tender, but still had a slight crunch), the sesame dressing was so full of aroma and intense sweetness.  This was sesame-forward like it should be.

As intense as the gomaae was, we moved onto the New York Steak Tataki which was much more subtle.  For some, the ponzu sauce might've be too mild, but this allowed the natural beef flavour to come through.  Also, if it was too acidic, the dish would be out-of-balance.  As for the thin slices of NY steak, they were buttery tender while still retaining a meaty texture.

For our next item, we went even more mild with the Oyster Motoyaki.  Loved the motoyaki sauce as it was creamy with a good hit of acidity.  Hidden within, we found plump chunks of briny oyster mixed with tender spinach leaves and mushrooms.  Due to the amount of these ingredients, there was an excess amount of liquid at the bottom of the shell.  However, the liquid did taste great with the sweetness of the oyster and earthiness of the mushrooms.

For good measure, we also had the King Salmon Tataki in addition to our New York Steak Tataki.  Oh this was such a treat as the king salmon was super buttery and required little-to-no chewing.  It was supremely fresh with the bright taste of the sea.  Once again, the ponzu dressing was restrained where it allowed the main ingredient to be the star of the show.  Loved the crunchy garnish with the cucumber and radish as it added texture.

For $45.00, the Sashimi Moriawase was very reasonably-priced in my mind.  It featured 15 pieces consisting of shima aji, kanpachi, madai, hamachi, amaebi, hotate, tako and tuna gomaae.  The slices of fish were fresh with a nice sheen and clean taste.  Absolutely loved the amaebi as it was bursting with natural sweetness.  Also, the tuna gomaae was excellent featuring the same impactful dressing as the spinach gomaae.

Now the sashimi was awesome, but the Nagasaki Bluefin Tuna Tasting was the highlight of the meal.  Again, for $48.00, we found this a good value as it featured 2 pieces each of Negitoro, Chutoro, Otoro and Akami.  Believe me, this was such a treat with super buttery and sweet bluefin.  My favourite was the fatty otoro followed by the soft chutoro.  I could eat these 2 all day long!

Just for curiosity's sake, we added the King Oshi with shiso, serrano chili and tare sauce.  Naturally, the salmon was just as buttery and soft as the tataki, but offering up more aroma due to the activation of the fats from the torching.  The sushi rice was on point with an appealing chew that contrasted the soft salmon.  A definite kick was provided by the thin slice of serrano while the tare added a sweet saltiness.

To end things off with a bang with the A5 Wagyu Nigiri as well as the Hokkaido Uni Nigiri.  For myself, I feel that the A5 Wagyu nigiri was a steal for $10.00 a piece.  Lightly torched and sauced, the buttery and fatty slice of beef provided both luxurious texture and aromatics.  So decadent.  Not to be outdone, the Hokkaido uni was bright and sweet with the definite taste of the sea.  A bit of wasabi on top for some bite.  These were 2 really nice bites to end off a fantastic meal.  The quality of the ingredients and their preparation blew me away, especially for the price.  This is a real gem here and I recommend that you head down to Sushi Hil if you enjoy premium sushi.  I will be returning for sure (actually have resos already).

The Good:
- Premium ingredients
- Prepared properly
- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:
- Would like an Omakase menu (maybe in the future?)
- Place is really small, make resos and don't bring a large group