Recently, Air Canada released its list of the best new restaurants in Canada. One of the places mentioned is Niwa out on a strip of great restaurants on Powell Street near Victoria Drive. After great meals at other nominated restaurants such as Le Violon, Elem, June, Linny's and Pancée, I was excited to check out Niwa. Viv and I went to celebrate her birthday with their Chef's Menu for a reasonable $85.00.
Our meal began with a few snacks including Assorted Pickles, Seiglinde Potato Salad and Country-Style Berkshire Pork Pâté. These were pretty standard items in many tasting menus I've had as of late. The pickled celery and radish were crunchy and punchy, but we thought the carrot was a bit bland. Potato salad was creamy with crunchy onions and pops of roe. Pate was firm with light meatiness. It came with a small dollop of mustard and a slice of gherkin.
One last snack was the Sablefish served as a cube of reconstituted meat. It was fluffy and tender with a wasabi kick. We added the Uni Shooter supplement and it was served with seaweed and ponzu. For mine, it was bright and sweet, but Viv's was funky and not as fresh. Our last supplemental dish was the Fife Bread. It had a crunchy crust with a soft and chewy centre. It was served with a squash compote that had sweet and earthy melon vibes along with a pork butter that was melty and baconesque.
Onto our next course, the Tofu Pocket was stuffed with mochi and mushrooms. It sat in a dashi that was smoky and had the essence of dried orange peel. We enjoyed the texture of the chewy tofu skin pocket, but the mochi in the middle was too soft and a bit slimy. We would've liked to see it firmer. As for the mushrooms, they were flavourful with a great texture.
We moved onto a salad of sorts with the Kohlrabi dressed in black vinegar and chili oil. Combined with Asian pear, there was a mix of hard and soft crunch textures. We had some natural sweetness, but with the black vinegar, it was the most dominant flavour. There was a bit of spice for the chili oil, but it was muted. This was fairly pleasant and light, where we were leading up to the next item.
That next item was our favourite dish of the meal, the Golden Eagle Sablefish. Although we felt the dish could've been seasoned more aggressively, the overall execution was good. Each large piece of sablefish was buttery and soft while barely cooked through. The fish itself could've been salted more, but the preserved matsutake sauce had enough umami to make up for it.
As a side for the sablefish, we had the Crawford Farms Turnips with sweet onion. This was quite good with soft turnips that still had a bite. Of course there was some natural earthiness here and it was complimented by the fermented saltines of the miso on top. Furthermore, the charred Ailsa Craig onions added both crunch and natural sweetness.
At this point, we thought our meal was over, but then came the Stewed Pork Shoulder Rice with seaweed. This was a pretty rustic dish if you can imagine. It was served over chewy sushi rice. In general, this was a hearty and comforting item with tender and fatty pork. Mixed in with the seaweed, scallions and chewy sushi rice, each bite was meaty and filling.
Finishing off the Chef's Menu, we were presented with the Brown Butter Ice Cream Puffs. I enjoyed the creamy, nutty and sweet ice cream. It was further enhanced by the Irish whiskey caramel which was pretty sweet. The choux pastry was decent having an airiness to it while crispy on the outside. Overall, the Chef's Menu at Niwa was decent, but not particularly impressive compared to the other best new restaurants nominees (as per Air Canada) I've visited in 2025. I do think the Chef's Menu is a good value though and I'm curious about the evolution of the restaurant as it moves into 2026.The Good:
- Fairly good value
- Attentive service
- Nice atmosphere
The Bad:
- Food is decent but not memorable
- Pretty dark in there
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