This is a late post for my friend’s birthday dinner at Minami. She’s one of my good friends from Edmonton, and happened to be visiting Vancouver during her birthday week.

I’ve been trying to get around to trying Minami for a while. It’s a relatively new restaurant, opening it’s doors last June. Since then, it’s gotten rave reviews from critics and foodies alike so I’ve been dying to see what the fuss is about.

Fun fact: Minami is named after Aburi Restaurants CEO Seigo Nakamura’s youngest daughter. His other Vancouver location is named after his eldest daughter; Miku.

Unfortunately I was running late, and missed the start of the meal (which I heard was delicious) but I did manage to catch a few dishes, which are shown below.

The lighting was quite dim, so it may be difficult to make out what was served.

This is the Miku Roll, which had salmon, uni, crab, cucumber and rolled in flying fish roe with MIKU sauce.

I love all the components of this roll isolated, so it makes sense that together they make an amazing combination in my books.

We also tried the Wagyu Beef Soba: wagyu beef bolognaise, tempura oyster mushroom, shitake mushroom with dashi. I didn’t try this, but the consensus from others was that it wasn’t great, and a regretful menu choice.

And the Ebi Fritters: black tiger prawns, spiced couscous, sweet chili aioli and soy balsamic. There’s a version of this dish at every Japanese tapa restaurant, and I always enjoy it so I wanted to see how Minami’s rendition stacked up.

The verdict? It wasn’t bad, but I still think I like Hapa’s better.

This was my favourite part- dessert! :)

We ordered 3 different ones, which they plated beautifully with a candle and handwritten chocolate drizzle.

Earl Grey Berry Cake: earl grey cream, walnut sponge, earl grey cookie crust, blueberry & blackberry compote, japanese puffed rice, hazelnuts, chantilly cream served with cassis vanilla ice cream.

Lemon Cheesecake: light unbaked cheesecake, graham cookie crust, orange-lemon compote, rhubarb sauce served with rhubarb-raspberry sorbet.

Green Tea Opera: Green tea sponge infused with espresso and Frangelico liqueur, green tea butter cream, dark chocolate ganache, azuki bean cream served with green tea ice cream and green tea sauce.

They were all very yummy, but my favorite was the Earl Grey. I’ve never had anything like it before and the flavors really complimented each other well.

The cheesecake was pretty good too, but I enjoy baked cheesecake more than it’s chilled counterpart. I’m also not a huge fan of sponge cake so the green tea was just alright for me.

We all had a great time and a lovely meal. Most of our dishes were great if not mediocre. Although it is quite pricy, you pay for the quality ingredients and the luxe atmosphere.

The service was there, but our server seemed very rushed and forgot things here and there.

Overall, I liked it but probably wouldn’t go back unless it was on someone else’s whim.

Read the original on: Lucyloohoo