#104-240 Cook St.
Victoria, BC
(778) 433-4490

If you want a sushi cake for your birthday, The Next Modern Japanese Cuisine certainly delivers. You have to call in advance about it (I’m not sure how long this promotion is going to last) and they need at least a days notice to collect the ingredients in order to prepare it to your specifications. As much as I’d love to try fugu (blowfish), I’m sure that’s not easily available in North America.

Having some knowledge in what’s available for the season is required, otherwise the chefs will use their judgement. In what I asked for was a complete representation of every type of fish often seen in a regular menu. I tasted tuna, salmon, red snapper, ahi, scallop and prawn. They were definitely quality cuts and the rice was even sweeter than I recall. The mackerel was very mild and the bed of rice was huge. This cake alone is a meal in itself! The inclusion of salmon roe was a nice touch, and this particular flavour is not for everyone. When paired with the avocado, my taste buds were in for a treat!

The presentation is very exquisite. The soft fruit was arranged in a floral pattern. Carrots were cut into fish shape and the arrangement was beautiful. Parts of the cake came alive to imitate sea life.

What was ordered was far more than enough for the friends — Sherri and Heather — invited to join me on my special day. I do not have big parties as some do; a small group is all I need. James could not make it as he was working (he took me out to see a movie and a meal on another day). With what sounded like half the bistro singing along, I was smiling. When it came time to blow out the candle, no wish was needed because it had been fulfilled.

Earlier in the day, I finally looked at what’s happening for the 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival. I was bouncing upon seeing The Red Turtle — Studio Ghibli’s next film (made with Danish studio Wild Bunch and animator Michaël Dudok de Wit as director) — listed! I knew it made its debut in Japan this month, but to find it playing in Vancouver, BC more than helped top off a very special week! The Animation Gods must have heard me when I wished I could be in Japan to see this movie on the big screen more than a year ago.

With a very special bottle of fruity nigori (cloudy-white) sake to top off the night and a sake-infused ahi-tuna roll to keep my night still going, I was more than rollin’ afterwards. I was in divine heaven. Between here and Omakase, I’d say these two operations are the best in what Victoria has for top dining experiences.

4 Blokes of 5