Kazu, a traditional Japanese izakaya in the heart of Montrealposted in : MONTREAL, restaurant reviews This past Sunday evening, after a long day of eating my way through downtown Montreal with Marcella, we ended up at Kazu‘s door at around 5pm for some more eating! I had been wanting to try out this tiny Japanese izakaya retaurant for a while now and had been disappointed to find it closed the last two times I tried to go… This time around, we were the first ones in an increasingly long line-up and ended up getting the prized window table when the doors finally opened after a half hour wait! The restaurant is shockingly tiny, with 3 tables down one side of the space and 8 seats at the bar. The small kitchen behind the bar is where you’ll find chef (and owner) Kazuo Akutsu whipping up his magical dishes. There is a rudimentary menu consisting of a few torn pages bound together by a ring on each table with red dots next to the items that aren’t available that night but the real menu is made up of all the daily specials written on coloured paper and taped up to the wall of the restaurant.

The papers come off the wall when they run out of a dish, which seemed to happen a couple of times while we were there.how to cook sushi rice microwave We were lucky to be there on a Sunday, the only day Kazu makes fresh home-made tofu. buy japanese rice cooker in australiaI’m not a big fan of tofu, unless it’s fried which doesn’t really count, but this tofu was silky and smooth, and was marinating in an outstanding light soy sauce and spice mix. play sushi cat 2 online free The dishes are perfectly timed by the very efficient waitresses at Kazu. sushi rice cooker vinegar

It takes the organizational skills of an army general to run the place efficiently since the line-up outside the door never lets up. yo sushi discount daysThe next dish to arrive at our table was the “48 hour pork” rice bowl. sushi pack online gameThe pork is marinated for 48 hours and the dish is the perfect balance of flavours with little tangy and salty surprises every time you bite into a bright pink piece of pickled ginger: perfection!where to buy sashimi fish nyc Both fishes in the bowl of tuna and salmon to arrive soon after were incredibly fresh but we were eying the bowls full of meat that were on the other tables. These people seemed to be regulars and knew what to order so of course, we had to get an order of that!

The barbecue pork necks turned out to be an incredibly good but very messy choice. There’s really no way to eat these gracefully, you just have to roll up your sleeves and go at it, even if people stare at you through the window! And yes, licking the sauce off your fingers is perfectly acceptable behaviour at Kazu 🙂 Dessert consisted of a bowl of vanilla ice-cream topped with matcha powder. Let’s just say that next time- and there will definitely be a next time- I’ll be skipping the dessert to leave room for more savoury dishes. There are so many to try! (note: I have since been back and have tried the sake ice cream which is just absolutely delicious!) There must be hundreds of sushi places in Montreal but Japanese izakayas are still a rarity. I fell in love with Bistro Izakaya on Parc not long ago and couldn’t wait to dig into what Kazu had to offer. Turns out, despite the line-up, claustrophobic space and smoke-filled room (or maybe because of those things), I am eager to go back as soon as possible to sample all the other delights whipped up by the extremely talented chef. W

Mon,Wed, Thur, Fri, Sun 12pm-9:30pm Related Posts: Icehouse: A little Texas in Montreal Brunch at Birks Café: All about the details {Giveaway} It's my birthday and I am giving away a... Holiday gift ideas for the food and travel lover o...Sushi was born somewhere around inland china, and was very different from what you will now find at your favorite Montreal sushi restaurants. There was no raw fish at that point and not even seaweed. The prototype for sushi was actually a pressed block of rice with some kind of flavorful ingredients inside, usually something like the Korean Kim Chi. The pressed rice sushi contained different meats, fish and vegetables and was slightly dried in the sun so the outside had a crunchy texture and the inside was soft and tasty. At this point, from about 300 BC, sushi was a utilitarian way to preserve food and make it portable. Not like today where the trend is health and with a healthy lifestyle comes the quest to find the best Montreal sushi restaurants. 

The trend caught on as rice cultivation spread over the sea and northward from Southeast Asia, and different cultures made unique additions to the basic recipe and arrangement of what was, for a time, called Funa-zushi. Montreal sushi restaurants have their own variety now of interesting mixes. At this point, rice fermentation could take several years, and once coupled with meat or vegetables to become Funa-zushi, the rice was not eaten.  As the habit of preserving meat and vegetables in this way caught on throughout Asia, people began to shorten the fermentation period and press the blocks of rice under stones to help speed the process.  Eventually, cooked rice was used to stuff fish cavities as a preservative; around this time, people started to eat the rice along with the fish. The great list of Montreal sushi restaurants will give you a great choice of what this beautiful city has to offer. As the popularity of sushi hit the coast, it saw the introduction of seaweed (Nori) and types of pickled fish.

Once this traveling food made its way to Japan, raw fish was included into the mix, and rice vinegar was added to bypass the rice fermentation process. This clever innovation made it possible to prepare Saba-zushi in only one day. Something else happened in Japan, too; Sushi became an art form. It was no longer a quick "grab & go", purely functional traveling food; it was a way to celebrate the beauty of food and simple ingredients. All Montreal sushi restaurants have an array of beautifully presented sushi dishes. The Japanese changed the format of sushi in order to bring the simple combinations of everyday food to another level.  This is where modern sushi gained its artistic image, with beautiful dishes, colorful arrangements and the peaceful atmosphere of Montreal sushi restaurants. Sushi has evolved here in Montreal . Sushi has come into its own style and culture here, and in some places it’s common place to sushi on the menu. Crazy combinations of ingredients can be found inside sushi rolls, with bizarre names like the Caterpillar roll, Spider roll and Romeo and Juelietta.

But beyond the crazy names and ingredients, the style of sushi has changed. Montreal sushi restaurants have taken on a decidedly western technique when it comes to sushi creation, adding area-specific ingredients and changing the shape, size and presentation format laid out by the Japanese inventors. In Montreal and North America the sushi is LARGER in general. The individual pieces are usually too big to eat in one bite, and the sushi rice is a little sweeter. The traditional Japanese reverence for good quality food in small portions has dissipated in North America, with sushi bars deferring to the new appetite and attraction to colorful food in big portions But change is not always bad. Strangely enough, this evolved sushi has traveled back to Japan to become trendy and  trendy here at Montreal sushi Restaurants as well. Sushi is a trend that will not go away anytime soon. Even though this popular food has its roots in the Southeast Asia of hundreds of years ago, sushi is still evolving in many parts of the world today.