So every year on the day of my birthday I usually celebrate by going to a restaurant that we love, and this year was no exception, except it will be a memorable one because the restaurant we went to was in South Shore and since we live in Laval to make the trip there is about 40 minutes, I wasn’t expecting much but to my surprise it exceeded beyond my expectations. The decor is modern and simple with an Asian twist, the lighting is perfectly dim and gives the perfect ambiance. The trip was definitely worth it and you can bet we will be returning.
I wish we could have taken pictures of all the dishes that we had, but the lighting was too dim and I would have had to use a flash, I didn’t want to ruin the experience for others. Also, I didn’t want to look like a tourist lol…since it is a pretty classy resto.
We had a 7 course meal, starting off with a rose champagne. We had 3 appetizers; Scallop Ceviche, Tuna Tataki, and Oysters. Then we had a plate of Sushis and Sashimis, followed by two specialty makis. One of them which is pictured above. The only picture I took, it was tempura with tuna, salmon, strawberries and avocado. I can’t recall the name of the plate exactly but I remember the waiter telling us that it had something to do with lamb chops, because it resembles lamb chops. Finally, we finished off with a light green tea mousse with white chocolate.
I enjoyed all of the dishes, they were very creative and presentation was perfect, but my all time favorite dishes were the tuna, and scallop ceviche, their tuna tataki is their best seller and as we finished our meal we continued to drink and talk to the owner and chef of the restaurant, and he was telling us how he incorporates his French cooking techniques with the Japanese ingredients. For example, the tuna steak is inspired by the classic “Steak au Poivre” coated with peppercorns and seared lightly, served with a brandy cream sauce.
Niji Restaurant has become one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in Quebec, if only they had one in Laval! I would be there every week!