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One of the best things about being back home for the
holidays is the holiday feasts! Among the roast turkey, stuffing, and mashed
potato dinner, a tradition among my Ottawa friends and I is hitting up one of
the numerous all-you-can-eat (AYCE) sushi restaurants in Ottawa. Of the various
cities I have visited and resided in, Ottawa has one of the most vibrant and
popular AYCE sushi cultures and 168 Sushi Asian Buffet is one of my favourite AYCE
restaurants in town. Located at 1651 Merivale Road, 168 Sushi is conveniently
nestled in the bustling neighborhood of Old Nepean and Meadowlands. Although
not the hippest neighbourhood in the city, this beautifully chic restaurant – which
features large, spacious booths and modern, vibrant decor – is easily
accessible from all corners of Ottawa.
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| Personal Plate of Ginger and Wasabi |
Our party was seated quickly and we all received our personal
plate of ginger and wasabi in a timely fashion. We started off our meal with
some shrimp and yam tempura, fried squid calamari, and fried scallop. Now, I’ve
never been a big fan of tempura and honestly, the tempura at 168 Sushi isn’t
much different from other AYCE sushi restaurants in Ottawa. The tempura was
fresh, hot, and had a nice tempura-batter crunch to it. However, compared to tempura
at some of the more upscale sushi restaurants I’ve tried, 168 Sushi’s tempura
batter does leave a bit more of an oily residue and the tempura dipping sauce
is less than mediocre. The calamari and scallop were tender, moist, and cooked
perfectly; however, the batter they used for the calamari and scallop were much
too similar and left me yearning for the thin, flaky calamari batter I had
tasted at other restaurants.
Left to Right: yam tempura and shrimp tempura, squid calamari and fried scallop
Next, we all ordered a round of seaweed salad. 168 Sushi is
one of the few AYCE restaurants that does not restrict seaweed salad to its
dinner menu and it is usually a favourite of mine. However, during this visit, my
personal seaweed salad was soggy, limp, and tasted much too fishy for my
liking. Other complaints from around the table included a strong “wasabi” taste
mixed in, which can only speak to the inconsistency during preparation of the
seaweed salad. Maybe for my next visit the chefs will prepare the light and
fresh-tasting salad that has become a staple of my AYCE sushi experiences at
168 Sushi.
Left to Right: (1) Seaweed Salad; (2) Spider Roll, Rainbow Roll, Salmon Roll
As my companion and I arrived a little later than the rest of
the party, we decided to order a few extra dishes to top up our appetites.
Following the rolls, we each ordered a salmon avocado hand roll. Both the
seaweed and avocado were fresh and tasty! However, the piece of salmon inside
was just a little too small for the amount of avocado and my hand roll ended up
tasting more like an avocado roll than anything with fish in it.
As we waited for our sushi order, my companion decided to
order two noodle bowls – hot and sour and seafood udon – while I ordered steak
teriyaki, Kalbi short ribs, and miso soup. Although the seafood udon looked
pleasing to the eye, as my companion dug through his soup, he quickly realized
that the soup consisted more of boiled vegetables than of either seafood or
udon. However, he did end up ordering another order of hot and sour soup, so
there were no complaints there. As for myself, the steak teriyaki and Kalbi was
cooked quite nicely to medium rare and was not tough, chewy, or dry as tends to
be at other AYCE sushi restaurants. However, the sauce for the steak teriyaki
was a tad too thick and I ended up enjoying the Kalbi short ribs much more. The
miso soup tasted like every other miso soup I had ordered before, but was quite
enjoyable and filled the void between my hand rolls and sushi.
Left to Right: salmon and avocado hand roll and seafood udon
Finally, our sushi order arrived: salmon rose, spicy salmon,
spicy tuna, salmon sushi, and tuna sushi. The salmon rose featured two pieces
of fresh salmon wrapped around a small ball of rice and topped by a dab of
mayonnaise. It tasted as good as it looked – the fish was fresh, just the right
amount of fattiness, and was highlighted by the little dab of mayonnaise. The
spicy salmon and spicy tuna were very similar in taste: the spicy mayonnaise
used to coat the salmon and tuna was explosive! It really hit the spot if you
were looking for that fiery kick and it was a good thing I had unlimited iced
tea refills. However, after eating each piece, I felt the spicy mayonnaise
overpowered the salmon and tuna; I would not have minded a less explosive taste
to allow the salmon and tuna taste to shine through a bit more. The salmon used
for the sushi, like the salmon rose, was excellent! Perfect freshness and
perfect fattiness. The tuna sushi, on the other hand, was dry and a little
tasteless in comparison to its pink counterpart.
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| Left to Right: salmon sushi, white tuna sushi, salmon rose, spicy tuna sushi, spicy salmon sushi |
An AYCE sushi meal is never complete without dessert! We
ordered a fried banana (a traditional Vietnamese dessert) to share and our own
personal bowls of ice cream. I ordered my usual – one scoop mango and one scoop
green tea ice cream. The fried banana was surprisingly good! – the batter they
used was light and much less oily than I had expected while the syrup added
just the right amount of sweetness without overpowering the banana taste. The
mango and green tea ice cream rounded out the meal perfectly as well and left
me fully satiated and satisfied.
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| Green Tea and Mango Ice Cream |
Top Pick of the Day: Salmon Rose
Rating:
3.5/5 Erics
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