Asahiya Japanese Restaurant

I didn’t know what to expect when my coworkers and I decided on Japanese for dinner up in Whitehorse (the Yukon Territories). Part of me thought I would for sure get sick if I ordered anything raw, and the other part of me was craving sushi. Guess which part won.

California Combo

I ordered the California Combo, which ordinarily comes with two pieces of salmon, tuna, and ebi (the shrimp one) nigiri, and a California roll (made with artificial crab meat AKA pollock). I asked to substitute the tuna with salmon and was charged extra. Typically I prefer the texture of salmon over tuna, though I do enjoy a nice piece of high quality, fatty tuna once in a while. (The best piece of tuna I’ve ever had was at Morimoto in Napa Valley – his signature toro tartare melts in your mouth!)

I was so impressed with the sushi at Asahiya. Yeah, my expectations were pretty low, but I found the quality to be on par with some of the sushi here in Vancouver. The fish was fresh and firm, and the roll was just tight enough to keep everything together, but soft and ‘warm’ (like room temp+) enough to know it was fresh and not made ahead of time then refrigerated (I HATE when the rice is all cold and hard). In fact, I’d say they did a better job shaping the nigiri and sushi roll than I’m used to over here (*cough*Sushi Garden...). The price was certainly at a premium (a whopping $20.95 for the combo, plus whatever they charged me for the substitution), but that’s in line with the higher cost of living up there.

During my two-week trip, I ended up making another visit to Asahiya and ordered the same thing – it helped with any home sickness and sushi cravings I was experiencing. I’m sure there will be many return trips here when I am back in town!Save