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| - Does a sushi restaurant have to be run by Japanese professionals to be considered genuine? Most would say no (many great sushi restaurants in California are run by Koreans), but in the case of my first visit to Mikasa, it was comforting to hear the staccato syllables of Japanese between the crew behind the sushi bar. The serving staff are young, personable, professional, knowledgeable, and fully trilingual (at least!). A lot off attention is given to the customer.
The food is certainly adequate given the raw materials which can be accessed in Montreal at this time of year. There is a shift to please the local palate (more fried items), but a lot of care is given to the presentation of the maki and special rolls. I didn't have any sake, so I can't judge their drink menu.
One element that is clearly a plus is the sex ratio behind the sushi bar (okay, I wasn't looking for a legitimate use of the word "sex" in a food review but here goes!). Sushi chefdom seems to be a male dominated career, but at Mikasa tonight, there were three lovely and capable young women deftly wielding razor sharp blades, with the smiling senior chef from Hokkaido, humming along cheerily to the Musak piped in continuously over the speakers, making it a friendly crew of four. Thanks for the tip on sushi knife sharpening!
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