Zuka — A family-owned charmer

Olivia Caldwell samples authentic, healthy Japanese food — at an affordable price.

If you are looking for an authentic and well-priced feast of Japanese food, Zuka is your best bet.

I went to the family-owned and authentic Japanese restaurant which has been in town for over a decade and quietly sits at the top of the hill on Ardmore St.

Embarrassingly, I had never stepped foot in here until last week, for reasons I cannot explain, because it was pretty good, and healthy too.

I would be amiss to not order a miso soup, and so I did for $3 to warm the senses and belly on a cold September evening.

Up next was beautiful Beef Tataki, which came with their home made "sensational dressing", which was well named — enough said.

We then followed this up with a selection of sashimi between the two of us for $23. This was extremely good, especially the raw tuna and salmon, which was what I would describe as buttery. I haven’t had better salmon than this — let me know if you agree.

For a main I went rogue and ordered a Yuan-Yaki Gindara (grilled black cod). I had never tried black cod before, I simply expected it would taste like blue cod, but it did not. This was more fishy than that, super salty in fact.

I liked it, but it was an unexpected boost of salt, which was good because I had been on a big run that day and felt it would be good for balancing electrolytes.

I felt healthier after this meal — I had a side of cauliflower, a sake marinade and ginger and wasabi with the sashimi. I felt like I had put only good and healthy things in my body — I even ordered a coke zero.

My table mate ordered a chicken udon noodle dish, because she knew what she was doing when it comes to Japanese cuisine. She loved it, and when I reached over with my chopsticks to try the flavour, it was delicious!

All in all we were both pleased with our meals, they were filling and healthy. My favourite thing about the place was how lovely the staff were and the owner Michi Iizuka was even more pleasant. I love a family feel and this had it.

Thanks for having us, I recommend.