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Miyake

(207) 871-9170
129 Spring St.
Portland, Maine

Hospitality-Courteous and friendly, and you can eat your sushi just as you like. BYOB
Open for lunch Tuesday to Friday 11 to 2, dinner Monday to Thursday 5 to 9, Friday and Saturday 5 to 9:30
Sushi $4 to $6 for two pieces

 

          A charming sushi spot with immaculate fish and a masterful touch

 

Under guidance from a local Web site and a new book, The Zen of Fish, I sat right down at the sushi bar at this new sushi spot and order the omakase nigiri - chef's choice of nine pieces of sushi, fish and rice, along with a tekha (tuna) or California roll. I asked for the tekha, said I ate anything, and watched the preparations with pleasure.

While I waited for the sushi, we enjoyed a fine bowl of miso, made with white miso from the very best place in Japan, the owner said. Fresh green peas, silky cubes of tofu, and the slenderest threads of scallion floated in the lacquered bowl.

In fresh salmon season I tasted both king and sock-eye salmon; the sockeye has a chewier texture and a wonderful taste, but the superior king was fuller in the mouth, and lush, and its aroma of salmon floated up through my nose like an evanescent veil.

Raw scallop gushed between my teeth, fired up with a dab of wasabi on the rice, making me understand the way this Japanese specialty makes allies of austerity and sensuousness.

 Blue fin tuna is meaty as ever, torro, the fatty belly of a tuna, full in the mouth and sweet. A slender shrimp butterflied and draped over its rice was even sweeter.

My favorite sushi fish right now is mackerel. I love the texture and mild funk of this fish, cut by marinating, and I saved that piece for last. After that, I ate the sweetened egg as the chef had advised. Those two rectangular slabs are like dessert.

My companion skipped the sushi for tiny skewers of chicken, admirably seasoned with a mild soy dipping sauce.

Reasons to return: spicy almond crunchy rolls with tuna, yellowtail tuna, salmon or unagi, fresh water eel, and others. Maki rolls with eel and avocado, or mackerel with pickled ginger. Maguro avocado tartar in the appetizer list. And daily specials. Noodles and teriyake are served.

Count on a real attention to the purity of the ingredients.


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