J:Unique Kitchen

381 Cooper St.

With the closing of Wasabi, the long-time ByWard Market stalwart, there was a space in Ottawa for more Japanese food. J:Unique chef-owner James Park has confidently stepped into the void.

Hidden in a little red-brick house in Centretown, J:Unique seats fewer than 30 people — most of those seats occupied on recent visits — and is reasonably priced. It’s a simple setup mixing wood with white and black accents. But the focus is on the food.

Clear menus offer easy-to-decipher pictures for those less than familiar with Japanese restaurants, but this in no way dumbs down the food. However, it does make it easier for a child to order, as mine does, soon declaring her shrimp tempura to be perfect and gobbling down a selection of salmon nigiri and maki rolls. Just before she cleans her plate, she kindly offers me one piece. The fish is fresh and soft, the rice toothsome and perfectly seasoned.

One of J:Unique’s specialities is oshi, or pressed sushi. It appears as a sockeye salmon dish with six generous rectangular pieces, the whole thing covered with a scattering of green onions and a warm secret sauce. We lick this plate clean.

Other maki rolls such as hamachi and toro are just as good, while miso soup is flavourful. The special set menus offer exceptional value, priced from $15 for a vegetarian option to $19 for the oshi set — the latter includes four pieces of nigiri, three pieces of oshi, four pieces of tempura, a small salad, and edamame. It’s more than we can eat. Pork gyoza are well filled and savoury, teriyaki noodles are delicious: slightly sweet and salty, but not cloying, with small, moist pieces of chicken, plenty of cabbage, green onions, and bean sprouts in the nest, which is decorated with strips of seaweed and crunchy sesame seeds.

There’s a good drinks list on offer featuring three beers, 10 sakes, six wines by the bottle and the glass, as well as a plum wine. Service is exceptional: fast, courteous, and knowledgeable.