Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
2208 St. Joseph Blvd., Unit 104, 613-830-9770, nagisushi.ca
Open: Tuesday to Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., 5 to 9 p.m., closed Sunday, Monday
Prices: à la carte sushi $4.50 to $23, sushi platters $45 to $120
Access: no steps to the front door or washrooms
Ottawa’s long-time and eagle-eyed sushi lovers might be able to spot some familiar trappings at Nagi Sushi, which opened almost six months ago in Orléans.
Its two dozen or so chairs were used for decades at C’est Japon à Suisha. That Slater Street restaurant helped introduce sushi in Ottawa in the early 1980s, and it closed in the summer of 2023 to make way for a condo development. Nagi’s tables are not quite as old, but they, too, came from Suisha. So did the lanterns now hanging above Nagi’s new, blonde, five-seat sushi counter.
But aside from its basic furnishings, Nagi’s biggest connection to Suisha is its chef-owner, Moriyuki Hiroha. The 53-year-old made sushi at Suisha for over 30 years, beginning shortly after he came to Canada from Gunma Prefecture in central Japan. After Suisha closed, Hiroha scoured Ottawa for a place where he could open his own place. He settled on the Orléans strip mall location that Nagi calls home, which previously was a South Asian eatery.
Since Nagi opened in March, its clientele has been evenly split between Orléans folks and Suisha regulars, Hiroha says. After two dinners there this summer, I certainly get why foodies across Ottawa would travel to the city’s eastern suburb to get their raw-fish fix.
The sashimi, sushi and rolls that I tried here all starred fish that was impeccably fresh, expertly cut and generously portioned. Here, the rice, which one might take for granted at other restaurants before encountering some markedly too-cold or overcooked stuff elsewhere, was of the proper texture and temperature.
At my first visit, a friend and I sampled à la carte sushi including maguro (red tuna), hamachi (yellowtail amberjack), unagi (grilled freshwater eel), torched salmon and spicy scallop. We were struck by their luxurious, near-melting softness and clarity of flavour.
At my second visit, three of us sat at the counter and splurged on a $120 combination dinner that involves waves of sashimi, sushi and maki chosen by chef Hiroha, who worked silently in front of us.
Again, the quality of what were served was uniformly high, with more of that sumptuous salmon and hamachi and chunks of sweet Hokkaido scallop as standouts, plus mackerel, octopus and squid as more uncommon treats.
When I spoke to Hiroha this week, he explained that he has maintained connections with suppliers he had at Suisha. He brings in high-quality fish, in some cases from Japan, as often as four times a week. His menu also lists the occasional availability of seasonal items including uni (sea urchin), toro (fatty tuna) and potently sweet botan shrimp.
This is just a hunch, but I’d bet that Ottawa’s surprisingly numerous all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants, and at least some other sushi eateries that exercise portion control, can’t match Nagi when it comes to having a deluxe supply of fish.
Perhaps the only thing I can hold against Nagi is that it serves fake crab rather than the real thing. But at least the crab-flavoured fish product is truthfully described as “imitation crab” on Nagi’s menu. On our first visit, when Nagi was especially busy, we received complimentary “imitation crab” salads to make amends for the slight delay in service.
I’ve also had grilled fish at Nagi, including two-weekend specials advertised on the restaurant’s chalkboard, yellowtail collar ($21) and kinmedai, aka golden eye snapper ($18). These items were delicacies that rewarded the manual labour needed to extract toothsome flesh from the clutches of nearby bones. The easier-to-eat yellowtail collar was our preference of those specials.
I should have tried the tempura, I now realize. Hiroha told me this week that the chef in the kitchen, another Suisha alumnus, is a “tempura specialist.”
Desserts here — daifuku, a notoriously chewy rice cake with a sweet filling, plus ice cream ($10) and starchy “hoku hoku” sweet potato plus ice cream ($7) — were simple and appealing.
Nagi is still waiting for its liquor licence. Meanwhile, it serves imported Japanese non-alcoholic drinks including yuzu gin and tonic ($10), plum wine ($8) and ume spritzer ($8) that seemed like worthy imitations.
There are trendier, flashier spots for sushi in Ottawa, including the recently opened Jfuse Aburi & Bar on Main Street. It did the trick for me. But Nagi is true to its name, which in Japanese means “calm” or “tranquil.”
Hiroha means for his restaurant to be a serene spot to enjoy superior sushi, sheltered from the turbulent waters of everyday life. I think he’s succeeded.
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