Forty and Famished: Yutaka Your Way on a Sushi Cruise

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It had been a while since I had sushi. My family and I decided that on this beautiful July night, sushi on a terrace would make a wonderful family date, so my husband got to work researching reasonably priced sushi on a terrace. Yutaka in Ste. Anne de Bellevue came up. The only thing that would have made this even more amazing would be if it was bring your-own-wine, but you can’t have everything.

We made reservations because I didn’t want to chance being seated inside on a temperate night, though there was ample place had we opted to walk-in. We were seated on the terrace facing the river at a table that sits four comfortably. The dining room is also bright with house plants to give it a summery feel year round.

Fortunately, sushi is one of those things my whole family can agree on. We are not too discriminating when it comes to raw fish, though I do draw the line at eel. Yutakaa’s menu offers a few bento boxes with teriyaki brochettes,  tempura, salad and few token hosomaki. They also offer some combination plates. Our eyes followed the server who brought a table nearby a wooden boat about three feet long laden with food! They have two choices: the large boat for $75 which includes about 70 pieces (not all fish) or the small boat for $50 with about 35 pieces. We went for the latter and waited while sipping our beer, wine and iced teas.

You know it’s a good sign when the server approaches you just before your boat sails in to say you’re going to need to move to a larger table! Another table was pushed up to our table and the boat was laid across the two tabletops. Volume. Happy customers so far.

The seventy pieces basically consist of 26 maki rolls, 10 tempura pieces (vegetables and shrimp) 4 pairs of octopus, shrimp, tuna, tobiko and salmon nigiri, and 16-20 pieces of sashimi.

The chef decides what assortment of cargo makes it on to the boat, although I am sure if we requested one or two specific maki rolls, they would have complied. Most sushi bars try to accommodate their passengers and the service was very amicable, I doubt they would have protested. Fortunately for most restaurateurs, we’re upright travelers always ready for an adventure!

There were four varieties of maki rolled in seaweed:  The Sakura with salmon, avocado, ginger, onion, and kashima sauce and is fried. The Kamikaze II was my favourite with lots of crunch: salmon, avocado, crabmeat, spicy tempura flakes and cucumber.  The traditional California with crabstick, caviar, cucumber and avocado along with its East Coast counterpart, the Boston with crab stick, shrimp, caviar, cucumber and omelet were consistent with their recipes. Lastly, there was a more delicate variation of the Kamikaze II, The Imperial with the same contents, but wrapped in rice paper.

Was I full after leaving? No, but I never am unless eating sub-par sushi à volonté because it takes a lot of sushi to fill me up and no matter how you float it, sushi ain’t cheap. The bill for the four of us to sail, just over $100.

A nice little discovery off the tip of the West Island for food explorers seeking a terrace across the water, and delicate Japanese fair on a summer day.

Yutaka Sushi is located at 154 Rue Sainte-Anne Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, H9X 1M6, QC. 514-674-1117. 

To contact Esther with recommendations, requests, and comments, email [email protected]