Blane Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Tri ExpressGot to go check this place out the other day and got the 5-course Omakase (japanese "suggestions du chef") by the former chef at Kaizen and Treehouse. 41 bucks with tax, meaning that dinner for 2 with green tea (no license there) and over 15% tip is under 100 bucks. Not bad for some pretty damn nice sushi!Here's a review Flying fishy tales Maeve Haldane Tri Express: Enjoy the finger-licking goods before he lickety splits! photo: Joseph Yarmush Is Tri Du a chameleon, or has he finally found his home?Sushi chef Tri Du first wowed Westmounters' palates at Kaizen, then went upscale glam on the be-seen-and-obscene part of the lower Main at Treehouse. At each locale he had a devoted following. Now he's left behind the haute hurly-burly and settled into Plateau profond, on that strip of Laurier near Papineau that feels like the central street of an admittedly gourmet village. The area has food with focus, like Fromentier's loaves or Olive & Olives's oils, doled out with fun and casual flair. Tri seems to fit right in with his eponymous Tri Express. It's a postage stamp of a place, filled with light, furnished with tables of old sewing machine treadles and wrought iron distressed stools at a neoclassical blue and gold counter. On the wall you'll find eclectica such as a kimono, a neon-rimmed clock, an Alexander Keith blackboard. The music is world-influenced tech hop, and behind the counter you'll find the compact, tattooed Tri. Lunchtime sees two specials, one of a salad and baked red snapper, the other of seafood soup and sushi. Given the heat, none of my partners were keen on anything cooked. Happily, we were given the okay to order the evening specials of sushi omakase (chef's choice). Mine started with a small salad of crunchy, slivered veg and enoki mushrooms with a tangy sauce that caught pleasantly in my throat. The other omakase opened with slices of salmon sashimi, in a similar dressing, sprinkled liberally with sesame seeds. All our mains were the same: eye-catching plates of plump maki rolls and nigiri sushi of tuna, salmon and shrimp. As fresh as the nigiri was, I enjoyed the rolls more. The one dubbed Le St-Joseph had a totally addictive mix of tuna and salmon tartare with some crispy - not greasy! - tempura. It tasted as though there was a touch of cinnamon within - a secret ingredient or a gustatory hallucination? The maki also contained avocado, cuke, a gentle touch of oft-overpowering shiso and pop-between-your-teeth roe.The other roll, Le Cartier, had juicy mandarin segments (a substitute for that day's lacklustre mango) and was beguilingly spicy. My experience left me hankering for more blends, such as Le Montreal with lobster and shrimp, and Le Marquette with grilled eel and Tri Express sauce. If I weren't obsessed with his rolls, I could imagine trying the lobster salad with grapefruit or Tri's "pizza sushi." I hope Tri is comfy enough in this little corner shop to stay put for a while so I can revisit him soon.Tri Express1650 Laurier E.; 514-528-5641Lunch special, taxes included: $16.25-$17.25Evening omakase, taxes included: $19.50 or five services for $39Not licensed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 ok, now my mouth is watering ... mmmmmm, what did you have? my sushi experiences in montreal have always been quite adventurous. some very different stuff from what we get around here, and much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Huxtable Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Man I love Montreal. That sounds delish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 i heard that there's a place here in town that DEEP FRIES their sushi!(they don't hawever, sell 'amburgers) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms Zimmy Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 that doesn't sound very good....deep fried sushi...Who has the best sushi in Ottawa? I could eat it everyday...used to eat sometimes twice a day in Korea... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Huxtable Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 KinKis has deep fried sushi rolls. They basically make a roll, dip it in tempura and deep fry it.Delish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blane Posted February 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 (edited) mmmmmm, what did you havehere's the breakdown (bear in mind the chef is vietnamese, so there's a steady streak of that fused into it): Dish 1: 5 types of sashimi marinated in a sesame dressing with black sesame seeds.Dish 2: Cucumber-rolled maki with tuna, salmon, asparagus, tempura flakes, etc.Dish 3: A cross between vietnamese springroll and a maki (with rice paper) with shrimp, lobster, mandarin orange, etc.Dish 4: Baked marinated red snapper on a bed of warm "salad" (seaweed, enoki mushrooms, various other veg) and rice. The only cooked dishDish 5: Sushi and Maki platter. An assortment of stuff all, delicious.Each one had its own sauce, except the requisite soy for the last dish. Only thing I would have like would be a small sweet dish to close it out. Of course you could probably get the same quantity of food for the same price or less at other sushi restos but this guy is hot shit. Probably considered #1 or #2 in the city for "nouveau" japanese. Edited February 22, 2007 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Huxtable Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Oh my god that sounds good. Blane I will not miss the opportunity to eat with you again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 KinKis has deep fried sushi rolls. They basically make a roll, dip it in tempura and deep fry it.Delish.it was described as "flash-fried". It basically had a crispy tempura coating on the outside, but it was still cool inside and I FUCKING LOVED IT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 I'm sold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 I'm sold!sold on Kinki? I'm thinking we should get a few out there some night for some sushi, cocktails and sake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Nagoya on Notre-Dame O. (right in old montreal) has deep fried dragon's eyes. wild. we had sushi at a new place in guelph yesterday. was good for guelph. do y'all get cravings for sushi? how often? or, is it regular fare? only one or two times every few weeks for me. i tend to go, like it want more, and go again the next day. then not for weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Huxtable Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 I crave sushimi daily. It is one of life's luxuries for sure. I'm not so big on sushi prepared with rice. I like it I guess, but I don't crave it or wish to pay for it the way I love the fish all by itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phorbesie Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 i crave it all the time. the past few years i've been going to BC every 3 months, pigging out for days on it there until i can't take it anymore and that lasts me until my next trip. i don't know what i'll do now that my mom has moved from BC and i'm not out there so much :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blane Posted February 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 same here. I get cravings constantly. There's a place a couple of blocks from my place that has a meal for 11 bucks on mondays and tuesdays. Not spectacular but at least it takes the edge off my sushi jones.By the way Heather, I don't remember if you said you'd been to Kyoto before, but there's a PHENOMENAL joint right on the river in central Kyoto that had 100Y sushi that's out of this world. SOme locals directed us there last time I was in Japan. I don't know how they manage to have such good stuff for so cheap in such a great resto/location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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