Kiu Japanese Restaurant - Coming Soon! (Exclusive VIP Sneak Peek - MoVernie)

MoVernie at Kiu Japanese Restaurant, opening in May 2016! Opening Soon!

Kiu Japanese Restaurant, a brand new restaurant located in Downtown Markham, will be opening to the public very soon, tentative in May of 2016.

MoVernie and his crew were very honoured to be invited to test out the Kiu Omakase Menu Tasting Experience. Typically, before a restaurant is open to the public, its culinary team will go over its food items over and over again, to ensure the use of ingredients, culinary skills and the preparation of the same dish are made with consistency. It is also at this stage that everyone goes over each food item and decide what they like and not like about each dish. They would also want to go over the ingredients and see whether each ingredient makes sense with each other or certain ingredient needs to be inserted or removed to elevate the aroma and flavour of each dish to its customers.

Kiu means “Happy Rain”.

In our case, the food items being served to us are already in a good final stage. However, it’s important for outsider to taste the food and provide feedback based on plating, food presentation, the ingredients and what we like or dislike about each dish. It’s important the restaurant receives these constructive feedback so they can go back to the drawing board, goes through staff meeting and design how to better prepare each food items.

MoKenny & I had been travelling around the world and tasted many Michelin Rated restaurants and it is a tremendous gratitude that the Kiu Management recognized our food tasting experience and asked us to taste its Omakase food items.

Kiu is modern, chic and classy. Here is a sneak peek of the Omakase Section.

Kiu Japanese Restaurant has a HUGE space. It has the Omakase section, also a regular dinning section that you can order sushi, cooked food such as Yakitori BBQ and ramen. There is also a Sake Bar section, specifically for people who wants to grab small bites and drink Japanese Sake, while watching a sports game.

Meet some of the hard working chefs who prepares the Kiu Omakase Tasting Menu.

Tonight, a total of 10 people with various foodie background were on hand to taste the Kiu Omakase. In case you wonder, what is Omakase? Omakase in Japanese means “a meal consisting of dishes selected by the chef”. Basically, the chef will give you the freshest and the best available food items that evening.

In this Omakase, most of the food items were consists of fresh raw seafood. There aren’t many cooked food. It’s perfect for raw fish lovers such as myself.

In summary, below was the Kiu Omakase Tasting Menu:

Delicacies #1

Delicacies #2

5 fresh sushi

Delicacies #3

8 fresh sushi

Akadashi soup (red miso soup with cooked fish)

Since the Kiu Omakase tasting menu is still being finalized right now, certain food items maybe inserted or removed from the menu. Certain ingredients maybe be inserted or removed from the tasting menu that it’s best I am not revealing to you the exact food items in these delicacies or specific order of these food items.

However, I will give you a sneak preview of what it’s like to order the Kiu Omakase.

The “Delicacies” is a group of fresh food items consisting of raw fishes and other ingredients and garnish that has a beautiful plate presentation and serve to you.

A sample of what a delicacies look like, a combination of fresh seafood along with other ingredients, making it a dish.

The fresh sushi is a piece of very delicate, fresh and unique piece of seafood being prepared instantly by a professional chef who will be making it right in front of your eyes. Each round, the chef will prepare the fresh sushi one by one and serve to every patron.

For example, the chef will prepare the geoduck sushi for the first 2 patrons, then he put it onto the plate, walked over in front of the first 2 patrons, explain to them what is being served. Then, he goes back to prepare another 2 fresh geoduck sushi and then served to the 3rd and 4th patrons. Then to the 5th and 6th patrons. Then, the chef would start another round with a different sushi, perhaps fatty tuna for the next round. So, if there are 13 fresh sushi, the chef will have to prepare the sushi for 13 rounds.

Trout Sushi, freshly made on the spot & delivered by the chef immediately so you can eat it as fresh it can be.

One thing I have to say about Kiu Omakase is its use of fresh, high quality and unique seafood. You know those typical salmon, tuna, surf clam. They will still be available at Kiu regular dining section, but for Kiu Omakase, they will serve you more authentic, high quality fishes and other seafood items. What impresses me is that you get your money’s worth with the fresh fish that don’t usually available in other restaurants.

Think about sea cucumber, abalone, geoduck, female sea urchin (what? there is male and female sea urchin?). Those are examples of some of the varieties that will excites your taste buds with the Kiu Omakase.

Have you ever tasted a geoduck sushi before? This is my first time and it’s my favourite!

This Japanese Omakase experience takes about 2 to 2.5 hours of your dining experience, so it’s not supposed to be a rushy meal. Instead, it’s supposed to be relax, chill and enjoyable. It allows you to appreciate the art of the Japanese food. The chef goes through hard training, learning each and every dish, every cut of the fresh fish, every sushi preparations have to be precise, focused, concentrated to give the patrons the best sushi and dining experience for their every visit. The interaction, the vibe and the engagement plays a large role in making Omakase such a beautiful food tasting experience.

Another example of Kiu delicacies. This dish includes sea cucumbers, abalone, sweet fish, squids, sea urchin. Also check out the amazing pebble plating.

Below are some of the mouth watering food items that we tasted at Kiu Japanese Restaurants. However, I will only provide you with a sneak preview so you get an idea what Omakase is all about at Kiu. However, it is crucial that you have to come in person to soak in everything and experience it yourself the beauty of Kiu Omakase.

NOTE: In between the Omakase, the chef and its culinary team provides you with some cool surprises during the course of the meal. You have to be there to experience it yourself. Words doesn’t do its justice.

Kiu Japanese Restaurant will be opening soon, tentative in early May of 2016. When it’s opened, I will make sure you are informed and will ensure you get to see more awesome food items from me at Kiu. Follow me so you know when Kiu Japanese Restaurant will be opened!

Kiu Japanese Restaurant, located at Downtown Markham (coming soon).

Kiu Japanese Restaurant
Unit 12 – 169 Enterprise Blvd (Downtown Markham)
Markham, ON
905-513-6368
Ki-U.com

Follow my journey on Instagram (@RealMoVernie) and Twitter (@MoVernie) so you know when Kiu Japanese Restaurant will be opened to the public. Subscribe to my MoVernie vs Food BLOG.

Also follow me on SnapChat @MoVernie or Periscope @MoVernie for more interactive live-broadcast videos.

And MoVernie is outta here!