Shinka Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Ottawa

My husband and I saw they were having a BOGO deal on Uber Eats and thought "oh, this is a great opportunity to try a new sushi restaurant that has some pretty great reviews!" The BOGO items consisted of their Dynamite maki, Vegetarian maki, and Kamikaze maki, as well as their miso soup.

The miso soup was actually pretty good, if not a little salty, so that was a good way to start the meal. The Kamikaze maki was alright, a little standard, but not bad. The Dynamite and Vegetarian maki were both surprisingly not good. They were dry, 75% sweet potato, tough to chew, and whatever other ingredients were in there was absolutely overshadowed by the sheer amount of sweet potato. According to the menu, they're both supposed to have teriyaki and some other type of sauce either in the maki or on the side, but neither came with anything, which I think contributed to how dry and tough they tasted. They were also cut exceptionally inconsistently, which was more humorous than anything.

I'm likely a much harsher critic than my husband, who didn't mind it, but to me I can't justify spending over $60 on sushi that's only just okay compared to other sushi restaurants we've eaten at in the city, especially when the prices are nearly double.

I give it 2/5 stars for the miso soup and the Kamikaze maki (as well as their use of sustainable packaging), but I'll knock off 3 for the price, lack of tastiness, and poor texture.

Edit: Upon reading other reviews, it appears the issue with their maki having stale tempura and an abundance of yam/sweet potato is a consistent, ongoing issue that they have not addressed. Unsure if they actually take customer criticism and feedback seriously,...

Last time we ate at this establishment was when they were located on Laurier for dine-in (before we had a child). Celebrated husband’s milestone birthday, and thought I would treat him to the amazingly fresh, aesthetically creative and artful, delicious culinary taste once again. I ordered the Omakase 300 to celebrate this milestone and added a note to add some salmon sashimi for our child and ordered a side of their perfectly cooked, crispy tender calamari, dusted with seaweed for her (side note, add an extra order, as our child would not share) The Omakase was great since we haven’t eaten here in a while and wanted to try out what the chef puts together, things we most likely would not have ordered on our own/nor available on their regular menu. Plus all the sauces that were included. I’ve been wanting to try sea urchin, but wanted to try it at a reputable and experienced restaurant (because who wants to get sick) and I’m so happy they included some in this Omakase. So creamy and fresh. Everything was devine. I’m reading a lot of reviews in re: price. Yes. It is not AYCE price, but you are getting premium quality and artistic creativity to tease and treat all your senses. You can honestly taste the difference and see the quality. This reintroduction of this establishment has brought back date night memories and we definitely will put this place on our...

Several reasons for the low review.

1. at the time of my visit this location was TAKE OUT ONLY. The google photos are from a different location, but this is not indicated anywhere. There was no indication until we got there that we cannot dine in.
2. despite this being a takeout only location, they did not have any menus available inside. We were directed to the website, which was not working, then asked to look on Uber eats, where the prices are not actually the same. Eventually, we were given an ipad with the menu on it.
3. the food itself - honestly nothing special. There was a sauce put on ALL the rolls (we ordered a combo tray with about 6 rolls) which we did not like. Also, the taste of the rolls themselves was… fine! I expected a LOT more from a place with such high reviews.
4. the price - we ended up paying about $96 for a tray of 6 rolls. Of which, I think maybe 1 was a specialty rolls. They have special rolls on the menu for $35(!) per roll. For this price, I’d expect exceptional sushi, which it was not.

I can sympathize that their previous location burned down which is awful. I also note that the employee taking our orders and greeting us was actually very kind. Also, the presentation (the box and the bags) were nice. Despite all this, there were way too many negatives for a higher review, in my opinion. We won’t be ordering from here again...