Miku Toronto, part of Isolish
10 Bay Street, unit 105
(647) 347-7347
dinner for two: $130 plus tax
While restaurants are not able to open their seating areas, none of us in Toronto are hard up for take-out or delivery dining options, and that includes high-end offerings from almost all cuisines. There will always be pizza and wings, but a new service called Isolish is teaming up with fine dining restaurants to offer 4-course meals for delivery. So you can still eat posh during lockdown, but in your own dining room.
Working with a variety of restaurants around the city, Isolish offers a unique one-off meal for delivery, with each restaurant offering their 4-course menu on a specific date. A portion of the proceeds goes to Daily Bread Food Bank, making the prospect of a fancy feast even more alluring.
On April 30th, the participating restaurant was Miku, and for $65 per person we got a marvelous 4-course meal comprised of beautifully-detailed dishes. Some of these are currently on Miku’s To-Go menu for anyone interested in trying them outside of the Isolish promotion.
Fisrt course: Foie Gras Chawanmushi
Rare Quebec duck breast sits atop a foie gras custard with a sweet red miso glaze, slices of okra and flower petals.
The restaurant version of this includes truffles, which would make it absolutely perfect. This was pretty close, and was a fragrant and sweet version of ingredients that wouldn’t typically be considered part of a Japanese meal.
Second course: Saikyo Miso Baked Sablefish & Lobster Ravioli
With dashi carrot puree, asparagus, edamame pods, fried capers, tomato relish, sorrel, and chervil. This seems like there’s a lot going on but the flavours, despite not seeming to work together on paper (tomato and lobster?), actually melded together wonderfully. The capers were an element I’d not have thought to include, and they added a really welcome burst of salt and brine and crunch.
This was the only item that suffered from travel time in that it was barely warm, not hot, when it arrived. We ate it without reheating it as we didn’t want to overcook the velvety sablefish. It was delicious but would probably be better in the restaurant served at the correct temperature.
Third course: Sushi Chirashi — Octopus, monkfish liver, Japanese Baracuda, Ikura, scallop, Bluefin tuna akami, seasonal vegetable.
Apologies for my badly-lit photo because this dish really deserves better. A box of brown rice is covered with an assortment of jewels of the sea, and what my photo misses is the powerfully potent julienned threads of shiso and the tiny purple flowers that make this dish an absolute delight. Radish butterflies, carrot flowers, and the brilliant salmon caviar make this look (and eat) like a box of treasure from the seashore.
Fourth course: Dark Chocolate Mousse
This was a lovely end to the meal but the best part of it is underneath — there’s a super-thin brown sugar cookie flavoured with sesame that sets off the dark chocolate in the most perfect blend of sweet, salty, and savoury.
Miku is offering a curated version of their regular menu for take-out or delivery and Isolish continues to feature a changing list of dining options each week from some of Toronto high-end restaurants. Check them out.