I passed a bunch of sushi places today, so, having had a craving for sushi for about a month, I did some research about which one within walking distance would be the best. The winner was Pure on 5th Avenue.

This restaurant is located in a building with a number of other international restaurants. It overlooks a courtyard. The decor is interesting; the red feels very ‘Asian’, but the heavy wood and leather furniture felt German!

I was seated promptly and ordered a pot of fragrant jasmine tea. The menu is huge to the point of being overwhelming, so I decided to go with a ‘combination’ meal for $17.95. This got me:

-a hearty miso soup, one of the best I have ever had;

-a bowl of ‘black rice’, which is actually a pretty purple shade. Most of the negative comments about this restaurant refer to this rice, but I did not find anything wrong with it except, perhaps, that it doesn’t clump as well as sticky white. It has the texture of brown rice, but only a hit of its nutty flavour. The most descriptive thing I can say about it is yum!

-3 pieces veggie (green bean, broccoli, and yam) tempura;

-1 piece shrimp tempura;

-one piece of a big round fried thing that looked like a hash brown but was pasty like yams and sweet like shrimp;

-two pieces of small balls that were crispy on the outside and pasty on the inside that tasted vaguely like onion rings;

-three large pieces of tuna sashimi, as red and sweet as kisses;

-6 pieces California roll (striking with the ‘purple’ rice);

-a large chicken breast, sliced, grilled and basted in teriyaki sauce over cabbage

Talk about rolling out of there STUFFED!

There wasn’t a false note to the meal or the service. I was very impressed. Even if the food had just been ‘okay’, the meal would have been very good value. With it being as good and fresh as it was, it was excellent value. I highly recommend Pure!