

Foodie Experiences
The Kitsilano sushi counter whose omakase regulars guard like state secrets, and whose uni and bluefin prove them right.
Octopus' Garden has been running serious sushi off Cornwall since the early 1990s, which means it predates pretty much every trend that claimed to improve on it. The omakase is why regulars protect their reservations with the energy of someone hiding a very good thing: uni, bluefin, foie gras, course after course of fish that makes your previous benchmark look a little embarrassed. It's intimate to the point of conspiratorial, a long counter where the two of you are the audience and the kitchen is the whole show. Pick the bar seats, surrender the menu entirely, and let the evening unfold at the chef's pace rather than yours. The real trick is getting a reservation, so start there, and then become the kind of couple that has a sushi place. This is the one.