WOW! CHIRASHI!

Despite its name, Wow! Sushi is an unassuming sushi restaurant on Charles Street.  At first glance, it appears to be one of the many run-of-the-mill sushi joints downtown.  Instead, it is a hidden gem!

I was very impressed with their version of chirashi, which traditionally is a dish consisting of assorted pieces of raw fish served over a bed of sushi rice.  You pay a little more for a chirashi here than your average sushi place but it's well worth it.  At an average sushi joint, the ever ubiquitous salmon makes up the majority of the dish with other routine pieces such as tuna, surf clam and shrimp.  How boring!  But, at Wow, you can delight your palate with a better selection of fish that involves sea bream, mackerel, and B.C. tuna.  Not only do you get variety, but you also get freshness and flavour.  Such is the case with their butterfish, where you can taste all the subtle nuances of the fish.  At your dime a dozen sushi place, you tend to get served inferior butterfish pieces that have poor texture and taste.  Often this happens because the fish has excess water from being partially thawed from being frozen, but Wow gets it right.

Chirashi ($18.00)
Interestingly, Wow serves the sushi rice in a separate bowl, perhaps to enhance the presentation of the fish.

Wow! is a great option to satisfy your sushi craving for instances when you want better quality fish but do not want to break the bank with the likes of JaBistro, Japango, Kaji, or Yasu.

Spicy Salmon Hand Rolls