The Marina Restaurant offers a breathtaking view of the marina at Oak Bay. The tables are adorned with linens, soft lighting and classical music fill the room – it is an upscale, elegant yet contemporary place to dine. As we had never been to the Marina before we weren’t aware that there is a separate sushi bar and for the $15 Dine Around menu are seated in the bar with a view of the front entrance. With a more casual atmosphere, the sushi bar is comfortable and intimate.
While we wait on the wine, our waitress brings hot towels – a nice, unexpected service we’ve never encountered before.
We decide to share the appetizers and begin with sunomono salad which is a cool, crisp concoction of vermicelli, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and baby shrimp all tossed with tangy Asian vinaigrette designed to wake up your taste buds. The miso soup is warm and silky. The dinner choices are meant to be shared and we dig into a feast. The first platter has California rolls made with real, fresh creamy crab salad, which is so moist it melts in your mouth and crispy tempura tuna roll. We are used to raw tuna in sushi rolls, but this tuna is slightly seared which I suspect is a result of the tempura. It is very tasty. Crispy vegetable tempura and the house special Marina vegetarian roll comprise the second platter. The tempura is extremely disappointing as it is heavy, greasy and tastes more like fish and chip batter than any tempura we have ever had. The Marina vegetarian roll makes up for the tempura – carrots, mushroom, avocado and cucumber offer a wonderful texture and flavour combination.
The listed dessert is green tea ice cream, but since neither of us like it, we request a substitute and our waitress is kind enough to bring us one bowl of refreshing mandarin orange sorbet and one dish of creamy vanilla bean ice cream.
We love sushi, so all in all the unique signatures offered by the sushi chefs at The Marina restaurant pleasantly surprise us. And having been teased by the atmosphere and view in the main dining room, we will be back.
Happy Food – The Secret Diner
1327 Beach Drive, Oak Bay Marina, Victoria (250) 598-8555
