Otowa

So, yesterday I took the little sister driving again, and we wound up at a Japanese restaurant downtown called Otowa. I'd been meaning to visit this place since I lived in Saskatoon in the summer of 2007. What drew my attention to it was the fact that, walking by it one day, I saw a girl come out in a kimono to set out a sign. The servers dress up! How cool is that?

The atmosphere is excellent (if a little dark). Its cozy, nicely decorated (though perhaps in need of an update--particularly in the bathrooms. YES I AM PARANOID ABOUT BATHROOMS). The dishware was quite nice to look at:

We ordered a variety of dishes: Caterpillar sushi, miso soup, salad, and agedashi for starts. Then Jaimie had tempura and more agadashi, and I had beef don.

happy sushi caterpillar!

some of the most amazing miso I've had

Agedashi

Jaimie's tempura

Jaimie om nomming

Unfortunately,  I forgot to get a picture of my beef don. Oh well. For the most part, the food was really good (if a little heavy). I particularly enjoyed the miso, the salad, and the sushi. I think this is definitely a place I will go back to to try a wider variety of their sushi. The beef don was a little on the bland/dry side, I found, however.

Overall this was a good dining experience. The staff is friendly, and didn't even look at Jaimie too oddly when she asked if she could have her plain white rice packed up (. . .). The appetizers were amazing, and while I didn't like my main that much, I would definitely give them another chance.