Miga's bibimbap : a visual masterpiece photo: Aaron McKenzie Fraser

Last week we sipped on brown rice tea in the box-shaped dining room as we read a menu that makes an easy partnership out of Korean and Japanese fare.

Our apps came in quick time. First a plate of tempura with a slightly heavier batter than I like, but the yam and green pepper were tender (although a little more variety would have been nice). Then came steamed pork gyozas (they also have beef or veggie, if you'd rather). While I usually go for fried dumplings, the steamed version at Miga are soft little purses stuffed with spicy meat, egg, and veg. We dipped them, piping hot, into another dish of vinegar and soy.

Not long after, our very funny server heads over with my bibimbap. I got the dolsot version, which comes in the hot stone bowl (one step up from the traditional bib most of us are used to). A visual masterpiece, it came to the table still sizzling: a pile of nutty white rice topped with steamed baby spinach, zucchini, shredded carrot, bean sprouts, bits of beef and a single raw egg. I had opted for the mild chili sauce and mixed this into the bowl, also stirring the egg in, which gets cooked in the process. Messing around with your food this way is loads of fun, and the smell that rose up from the dish made my belly grumble. If you've never tried bib, it's usually quite rich and roasty. Miga's was also very, very fresh and relatively hefty too. The bib came with a standard bowl of miso, a pile of kimchi, pickled seaweed with sesame seeds, and a tiny dish of potato, green pepper and carrot spears.

Binjo, ever the sushi fiend, gladly tucked into a 16-piece. He actually ordered straight-up sashimi: mini steaks of cold salmon, tuna, red snapper and yellowtail. The little darlings came in a red rowboat, on a dazzling bed of shredded daikon, accompanied by ginger, wasabi, and pleasant surprises of lemon and alfalfa sprouts. My God, they were fresh!

When we'd had enough savoury, we shovelled in a couple bowls of mango and green tea ice cream.

Miga touts itself as "fine dining," so sushi à la carte costs more than you're used to paying in Toronto or Vancouver ($3.25-$5.45). The apps (starting at $5.95) are also a little higher than you'd pay in a street-level joint, but the mains average around $12, so you can't go wrong there.

Miga, you've got it. The combo resties need to survive: good service and tasty goods. We didn't even get to try the bulgogi or the green onion pancakes or the rice balls. We will though.

Miga
399 Bank St.
613-230-0084
 
 

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Great Place     Hands down the best Korean food I have ever eaten. (I've eaten at lot at a lot of different places, but not been to Korea. And I have been to Miga probably 50 times since it opened.) The Bulgogi and Kalbi are mouth-watering and tender. The pajon (pancakey thing) are done really well, both the seafood and vegetarian ones. The Mandu (dumplings) are good. Their Miso soup is excellent. But the most incredible thing is the Sun-Du-Bu Chigae. It's a pork/seafood soup with enough heat (spice) to cripple an ordinary person, but somehow without diluting the incredible flavour of the dish. Terribly addictive, and probably medicinal. I am not a big fan of Bi-Bim-Bap (rice in a bowl with a bunch of stuff + egg), but it's not bad. The only improvement would be a greater variety of ban-chan (side dishes). The service is excellent, the atmosphere is spare but pleasant, and the owners/servers are very very nice. Definitely a place to make your regular eat-healthy-and-delicious-Korean-food place.
Gregory MacIsaac		September 25th, 2007
~Feast or famine~     Sounds tasty, no? I gotta say that the review does a hell of a lot better job of selling this place than the accompanying photo. An overhead black and white shot of a perfectly prepared platter? Not exactly sure what thousand words this picture is worth, are you? Anyways, sounds like a place to bookmark for future reference I'd say.
Pedro Eggers	{5 votes}	September 18th, 2006
Sashimi In For Some Great Food At Miga............     Interesting that the final amount of the bill was left out of the article, considering the price in Ottawa at Miga is higher than normally pricier places to eat like Vancouver and Toronto. I'm figuring the bill was close to $70 or so, which seems expensive, but undoubtedly, Miga delivers excellent presentation and extremely fresh product. It comes down to dollars and sense. If you want good food, delivered quickly, you may have to pay top dollar. I've never heard of bibimbap (a pile of nutty white rice topped with steamed baby spinach, zucchini, shredded carrot, bean sprouts, bits of beef and a single raw egg). It sounds really good. In fact, everything about Miga sounds mouth-watering. This is deservedly "fine dining", as Riva describes and definately worth the trip to 399 Bank Street. I'm trying to remember what was located in the building before Miga moved in. Was it a Mexican restaurant that sat at the corner? The few times I have passed Miga, the place was packed by 12:05. Good sign and the place offers a certain amount of privacy because passersby can't really see what diners are enjoying on their plates because of the place's layout. Only time will tell if the patrons who have visited Miga will spread the word that they are a contender for the lunch crowd. But with sushi becoming more popular for the taste and the health aspects of the preparation, Miga may remain for the duration. Mango and Green Tea ice cream sounds good enough to make the effort to pull up a few chairs, in and of itself.
Steve Landry	{3 votes}	September 16th, 2006
Miga sounds yummy.     Korean and Japanese foods are a great combination and Miga sounds like a place that I will be checking out in the next few weeks. The bibimbap sounds delicious and the overall presentation sounds like it would be worthy of the dining experience.
Bernadette Isobel McCaffrey	{9 votes}	September 24th, 2006

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