Our menu features traditional and fusion Japanese cuisine made from the freshest and finest seasonal ingredients sourced from around the world. THE BILL Lunch, $7 to $20 dinner, $12 to $26 (individual sushi, $1.50 to $8 rolls, $3.50 to $13.50). Welcome to Murasaki Japanese Restaurant located at 254 Newport Drive in the beautiful city of Port Moody. Stick with one of the few Japanese beers or sakes offered. Some liquor is available, but the waiters don’t know much about it. THE CROWD Mostly adults in couples or groups. The sushi bar is a comfortable spot to watch the chef and enjoy a meal. Seating for 60 includes two windowside tables that are modified versions of the traditional pillows-around-a-table plan there’s a space under the table to dangle one’s legs. “I love this place,” said one woman as she left on a recent evening. They tend to hug the somewhat shy owners when they leave and they heap praise on the chef. But in a sign of how welcome decent Japanese food is in the area, Murasaki has enthusiastic customers. Food can come out in waves, and the waiters can’t always explain what’s on the menu. Still, there’s little poetry in the restaurant’s pacing or service. Murasaki is named after Murasaki Shikibu, the woman credited with writing one of the world’s first novels, in the 11th century. But little of the rest stands out a measure, in part, of how the bar has been raised for Japanese food in and around the county. The toro in particular was melt-in-the-mouth tender, and the cooked eel sushi was a sweet and savory pleasure. Murasaki’s sushi is fresh and the chefs have a nice way with the knife. Now there’s another, just over the Tappan Zee Bridge. Westchester residents have some strong Japanese choices these days (most notably Sushi Nanase in White Plains). Nothing else that night or in subsequent visits rose to the level of that experience, but I’m glad to have Murasaki in the area’s dining mix. I could have stopped right there and been satisfied.
Crispy at the edges, soft in the center and intensely flavorful, the dish was a delight. The nasu shigiyaki grilled eggplant with miso came as half the whole vegetable, sliced vertically and cooked to a beautiful deep purple.
I KNEW I was in for more than the typical suburban experience with Japanese food at Murasaki, a year-old restaurant in Nyack, when the waiter set down our first appetizer.
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