When you think “sushi,” what comes to mind?  Likely it’s rolls, vinegared rice, nori, and of course, fish. All types of fish. All types of seafood, in fact. Exotic seafood.

Miya’s Sushi chef/owner Bun Lai has taken on quite a daunting challenge: create a successful sushi restaurant that’s eco-friendly, uses only sustainable fish, builds half its sushi menu around vegetables, and applies wild creativity and unconventional ingredients to satisfy sushi-savvy customers.

Does he succeed?

You bet.

All credit for this meal goes to food blogger Amy Kundrat, who gathered together bloggers, Twitter pals and food-loving media types to join in a special omakase-style dinner at Miya’s. We put our trust in Chef Lai’s hands, and let him go at it. Damn, did he ever.

I thought we’d be eating ten courses, but it turned out to be much more than that. The food kept coming and coming.  It was a food blitzkrieg.  I could hardly keep track of what was being served, finally borrowing a pad and pen from a fellow tablemate to write everything down. Even then I know I missed many details.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to meet everybody at the table, but the group included CT bloggers Leeanne Griffin of Fun With Carbs, Emily from A Change of Eatery, and Robert Troilo, chef/owner of Norwalk’s Nicholas Roberts.

Chef Lai came out to introduce himself and talk about Miya’s commitment to sustainability and responsible fishing.

Ready to see pics?  Here we go.

Pumpkin miso soup to start.

Mixed greens with a ginger vinaigrette.

Tokyo Fro (yeah, the dishes have some crazy names): fried shredded potato drizzled with a curry sauce.

Steamed artichoke beautifully presented with a pureed jalapeno sauce.

A divine plate of fried organic spinach sprinkled with sea salt. Tasted like the thinnest, lightest potato chips you’d ever eat.

Meanwhile, sakes were being plopped down left and right, with great names like Emerald Witches’ Lips and Cherokee Sumac Love Potion.

The sakes were smooooth, rich with citrus notes, honey and other exotic ingredients.  They were too good, actually.  Went down so easily, I was concerned I’d have to sleep at Miya’s.

This Chinese Firecracker (my nickname) sake, infused with chili peppers, became the basis for a sake bomb — frosted mug filled 1/3 way up with beer, shot of sake lowered inside.

But back to the food.

Some of Chef Lai’s dishes were being made for the first time.  I believe this was one of the new rolls, of escargot and brie.

9-spice tilapia sashimi.

And 12-spice tilapia sashimi.  The server explained how it had been sprinkled with a sea salt sourced from a sinking island. BS? I don’t know, but it sounded cool and made for a good story.

Here’s an example of a roll centered around vegetables, rather than seafood. It contained roasted broccoli, black beans, quinoa and oats.

Another one — rolls with sweet potato, brown rice and mango chutney.

This one that had me scratching my head when it was set down: organic soy chicken with asparagus and a brie dill sauce. Cheese on a “sushi” roll? It actually tasted really good.  Lighter than I thought it’d be.

Another unusual roll, with lobster, asparagus and apricot.

I believe this was the Two Fish Cha Cha: escolar (a buttery white fish) and bonito.

Edibaba: shrimp wrapped in a potato skin with a havarti dill sauce.

Seriously, the dishes never stopped.

Of course, with the hits of creativity, come a few misses. These next two dishes didn’t quite work for me; I found both to be a bit flat and lacking in flavor — surprising, considering kimchi was involved.

The first was kimchi-seared Arctic char, where the kimchi was pressed into the fish and blackened on high heat.

And this was kimchi-seared yellowfin tuna.

One of my absolute favorites of the night: seared Lasater NY strip steak, with a ginger, garlic, Sauvignon Blanc sauce.  Sliced thicker than a carpaccio, but still thin and buttery. Wonderful flavors.

We finished with an amuse-bouche-like dessert.  It was a tempura-fried roll of chocolate, strawberries, peanut butter and banana, served with a scoop of roasted nettles ice cream.

Good lord was it delicious.  I could have eaten four more, and considered ordering a few on my own.

My pics and descriptions don’t capture all the creativity, inventiveness, and yes weirdness, going at Miya’s. I suggest you read the menu on their website to view the full details. No flavor is off limits, no combination of ingredients taboo. Makes for some seriously interesting food.

You know that despised corporate-speak expression, “Thinking out of the box”? Well, Miya’s is thinking out of the box. They’ve put a unique spin on the sushi experience.

Miya’s Sushi
68 Howe St.
New Haven, CT
203-777-9760