The Next

The Next was our go-​to place for lunch when we arrived for a stay in Victoria recently. Just off the ferry, in the city, looking for some lunch (while waiting for our hotel room to be available), Japanese food sounded good, and this was ‘the’ place on my Sunday short-​list of open restaurants to consider. The restaurant was a short drive away from the hotel, located in the ‘Cook’s Village’ area of Victoria, with the entrance on Sutlef Street, just off Cook Street, the main drag there.
It’s a small place — about 12 tables ‘for two’, but easily moved and arranged for four, or larger-​sized groups of diners, plus, a bar/​stools area immediately in front of the kitchen. Nothing too exciting about the décor or ambience, but it was bright, clean, and tidy.
What we (a threesome) ordered and shared:
— tea: when seated, we asked for some tea and water. We received a warm and tasty, green-​coloured tea — apparently, it was genmaicha tea — and we were charged $ 2/​each for it. When seeing this charge on the bill, I thought it would sure have been nice if our server had informed us of this (tea and charge) before ordering.
— appetizers: agedashi tofu, and prawn & veggie tempura. Both well-​prepared and presented. The tofu was prepared as quite large, square pieces (as opposed to ‘cubes’), very lightly-​coated, the tofu inside soft and creamy — a big yum. The tempura pieces were lightly-​battered and crispy — prawns large and succulent, veggies (green beans, broccoli, yam, squash, zucchini (?), and red onion) cut quite thin, cooked perfectly, and tasty.
— sashimi: regular assorted — salmon, tuna, scallop, and another (?). Very pretty presentation. Sweet and tasty preparation, but total portion size was sure small.
— rolls: avocado roll, and a more deluxe roll called ‘Canadian roll’. Very poor preparations and presentations. The two different rolls (I guess because of their very small portion sizes) were placed on the same plate, and the total presentation was certainly not especially colourful or exciting to the senses. The avocado rolls were very small and firm — the Canadian rolls much the same, though not quite as small, and they had a touch more colour (from the strip of smoked salmon on top of each piece). We were not impressed with taste of either — just barely ‘ok’ would be a high rating.
Overall, our dining experience at The Next was ‘ok’, but short of expectations.

Everything is good
The service, environment, food are wonderful
It’s really good Japanese restaurant in cook village

Solid place to visit for fresh, quality sushi! Nice setting inside with a waitress that is unbelievably friendly and happy to be serving you! Ordered the tuna tataki which were nice cuts of quality fish and topped with seasoned cherry tomatoes. Underneath the tataki, the chef put some sort of delicious Japanese mashed potatoes that were sweet and a great unexpecting addition to the fish. Alongside my tataki, I got the spicy salmon roll. The spicy chipotle mayo is inside the roll, rather than on top which is what I am used to seeing. The roll was good, not the best I’ve tried in Victoria, but definitely good with protein portions I won’t complain about. To top off my meal, I ordered what has become one of the top matchas I’ve ever tried. It was Japanese Genmai-​cha with a blend of roasted brown rice, and it was massive! Not a tiny tea cup… a full on mug! And the tea was only $ 2.25! Unbelievable. For a matcha of that size and quality, other shops would easily get away with charging at least $ 5.50. Definitely visit The Next The Next time you want Japanese (hope this last sentence wasn’t too confusing for you!)

Make no mistake, I am a sushi snob to the core. At the same time I don’t want to pay top dollar just for lunch or a quick dinner. This place ticks all my boxes. Everything melted in my mouth, the staff are friendly, i really enjoyed my meal. When Kaz on Store st. retired, I felt lost in the desert, now I have a new oasis, when I visit Victoria again, I will return.

The food was awesome, tasty and fresh and I like the distinctiveness of their special rolls.
The green tea was a nice macha. I will definitely come back :-)

The next is as authentic as it gets — as conformed by our Japanese friend traveling with us. The Japanese couple /​chef who own the place have extensive experience with the Japanese cuisine as wellas the French cuisine and find the perfect blend of Japanese authenticity /​quality standards and the French flair for presentation and food styling. This is as good and authentic as it gets! Thank you for a wonderful dinner!

Beautiful little space, friendly & fast service, varied menu. Fish is always nice and fresh, and the rolls are generally prepared well.
However, the «Canadian Roll» with candied salmon has been a disappointment both times I’ve ordered it – it sounds so awesome, but both times ended up being 75% cream cheese, which completely drowned out all the other ingredients and flavours.
I’ve only tried a few rolls so far (via take-​out) but am keen to return to see how the dine-​in experience is and how the rest of the menu stacks up. Nice addition to Cook St Village (and it’s far enough away from the greasy stench of Big Wheel Burger, yay).

I love this place! I’ve had nearly everything on the menu, but I usually go for the sushi. The crab and dynamite are probably my two favourite rolls. I’m usually a huge tuna hosomaki fan, but I found the slices of tuna to be a bit big. Maybe I’m used to them being marinated, and a little softer as a result. When you come here, definitely don’t just stick with the sushi, there are SO many amazing dishes to try!

The Next is a newly opened Japanese restaurant in the heart of Cook Street village. I have tried 8 of their sushi rolls, and each one was delicious. The owners make a point of using high-​quality ingredients, but have priced the dishes very reasonably. They use wild salmon and their ‘california roll’ is made with rock crab as opposed to imitation crab like other restaurants.
To top it off, the restaurant is owned by a very friendly young Japanese family. I highly recommend the Next, and will be back for sure.