Another Great Restaurant Bites the Dust

Waaaaa. My favourite neighbourhood sushi place will be closing down, after 25 years. I've mentioned Sakae, at the corner of Alberni and Thurlowe before. It's a little secret gem, tucked underground and out of sight that had sushi and authentic dishes with just a bit higher quality than the myriad of Japanese restaurants surrounding it, out in the open. They also had this amazing dinner set of $25 that included clam miso soup, big bowl of rice with topping (some chopped salmon bits), fantastic sashimi (or sushi or something else, depending on which set you choose), fancy cold appetizers, black cod (aka sablefish), soba noodles, pickles, some sort of seaweed dish, and chawanmushi. This place had great quality food that just went that extra bit. For example, they grated fresh horseradish into their wasabi, giving it a bright and fragrant quality. It looks like the couple that own it have just decided to retire, now that their lease is coming to an end. Their last day is January 31st, and it was closed on Sunday night when I found it was closing by the note posted on their door. I'm going to try visiting before the last day and I'll miss it a lot.