I took a trip to Wilkes-Barre to the home of what was once Chili’s restaurant but is now the new location of Japanese cuisine restaurant Mirakuya.

Mirakuya has always held a special place in my heart, being a restaurant my family used to frequent, but the old restaurant was beginning to look run down and was in a poor location, so we stopped going.

Fear not! This place has had a complete makeover to go along with its location change. Finding a home nestled by the Wyoming Valley Mall, offering a much larger space, was definitely needed. The restaurant has a modern kick to it and, upon entering, looks like a combination sports bar/Japanese restaurant, which is not a bad thing.

Of course, the sushi bar, hibachi grills, and regular dining combined create a loud, crowded atmosphere, which some enjoy. I am not a fan of loud, but was seated in a corner of the restaurant which shielded me from a lot of the noise and commotion.

On to the most important part of the restaurant – the food. Usually I go to Japanese restaurants for hibachi, but I was in a sushi mood that night. Having never had sushi from Mirakuya, I gave it a go. The menu offered a variety of rolls, ranging from regular rolls seen in most restaurants, as well as specialty rolls, a lot of them named after local towns and locations. The prices are what you expect, not too high, not too cheap, and certainly affordable.

I decided to settle on the “Fancy Roll” under the specialty roll menu, as it sounded and looked delicious. I was also curious as to what “tiger seaweed” was. The roll was made of fried scallop, shrimp, crab and caviar, wrapped in tiger seaweed, topped with spicy mayo. I was a little weary initially as I’m not a fan of crab, but everything else made it impossible to pass on this roll.

The roll was anything but simple; it not only looked beautiful, but tasted beautiful, as well. Tiger seaweed is a striped seaweed, which was really cool, but obviously didn’t make a difference in the taste. The scallop, shrimp, and crab all had a distinct taste in the roll, a unique experience as I’m not used to tasting every separate ingredient in a meal. The roll was huge, big enough that I almost didn’t finish it and had to eat each piece in separate bites. The spicy mayo was the perfect pairing, adding just enough kick without being overwhelming.

I made a meal out of this roll of sushi and was beyond satisfied. Sushi is a food that I’ve had a lot of fun exploring over the last few years, and I can say this roll was one of the best I’ve ever had. And I’m not just saying that for the sake of writing a positive review. I recommend checking out this restaurant for a meal; you’ll have a great experience with the staff, and certainly a great experience with the meal itself.