A friend and I tried Mars Bistro for the first time tonight. The first impression was quite good. The walls are a deep red colour and the space is small - enough room for maybe 30 people. It was quiet and we were seated quickly.

For dinner I had miso soup, tuna gomaae, and yam tempura roll. My friend had ebi sunomono, dynatmite combo, and the mars roll.

The good - the miso soup was great, very flavourful. The salmon that came with my friend's combo was very fresh and delicious, as was the tuna. He also gave the ebi sunomono the thumbs up - fresh and refreshing.

The OK - the yam tempura roll was just ok. It had shitake mushroom in the middle with yam on the outside. My only complaint is that the yam was cold - in my option, tempura should never, ever be cold. The dynamite roll was alright, nothing special. The mars roll was really nothing to write home about either.

The bad - the tuna gomaae was a total waste of money. For $5.95 I received a few small cubes of tuna in a wasabi sauce. The tuna would have been good if the wasabi didn't overpower it completely. For the price, I would have liked more than the equivelant of one piece of sashimi. There was no spinach to be found either. Oh well.

Another thing to mention to prospective diners - the portions are very small and quite pricey. It is more of a fine dining establishment for a quiet, possibly romantic dinner.

The service is excellent and a lot of attention is paid to detail. I wouldn't return simply because the value isn't very good for the product. However this is much better than the other sushi places in Abbotsford that I have visitied.