Archive for the 'Japanese' Category
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
Jenkins and I hadn’t been to Shota Sushi in a while so we decided to drop by Kerrisdale one evening to check it out. Shota Sushi’s claim to fame is that it’s probably one of the first restaurants in the Lower Mainland to come up with the concept of “fancy” rolls. These rolls are generally more fusion-like and combine several popular sushi ingredients into one. These days, most sushi restaurants have some kind of fancy rolls available on their menu.
To start off our meal, Jenkins and I started off with some edamame. If you look closely in the top left hand corner, you will see that they were a bit heavy handed with the salt that day.
Then we shared three fancy rolls, which all came on one plate. That was good because I was able to compare the taste of all three rolls at once. Sometimes, my short-term taste memory is pretty bad so having them all come out at once helped. 
The first roll I tried had salmon tempura and avocado in the main rolled up section and had crab meat and tobiko eggs on top. This combination was good but at the same time, a bit predictable. Shota used to drizzle some special sauces over some rolls and I think it would have helped this particular roll we tried. I believe it was called the Red Roll.
The next roll we had contained tuna tempura with avocado and was topped with spicy tuna and bonito flakes. I liked this roll more than the first one because the spicy tuna added a bit of zip to the roll.
One can argue that the spider roll was the least fancy of the three rolls we had that day; however, it was probably my favourite. They were quite generous with the soft-shell crab and we could definitely taste the crab meat. Sometimes, the taste gets lost in the midst of all the batter in some poorly-made spider rolls.
Overall, I would say it was an average outing at Shota. I used to be wowed by all the fancy rolls there and could never get enough. But of these three rolls I had, I was only impressed by a couple of them. I suppose that still gave me a 66% success rate for that day. :) The restaurant was busier than I remembered though and I did notice a lot of people ordering items other than the fancy rolls. Perhaps I will have to give their other menu items a try the next time I’m there.
Details:
5688 Yew St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-263-8068
Summary:
Food: 
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Lower Mainland Cities, Japanese, Asian, Reviews | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Another year, another birthday! :) This year, I went for dinner with Samantha, Lucy, and Jenkins. I really wasn’t sure where to go for dinner but then I remembered it had been a while since I was last at Bistro Sakana. I’m not sure why there was such a lag since my last visit since my meals at Sakana are always yummy and enjoyable. In any case, here is what we feasted on for my birthday dinner…
We were first served complimentary appetizers. It was a light and refreshing salad with bean sprouts, cucumbers, and diced chicken tossed in a sweet chili vinaigrette.
Samantha enjoyed the green tea immensely and requested that I take a picture. :) It was quite strong and had a very nice green tea taste.
Sakana always has a list of daily specials. On the day that we went, they had a bunch of fresh oysters. We all decided to try a Kusshi oyster with ponzu sauce. The oysters were very fresh and slightly sweet.
The yaki-spaghetti with chicken was an interesting spin on yakisoba. The spaghetti was cooked al dente and had a nice texture to it. It also served as a great “filler” dish for us.
The miso black cod came with a small bed of wild rice and a drizzling of balsamic vinegar and cranberry sauce. Although it was quite a small dish, this was very tasty. Then again, how can you really fail with black cod? :) The cranberry sauce added a nice tanginess to the rich fattiness of the cod.
We also ordered quite a few rolls. I can’t really remember the names of everything that we tried, but I can assure you that they all tasted great.
The spicy tuna roll was a regular tuna roll with spicy sauce drizzled on top. It was different from what we were used to but very tasty. The spicy sauce was also slightly sweet, which I think added to the overall taste. The crunchy California rolls are always my favourite here. Regular California rolls are rolled in some crunch panko bread crumbs. It was so good that we ordered a second serving! The Negitoro rolls were more commonplace but still very good.
The chopped scallop rolls were probably the most mundane dish out of everything we ordered. It just didn’t seem to have much taste to it.
The okonomiyaki took a while to make (about 20 minutes) so when it arrived, we were actually quite full. It was much thicker than the okonomiyaki I was accustomed to although I’m not sure which version is more authentic. It was packed with veggies, spaghetti, and some seafood. I have to admit though that I was not too fond of this dish. Because it was so thick, it seemed like the middle parts were not well cooked and had a cakey/thick texture to it.
Although it had been a while since I was last at Sakana, I was quickly reminded why I used to go there so much. The food is always fresh and tasty with a nice mix of sushi and izakaya items. I also like that they have a list of daily specials so you can always try something new. My only peeve is that the service is quite slow so make sure you are not in a rush when you go there for your meal. They are friendly enough to make up for the slowness though. :p
Details:
1120 Hamilton St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-633-1280
Summary:
Food: 
(I would have given it a 4 had it not been for the scallop roll & okonomiyaki mini-busts)
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Vancouver, Lower Mainland Cities, Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
A new sushi place opened up sometime last year along Kingsway and Boundary-ish. Lucky for me, it is quite close to where I work and even luckier for me, the sushi is tasty and reasonably priced. :) I have been here several times since I found out about it from Corbi. To reward me for my frequent visits, I even have a stamp card where I can collect small discounts (5-15% off) and free California rolls!
Mabel and I came here for lunch one day and also to take advantage of my free California rolls reward from my stamp card. :) I guess the owners recognize us and realized we were frequent visitors so we were also gifted with some octopus sashimi. It was fresh and quite tasty. I really enjoyed the slightly chewy texture of octopus.
That day, I decided to go with the tuna and salmon don. It’s one of my favourite dishes when I go for sushi because it’s almost like nigiri sushi but you assemble it yourself. ;) The salmon and tuna pieces were very large and tasty. I’m not sure what type of tuna they use here, but it tastes almost like toro and seems fattier than regular tuna in other restaurants. The tuna and salmon don here is great because they don’t put in very much rice, which assists me in not overeating. :) At $8.50, it’s really a good deal.
My tuna and salmon don also came with miso soup.
Mabel chose the chicken udon. The noodles were slightly chewy and had several chunks of chicken. Mabel enjoyed it quite a bit and she mentioned that it was a good size for lunch. If I recall correctly, this was $8.75.
The California rolls were very tasty and not just because it was free. :) It comes with a small drizzling of mayo on top but I usually ask them to hold the mayo so I can be slightly healthier. Even without the mayo, these rolls are very good.
Overall, it was another enjoyable meal at Sushi King. The next time I go back, I’ll order something different and try something new to blog about. :) Service can be slow at times though because there is basically one guy making all the sushi and it has become quite busy during the weekday lunch hour.
Details:
3520 Kingsway, Vancouver
Tel: 604-431-6283
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
During our one evening in Japan, we were all determined to try some sushi. Our travel agent recommended a good place to us in the Narita city centre, but we got our directions mixed up so we ended up eating at the Japanese restaurant in our hotel instead. We were prepared for some inflated hotel prices but hoped the dinner would still be good.
Once we were seated, we were given cute little paper cranes to rest our chopsticks on.
Jenkins and I both ordered the chirashi, which cost 3400 yen (approx. $34 Cdn). Of all the items in the chirashi, I enjoyed the tamago the most. It was not too sweet and had a slightly roasted taste to it. I also liked the tuna, which was moist and had a nice red colour (different from what we’re used to in Vancouver). All the seafood had a nice fresh taste and even though it was on the small side, we still filled up.
Jenkins noted that the wasabi was tastier than the usual green stuff we are accustomed to and was much more potent. I don’t think this was real wasabi though.
All our meals also came with miso soup, which came with clams on the bottom. I liked the light clam flavour of the soup but found the clams to be somewhat overcooked.
I enjoyed our meal here but wished we had the opportunity to check out the travel agent-recommended restaurant. I’ll have to add that to my list of things to go back and do the next time I’m in the area.
Summary:
Food:
Grick’s Food Rating:
Service:
Price: $$$
Posted in Narita, Other Cities, Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
(Hey all, it’s corbi here subbing in while gigi is away. Here’s my first post, hope you all like it!)
A couple of us from work headed off to one of our usual haunts the other day, located in the 2nd floor food court of H-Mart on the corner of Robson and Seymour. It always took a bit of navigation: go up the escalators, turn a sharp left, walk by the row of cashiers, make another right, then walk all the way down again to the back of the wall. The stand there is called Matoi Sushi and they have some of the best Japanese good I’ve eaten for a fast food stand.
In the past, I’ve tried quite a few dishes there but for the purpose of this article, I’ll review the particular ones that we often order –the katsu curry rice and the Nabeyaki udon.
The Katsu curry rice has always been one of the favourites among our coworkers, though many like to order as take-out, to ensure that the sauce is separated from the rice and breaded pork, so that the sauce doesn’t make everything too soggy too quickly. The pork is lightly breaded and very crispy, while the curry sauce, I’m told by two different people, is just the right flavour.
One of the dishes I favour is the Nabeyaki udon, a perfect bowl of hot soup and udon for a rainy day. Quite the comfort food. There were alot of different ingredients in mine, including the tempura prawn, mushrooms, veggies, chicken and the traditional fish-ball-slice-thingy that all real Japanese udon has. All served in a piping hot pot. In fact, I think there might be too much stuff and not enough actual udon.
Overall, the quality of the good is quite high considering it being a small fast-food like stand. The lady working the cash register there is always friendly and the guys cook hard at the back. It being an open sushi bar and kitchen, gives you a sense of security and amusement at watching your food being made/cooked on the spot. It may be a little more expensive than your average food court lunch, (I usually end up spending about 10-13 bucks there) but it is at the heart of down town, the food is fresh and they do take cash, debit and credit. However, I would caution going right at noon for a meal as it is a popular place among all the Asian business folks. Even take out might take a while.
Details:
H-Mart Food Court 2F, 590 Robson St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-608-2887
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$$
Posted in Fast Food, Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
Another dinner at Ogenki, another new roll to try. This time, we tried the Mango California roll and another roll that I can’t remember the name of.
The Mango California roll (on the right below) is exactly what it is. It’s a California roll with some mango tucked inside. What I found strange about this roll was that the mango seemed canned and was kind of tangy and candy-like. I’ve had similar rolls before but with fresh mangos, which I prefer more than the candy-like mango here.
The second roll is another California roll-based item. The difference here is that it has slices of tuna on top with some spicy mayo sauce. I liked this roll a lot more than the mango although the spicy sauce is quite spicy and can be a bit overpowering if you’re not into spicy food. But then again, why would you order this if you’re not into spicy?
So far, I’ve tried quite a few “special” rolls at Ogenki now. It’s been a bit hit and miss but I’ve enjoyed trying out the new rolls nonetheless.
Details:
4342 Main St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-875-9975
Summary: (for the two rolls I tried only)
Food:
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | No Comments »
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