Archive for the 'Japanese' Category
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 »
Monday, January 21st, 2008
Derek has been urging me to go visit King Yo, a new izakaya restaurant that has popped up on Denman St. According to him, it was recently rated as one of the top Canadian restaurants for 2007 in a food magazine. To tell you the truth, I rarely venture to Denman St because it’s always hard to find parking and all the good restaurants there normally require you to either make reservations or get there early. Jenkins and I just so happened to get off work early that day so decided to visit King Yo around 6pm.
King Yo is a pretty funky space inside and even though we were there early, it was already packed. We started off with a pot of Sencha green tea.
As with most izakayas, there was a regular menu and also a sheet of daily specials. We decided to start first with the ebi chilli mayo. There was not too much batter on this although the mayo did not have much chilli flavouring.
We also had the ahi tuna capaccio. The tuna was drizzled with a tangy marinade and a little bit of wasabi mayo. There was also a generous clump of thinly shaved fresh onions on top. The sharp onion taste went very well with the pieces of tuna.
Our server recommended that we try the cheese fondue with shrimp and bread chunks. The cheese fondue was a bit tangy and sweet at the same time. It was not too cheesy (which I like) and also had a strong tomato taste. I mentioned to Jenkins that it kind of tasted like warm antipasto dip. :) There were a few pieces of deep fried shrimp and chunks of bread to dip in the fondue, although I didn’t think there was enough to dip with. This dish was around $12.
Jenkins and I noticed by now that most of the dishes at King Yo are quite small, even when compared to other izakayas. We decided to order some noodle dishes for filler. First came the tan tan noodles. In King Yo’s menu, this is listed as “Our Famous Invincible and Undefeated Tan Tan Noodles”. With a proclamation like that, we had to try it! :) These noodles tasted nothing like regular Chinese tan tan noodles but were still very tasty. It had a light sesame and miso taste but also had some seaweed and ground pork on top. These noodles were $8.50.
We also had a cold ramen salad with some thinly sliced egg and pork on top. This salad was quite refreshing and also had some tang from some pickled ginger. I wasn’t sure if the flavours would go together but this was actually pretty good.
For dessert, Jenkins and I shared the matcha creme brulee. It had a very strong matcha taste, which I liked but the sugary topping was not thick enough and the texture was not very creamy. This was around $4.
I found the dishes at King Yo to be a bit hit and miss. The good dishes (tan tan noodles, cheese fondue, tuna avocado) were quite tasty but with its prices being higher than most izakayas and the portion sizes much smaller, you would expect that all their dishes would be hits. I’m not opposed to going back again although I will probably try some other izakaya places first.
Details:
871 Denman St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-608-1677
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 4 Comments »
Sunday, January 13th, 2008
It was Jenkins’ dad’s birthday so we went to Otokomae at Kitanoya Guu or more casually known as Guu Gastown. Of the three Guus in Vancouver, this is supposed to be the fanciest and a bit more trendy inside. I had blogged about Guu with Garlic back in the summer and it had been a while since I was last at this Gastown location so I was eager to see how the food matched up.
Jenkins’ family had never been to any of the Guus or to an izakaya-style place before so we ordered a bunch of dishes so they would have a good exposure to what this food was all about.
We started with negitoro (chopped tuna belly and chives) with a sour plum dipping sauce. You can spread the negitoro on your choice of saltine (likely Premium Plus) crackers or seaweed. I liked the contrast of the sour and tangy plum sauce with the creamy and slightly sweet tuna. The seaweed was a bit difficult to eat with the tuna though because it was difficult to balance the tuna on.
Ebi Chilli Mayo is one of my favourite izakaya items. The batter on the shrimp here was a bit heavier than the one at Shiru-Bay but still quite tasty. The chilli mayo sauce was also lighter which gave it more of a shrimpy flavour. I would have liked it if this dish was a bit bigger though.
Next came the crab cake in a tomato-based sauce. The crab cake was very creamy and went quite well with the tomato sauce, which was not too overwhelming for the crab. I think this dish would have been nice if there was something to spread the crab cake on to offset the creaminess.
The grilled duck breast with mango and blueberry sauce was very tasty. The tang of the mango and blueberry sauces complemented the juicy duck breast.
I was somewhat disappointed by the oyster gratin. It sounded so good in the menu: oyster, peas, and broccoli in a cream sauce baked with cheese. The oyster pieces were very small though and few and far between. One good thing about this sauce though was that the amount of cheese was just right and it was not too heavy.
This next dish was one of the best of the evening. The grilled saba with deep-fried garlic chips is also offered at Guu with Garlic and comes on a sizzling hot plate. The saba (mackerel) is moist inside and crispy on the outside. One would think that the massive amounts of garlic chips would be too much but this actually went well with everything!
The okonomiyaki at Guu is one of the best I’ve had in Vancouver. It is a Japanese-style pancake and is packed with veggies and seafood. The bonito flakes on top add a nice touch to the dish and the mix of sauces on top complement this very well.
The stone bowl rice came in a sizzling bowl and was mixed for us by our server. It was slightly spicy and came with a mix of veggies and ground pork. Because the rice was mixed at our table in the hot stone bowl, the edges of the rice were still being cooked by the stone and had a nice crunchy texture.
The shio yakisoba was ordered as a “filler” dish and came with some veggies, pickled ginger, and seaweed in a tangy sauce. I found this dish to be a bit plain for my taste although the noodles did help fill us up.
The ebi chilli pie sounded interesting so we ordered that for our last savoury dish. This was basically an ebi chilli soup with a baked puff pastry on top. I was not very crazy about this dish. There were very few pieces of shrimp and the chilli soup did not match the puff pastry.
We ended our meal with a couple of desserts. The black sesame ice cream with maple syrup was excellent. It sounded plain on the menu but I love black sesame ice cream. :) The sesame must have been pre-toasted because the ice cream had a very aromatic and toasty flavour.
The deep-fried banana with coconut ice cream was also very good. The banana had a nice light batter that still allowed the banana flavour to come out. The coconut ice cream went great with the banana and also had lightly toasted coconut chunks in this. If they had take-out versions of either the sesame or coconut ice creams, I would definitely buy from here.
Overall, our meal here was pretty good. The dishes were a bit hit and miss but I suppose that is the risk you run into when you are adventurous. :) The atmosphere in the restaurant is quite bustling and tends to get a bit rowdier later in the evening. The lighting is also a bit dark, which you can probably garner from my pics.
Details:
105-375 Water St, Vancouver
Tel: 604 685-8682
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | No Comments »
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