Archive for the 'Japanese' Category
Sunday, November 18th, 2007
Samantha, Lucy, and I went to Toshi Sushi for dinner one day. It is located at 181 E 16th Ave and Main and is one of the busiest restaurants I know of. There is always a line-up to be seated and even though we went fairly late on a weeknight, we still had to wait 15 minutes!
There is a sign-up sheet at the front of the restaurant so the seating process goes fairly smoothly. I suppose due to the fact that there is always a crowd waiting to be seated, there are quite a few rules you have to observe. The biggest one is that they will not seat your table until everyone is there…and they are quite strict about this.
We decided to order a few dishes to share and the first to come was a negitoro roll and a salmon & avocado roll. Both the rolls tasted very fresh, especially the negitoro roll.
Next came the tuna tataki. The tuna was lightly grilled on the outside and then marinated in the special house sauce with fresh green onions. The grilled flavour on the outside contrasted with the soft raw insides of the tuna. This was recommended by one of Lucy’s friends and I’m glad we picked it. 
Our last order was a dinner box with a selection of different items: nigiri sushi, ebi sunomono, chicken karaage, prawn tempura, sashimi, and BC roll. The nigiri sushi was a selection of salmon, tuna, ebi, and snapper (I think it is called kai?). Everything was very fresh and tasty.
I have to say that ebi sunomono is not one of my preferred dishes when it comes to Japanese, but this time, it was actually quite refreshing! The soup was not too tangy and it also had a couple of slices of persimmon, which was a nice touch.
The chicken karaage was pretty standard but still tasty. I like the extra punch of flavour that squeezing a lemon over the chicken provides.
The prawn tempura batter was not too heavy, which I like.
The sashimi was very tasty. We had a selection of tuna, salmon, and octopus. We could tell that it was very fresh…just like a lot of their other raw items.
The salmon skin on the BC roll was pretty mild and not scaly at all.
Before tips, our total bill came to around $33. The food here was really good but I don’t think it was good enough to justify the long wait for a table. Once you are seated, the food takes quite a while to arrive, which probably adds to the long waits outside. The servers are quite friendly and are always coming by to keep your tea topped up.
Details:
181 E 16th Ave, Vancouver
Tel: (604) 874-5173
Summary:
Food: 
Service: 
Price: $$
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, November 6th, 2007
Jenkins and I always like to go to Sushi Garden when we are in the area, but the timing always has to be right. We always go at non-peak times because otherwise, you can be guaranteed of a long wait…which we hate. It is located at 4635 Kingsway, across from Metrotown mall.
We were both quite hungry this day so we picked the medium sushi combo, which is meant for 2-3 people. It came with a selection of nigiri sushi and rolls. Our food came pretty quickly. First was the selection of nigiri sushi. We had ebi, surf clams, salmon, tuna, and tobiko. The pieces of salmon and tuna were very large and tasted very fresh.
Next came the BC and Dynamite rolls. I am not a huge fan of BC rolls but this time, it was not so bad. The salmon skin was not too overwhelming and it also had some crab meat, which was different from what I was accustomed to. The dynamite roll was also very tasty.
The last tray of rolls was chopped scallop and California rolls. The chopped scallop roll was very tasty and stuffed with scallops and crunchy tobiko. I liked that there was not too much mayo here. The California roll was also very tasty and was what you would expect from California rolls.
For the most part, Sushi Garden is not really innovative in their food but you can always expect large portions and very fresh sushi. One thing they are not known for is their service. They normally only have two servers for a relatively large and busy dining space and your best bet is to wave down the server whenever you can. It’s definitely the food, and not the service, that keeps me coming back.
Details:
4635 Kingsway, Burnaby
Tel: 604-436-0104
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $$
Posted in Japanese, Asian | 2 Comments »
Monday, October 15th, 2007
Jenkins and I went to Tokyo Ichiban one day for an all-you-can-eat lunch. It’s been a while since we were last there so we decided to check it out. The all-you-can-eat is a pretty good deal at $10.95 pp on weekends…compared to the lunch boxes which range from $8-15, I believe. Tokyo Ichiban is near Lansdowne Mall in Richmond (3380 Lansdowne Rd).
I really like the green salad here. I think it is mostly because of the dressing they use, which appears to be some type of minced carrot and vinegar mixture.
The California and Dynamite rolls weren’t too bad, especially when you consider we were at an all-you-can-eat place. There also was not too much rice in the rolls, which was nice.
The lunch all-you-can-eat limits you to two orders of sashimi per person. Jenkins is not a big sashimi fan so I always get to eat his share. I thought the tuna was quite good…not frozen, which is what I sometimes encounter at some restaurants.
We also had some nigiri sushi. I found the sushi and tuna pieces to be on the thin side.
I really like the agedashi tofu here. The batter is not too thick and the dashi broth tastes delicious with the tofu and bonito flakes.
We also had a couple of fried items. First was the deep-fried smelt. These small fish can be eaten whole…bones and all! The batter was light and the smelt was very tasty. The orange coloured bundles in the picture are kani (imitation crab) and salmon in tempura batter. I can’t remember what these were called, but Jenkins always orders it each time we come here.
The yakitori looked a bit sad on the plate by itself but it was nicely grilled and actually tasted pretty good.
The gyoza was crunchy on the outside but we found the inside to be too mushy.
Chicken teriyaki is always an all-you-can-eat staple for us. The chicken was crispy on the outside, but I found there to be too much sauce for my liking.
We like to eat our chicken teriyaki with yakisoba. The noodles helped to soak up some of the sauce…but we found that there were more veggies in this dish than noodles!
I love eating temaki cones but only eat them at all-you-can-eat places because they are so expensive when you order them individually. We had the negitoro (chopped tuna with green onions) and chopped scallop cones. Both cones were very generous with the filling.
The oyster motoyaki is normally very good here but I found the oyster to be overcooked. Even the sauce did not have the flavour it normally has.
Jenkins liked the BBQ salmon head. I didn’t have any though because I was starting to get full and I was too lazy to pick out the meat from the bones.
In all, the lunch was not bad. The reason we had not been here for a while was because the service is very slow. In a way, that kind of works for all-you-can-eat though because it prevents you from overeating and you pace yourself.
Details:
170 -3380 Lansdowne Rd, Richmond
Tel: 604-279-8802
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 29th, 2007
Jenkins and I went to one of our favourite places for cheap eats last week…Ebi Ten at 388 Robson St. Ebi Ten is a fast food Japanese place with a small but delicious menu. They have about 10 different main dishes, including terikyaki chicken with rice and tempura udon as well as a selection of prepared sushi.
Jenkins and I both decided to have the teriyaki chicken rice bowls for dinner. The teriyaki chicken is served on rice with a bed of lettuce and a little bit of mayo on top. Pretty different from what teriyaki chicken looks like at most places!
For $5.95, you also get a free pop or miso soup with your combo…which is great. If you opt out, your combo is $0.75 cheaper. Normally, the chicken teriyaki rice bowl is more than enough for dinner but we were a bit hungry that night so we added a couple of extra items.
I selected a small dish of wakame (seaweed). It was marinated in a vinegar dressing and tossed with some sesame seeds. There was also a hint of spiciness, which was nice.
Jenkins opted for some California rolls. In terms of taste, the California rolls here really aren’t that great…but are acceptable, especially if you are hungry. Both the wakame and the California rolls were $1.89 each.
Jenkins and I have been going to Ebi Ten for a few years now and it’s always a great place to grab a quick bite to eat. Most menu items are familiar to most people but some dishes (like the teriyaki chicken) have an interesting twist to them. I have never been here for lunch before but Jenkins tells me that the line-ups can get pretty crazy.
Details:
388 Robson St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-689-9938
Summary:
Food: for the teriyaki chicken and for the sides
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007
Derek, Peggy, and I went to Tomoya for sushi the other day. Located at 6285 Nelson Ave in Burnaby, it’s just around the corner from Lao Shan Dong beef noodle house and basically across the street from Metrotown. I had heard from a friend that this was pretty good so decided to give it a try.
Upon reading the menu at the restaurant, we found out that the chef was from New York and sought to bring an interesting spin to traditional Japanese food. We were intrigued by their special rolls, which were spins on regular rolls that you would find in most sushi places.
I have to admit that there is a gap of a few weeks between when we went to this restaurant and when I write this post so I can’t remember the names of all the rolls we tried though.
First off was the Flying Dragon roll. It is basically a dynamite roll with the added bonus of eel and both red and green tobiko on top. Let me just say now that the size of these rolls is bigger than most regular sushi rolls and you also get 8-10 pieces instead of the usual 5-6 pieces.
Then we had the Metro roll. It had tempura salmon, avocado, and crab inside. On top, there was sashimi salmon and tobiko. This roll was very crunchy, which was nice…but I found that the tempura salmon had more fried batter taste than salmon itself.
Then we had a sushi roll that had cooked shrimp and mango layered on top. I can’t remember what was inside the roll though. I was intrigued by the mango on top, but found the overall taste of this one pretty plain.
This next roll was my favourite of the four. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what it’s called! Inside, it was a regular California roll. But on top, there was chopped scallops, red & green tobiko, and green onions. It sounds like there is a lot going on, but the flavours all worked well with one another.
Overall, I think this is a great new addition to the regular sushi restaurants along Kingsway. Most places that I’ve been to that offer rolls like this are all on the west side of Vancouver. The servings were much bigger than I anticipated. The three of us ordered four rolls, but three rolls would have been more than enough. Each special roll costs around $7-9.
My biggest complaint about this place was that the tables weren’t wiped down very well, which resulted in an impression that the restaurant was a bit unkempt and sloppy.
Details:
6285 Nelson Ave, Burnaby
Tel: 604-437-8839
Summary:
Food:
Service:
Price: $
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 2 Comments »
Sunday, August 12th, 2007
Jenkins and I went to Torarenbo for lunch the other day. It is located at 8191 Park Rd in Richmond, which is a small street right by Richmond Centre mall. Jenkins found out about this place a few months ago and it has quickly become one of our favourite sushi places in Richmond.
We both ordered lunch boxes, which came with miso soup.
Jenkins had the chicken teriyaki lunch box, which was $7.95. It came with an appetizer-sized tempura, sushi, salad, and fresh fruit. The chicken tempura was crunchy on the outside and went really well with the rice. The tempura even came with 2 pieces of prawn tempura.
I had the tonkatsu lunch box. Let me just say that my tonkatsu pork chop was huge. It was very good…juicy on the inside and very crunchy outside. It also came with some tonkatsu sauce and mayo to dip the pork in. The side dishes were the same as the chicken teriyaki. I think this was around $8.50 or $8.95 and was more than enough for lunch. In my opinion, this was more of a dinner-sized portion.
Jenkins and I haven’t tried the other items available here since we are always drawn to the good value of the lunch boxes. The variety of items is pretty much the same as most sushi restaurants but everything is very fresh and tasty. The service is also quite good here. Each table is served their own pot of tea, which is always nice.
Summary:
Food: 4 stars/5
Service: 3 stars/5
Price: $
Posted in Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 2 Comments »
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