Black Rice Izakaya has recently added a few new items on the menu. It’s been a while since I made my last visit, but I was excited to see what else they were adding to the menu. I came with a few other foodies to see how those new items tasted.
Interior
The interior is dark and has a wooden rustic look. There are a good amount of tables for small to large groups. Definitely try to make reservations to secure your spot. They have an open kitchen, so you can sneak a peek inside if you want to see how their chefs put together their creations.
Teishoku Lunch Sets
Teishoku C Set has a dish of grilled miso zuke black cod steak with 3 pieces of assorted tempura, side of beef or chicken karaage, agedashi tofu, assorted oshinko, green salad, bowl of rice and miso soup. The price is right for this lunch set. It’s available on weekdays and weekends. Very affordable and very tasty. I would recommend any of these lunch sets.
Teishoku B Set has 6 pieces of torched Black Angus Nigiri, Maki hand roll, Agedashi Tofu, assorted Oshinko, Green Salad and Miso soup. The nigiri is delicious but make sure to eat it right away when its still warm. It’s a very hearty set and great for lunch.
Stone Grill Yakiniku
Gyu Katsu Set has rare cooked black angus steak cutlet. You cook the katsu a little bit more and enjoy it with the cabbage and sauces.
You can have this all to yourself, but the best way to enjoy this is sharing with friends and order a few other items.
Yakiniku Moriawase has 3 kinds Angus Beef and is a very interactive item to order. The cuts of the beef are very nice, but it will cost you around $38.50. As you can see from the marbling of the meat, they aren’t cheaping out on you. You have the super hot stone that quickly cooks the beef.
It was really good and it was fun cooking with friends at the table.
Aburi Hakozushi Platter
This platter takes about 20 minutes to prepare as there are quite a bit of work needed to create these. The set comes with 4 signature aburi – Aburi Salmon, Aburi Saba, Aburi Ebi and Aburi Scallop. The platter was ok, but I’m sure most people are wondering…how does this compare to Miku. It doesn’t. They do a decent job at recreating it, but it does fall short. With each item, there isn’t the depth of flavour in the sauce and the rice needs a bit more love. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good price for all of this and it tastes fine.
Aburi Salmon
Aburi Saba
Aburi Scallop
Aburi Ebi
Unagi Signature Roll
Their Unagi Signature Roll is on fire. Literally. It has prawn tempura, cucumber, tamago, set on fire with rum and herb fire. It is all covered in black rice and then lit. I really liked this roll for it’s entertainment factor as well as the taste of the unagi.
Black Mentaiko Signature Roll
Black Mentaiko Signature Roll has avocado, cream cheese, tuna tataki topped with deep-fried black cod and mentaiko mayo. It is also wrapped in black rice. It was a decent roll but not as tasty as the unagi signature roll.
Lollipop
Lollipop is a huge roll on a stick that looks like lollipop. It has sockeye, salmon, bell pepper, tamago, oshinko, cucumber, asparagus, avocado and spinach wrapped with shaved radish. The rice is thin and everything is packed inside.
Yaki Tofu
This is pan grilled tofu with their house sauce. It’s a pretty big slab of tofu topped with sprouts and onions.
Buta Kakuni
This is Soy Sauce Braised Pork Belly. It comes with 8 pieces to an order. You can’t go wrong with a plate of pork belly to share among the table.
Tebasaki Chicken Wings
This is their house sauce glazed chicken whole wings. It had a nice char to some of the pieces of extra flavour.
Sapporo Beer
The best type of beverage to go with their food is beer. They have a decent selection of beer but I always go with Sapporo. It’s light and refreshing.
Yuzu Ice Cream
They even have dessert – yuzu ice cream inside a jar topped with a caramelized lotus root. It had a tart taste as yuzu is like a sweet little oranges.
Final Thoughts
I was impressed this time around with their menu. Some hit but there are a few misses. I would definitely come back for the lunch sets as it’s a fantastic deal. Their dinner menu has a few fiery item added to it that make the dining experience interactive.
We Rate Black Rice Izakaya:
Address:
782 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://www.blackrice.ca/