Seafood Archives - Page 2 of 14

In Japanese

Sushi Maro: Lunch in Yaletown

March 2, 2019

Sushi Maro is a a Japanese restaurant in Yaletown just steps from Yaletown Station. I came here for a quickie lunch with a friend as we’re never been here before.

There’s a lot of other Japanese restaurants around here but this is more of a casual low key restaurant mostly attracting people who work close by that want a decently priced quick lunch.

Interior

There are a lot of tables for 2’s and 4’s inside. As it was lunch hour, the space filled up quickly. You can make reservations if you want to be guaranteed a seat. They also do pick up and delivery too.

Lunch Menu

Miso Soup

If you order any lunch combos, they all come with miso soup. Pretty standard miso soup and nothing interesting.

Lunch Bento C

This has crispy chicken served on top of rice, salad, California Roll, and then tuna and salmon sashimi. It’s a good amount of food for lunch and you get a bit of everything. It’s not fancy but it fulfills the sushi and sashimi cravings.

All of the items in this bento box is standard. Nothing really stands out just like the miso soup.

Quick Lunch C

My friend got the quick lunch C Combo and it comes with 3 pieces of Sashimi of tuna and salmon, 2 nigiri sushi, and it was supposed to be a California roll, but she upgraded it for salmon and avocado roll for a few dollars more.

Final Thoughts

I like their cuts of sashimi and it was fresh tasting. If you’re looking for a quick sushi lunch that isn’t too expensive in the Yaletown area, this is a good option.

Address:
1168 Mainland St #101, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://sushimaro.com/new

In Japanese

Stem Japanese Eatery: Traditional Japanese Omakase with a Twist

February 19, 2019

Stem Japanese Eatery opened in South Burnaby in 2017 and we finally made a visit by going to try their Chef’s Omakase set menu. We assumed its the best way to try the variety on the menu while utilizing seasonal ingredients.

The Chef’s Omakase

The Chef’s Omakase has around 9 courses and changes daily. They only do 8 servings a day and you need to reserved at least 24 hours in advanced. It costs $88 per person and will take about 2.5 hours.

This menu does not include tea or dessert in the price, it’s extra.

Uni with dashi broth starts the meal to cleanse the palate. The uni is really fresh and goes well with the dashi broth.

The second item has a golden iced snapper steamed with sea salt on top. It was an odd nigiri as I’ve never experienced steamed fish on rice in nigiri form.

The third items is an appetizer platter with 6 small dishes. The dishes varied in tastes and were about 2 bites. Very clean flavours but the flavours weren’t very deep or complex.

Baby Anchovies on Rice

Steamed monk fish on seaweed

Salad of kiwi and asparagus

Firefly squid with miso, bamboo, seaweed, and cucumber

Grated mountain radish with uni and tuna

Rapini and tofu in dashi broth

Sake soup with tempura, white miso, Saba, and bok choy. This was the fourth item in the omakase. It tasted predominantly of miso and it didn’t tie any of the ingredients together.

The fifth item is 5 pieces of sashimi with flounder, blue fin chu toro, and amberjack. It is served with yuzu sauce. These 3 types were ok but wasn’t that impressive. I was looking forward to the chutoro but it wasn’t melt in your mouth.

This has curry tofu, Hokkaido Scallop, uni sauce, and their seaweed dashi broth. This was a pretty good dish and the seaweed dashi broth was more gelatinous in texture but went well with the tofu and scallop.

Chawan Mushi is a savoury egg custard and its made with free-range eggs, mussels, soy bean, bamboo, and ikura on top. It was an ok dish but the egg custard was more on the bland side.

This dish has a few pieces of maple soy meadows duck, celerac puree, and a crisp kombocha pumpkin. The duck as delicious! The celerac puree didn’t pair so well with the duck.

Rice pot with oysters, mushrooms, and pork. It is also served with miso soup and veggies on the side. This was one of the more filling dishes but yet again needed a bit more salt or something more to tie all the items together.

Dessert

We added $5 for dessert as I wanted to see how it would be like. We opted for just 1 of them. We asked the waitress what it was prior but she didn’t have an idea so we were left in suspense.

When it arrived, there was apple tempura, a cheese foam with a waffle and fruits. Then some sort of ice cream which didn’t have a pleasant taste.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we thought the omakase for 2 people wasn’t worth the price nor were there any dishes that wow’d us. We would have much preferred to order off the regular menu and spent considerably less money. Even some people who sat beside us wasn’t impressed with the omakase as they did issues with a few dishes.

We’ve had some better omakase at a lower price point. They do use premium ingredients in their dishes like OceanWise seafood, fish from Japan, organic ingredients where possible, but the taste really falls flat. Perhaps it’s their traditional Kappo cuisine, the Japanese culinary art of cutting and cooking with seasonal ingredients that just didn’t translate well to the dishes we had.

Address:
5205 Rumble Street, Burnaby, BC

Website:
https://stemjapanese.ca

In Japanese

Ajisai Sushi Bar in Kerrisdale: Review

February 4, 2019

Ajisai Sushi Bar is a very popular Japanese restaurant in Kerrisdale and popular among the locals and visitors. I haven’t been here before and my aunt was in town, so we all went to go give it a try.

For a weekday, it was pretty busy with a line up even at 7pm. There were plenty of large groups. Looks like everyone else was craving sushi too. We waited about 20 minutes for a bar seating for 4 people.

There is free underground parking at London Drugs,

Interior

The space is not very large, so it’s hard to fit very large groups here. Best to call ahead to see if there are line ups as they don’t take reservations.

Drinks

They have a few different sake options on the menu that go well with sushi. Beer and wine is on the menu too. If you’re not into alcoholic drinks, they have pop or you can stick with water and tea.

Seafood Salad

At first, this looked like a super weird salad with corn flakes on top. This has assorted greens, tako, ebi, salmon and tuna as the seafood. It is dressed in a light ponzu sauce I think. The corn flakes added a nice crunchy texture surprisingly.

Gomae

This has spinach marinated with sesame paste. A small portion that you cna pick at before the rest of the dishes arrive.

Uni Nigiri

Uni is sea urchin and it’s in season. You can have it as sashimi or nigiri but we option with nigiri. As it is in season, it is very fresh and has a natural sweetness to it. Highly recommended.

Bluefin Tuna Nigiri

We saw this on their Chef Recommendation so we had to get it. It was melt in your mouth fatty. Very good!

Hotate Nigiri

Hotate is scallop and they had this fresh on the menu.

Tako Nigiri and Ebi Nigiri

These were on the regular menu and it was pretty solid. Tender and not chewy at all.

Ika Shiso Rolls

This roll has squid and shiso leaf. Shiso is used in Japanese cuisine and it has an interesting taste that is herbal-like.

Unagi Avocado Roll

It comes with 8 pieces as an inside out roll with the rice on the exterior and seaweed inside. It was good as the creaminess of the avocado and meatiness of the eel pair well.

BBQ Unagi

They have a small amount of BBQ items on the menu but the eel was very delicious with a sweet glaze on top. It comes with 2 pieces but isn’t too large.

BBQ Gindara

The BBQ black cod had a slight char on the edge of the cod but very fatty and falls apart. Do watch out for little bones.

Assorted Sashimi

This has tuna, salmon, hokki, octopus, and white fish. It’s not the large but the quality of the cuts were good.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the sushi here is good but expensive compared to some other places around town. The staff are very diligent about refilling tea which is good

Address:
2081 W 42nd Ave, Vancouver, BC

In Renfrew-Collingwood

Riz Sushi Bar: Build-Your-Own Chirashi Don in Vancouver

January 13, 2019

Riz Sushi Bar on Broadway and Renfrew has created the first customizable Chirashi Don in Vancouver where you can build your own bowl. They have fresh fish delivered from Japan and boasts a good selection of seafood. Whats great about this is that you can create your perfect Chirashi Don without having the items you don’t like.

Types of fish

Their selection of fresh fish can contain salmon, tuna, hokkigai, ebi, tai, sockeye, scallop, negitoro, ikura, uni, hotate, hamachi, shima aji, kampachi, madai, or delicious o-toro.

The availability and prices can vary depending on market price, but they keep it as affordable as possible for their customers. You can go all out and get the expensive cuts like o-toro or you can go with cheaper types like salmon and tuna.

Prices

At the time of this article, these are the current prices and fish varieties available. Prices and varieties can change without notice.

[one_fourth last=”no”]

$1.50 per piece

salmon
tuna
hokkigai
ebi
tai

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[one_fourth last=”no”]

$2.00 per piece

sockeye
scallop
negitoro
ikura

[/one_fourth]

[one_fourth last=”no”]

$3.00 per piece

uni
hotate
hamachi
shima aji

[/one_fourth]

[one_fourth last=”yes”]

$4.00 per piece

kampachi
madai

$6.00 per piece

o-toro

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What’s in our bowl?

In our bowl, we had Wild Salmon, Albacore Tuna, 2 kinda of Hamachi, Tai, Tako, and Ikura. With all this, it will run you close to $30. The cuts were good and its a nice way to try a variety of fish too.

Final Thoughts

It’s a good option if you know what type of fish you want. For those who are indecisive, you can always ask the staff for some recommendations to craft your Chirashi Don. The downside of Riz Sushi Bar is that they are currently open on weekdays only. They may consider opening on Saturday but no solid plans yet.

Address:
2887 E Broadway, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.rizsushi.com/

In Dineout

[Sneak Peek] Dine Out 2019 at The Vancouver Fish Company

January 11, 2019

The Vancouver Fish Company is back as one of the participating restaurants on the Dine Out Vancouver 2019 list. We got a special sneak peek to see what they are offering customers. You will be treated to their $45 dinner and lunch menus.

We were invited to get a sneak peek of the menu.

1st Course

Seafood Chowder has fresh seafood, clams, bacon, thyme and cream. It has a thick creamy consistency with hints of the bacon and thyme in the chowder. This dish uses OceanWise seafood and is also gluten-free.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Mission Hill Reserve Chardonnay

Maple Walnut Prawns are lightly fried tempura prawns with Yuzu mayo, walnuts, toasted sesame, and Togarashi. This dish uses OceanWise seafood and is also gluten-free.

Suggested Wine Pairing: 50th Parallel Riesling

Organic Beet Salad with Klipper’s Farm organic beets, toasted pistachios, baby arugula, avocado rosemary vinaigrette, and shaved parmesan. This dish is gluten-free and vegetarian.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Dirty Laundry Rose

2nd Course

Poached Atlantic Lobster uses a whole Nova Scotia lobster and served with Klipper’s Farm organic vegetables, garlic roasted potatoes, and drawn butter. This dish is gluten-free.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Perseus Select Lots Chardonnay

Seafood Hot Pot has Dungeness crab, pink scallops, prawns, mussels, clams, baby Yukon Gold potatoes, corn, saffron fennel nage, and garlic toast. The broth is more of a tomato base with lots of seafood on top. This dish uses OceanWise seafood.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Burrowing Owl Pinot Gris

Surf & Turf has an 6 oz Alberta Striploin, scallop & prawn skewer, confit garlic whipped potatoes, roasted acorn squash, Klipper’s Farm organic vegetable medley, celeriac puree, and red wine jus. This dish uses OceanWise seafood and is also gluten-free.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Adega Syrah

Desserts

New York Cheesecake has traditional cheesecake, strawberry compote, and chantilly cream. This is vegetarian.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Taylor Fladgate Tawny Port 10 Year

Apple Tarte Tatin has caramel Granny Smith apples and vanilla gelato.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Hester Creek Late Harvest Pinot Blanc

Final Thoughts

For $45 its a bit high compared to other restaurants also participating in DineOut Vancouver, but their menu does boast a lot of seafood options.

Address:
517 Anderson St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.dineoutvancouver.com/listings/the-vancouver-fish-company-restaurant-%26-bar/39256/

In Dineout

[Sneak Peek] Dine Out 2019 at The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant

January 10, 2019

The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant is back as one of the participating restaurants on the Dine Out Vancouver 2019 list. We got a special sneak peek to see what they are offering customers. You will be treated to their $35 dinner menu or lunch menu.

Appetizers

Sablefish Croquette comes with 3 pieces and paired with their miso aioli. The taste of the sablefish in the croquette was more muted so it didn’t stand out. This dish is gluten-free.

This is a Beet & Arugula Salad with goat cheese, and a fig balsamic vinaigrette. This dish is vegetarian and gluten-free.

Their Clam Chowder is housemade and it has clams and hearty potatoes inside. We enjoyed this.

Entrees

Cioppino has prawns, mussels, clams, cod, and snow crab.

6 oz Prime New York Striploin alderwood grilled with market vegetables and roasted potatoes. A good steak best done medium rare with all the veggies that make a good pairing. Also, this dish is gluten-free.

Sapa Rau Bowl has coconut jasmine rice, lemongrass yogurt, pickled papaya, mushrooms, yams, fresh vegetables, cashews, and a Singapore sauce. This is the vegetarian option.

Enhancements

You can swap out dishes for either of these for a set menu of $45 rather than $35.

Crab Crusted BC Lingcod forno baked with market vegetables, coconut jasmine rice, and beurre blanc sauce. The lingcod is Oceanwise too.

Sesame Crusted Albacore Tuna seared rare with soy mustard, wasabi, and cucumber salsa. The tuna is Oceanwise and the whole dish is gluten-free.

Desserts

Chocolate Truffle Cake is decadent and satisfied those dessert cravings.

Buttermilk Pannacotta with a berry compote and citrus crumble on top.

Final Thoughts

Overall, decent dish options here with flexibility to swap for enhanced dishes. I like how they are committed to using Oceanwise seafood where possible.

Address:
1535 Johnston St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.vancouverdine.com/sandbar/

In Dineout

[Sneak Peek] Dine Out 2019 at Dockside Restaurant

January 10, 2019

Dockside Restaurant is back as one of the participating restaurants on the Dine Out Vancouver 2019 list. We got a special sneak peek to see what they are offering customers. You will be treated to their $35 menu which has 3 courses per person.

They are located on Granville Island specializing in West Coast Cuisine. Popular in the Summer for their fresh seafood and patio views.

Dine Out 2019 Menu

You choose 1 dish from the 3 categories and you have the option of wine pairings for $12 extra.

Appetizers

Cucumber Caprese comes with 3 pieces on a plate and it has cucumber, bocconcini, strawberry, and a pomegranate reduction. This is gluten-free and vegetarian. A good fresh and crisp way to start the meal.

Wine pairing: Fitzpatrick Pinot Blanc

Korean Spiced Arancini is paired with their chili lime aioli. This is a vegetarian dish as well and it comes in 2 pieces per order. It was delicious and not spicy at all. A good use of Korean spices to go with this traditional Italian snack.

Wine Pairing: Perseus Pinot Grigio

Beef Empanada comes with 2 pieces and it has avocado crema, and a charred tomato bell pepper relish. The exterior was really crisp, but the empanada isn’t fully closed, so if you eat it with your hands, some filling might fall out.

Wine Pairing: Skaha Cabernet Franc

Main

Singapore Seafood curry is a gluten-free dish and it has seafood in it and topped with pieces of coconut rice cake. It has a rich coconut flavour but not too heavy.

Wine Pairing: Road 13 Viognier

Crispy Braised Chicken uses chicken thighs, flageolet bean cassoulet, and pan jus. A hearty dish and the chicken thighs were juicy. This is also a gluten-free dish too.

Wine Pairing: Sperling Pinot Noir

Grilled Lamb Rack comes with 3 pieces a top lemon herb gnocchi, veggies and chimichurri sauce. The lamb was delicious and cooked perfectly, but the gnocchi wasn’t as soft and fluffy as I thought it would have been.

Wine Pairing: Ravens Wood Cabernet Sauvignon

Mushroom Goat Cheese Risotto is their vegetarian dish for the entrees. It has forged wild mushrooms, and goat cheese. The dish smelled vibrant of truffles, but when we ate into it, it was a tad bland like it needed a bit more salt.

Wine Pairing: Dessert Hills Chardonnay

Dessert

Chocolate Crème Brûlée is topped with berries and served with a house made biscotti on the side. It was ok.

Apple Pie “lollipop” a la mode is served with vanilla gelato. I preferred this dish over the chocolate crème brûlée, but that’s just my personal preference.

Final Thoughts

Overall, some hits and misses on the menu, but there is variety that not just all seafood. It’s good they have gluten-free and vegetarian options on the menu so everyone can enjoy.

Address:
1253 Johnston St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.dineoutvancouver.com/listings/dockside-restaurant/18449/

In Chinese

Pink Pearl: A Sustainable Cantonese Dinner

November 23, 2018

Pink Pearl Chinese Restaurant in Vancouver’s east end, has taken a major step in its sustainability journey – removing shark fin soup, a Chinese delicacy, from its menu – and highlighting the bounty of sustainable seafood options in classic, Cantonese cuisine.

To celebrate this milestone and the restaurant becoming an Ocean Wise Seafood partner, they hosted a banquet-style dinner featuring a delicious spread of sustainable seafood like steamed black cod, pan-fried clams and Dungeness crab, among other mouthwatering dishes.

Knowing where you food comes from and the impact on the environment is more important than ever as it impacts our health.

Pan Fried Clams in Black Bean Sauce

The pan fried clams were covered in black bean sauce and it was delicious. Make sure you get some rice to really soak up a that black bean sauce so it doesn’t go to waste.

Farmed shellfish like clams are some of the most sustainable seafood options widely available globally. These shellfish are grown in suspended rafts and beach farmed and are harvested by hand, hand rakes, or dredge worldwide.

Basa Fillet with Garlic and Roasted Pork Hot Pot

This dish has a combination of tofu, bok choy, mushrooms, garlic, roast pork and the basa fillet. Another delicious dish and the basa fillet was moist and went well with the sauce.

Conventionally farmed basa is not considered Ocean Wise. They are farmed in extremely high density ponds and as a result have a high risk and concern for disease and the spread of pathogens. As a result, chemical use is high.

In contrast, the basa served at Pink Pearl is from an Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certified farm raised in Vietnam. In order to be ASC certified, farms must adhere to standards set by ASC and are audited for compliance. This includes standards on minimizing disease, water pollution treatments and monitoring, criteria on the fish feed they are allowed to use, and minimizing impacts on the local ecosystem. ASC also has chain of custody which means that processors, distributors, or any supply chain company that handles an ASC-certified product can be certified throughout the supply chain to improve product traceability.

Oysters with Ginger and Green Onion Sizzling Hot Plate

These big fried oysters are massive and paired with aromatic of ginger, onion and green onion which is always a good pairing. The oyster is definitely a mouthful, so one piece is pretty hefty.

Similar to clams, shellfish are one of the most sutainable seafood options. As these species are filter feeders, they extract nutrients from the water and require no external feed inputs. In addition, chemicals are not used in the production and effluent is not a concern.

Steamed Black Cod in Preserved Vegetables

Steamed black cod with preserved veggies was well cooked too. Some people may not like the preserved veggies, but it add a tang of fermented taste to the dish. The cod was a good texture, but there were a good amount of bones so be careful.

Black cod/sablefish in BC is managed as part of a multi-species groundfish fishery using bottom longline and trawl fishing gear.The sablefish population in BC is considered healthy and fishing rate is stable. There is effective enforcement on the total allowable catch and where they are allowed to fish in order to avoid sensitive habitats.

All fishing boats have 100% at-sea, dockside, and observer coverage that records and accounts for each fish that comes on board a fishing vessel and makes it to land.

Dungeness Crab with Spicy Dry Garlic

The next dish was the highlight of the meal. It was our favourite item of the night, but then again, how can you resist a pile of dungeness crab? The exterior is deliciously seasoned and there was a good amount of meat inside.

Dungeness crab are caught by trap in BC and is considered a well-managed fishery that regulates legal catch limits based on size, sex, and season. They have a life cycle that makes them inherently low in vulnerability since they mature and reproduce at an early age, are quite reproductive and have a fairly short lifespan.

Bycatch concerns are considered low and the trap fishing gear has low impact on habitat since the trap is immobile once it’s dropped and does not drag along the sea floor.

Beef and Lettuce Fried Rice

To end off the meal, we had beef and lettuce fried rice to accompany the other dishes.

Final Thoughts

It’s great that another Cantonese Restaurant is getting the Ocean Wise certification as the clientele likes certain types of seafood like shark fin. The showcase of sustainable seafood for today’s meal tasted good and it takes a lot of effort to make the switch to ensure our oceans stay healthy without depleting the supply of seafood or causing additional harm to ourselves.

To find more about the Ocean Wise program, check out seafood.ocean.org.

Address:
1132 E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.pinkpearl.com/

In Downtown

Wasabi Robson: Aburi, Sushi Rolls and Bento Boxes

October 12, 2018

Wasabi Robson is the newest sushi restaurant to open up in Downtown Vancouver at the Vancouver Public Library. I saw them on Instagram and wanted to make a visit as they make a few aburi-style sushi items on the menu as well as more affordable items like bento box sets, curry and udon. They seem to cater those who want a quick meal and those who want a bit more of an indulgence like aburi at lower prices.

Interior

They take reservations after 3pm, so I made one for my group of friends. The restaurant is half seating and half kitchen. The traffic fluctuated through the night but if you are in a larger group, reservations are best.

They are fairly new and have some kinks to work out. Service was very mediocre, so we were rarely given tea until we asked and also they didn’t clear the dishes or give us the bill. Also the abundance of fruit flies were very bothersome.

Crown Tart

The Crown Tart is made with scallop, wild salmon, tuna, avocado, sushi rice, and aburi sauce. Then topped with lemon slices and shrimp. It’s a good size and very delicious. You can have it by yourself or share with the table.

Wild Salmon Aburi Oshi

This comes with 6 pieces per order and it has flame-seared wild salmon sushi with their signature aburi sauce on top with a piece of jalapeño.

Saba Aburi Oshi

This has flame-seared mackerel sushi with their signature sauce on top. The saba is a salty mackerel that is always very delicious in aburi form. The sauce on top is different than the other aburi items.

Ebi Aburi Oshi

This has flame-seared shrimp sushi with their signature sauce on top. Another delicious item.

Gyoza

It comes with 5 pieces but we asked them to make it 6 pieces and added a dollar extra so it would be easier for the table to split as we were a party of 6. It was good but it would have been nice is there was some sauce or dip to go along with it like ponzu sauce.

Salmon Avocado Roll

This uses wild salmon and avocado rolled up in sushi rice. Perfectly ripe avocados and good quality wild salmon.

Final Thoughts

If you want a good inexpensive simple meal, the bento boxes are the way to go as they are just over $10. Good for a quick cheap lunch. For this visit, I went more the aburi items and they were good for the price. The only things that bothered me were the service and cleanliness. Those are the two things they should really work on.

Their hours are limited as they aren’t open weekends and close early into the evenings on weekdays.

Address:
202-345 Robson St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.wasabirobson.com/

In Japanese

Matsuzushi: $25 Omakase in Port Moody

October 8, 2018

Matsuzushi is a hidden gem in Port Moody serving up $25 Omakase, which is a Japanese term meaning “I’ll leave it up to you”. I was intrigued by a lot of people posting up pictures of this great deal, so I decided to take a few of my friends to check out Matsuzushi. There is lots of parking outside on the street and around the corner.

Interior

There are about 5 tables inside and bar seating as well. It is best to make reservations just in case they are busy for that particular day. The best experience is by the bar where you can see the meal being prepped right in front of you and also you get more attentive service.

The restaurant is a 2 person operation, so service does suffer because of it. It literally is a mom and pop shop. I don’t mind inattentive service as long as there is good value for what you pay for. Others can get bothered by the service.

$25 Omakase

For $25 per person, you get 11 nigiri, 1 temaki cone and a miso soup. As there were 4 of us, they put all the items in a box to share. As we were not sitting by the bar, we were not told which nigiri was which. We had to rely on our fish detection skills to figure out what was what. Good thing all of us are sushi lovers, so it wasn’t a problem at all.

Our favourite of the night (not because we could identify them) were, toro, uni, tuna, salmon, and Tai.

Final Thoughts

Overall, solid omakase for only $25 and most people who come here order this set. We were all full by the end of the meal and didn’t have to order anything else.

Address:
130 Saint Johns Street, Port Moody, BC

In Fusion

Pacific Poke: Now Open in Kitsilano

September 15, 2018

Pacific Poke has opened their newest location in Kitsilano, which makes 5 locations in British Columbia and Alberta with more on the way. Since 2016 at their original location in Chinatown, they have grown quickly by serving up poke with a Vancouver twist.

You can choose to build your own poke bowls or choose a premade one off their menu.

Interior

The space is pretty narrow, so there are only so many seats inside. Some people eat here and some take it to-go.

They also do delivery too if you need the convenience.

Build Your Own Poke Bowl

You start with deciding if you want a regular or large bowl.

The regular gives you 2 protein choices and 3 toppings. The large gets 3 proteins and 4 topping choices. Most people can do regular but if you’re a big eater, large is good for you.

Once you choose the size, you can choose your base:

organic brown rice
traditional sushi rice
quinoa salad base
kale salad base

You can mix it up too with half kale salad and brown rice if you want a bit of both.

There are a lot of protein choices, but my faves are usually sockeye salmon and ahi tuna.

Here are all their protein options:

sockeye salmon
spicy sockeye salmon
ahi tuna
spicy ahi tuna
crab & shrimp
ahi negitoro (ahi tuna belly)
seasonal selection varies

Next are the delicious toppings, which I find are pretty unique compared to other places in town:

cucumber & jicama
tomato kimchi
pickled red onion
spicy seaweed
beets & basil
jalapeno salsa
organic seaweed salad
fresh wasabi peas
avocado nori
tobiko

Don’t forget the sauce to coat your protein and toppings:

sesame miso dressing
citrus mayo
spicy mayo
pacific ponzu
wasabi mayo
sesame shoyu
ludicrous hot

Lastly the crunchy toppings. I personally love the wasabi crunch, but they are all pretty good as it adds texture to the bowl.

Once you’ve built your poke bowl, eat and enjoy!

The Main

The Main is one of their chef creations and a great choice if you’re indecisive on what ingredients to add to your bowl. This has sockeye salmon, spicy ahi tuna, crab & shrimp, jicama & cucumber, avocado nori, organic seaweed salad, citrus mayo, sesame miso dressing, shoyu, yuzu & lime juice, and herbs & sprouts.

Definitely a lot of ingredients packed in here and they all go so well together.

Drinks

After you build your bowl, they tempt you with their awesome beverages – Coco Panda, Yuzu Lemonade, Mango Mint Lemonade, and Yuzu Lemon Tea. All delicious with my favourite being the Yuzu Lemon Tea as my go to.

This time, we had the Coco Panda, which has coconut milk, pandan leaf and young coconut juice. Super delicious and refreshing with the subtle flavour of pandan.

Final Thoughts

Overall, solid poke options at Pacific Poke. One of my favourites in town as it gives you more unique topping choices. Plus their drinks are delicious.

Address:
2151 W 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.thepacificpoke.com/

In Fast Food

Brownies Fried Chicken in Maple Ridge: Blast from the Past

August 15, 2018

Brownies Chicken and Seafood in Maple Ridge is one of the last franchises in Canada. Brownies was popular back in the 70’s and 80’s with multiple locations. Original owner and operators – Gary and Janice revamped Brownies and made sure the food is top quality that customers will remember.

I sure don’t remember since I wasn’t born yet but those who remember Brownies gravitate towards their fried chicken.

Interior

There aren’t many seat inside, it is mostly for take out from what we observed. We saw a few chairs and a counter if you wanted to eat inside. Since it was a hot sunny day, the space was very hot, so we decided to eat outside as they have 2 tables out there.

Six Pack

We got the six pack of chicken that comes with fries and a choice of gravy or salad. Without hesitation we chose gravy.

They source their chicken from Rossdown Farms, which is close by. You can get your chicken done in 2 ways – regular and cajun. We asked for half and half as we wanted to try both tastes. The chicken was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside depending on the piece. Thighs are generally the best as dark meat is delicious. I like how it’s not too salty either.

Of the original and cajun flavours, it was really hard to tell which was which, but I think the original one has more pepper, which I liked.

The medium fries with cajun spice was delicious an crispy. After a while some went limp but eat them while its fresh and dunk them into the gravy.

The fries are from Cavendish Farms

Popcorn Shrimp

The popcorn shrimp has cajun spice as well because why not? Each piece has a small piece of shrimp battered and fried till golden brown. This dish was ok, but at least it’s Ocean Wise certified, so it’s caught in a sustainable way.

Cod and Onion Rings

We also tried a piece of cod and swapped the fries with onion rings. It comes with tartar sauce as well. They use Alaskan Cod and it was ok, a little flat and dense. If you eat it with the tartar sauce, it is better.

The onion rings were crisp and delicious.

Final Thoughts

I’m glad I had friend who love fried chicken that they knew about this gem that has been forgotten by future generations like me, plus I live closer to the city, so Maple Ridge is a little bit far. I’m still thrilled to be able to see another outstanding chicken restaurant. The chicken, fries and gravy were the best parts.

Address:
22899 Dewdney Trunk Rd, Maple Ridge, BC

Website:
https://www.brownieschicken.com/

In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Poke Five: Lighting Up Commercial Drive with a Taste of Hawaii

August 2, 2018

Poke Five is Commercial Drive’s newest poké restaurant. It has five owners, five signature bowls, and will officially launch on August 18, 2018. We were invited to their soft launch opening to get a sneak peek of what they have to offer.

Interior

It’s a fairly small space, but one that is well designed to show-off all their fresh ingredients and let you watch your poké bowl being made.

Akuma Tuna Poké Bowl

Akuma Tuna is an aburi poké bowl that has ahi tuna, avocado, kimchi, wasabi tobiko, teri-mayo, shoyu egg, green onions, and matchasabi aioli.

The aburi ahi tuna, avocado, and shoyu egg makes this dish very filling.

Make your Own Bowl

We tried to make our own bowl and chose some unique ingredients they offer.

Base: citrus kale. Protein: shrimp, crab, and scallop. Ingredients: cucumber, watermelon, lychee, edamame, avocado, and shredded carrot. Sauce: teri-mayo. Topping: crispy ramen and tempura bits.

We made sure to try ingredients we’ve never seen elsewhere, including lychee and watermelon. Initially, it sounds odd but they were refreshing and complementary to the seafood taste.

Hoochy Booch Kombucha

They serve craft kombucha on tap! We tried the Mango Ginger Fizz and Cucumber Mint Fizz. Both were very refreshing and pairs well with poké bowls.

Final Thoughts

Their poké bowls are loaded! It’s not quite two meals, but it’s a very large serving so come hungry.

Poké Five is experimenting with unique ingredients that differentiates them from other poké restaurants in Vancouver. I would love to see which ingredients make it to the final menu for their official launch, and if they continue to offer seasonal ingredients.

There are many developments being constructed near the Commercial-Broadway area, and Poké Five is in a great spot to take advantage of the upcoming population increase.

Address:
2247 Commercial Drive, Vancouver

Website:
https://www.pokefive.com/

In Event

[Sneak Peek] 2018 BC Seafood Festival

May 27, 2018

The 2018 BC Seafood Festival is almost upon us. Just a few weeks left until it begins on June 8th – 17th in Comox Valley on Vancouver Island.

The festival is twice as large as the previous year and is perfect for foodies who love BC seafood. It’s a great chance to learn and explore the depths of the ocean and the varieties of seafood.

For 11 days, there are a series of events happening to give visitors a chance to taste, explore, and experience fresh and local BC seafood. BC produces over 100 sustainable seafood products exported domestically and internationally.

Signature Weekend

The Signature Weekend is on June 16 & 17 from 11 am – 5 pm at Filberg Heritage Lodge & Park, Comox. There is lots to do and you can purchase various passes to enjoy the plethora of activity and eats.

Highlights:

Learn to Cook BC Seafood at numerous Celebrity Chef Demos featuring National and International Chefs
Take in action-packed competitions including the Fanny Bay Oyster Shucking Competition and the Ocean Wise Chowder Challenge
Enjoy 10+ BC Seafood Roving Tasting Stations; meet the producers and incredible chefs
Pair seafood at any of the 15+ BC Craft Beer, Wine and Spirit Tastings Stations
While you slurp seafood, enjoy live musical performances
Explore the Kids Interactive Zone featuring numerous Touch Tanks & Interactive Displays, including the first visit to the Festival by the Vancouver Aquarium AquaVan

If you want to spend time at the BC Seafood Festival, this is the weekend to be there to enjoy as much as possible.

Ticketed Events

Outside the Signature Weekend, there are a lot of events happening from June 8th to 17th. A few of the events are sold out, but here are still a lot that are very affordable at $15 per person. Check their website as new events are added daily.

Dock Days (Free)

On June 9th and 15th at 10am and 2pm, join Rob Clarke, President of the Harbour Authority Association of BC and Wharfinger at the Comox Valley Harbour Authority and enjoy a guided walk of the Fisherman’s Wharf learning about the commercial fishing industry, stopping at different fishing vessels along the way.

Exposed and Protected Beaches Tour (Free)

On June 17th 3-4pm, meet at the bottom of Goose Spit stairs (parking lot #1) for this free tour. You get to learn how waves and wind shape our beaches and coastlines. Goose Spit Park interpreters explain the forces at work along the Lazo Bluffs and the spit.

Sneak Peek: All Aboard the Pacific Yacht

We were given a little taste of what to expect at the BC Seafood Festival by showcasing some of BC finest seafood.

Chef Chris Andraza is the executive chef of Fanny Bay Oyster and he was chucking fresh oysters on the deck. You can find delicious Fanny Bay oysters at the Signature Weekend at the Oyster Shucking Competition on Saturday June 16th and also Shucked! Canada’s Largest Oyster Bar Happy Hour on Friday, June 15.

Freshly shucked oyster

Chef Mardy Ra from Pacific Yacht Charters crafted delicious canapés throughout the afternoon to showcase its versatility. This was the smoked salmon on rice cake with pepper cream.

Honey caramelized miso crab wonton

Charred octopus on suits vide tartar

Stuffed shiitake mushroom with cashew cream and candies cashew

Demonstrations

We were treated to a seafood paella demonstration by Chef Caitlin Mark from H2 Rotisserie & Bar at The Westin Bayshore. The seafood paella consisted of squid, prawns, scallops, clams, chorizo, and white wine.

It’s always fun to see your food get made and understand all the steps that go into making a dish.

Spot Prawns

BC Seafood is really cherished and enjoyed in our beloved province. One of the hottest seafood choices right now are Spot Prawns. As a fresh shipment of spot prawns arrived at the dock, we got to taste some of it. We had ours steamed.

Renowned Chefs

International chefs from London, New York, Hawaii, Shanghai, and Hong Kong will join our amazing local chefs to entice the taste buds of all attendees of the 2018 BC Seafood Festival.

Final Thoughts

If you love seafood as much as we do, you’ll want to check out the BC Seafood Festival. Visit bcseafoodfestival.com for information about the whole festival and details on how to purchase tickets and register for events.

In Downtown

Kurumucho: Japanese Taco Shop in Vancouver

May 25, 2018

Kurumucho is a Japanese Taco Shop in Vancouver. M and I wanted to grab a bite before seeing a movie, so we decided to come here for some of their unique tacos. The menu looks very healthy, so it is one of the better options in the area.

Interior

The shop is small and very narrow. There are many seats but its suited for groups of 2 or 4.

Spider Sushi Taco

There is a whole soft shell crab in this tempura seaweed taco shell. There is also multigrain sushi rice, avocado, cucumber, alfalfa sprouts and their aurora sauce. It was pretty good with different textures and not heavy at all.

Soy Garlic Salmon Sushi Taco

In this tempura seaweed taco shell is wild sockeye salmon, multigrain sushi rice, avocado, cucumber, spring salad mix, soy garlic sauce, sesame seeds and nori on top. The quality of the salmon was really good and the taco overall had clean flavours. I enjoyed it.

Pork Brisket Kakuni Taco

This taco is a bit different as it’s on a tortilla wrap. There is pork brisket, spring lettuce mix, avocado, cayenne pepper, cilantro, Jalapeño, tomato, onion, pickled ginger, and a mustard garlic sauce. They highly recommended their taco and it was good.

Chicken Breast Karaage

We shared this dish and it was also delicious. It has the deep fried chicken breast with tonkatsu mayo. On the bottom of the bowl is spring lettuce mix. The chicken was surprisingly moist for chicken breast.

Beets Marble Ice Cream

This ice cream caught our eye and we had to get it. It has coconut milk, soy milk, cane sugar, beets, coconut oil, salt, guar gum, vanilla powder, vanilla extract and lemon juice. It is organic, vegan and gluten-free. We were pleasantly surprised.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the food at Kurumucho was delicious. I like how there are a lot of items on the menu that cater to those who are vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free. The sushi tacos are unique and they do a good job creating those tempura seaweed shells.

We Rate Kurumucho:

Address:
985 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC

Website: https://www.kurumucho.com/

In Hawaii

Maguro Brothers: Sashimi, Poké bowls, and Sushi Bowls in Hawaii

May 4, 2018

Maguro Brothers Hawaii is a little shop inside Kekaulike Market in Honolulu. It’s a bit hard to find as you have to navigate your way through the market to find this stall. They are best known for their fresh sashimi and rice bowls. It is cash only, so make sure you have some with you.

Sashimi platter

We ordered the sashimi platter and they had various kinds, so we went with the $20 option that comes with 4 different sashimi. There was tako, hamachi, ahi and salmon. All of the sashimi was fresh and delicious, but it really depends where you come from. Being from the Vancouver, we really have a good variety of salmon, so I was more critical on their choice of salmon. Hamachi and the ahi were of course my favourites.

Their knife skills could have been a bit better or use a sharper knife, but now I’m just being picky.

Hawaiian Limu Ahi Poké Bowl

There is limu seaweed, salt, chili pepper, green onions, onion and sesame oil over rice. The delicious marinated mixture was really good. A little kick of heat with the chili peppers. I really like the limu seaweed as I’ve never had this before.

Chutoro Sushi Bowl

There are 6 pieces of chutoro, which is the cut of the tuna belly that is medium. It was really delicious over the sushi rice. There is also 2 pieces of tamago, ginger and wasabi.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the sushi bowls and poke bowls were delicious. I am so-so about the sashimi as I come from Vancouver, which has outstanding sashimi. If you are from a land-locked city, you’ll love what they have here.

We Rate Maguro Brothers:

Address:
1039 Kekaulike St #113, Honolulu, HI

In Food Carts

Fumi’s Kahuku Shimp: Butter Garlic Shrimp in Hawaii

May 2, 2018

Fumi’s Kahuku Shrimp serves up freshly cooked shrimp adjacent to their farm. A lot of people frequent this stretch of highway for the variety of Kahuku shrimp sold by a lot of different food trucks. Giovanni’s is definitely the most popular option. Our tour guide took us to Fumi’s instead.

Seating Area

The seating area has rows of picnic tables to handle large amount of visitors.

Butter Garlic Shrimp

There are about 8 pieces of Kahuku Shimp, rice drench in the garlic butter sauce, pineapple and salad.

Spicy Garlic Shrimp

This is similar to the butter garlic shrimp, but with their spicy sauce. I loved it as it has a spicy kick and has loads of delicious garlic. The shrimp aren’t really large, but they were fresh and sweet.

Final Thoughts

The meals were filling and if you come from a place that doesn’t have fresh shrimp available, you’ll love Kahuku shrimp from the source.

We rate Fumi’s Kahuku Shrimp:

Address:
56-777 Kamehameha Hwy, Kahuku, HI

In Four Beakers

Restaurant Yugo: French and Japanese Fusion on Main Street

April 11, 2018

Restaurant Yugo just opened up on Main Street serving up a fusion of Japanese and French cuisine. If you’re a fan of their sister restaurant – Kitchen by Yugo on Denman Street, you’ll enjoy this too. I came after work with a few friends for dinner to chat over food and drinks.

Interior

The space is beautiful and seats small to large groups. They have a portion of the restaurant for reservations and some saved for walk-ins. We loved the atmosphere and the service from their staff.

Drinks

We had to start off the weekend with some drinks, so I got an Asahi Super Dry beer. I enjoy refreshing beer to go with this type of cuisine. My friends went with their Osamanthus cocktail which has tangerine peel infused gin, honey, osmanthus and lemon juice. They loved this cocktail and would highly recommend it.

Spicy Fish Tartar

This appetizer has crispy cheese sushi rice cake on the bottom, topped with avocado, spicy fish tartar, tobiko and green onions. On the plate is also quail egg and unagi sauce. You take the quail egg and drape the egg yolk all over the tartar. A fun appetizer to share and start off this dinner.

Gindara

This dish has a beautifully grilled black cod marinated in maple syrup and soy sauce. It is then served with fried soba noodles, kale and yuzu foam. The black cod has delicate and well balanced with the salty soy sauce and sweet maple.

Scallops Risotto

This dish has Hokkaido scallops, black truffle, mushrooms, ikura honey ricotta, bonito flakes and fried leeks. This is one of the most popular dishes to get here and it lives up to that reputation. So good and so comforting.

Sakura Cheese Cake

This 4 layer cake is perfect for the spring as the cherry blossoms are blooming around town. There is cherry blossom jam and green tea cookie crumbs. It is sweet and subtle sakura flavour.

Matcha Mille Crepes

Layers of paper-thin matcha crepes with red beans in the middle. It is then topped with more matcha powder on top. I really liked this dessert as crepes are awesome and when you turn that into a cake with whipped cream, its a good thing.

Homemade Ice Cream

Two scoops of ice cream all dressed up. If you’re looking for something simple, this is an option.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we were all pleasantly surprised with the combination of Japanese and French flavours. It’s a great addition to the area where there isn’t this style of food. Dinner is slightly more expensive, but they are also open for lunch too with cheaper options.

We Rate Restaurant Yugo:

Address:
4265 Main St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://restaurantyugo.com/