Sushi Archives - Page 3 of 3

In Izakaya

Itadakimasu Izakaya: Japanese Food on Main

April 24, 2014

Itadakimasu Izakaya is a Japanese restaurant on Main street. They are only open for dinner and they have some good drink specials at night. We came here for a triple birthday party as they had great drink specials and good price on food.

Sapporo Pitcher ($9.99) and Large Geikkaikan Sake ($5.99) are an amazing deal.

Daily Cute Temari Sushi Box ($12) has 10 assorted ball shaped sushi. They are essentially nigiri’s in a different form. They definitely look amazing, but once you taste it, its quite standard. Nothing different tasting.

Beef Tataki ($10) has seared rare AAA beef tenderloin marinated in ginger soy and mirin. It also has ponzu sauce in gelatin form.

Chicken Karaage ($6) is marinated chicken thats been deep-fried. It comes with 6 pieces and its delicious as always.

Geso Karaage ($6.50) is deep fried squid legs. Squeeze some lemon to it to add some more flavour. I thought it was a bit bland.

Pari Pari Ebi Mayo ($7) has crispy prawns with a spicy chilli mayo sauce. It was good! We all enjoyed it. The sauce has a nice level of spiciness.

Butter Mentaiko Udon ($8) has udon noodles tossed in a butter and cod roe sauce. It is garnished with shreds of seaweed. Simple and delicious. You just mix it all together before eating.

Tsukemono ($5) has assorted pickled vegetables. It was alright.

Tako-yaki octopus dumplings (10 pcs – $7.50) is topped with tonkatsu sauce, kewpie mayo and bonito flakes. It tasted pretty average.

Toro sashimi was delicious and always enjoyable.

Tuna Tacos ($7) comes with 3 pieces and it contains seared tuna, coleslaw, yuzu, pepper, mayo, and some garnishes.

Tuna Tataki ($8) has Shichimi crusted tuna, ponzu jelly and scallions. It comes with 8 pieces.

Fried Udon Noodles ($7.50) has pork, kimchi, and fried udon noodles with garnishes. It was a tasty dish.

Overall, the food was good and a plus are the cheap drinks! I’d definitely come back.

We rate Itadakimasu Izakaya:

Address:
4148 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.itadakimasubar.com/

In Japanese

Aki Japanese Restaurant: Relocated to Pender Street

February 26, 2014

Aki Japanese Restaurant is located on Pender Street near Coal Harbour. They have relocated from their previous location on Thurlow. They are one of the oldest and authentic Japanese restaurant in Vancouver.

I came here with M and CoffeeLover for dinner after work. We haven’t been here in a while and thought it was good to take another revisit.

The interior is very modern and sleek compared to their previous location. New and shiny. Their sushi bar looks pretty awesome.

The restaurant has very high ceiling to give it a very open feel. They take reservation for small to large groups too.

Orion Beer ($10) is Japan’s 5th largest brewery and originated from Okinawa prefecture. Similar to Asahi and Sapporo as it is light and crisp. Pairs well with Japanese cuisine.

Kinpira ($3.50) is sauteed julienned burdock root. It’ s a small appetizer.

Yakitori ($4.50) comes with 2 skewers and you can choose to have it topped with teriyaki sauce or seasalt. We went with teriyaki and it was pretty good. Simple and straight forward.

Chicken Skin ($3.50) comes with 2 skewers as well. We had it topped with seasalt. The skin is crispy but it wasn’t amazing or anything. I thought it would be more flavourful, but it just tasted like burnt food. I wouldn’t order this again.

Salmon and tuna sashimi ($15) was quite expensive for 10 pieces. It tasted good, but the quality seemed standard among Japanese restaurants in Vancouver.

Toro nigiri ($3 each) wasn’t very fatty and it didn’t melt in our mouths. Unagi nigiri ($3.75 each) was flavourful and delicious. Tamago nigiri ($1.80 each) was ok.

Spicy Chopped Scallop Roll ($5.50), Negitoro roll ($4.95), and Unakyu Maki ($4.95) was nothing fancy. Pretty average.

Assorted Sushi ($15.95) is quite pricey but you do try a variety of nigiri and tuna rolls.

Overall, the food is pricey compared to other places in town. I feel like I’ve been spoiled by so many other Japanese restaurants in town that this place just seems average. Our entire meal was over $100 and it sure hurt our wallet.

We Rate Aki Japanese restaurant:

Address:
1368 W Pender St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://akirestaurant.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=1368+W+Pender+St&sll=49.2893783,-123.1267792&sspn=0.0053743,0.0109864&t=m&hnear=1368+W+Pender+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6G+3E3&z=16 “]

In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Kishimoto: Beautiful Sushi Rolls on Commercial Drive

February 2, 2014

Coming with the girls on the weekend for lunch drew us to Kishimoto Japanese Kitchen. I haven’t been back in 3 years, so I just had to come back and try more items off their menu. Also, they serve Salmon Oshi Sushi similar to Miku’s Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi. It looks very similar, but was curious how it compared.

The restaurant quickly filled up and got much busier as it approached 12:30pm. The 3 of us got seated quickly but we were put in a very small table and it was uncomfortable and cramped. They do not take reservations, so you just need to take your chances.

Complimentary tea arrived at the table. It was piping hot and enjoyable as we waited for our order.

Salmon Oshisushi ($11.75) has a salmon creamy sauce with freshly cracked black pepper, then seared with a torch and an added jalapeño on top. It looks like Miku, but the flavour is just not the same. Once you have Miku, you can’t go anywhere else for these types of sushi.

It comes with 7 pieces and it’s still good.

Unagi Oshisushi ($11.75) has unagi, creamy sauce, freshly cracked black pepper, then it’s torched. A slice of cucumber is on top. It’s good, but not as good as their salmon version.

The presentation of all their dishes are really cute. All the little details make the experience more enjoyable.

Tuna and Salmon ($10.25) come with 3 pieces of salmon and 3 pieces of tuna. It is served on top of a block of ice and daikon. The sashi tasted very fresh and was enjoyable.

Chicken Karaage ($6.75) is very good. Nice crispy skin with a slightly sweet sauce.

Masago Nigiri ($1.50) has a lot of masago. Yummy.

Dragon Roll ($10.95) has 2 pieces of prawn tempura, tobiko, unagi sauce, sliced avocado and unagi on top. It comes with 8 pieces.

Scallop Roll ($3.95) has scallops, cucumber, masago and mayo. It came with 6 pieces.

Toro Nigiri (3 pieces – $10.50) just melts in your mouth because its so fatty. nom nom nom. It’s quite expensive for 3 pieces.

Nabeyaki Udon ($13.95) has 3 pieces of tempura on the side. Inside the bowl is mushrooms, chicken, soft boiled egg, kamaboko, and green onion all in a bowling hot stone bowl. It was pretty yummy.

Pork Okonomiyaki ($10.95) was the last item to arrive at the table and it took over an hour to arrive. A lot of tables ordered it too and they were also mad it took a long time. Mandu thought it was a bit bland, so we asked them for more sauce on the side. Granted, it is quite large and is delicious with more sauce.

Overall, the presentation of the food was beautiful. The service was decent and the food was pretty good. The prices are a bit high and we spent close to $100 on lunch for 3 people.

We Rate Kishimoto Japanese Kitchen:

Address:
2054 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/pages/Kishimoto…

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=2054+Commercial+Drive+Vancouver,+BC&sll=49.2662161,-123.0696757&sspn=0.0053768,0.0109864&t=m&hnear=2054+Commercial+Dr,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5N&z=16 “]

In Japanese

Aqua Sushi + Organic Juice Bar: New Restaurant in Olympic Village

January 8, 2014

Aqua Sushi + Juice Bar is a new addition to the Olympic Village. They serve up all their sushi with brown rice and all their fresh juice is made to order with the freshest ingredients possible. They also only use wild sockeye salmon instead of the usual salmon you find at other places.

Magz and I came here during lunch to find a nice light and quick lunch.

The place is small and doesn’t have too many seats.

All menu items are $10 or under. Still, the items are pricey since it’s just a roll.

Quench Fresh Pressed Juice ($6) has cucumber, pineapple, coconut water, pear and lime. It was strange how it came out pink with the ingredients, but the juice tasted pretty good. The pineapple really sweetens up the drink.

Spicy Salmon Roll ($5) has crunchy green beans, kale, wild sockeye salmon, spicy sauce, brown rice and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The crunchy texture of the beans and kale really complimented the salmon. I was really surprised! The quality of ingredients is fantastic. Yeah to eating healthy.

Rejuvenate ($6) has carrot, orange, grapefruit, ginger and cayenne.

Aqua Roll ($5.50) has salmon, avocado, mango, green bean, and brown rice. Another great roll that didn’t disappoint. THe mango was perfectly ripe and not sour.

Overall, we were impressed by the rolls and juices. We didn’t have high hopes in the beginning, but when we took the first bite and slip, we liked it. The prices are expensive for what you get compared to other sushi places around town. You’re paying a lot more for quality ingredients. Also, everything here is really healthy, which is good if you are on a diet.

We Rate Aqua Sushi + Juice Bar:

Address:
1764 Manitoba Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://aquajuicebar.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1764+Manitoba+Street+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=1764+Manitoba+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5Y+1H9&z=15 “]

In Gastown

Sushi Den: Bento Boxes in Chinatown/Gastown

January 6, 2014

Sushi Den is a newer Japanese Restaurant on the border of Gastown and Chinatown. It’s located close to Stadium Skytrain and Tinseltown. I came here during lunch with my coworker for something fast. I can see them being popular for take out.

I have come here a few times and I usually get the same bento box.

Nigiri Bento Box ($12) comes with agedashi tofu, salad, assorted tempura, miso soup and 5 pieces of nigiri. The bento box is very large and easily fills me up for lunch.

Miso soup came fairly quickly and tasted good. It had bits of tofu and green onions inside.

There were 5 pieces of nigiri – 1 ebi, 2 tuna and 2 salmon. It tasted fresh good and no problems.

The agedashi tofu is very hot, so you need to wait a bit before eating. When you leave it in the sauce for a while, the skin around the tofu gets very gummy and slimy. Weird texture, but I still liked the tofu inside.

Assorted Tempura was heavily battered and was very crunchy. It stays crunch for a long time and doesn’t get soggy.

Overall, the food is average and in a very good location. The service is not very good. You won’t find anything amazing here, but the prices are fair.

We Rate Sushi Den:

Address:
609 Abbott St
Vancouver, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=609+Abbott+St+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=609+Abbott+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B&z=16 “]

In Japanese

Charcoal Sushi & BBQ Restaurant: Lunch Specials

December 28, 2013

Charcoal Sushi & BBQ Restaurant is on No. 3 Road and Westminster Hwy. My coworker and I stopped by for lunch on the way back to Vancouver. The place looked pretty good and there was a lot of people during noon.

The tables inside have built-in grills, but no one was using it. Perhaps it’s more popular at night.

Their lunch combo is $9.75 and you choose one item from the A menu and another from the B menu.

If you look carefully, you can find some good items and not just rolls.

Miso soup comes with the combos. Nothing special, just the usual stuff.

Assorted Maki Combo ($7.50) has Salmon and Tuna Maki with California Rolls. Definitely filling and they didn’t skimp on the salmon and tuna in the maki rolls.

For my combo, I ordered the Mini Charashi Don. It wasn’t bad considering the original price of this dish is around the same price as the combo. Pretty decent size too.

Deep Fried Gyoza was the second part of the combo. Comes with 4 pieces.

Overall, the price during lunch is pretty good and the quality was good. I would definitely come back again. Service was quick and the servers seemed nice.

We Rate Charcoal Sushi & BBQ Restaurant :

Address:
250-7997 Westminster Highway
Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.charcoalrestaurant.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=250-7997+Westminster+Highway+Richmond,+BC&t=m&hnear=7997+Westminster+Hwy,+Richmond,+British+Columbia+V6X+2E3&z=16 “]

In American

Chicago Food Planet Tours: Gold Coast & Old Town Food Tour

October 4, 2013

I had a week in Chicago and it’s quite hard to eat everything. There’s only so many restaurants I can go to in one day. I contemplated for a long time if I should take a food tour or not. 7 restaurants in 3 hours is always enticing for a foodie for $50.

Chicago Food Planet Food Tours offered a tour of Gold Coast and Old Town‘s best eats. It’s a cool neighbourhood, but the only reason I went on the tour was to try a slice of deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s. I really didn’t want to eat a whole pizza to myself or eat alone.

We explored:

Lou Malnati’s
Delightful Pastries
Kamehachi Old Town
The Fudge Pot
The Spice House
Old Town Oil
Tea Gschwendner

The group was only 16 people, so it was a nice decent size. What made me feel awkward was that everyone else came to the tour as a group or a couple. It made me feel like an awkward turtle.

Lou Malnati’s

Our first stop was Lou Malnati’s for their famous deep dish pizza. This was the starting point of the tour. They are an iconic Chicago-Style Deep Dish pizzeria. It’s been around since 1971.

All 16 of us sat down and started beginning chowing down on our meal.

We began with a salad.

Then the deep dish pizza! So satisfying and the crust is so crispy. Definitely the highlight of the tour.

Tea Gschwendner

We then walked a short distance to Tea Gschwendner. They are Europe’s leading specialty loose Green, Black, Oolong and White teas merchant and have been around since 1987.

We were given a little lesson about different types of tea and how to make tea.

Iced tea was given to everyone as a refresher after the yummy pizza. As it was a hot summer we definitely needed.

We then headed into Old Town and was told about the history of some notable buildings and history.

Kamehachi Old Town

Kamehachi Old Town is Chicago’s first Japanese-style restaurant, sake cafe and sushi bar . It has been around since 1967.

We had 2 types of maki rolls, but only 2 pieces. It was ok, but not great. Coming from Vancouver, this doesn’t even compare to what good sushi is like.

The Fudge Pot

The Fudge pot is Chicago’s oldest chocolate confectioner, butter toffee and home-made fudge shop. They have been around since 1963 making delicious sweets.

We were taken to their kitchen to hear the history of the Fudge Pot and their production.

The butter toffee samples we received were pretty awesome. So addictive.

Spice Merchants

We then stopped by the world-famous merchant of hand-prepared spices, blends and artisan seasonings. Once you step close to the door of this place, you’ll definitely smell the amazing flavours. It’s quite strong stuff.

They have hundreds of spices! They have even made their own special blends. You can probably find any spice you’re looking for.

We looked around the shop and then taken to the back to get a lesson on different spices, best ways to store spices and how to get the most flavourful spices. Interesting stop on this tour, but we only smelled spices.

Old Town Oil

Old Town Oil is America’s premiere supplier of aged balsamic vinegars and 100% extra-virgin olive oils. I’ve never seen so many tins of olive oil and balsamic vinegar before.

We were able to try all the flavours we wanted. Interesting flavours.

We continued walking around the neighbourhood and heard more about the history.

Delightful Pastries

Our last stop of the tour was at Delightful Pastries. It’s an authentic Polish-European bakery serving pastries, pierogies and pies.

Two Macaroons

Two different types of perogies.

The Chicago Food Planet Tour of Old Town and Gold Coast was fun and enjoyable, but if you are a hardcore foodie, a majority of the places aren’t super amazing. The shops are unique and have a long history, but it won’t keep you coming back. Especially if you are a local.

As a tourist, it was a good use of 3 hours to visit so many shops and restaurants, plus learn a little bit of history in these 2 areas. The 2 restaurants that stood out to me was Lou Malnati’s and The Fudge Pot. Mmmm pizza and chocolate.

Our tour guide was great! He was funny and was very personable to each person on the tour.

Website: http://www.chicagofoodplanet.com/tours/near-north-food-tour/

In Izakaya

Rajio: Rockin’ Rajio Dining Package

August 24, 2013

Rajio is owned by the same people who have brought us Suika Izakaya and Kingyo Izakaya. It is located close to the UBC campus. Rajio is Japanese for Radio, so you will notice their logo is a radio.

Vaneats.ca and Rajio teamed up to bring a $18 dining package that features 4 items:

Kushikatsu Set
Dynamic Balsamic Sweet & Sour Pork Rib
Mini Carpaccio
Choice of Cold Tapas

The packages is available from August 12th, 2013 till October 12th, 2013 in limited quantities.

I came with M after work and we really love the look of the interior.

Complimentary cabbage with a light sesame dressing. It’s really good and addictive. Plus, guilt free since it’s all veggies. I could eat this all day.

Bang Bang Chicken was my choice of cold tapa. It has steamed chicken with jelly fish and okra with a sesame dressing. It was a nice and light start to the meal.

Mini Carpaccio came with 3 types of fresh fish. When we came here, there was tuna, yellowtail and sockeye salmon. It is topped with crisp lotus roots. One delicious dish!

Kushikatsu Set is one of their specialties. It had 6 deep fried skewers with chicken, scallop and lotus roots. I actually found the coating on the skewers to be a bit thick, so it’s hard to appreciate the ingredients hidden inside.

The skewers are paired with some special sauces – Onion, teriyaki yuzu kosho, kushikatsu, tartar, and lemon salt. My pick was the kushikatsu since it paired well with the fried coating of the skewers.

Dynamic Balsamic Sweet & Sour Pork Rib are pan-fried stewed pork ribs marinated in Rajio’s original balsamic sweet sour sauce. You can definitely tell they were fried and then sauced. The outside has a nice crisp texture and then the tender meat on the inside. Yummy. It’s a good contrast between the earlier items in the package.

Items excluded from the package, but are great to add on.

Tuna Salt Tataki was beautifully presented! If you recognize what it is topped with, you know thats my favourite snack! It’s the dried noodles that are addictive. Really good!

Negitoro battera is pressed sushi with tuna belly, scallions, tobiko & sesame topped with home made soy dressing & seaweed sauce.

Overall, the package is well put together and you get a taste of a few items on the menu. You can definitely get the package and split it among 2 people and add an extra dish or two to round out the experience.

Visit Vaneats.ca to grab the $18 dining pass before October 12th, 2013.

We Rate Rajio:

Address:
3763 W. 10th Ave.
Vancouver, BC

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/RajioJapanesePublicHouse

In Downtown

Miku Restaurant: All About the Aburi Sushi

August 7, 2013

Miku finally relocated in the Waterfront area right by the Convention Centres. It has taken up the former location of Aqua Riva. Miku is known for their Aburi sushi. It’s really what draws people back over and over again. The prices are a bit high, but it’s sure to impress you.

We came here for Mandu’s surprise birthday and boy was she surprised when she came through the front door. We weren’t able to be seated by the time of our reservation since we needed to add one more seat. Luckily, they were kind enough to let us sit in their private dining area.

Rosemary Gimlet ($12) was highly recommended by the server. It contains gin and homemade rosemary syrup. Mandu and KoreanGirl both ordered this drink but they didn’t like it very much. So, they asked for beer instead.

The Katana ($12) was my cocktail of choice. It contains shochu, sweet vermouth, lemon, raspberry purée, egg white, and shiso. It was a decent cocktail, very sweet and didn’t state too strong.

They give us a little tasting of scallops and a cucumber puree. I don’t remember what else was in it, but it was a nice touch.

Kale Goma-ae ($6) has a sweet sesame soy sauce and crispy lotus root chips. It tasted pretty good.

Spicy Shrimp and Pork Gyoza ($13) has sweet miso-pork belly with a chili pepper coulis.

Sockeye Salmon Sashimi (6 pcs- $15) very fresh!

Snow Crab & Heirloom Tomato Matcha Soba ($18) has garlic-dashi, shrimp, shaved fennel, shiso, wild arugula, and green tea soba. It’s a cold dish. This dish wasn’t very good.

Aburi Beef Carpaccio ($18) has sterling silver AAA short rib, tamari horseradish crème fraîche, ponzu, celery, scallions, cucumber, wasabi pickles, fresh herb artichoke relish, and crumbled organic egg. It is delicious and worth the price! Mmmmm so good!

Sable Fish ($29) has sake dashi braised, mussels, clams, shrimp, scallop, yuzu-kosho, kaiso-seaweed, shiso-leaf, preserved meyer lemon, heirloom cherry tomatoes, fennel, kale, and baby potatoes. InsecureGirl though it was ok, but nothing amazing.

Premium Aburi ($26) has chef’s selection featured seafood, each paired with a unique house made sauce, lightly flame seared aburi style. Any aburi dish here is amazing.

More aburi!

Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi ($15) has pressed BC wild sockeye salmon, jalapeño, and their special miku sauce. This roll is crazy amazing and everyone who comes here orders this.

Overall, the experience was good, but some of the food is a hit or miss. You definitely want to grab reservations before dining here because it’s quite busy. My favorite items are the Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi, Aburi Saba Oshi Sushi and the Aburi Beef Carpaccio.

We Rate Miku:

Address:
70-200 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.mikurestaurant.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=200+Granville+Street,+Granville+Square&sll=49.2581893478533,-123.13866570472457&sspn=0.01812223641872372,0.05849726889674606&t=m&dg=opt&hq=Square&hnear=200+Granville+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+0A4&z=16 “]

In Gastown

Tsuki Sushi Bar: Sushi in Gastown

August 5, 2013

Tsuki Sushi Bar is a new restaurant located close to Gastown and Chinatown. It’s across the street from Tinseltown. I pass by this place often and was curious about how their sushi would compare with some other places in town.

I came here with Magz for lunch since it’s so hard to find good sushi near our work place.

The interior looks pretty awesome with its high ceilings.

Complimentary tea arrives. Sushi really isn’t complete without tea.

Complimentary Miso Soup came to the table before our item arrived. It was decent and had lot of tiny tofu at the bottom of the bowl.

Chawan Mushi is what Magz ordered. It is a Japanese steamed egg custard. It was packed full of seafood, mushrooms, and vegetables. Really delicious.

Can’t remember the name of this roll but it was a California roll with avocado and eel on top. It tasted ok, but wasn’t anything super amazing.

Aburi Combo ($11.50) came with 5 pieces – unagi, saba, scallop, salmon, and tuna. Each one had their own unique sauce to compliment the flavours. A lot of people of Fourquare recommended this dish, but I didn’t think it was a very well executed dish.

The aburi could be seared a bit more since you could barely taste the charcoal. The cuts were also quite lean, so it didn’t really melt in your mouth.

Overall, the dishes we had here were ok. I wasn’t too impressed with their sushi.

We rate Tsuki Sushi Bar:

Address:
509 Abbott St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://tsukisushibar.ca/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=509+Abbott+St,+Vancouver,+BC+V6B+6C1&sll=49.2399859,-122.95816940000002&sspn=0.1721632379598321,0.3516140337636478&t=m&dg=opt&hnear=509+Abbott+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+6C1&z=16 “]

In BBQ

Zakkushi Charcoal Grill: Delicious Japanese Skewers

June 10, 2013

Zakkushi Charcoal Grill serves a bunch of tapa dishes and specializes in skewers. They have a few locations in Vancouver and one in Toronto.

M really wanted a good dinner, so I suggested Zakkushi. After all these years, I have no idea why we’ve never gone together. When we got here, we thought the exterior was pretty cool. It’s all covered up in dark wood. Very nice.

Sakura Cocktail ($7) has lychee liqueur, grapefruit juice, calpico and soda.

Toro Sashimi ($9.50) has 5 pieces of the sockeye salmon belly. It’s not the same texture as the tuna toro, but was more chewy. The quality nonetheless was very fresh.

Karaage ($5.80) is deep-fried chicken with an oroshi sauce. It’s different from most places as it comes with a shredded daikon, ponzu, and green onion sauce. Anything fried is delicious.

Tsukune is a chicken meatball and on their menu, they have 5 different kinds, but we stuck with the cheese and norimayo flavours.

Cheese Tsukune ($1.90 each) has white cheese melted on top with some pepper. It was really good! The cheesiness of the cheese and the juicy chicken meatball tasted really good.

Norimayo Tsukune ($1.90) is topped with mayo and seaweed. It’s really good! You really need to try this.

Zakkushi Set ($8.80) has 5 skewers momo (Chicken thigh), umeshiso yaki (chicken thigh with shio leaf and sour plum), Me Maki (garlic shrubs wrapped with pork), p-toro (Crunchy juicy pork), and oropon beef (AAA grade beef with diakon and ponzu sauce). It was a nice set of skewers to order if you are indecisive. You get a little bit of variety from the skewer menu.

Negi P-Toro Don ($7.50) has p-toro pork, green onion sauce, picked veggies, half boiled egg, and seaweed on top of rice. We mixed this all together and it was so good!

We also ordered Oden, but I was too excited about it that I ate it before taking a picture. The sake flight was good as well if you are into sake.

Overall, we had a great time here and will definitely be back. The food and atmosphere are awesome. It’s best to make a reservation ahead of time if you don’t want to wait for a seat. They also have a semi private party area for large groups.

We Rate Zakkushi:

Address:
4075 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.zakkushi.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4075+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=4075+Main+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5V+3P6&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Japanese

Yo Sushi: I Had a Feeling

May 27, 2013

Since Yo Sushi opened up on Hastings, I was always curious to see how their sushi would be. It resides in the old Bombay Behl. It is completely different inside and has lots of booth seating. The first thing I noticed when I went inside was a foosball table and a mini air hockey table. Pretty cool to have if you’re young at heart or dining with kids.

I came with M on a weekday night and this place was completely empty. There were a few takeout orders but besides that, we basically had the restaurant to ourselves, I had a feeling something wasn’t right. Yo Sushi was voted by Burnaby Now as the best sushi restaurant in Burnaby, but its something I have to strongly disagree with.

We sat down they gave us tea. When we proceeded to order our food, we asked the waitress what was something good on the menu that we must try. She told us that she hasn’t tried anything on the menu. This seemed a bit odd, so I rephrased to as her what is popular on the menu.

Red Dragon Roll ($9.95) has prawn tempura, crab meat, cucumber, and then it’s topped with spicy tuna, bread crumbs, and a spicy sauce. The roll had way too much sauce. It really drowned out most of the taste of the roll. The roll itself was poorly put together and the temperature was very strange. The roll and the spicy tuna on top were slightly warm.

Hawaiian Passion Roll ($9.95) has pineapple, avocado, and mango wrapped in soy bean paper. It sounded unique and we thought it would be an adventurous roll to order. We were very wrong. In short, fruit should not be in sushi.

Sweetheart Roll ($11.95) has cucumber, prawn, and tuna wrapped with salmon. It is also topped off with a maraschino cherry. Cute concept but it was nasty. All the raw items were slightly warm and it was a very basic roll that has been shaped into a heart. Not worth the price.

Magic Sushi Pizza ($10.95) has crispy rice on the bottom topped with onions, crab meat, scallops, tuna, salmon, and tai with a special sauce. It looked beautiful when it came out, but the crispy rice on the bottom was more stale and hard as a rock. The sashimi on top was also slightly warm.

By this point of the meal, we were pretty disappointed. Having spent $49.45 on these 4 items that were well below average. The service was sparse even though we were the only customers. The staff mostly congregated near the sushi chefs to chat. There is definitely lots of opportunity for the restaurant to grow, but the quality wasn’t there.

We Rate Yo Sushi:

Address:
4266 Hastings St.
Burnaby, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4266+Hastings+St.+Burnaby,+BC&hnear=4266+Hastings+St,+Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5C+2J7&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Fairview

Suika Snackbar: SupaSUIKA Dining Package

May 13, 2013

I’ve been to Suika Snackbar several times in the past few years and it’s always been a great experience. They have sister restaurants located around town – Kingyo and Rajio. Suika means watermelon, Kingyo means goldfish and Rajio means radio. I find it funny how all those restaurants are named after things.

Vaneats.ca and Suika have teamed up together again to offer another dining package. It’s $35 and you get the following:

Salmon Battera
Magical Mojito Pitcher
Steak Salad
Ma-Po Rice Cake

I came with Mandu and KoreanGirl to check out the package since there was a mojito pitcher that is more for a group rather an individual.

It’s pretty busy usually, so it’s always best to make a reservation. Most of the tables we saw when we arrived had reserve signs too. To avoid disappointment, definitely reserve!

As always, this is their amazing light installation that catches everyone’s attention.

Magical Mojito Pitcher (Regular $28). You can choose from watermelon, pomegranate or aloe. We had a hard time figuring it out, so we asked the staff which one was most popular and they suggested the Suika Mojito, which is the watermelon flavoured one. I’m not a fan of artificial watermelon flavour, so I didn’t particularly like the flavour. They didn’t skimp on the alcohol because I turned bright red like Rudolph after having one glass.

There was enough in the pitcher to fill up 6 glasses. Pretty good amount. For 3 people, it was enough for us on a weekday.

Steak Salad has diced & marinated AAA beef filet steaks on a bed of organic greens, then topped with watercress and beets.

The steak pieces were done to about medium rare and was a tad chewy. It was still a pretty solid dish and we enjoyed it.

Ma-Po Rice Cake is deep-fried rice cake with spicy ground pork sauce. It comes with 4 pieces and has the sauce drizzle on top of each piece. My friends loved the stickiness of the rice cakes and the savoury sauce.

Salmon Battera is topped with sockeye salmon, salmon caviar, spicy cod roe mayo, Japanese basil, and then avocado shiso between the rice.

Overall, the 3 of us enjoyed the #SupaSUIKA dining package from Vaneats.ca. $35 for the 3 food dishes and the huge pitcher of mojito is worth it. There are also other items on their menu that will definitely make you drool. If you spilt this package with a few friends and add a few items on the side, it’s not too expensive.

Items not included in the SupaSUIKA Dining Package (Delicious things I ordered in addition to the package)

Deluxe Suika Box ($12) comes with a set of 9 assorted appetizers. If you are a person that like a little taste of everything, you’ll enjoy this box.

Deep Fried Chicken Cartilage with curry spice. It was an interesting dish to try. Who knew chicken cartilage would be tasty. It’s the curry spice that really makes this dish mighty delicious. Don’t worry, there is chicken meat in the dish and not just cartilage.

Corn Kakiage is one item you must order everytime you eat at SUIKA. It comes in 3 pieces and really good.

Tokyo Oxtail Ramen is another good choice too. It has slowly braised oxtail and noodles in a soy based broth topped with green onions.

Words of Wisdom:

Corn Kakiage, chicken kaarage, Deluxe suika box, Tuna tataki, Sashimi shake salad and ebi mayo recommended.
Nice decor and good service
If it’s your birthday, the staff sing to you
Pay parking on Street
Reservations highly recommended!

We Rate Suika:

Address:
1626 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.suika-snackbar.com/