Sushi Gallery

March 17, 2015Leave a comment

Sushi Gallery is located in the Kitsilano area and is rated very high on Urbanspoon. S and I decided to check it out after work and indeed it was busy. It’s by no means any fancy restaurant, and in fact, miso soup and such are self serve. Reminded me of Tokyo Joes.

Caterpillar Roll and Yam Tempura Roll

S chose the Caterpillar Roll and Yam Tempura Roll. The Caterpillar Roll was filled with crabmeat and eel, and topped with avocado and masago. He said they were decent.

Chopped Scallop Roll, Ika, Tamago, Chopped Scallop, Salmon, Toro Nigiri

For myself, I got the Chopped Scallop Roll and various Nigiris. The portions are quite large, but I wouldn’t say the fish is very fresh. It’s good value for the price, but I probably wouldn’t come back again since there’s better sushi spots out there. I think they are great if you aren’t looking for traditional sushi. Most people seemed to come here for less traditional rolls with sauces and such.

Service-wise, it was pretty friendly, but a little slow. It seems to be more of a self-serve spot, hence the lower prices. Many people also came here for take out.

Pros:
– Large portions
– Low prices

Cons:
– Not the spot for traditional sushi
– Seafood isn’t the freshest

Price Range: $5-10

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 2.5
Service: 2.5
Ambiance: 2.5
Parking: 3
Overall: 2.5

Gyoza King

March 9, 2015March 15, 2015Leave a comment

Gyoza King has been around for a long time and is famous for their gyozas and izakaya style food. The place was quite busy when we arrived, so be sure to make reservations ahead of time.

Ebi Mayo

We started off with the Ebi Mayo, which had a light but crispy batter. Not the largest prawns, but still very fresh and satisfying.

Pork and Chicken Gyozas

And of course we had to try their Gyozas. We decided to try an order each of Pork and Chicken. They showed up looking the same and the waitress quickly told us which was which. However, we weren’t paying attention, and by the time we started eating, we couldn’t tell the difference between the two. Honestly, they taste quite the same, so if you want variety, you should choose one with shrimp or veggies instead. Other than the fact that we couldn’t tell the difference between the two apart, the gyozas were some of the best I’ve had in restaurants. The skin was thin and crispy both top and bottom. There was a good amount of filling and the dipping sauce complemented well.

Overall, Gyoza King lives up to its expectations for good gyozas. They also have a wide variety of choices for izakaya food and seems like a fun place for drinks. Service is attentive and friendly. Seating can be a little crowded since the restaurant is quite small.

Pros:
– Gyozas are pan fried to crispy
– Large variety of izakaya choices

Cons:
– Seating is pretty cramped

Price Range: $15-25

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 4
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 3
Overall: 3.5

Yah Yah Ya Ramen

March 3, 2015March 3, 20151 Comment

Yah Yah Ya Ramen opened next to Richmond Sushi just last year and replaced the previous Taiwanese restaurant. I thought the name was pretty funny, so I suggested we give it a try. They specialize in a le-kei soup, which is their pork soy sauce soup. Pork bone, chicken bone, konbu, and vegetables are boiled for over 12 hours to make this soup. It is then flavoured with soy sauce, green onion, and garlic.

The restaurant is not too big and is clean and simply decorated. We arrived around 6pm and were seated immediately. The restaurant began to get packed after a while, and by the time we left, there were some patrons waiting for seats. Seems like it’s quite popular.

Shoyu Ramen

S got the Shoyu Ramen, which is their number one ramen. The menu is fairly simple with really only shoyu, miso, shio, or spicy miso to choose from. For each bowl of noodles, you can choose whether you want the noodles: hard, normal, or soft; the taste: heavy, normal, or light; and the oil: more, normal, or less. S went for hard noodles, with heavy taste and normal oil. The shoyu ramen came with chashu, toasted seaweed, spinach, and half a flavoured egg. He also added extra toasted seaweed. I enjoyed this broth a lot more than the miso. Even though he chose heavy taste, I found the broth to be much lighter than many ramen joints. It wasn’t as salty as I would’ve imagined.

Miso Ramen

For myself, I got the Miso Ramen, which came with chashu, bean sprouts, seaweed, and half a flavoured egg. I chose hard noodles, normal taste and normal oil. The noodles were cooked to al dente, but I found the broth to be quite average and slightly too salty. I would stick with their shoyu soup, which is what they are famous for. The chashu was soft and melted in your mouth. The portions are pretty good and you get a good amount of the toppings for the price.

Pros:
– Reasonable prices and portions
– Service is friendly

Cons:
– Stick with the shoyu – miso was slightly too salty
– Line ups at peak hours

Price Range: $10-15

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 4
Overall: 3

Guu Garlic (revisit)

February 23, 2015Leave a comment

Okonomiyaki

Went for a revisit at Guu Garlic on Robson Street again, and the izakaya spot is always a full house. Luckily, we got a seat at the bar. We started off with the Okomiyaki, which is a deep fried squid and cabbage pancake. It came with a tonkatsu sauce and mustard mayo and was topped with bonito flakes. The pancake gets quite messy and it falls apart easily, but has a good amount of ingredients. Very flavourful, but I found it to be a little salty.

Karaage

Next was the Karaage, or deep fried chicken, which came with a garlic mayo on side. Large pieces of chicken, but I also found that it had too much batter on it. The seasoning was just right though.

Kabocha Croquette

We also got the Kabocha Croquette, which is a croquette of mashed pumpkin squash with a boiled egg in the center. I always love getting this. Crispy on the outside with the mash being slightly sweet. It comes with a mayo sauce for dipping.

Yaki Udon

Lastly was my all time favourite – Yaki-Udon. The pan fried udon comes with beef, mushroom, green onion, soy sauce, and butter. Something about their sauce makes it my favourite yaki-udon of all times. However, the beef was slightly over done this time and I found it very tough. Otherwise, flavour was on point again.

Overall, Guu Garlic consistently executes good izakaya food. It’s also very noisy in there, but that’s the ambiance they are going for. Service is friendly and attentive. Great place for izakaya snacks and drinks.

Pros:
– Consistently good izakaya food
– Reasonable prices

Cons:
– Seating may not be the most comfortable
– Can get quite loud

Price Range: $15-30

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 3
Overall: 3.5

Zipang Provisions

February 4, 2015February 4, 2015Leave a comment

After work on a Friday night, I was looking forward to try Toshi Sushi to see what the hype was all about. Arriving at around 6pm, the place was already packed, with a long list of diners waiting and the restaurant itself was pretty small. So instead, we did some searching, and I suggested we try Zipang Provisions, which is also on Main St.

The restaurant looked almost like a bar from the outside, and didn’t seem like a Japanese restaurant. Inside, the interior was filled with wooden tables and benches and ropes. A very modern and hipster decor. The restaurant was also filled with mostly Caucasians, but I guess the clientele in this area is mostly non-Asian. One interesting thing we noticed was that almost all of the diners were families with young children. I guess they really cater to families and children here. Anyways, the sushi chefs and waitresses all looked Japanese and were very friendly.

Even their glasses of water were super hipster and came in Mason jars.

Chicken Yakiudon

We started off with the Chicken Yakiudon. Flavour-wise, I found it quite different from your typical Japanese restaurants. It came with assorted vegetables, and we chose Chicken as our protein. The noodles were glistening in the sauce and was quite flavourful.

Love Shuffle and Zipang Roll

We also chose two of their sushi rolls. First was the Love Shuffle, which was filled with 2 pieces of prawn tempura, cucumber and mayo. They were topped with alternating ingredients of salmon, avocado and mango. Each was topped with a masago roe. Not bad. Sort of like your typical rainbow roll. The second roll we got was the Zipang Roll, which was wrapped with soy sheet and filled with scallop, salmon, cucumber, and radish sprouts. I liked the change from seaweed to soy sheet. Their sushis aren’t large, but they are all made with care. A good rice to filling ratio with quality ingredients.

Overall, Zipang Provisions is a tad pricier than some sushi joints, but you get quality over quantity here. Plus, service was really friendly. I’d like to point out that we actually found a piece of hair on one of our rolls, but the server acted very professionally, apologized, and got the chef to prepare us a new roll.

Pros:
– Service is really friendly
– Ambiance is cool and hip, but still great for families

Cons:
– Service was just average
– Restaurant can get a little loud with all the children

Price Range: $15-25

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 4
Ambiance: 4
Parking: 3
Overall: 4

Hapa Izakaya (Robson) – DOVF 2015

February 3, 2015February 3, 2015Leave a comment

Beef Tataki

For my last Dine Out, I went to Hapa Izakaya on Robson Street. I had a pretty bad experience at the Yaletown location, but the Robson location had an $18 menu and the choices seemed pretty good. The restaurant wasn’t fully booked like most of the other dine out restaurants, so it made getting a table last minute very easy. We decided to share all our dishes and started off with the Beef Tataki. The lightly seared AAA beef was fresh and cut to the right thickness. It was topped with a sesame-chili sauce and came with some garlic chips.

Bintoro

The second appetizer was the Bintoro, which is lightly seared Albacore tuna sashimi. The tuna was seared just so the edges were cooked, and the sashimi itself was tender and fresh. It came with a ponzu sauce and was paired with a salad.

Raw Oyster

The third appetizer we chose were the Raw Oysters, which features the Chef’s selection oysters with daikon ponzu sauce. The oysters were rather large, but were still very fresh. I found it interesting that they gave you pickled ginger and wasabi, but none of us gave that a try. A pretty good deal since you get three oysters for the order.

Taster Plate (2pc ea. Ebi Mayo, Karaage, Gyoza)

For our second course, we chose the Taster Plate, which included 3 types of snacks. There were two pieces of each snack. First were the tempura prawns, which came with a spicy mayo sauce. I wasn’t a fan of these since the prawns were very small, and the batter wasn’t crunch. These were sort of soggy. In the middle were the Karage – deep-fried boneless chicken. This came with a soy ginger sauce, which was also just average. Lastly were the Gyozas, which did not really look like gyoza. It was essentially minced pork layered with lotus root and tempura battered. Overall, the taster plate was just average. Nothing too special.

Gindara

Another second course we ordered was the Gindara, which was baked sablefish with a sake-miso marinade.It came with some grilled vegetables. The sablefish was very moist and tasted great with the sake-miso sauce.

Kakuni

The third second course we got was the Kakuni. This was an interesting dish, featuring soy-braised pork belly with steamed buns. It also came with some Japanese hot mustard and salted cucumber. The bun was soft and the pork belly was tender with a good amount of fat. One of our favourite dishes.

Spicy Pork Ishiyaki

For our third course, we chose the Spicy Pork Ishiyaki. The rice was mixed minced pork, garlic sprouts, egg, tomato, lettuce, spicy miso, and served in a hot stone bowl. Sort of like the Korean bibimbap. It was slightly spicy, but not overpowering. Very flavourful!

Tartar Sushi Donburi

We also got the Tartar Sushi Donburi, which was probably my favourite. Essentially a chirashi don, with assorted chopped sashimi, shiso, and ginger-soy mayo. It featured salmon and two types of tuna. Perfect for those who love sashimi.

Mentaiko Udon

Lastly, we got the Mentaiko Udon. The udon noodles were mixed with a spicy cod roe sauce, but I found this to be just average. I prefer Guu’s yakiudon.

Overall, I wouldn’t say any of the food was too memorable, but everything was decent. I still prefer Guu if I want izakaya food. Hapa is more bar like and somewhat more formal. It’s still a great place for happy hour or to grab drinks.

Pros:
– Reasonable prices
– Ambiance is pretty nice

Cons:
– Service was just average
– Food isn’t too memorable

Price Range: $20-30

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 4
Parking: 3
Overall: 3

Miku – DOVF 2015

February 2, 2015February 2, 2015Leave a comment

Whenever people ask me what my favourite restaurants are in Vancouver, I usually respond with Miku as one of them, but I think I might have to take this off my list now… I had a very disappointing meal in terms of service, and it might have just ruined it for me now. My parents hadn’t gone back to Miku since they moved locations, so we decided to go for their Dine Out Vancouver Festival menu for lunch. Their lunch menu is $28 and my visit last year during this festival didn’t disappoint. We could only get reservations at 2:00pm, but that didn’t matter. The restaurant was still busy with diners rolling in. We were seated and given menus, and then for a good 15 minutes or more, we had no service whatsoever. No one came by to ask if we were ready to order, and people who were seated after us had already gotten their orders in. It was to the point where my mother needed to wave someone down and that wasn’t even our server. I believe she was a hostess, but she took our order down. But throughout the whole dinner, we had no server. Quite disappointing since my past experiences have been very well with servers introducing themselves and such. Finally, by the time our dessert came along, some guy that looked like an actual server presented us with our desserts. But other than that, no server. Did our table not have a server assigned at all? A restaurant that markets themselves as one with exceptional service did not showcase that at all that day. However, let’s get on to the food, which didn’t disappoint as usual.

Enoki Mushroom Miso Soup

Lunch starts off with their Enoki Mushroom Miso Soup. The soup is not as salty as other restaurants and there are enoki mushrooms as well as tofu. A nice way to start your meal.

Zen

Your first course is the Zen box, which they describe as a “selection of Aburi specialty items served in our traditional Japanese hinoki wood box.” However, ours was served on a plate. I guess they ran out of the wooden boxes?

Ebi Fritter

The box included the Ebi Fritter, which featured a jumbo prawn battered and deep fried and topped with a sweet chili aioli. It came on top of a fresh green salad with a soy-balsamic reduction. The prawn was juicy and I liked how the batter was light.

Fresh Market Salad

Next was the Fresh Market Salad. The menu says it’s based on the chef’s daily selection, and today it was a King Crab Salad. Loads of shredded crab meat on top of a fresh green salad with a umami soy dressing. I can never get over how good their salads are! Their dressings always make it so delicious!

Aburi Albacore Tuna

Also in the box was the Aburi Albacore Tuna, which is lightly flame seared. It came with a masatake sauce, which is a mixture of onions, garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Nothing too special, but I did enjoy the sauce more than your typical ponzu.

Braised Beef Shank

Lastly, there was the Braised Beef Shank, which was very tender. It came on top of a yukon potato puree, which was buttery and delicious, as well as a wasabi-veal jus, which gave it that horseradish flavouring.

Miku Signature Sushi

The entree is the Miku Signature Sushi, which features a selection of Aburi, Nigiri, and Oshi Sushi. Starting from the top left was the Albacore Tuna Nigiri Sushi, which is flame seared with a miso glaze and welsh onion. The tuna was fatty and melted in your mouth. Next to that was the Ebi Nigiri Sushi, which is also flamed seared with a creamy pesto. I love the use of pesto here. On the right was the Sunrise Roll, which has a wasabi marinated tuna tartare in the center, and is wrapped with red tuna. It’s then topped with wasabi aioli. We all agreed that this was just average and nothing too memorable. The two rectangular pieces were the Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi, which is basically why I love Miku so much. It’s their signature pressed and flamed seared sushi with two layers of sockeye salmon, the irresistible Miku sauce, and topped with a slice of jalapeno and cracked black pepper. The salmon just melts in your mouth and the jalapeno gives it a slight kick. I could honestly just order plates of this and be satisfied.

Feature Mango Sorbet

To finish, the dessert was a choice of house made vanilla bean ice cream or the Mango Sorbet. Our whole table went for the mango sorbet, which came presented with candied sugar and a lemon coconut cookie and seasonal fruits. We found that the mango sorbet was slightly tart, but paired with the cookie, which was rather bland, it balanced it out.

Overall, the food didn’t disappoint once again, but service was a huge miss. One that sort of deters me from coming back. But then again, they have my favourite Aburi Salmon Oshi… and the ambiance is beautiful with the waterfront views.

Pros:
– Aburi Salmon Oshi is absolutely delicious
– Beautiful views by the waterfront

Cons:
– We had no service this time around
– Prices on their regular menu are quite expensive for the amount of food you get

Price Range: $30-40

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 1
Ambiance: 4
Parking: 3
Overall: 3

Torarenbo Japanese Restaurant 虎連坊

January 11, 2015Leave a comment

Salmon Sashimi

I’ve been to Torarenbo years ago, and didn’t think it was too memorable, but I decided to go back and see how it is now. Parking is pretty difficult around dinner time in the complex on Park Road since there are several other restaurants. We were greeted by Chinese speaking employees, so we knew that this wouldn’t be authentic Japanese food. We started off with the Salmon Sashimi, with an order arriving with 7 pieces. The sashimi were a decent size and was very fresh. Slightly pricey compared to other restaurants.

Rainbow Roll

Next was the Rainbow Roll, which came with 8 pieces and was visually quite attractive. It was essentially a basic California roll, but topped with different sashimi, including tuna, salmon, and prawn. Not bad.

Fantastic Roll

Next was the Fantastic Roll, which was my favourite. It came in a pretty flower shape with 6 pieces. It was filled with chopped scallop, toro and mango, and topped with tobiko. I liked the hint of sweetness from the mango.

We also got the Seafood Nabeyaki Udon, which I forgot to get a picture of. This was a seafood hot pot style soup noodle and the soup was extremely delicious! Very sweet, but I’m assuming there wasn’t MSG since I wasn’t thirsty after dinner. A large portion noodles with scallops, two fried ebi tempuras, and fish.

Overall, we were quite satisfied with the food, but I thought it was slightly pricey. They seem to have a returning clientele though, since the servers seemed to know many of the customers. Most of their tables are reserved beforehand and it actually gets filled up during dinner time. I can see why since their service was extremely friendly.

Pros:
– Fresh sashimi
– Service was exceptional

Cons:
– Parking can be difficult
– Not your authentic Japanese owned restaurant

Price Range: $15-25

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 5
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 2
Overall: 3.5

Every Day is a Food Day

Category: Japanese

Sushi Gallery

Gyoza King

Yah Yah Ya Ramen

Guu Garlic (revisit)

Zipang Provisions

Hapa Izakaya (Robson) – DOVF 2015

Miku – DOVF 2015

Torarenbo Japanese Restaurant 虎連坊