Tamago to Watashi 卵と私 (MyLord Shinjuku) – Tokyo

September 6, 2014September 5, 2014Leave a comment

The next day, we headed to Shinjuku. Shinjuku is known to be filled with great shopping and businesses. The Shinjuku station is also the busiest train station in the world! Next to the station, there is a large shopping mall called MyLord filled with young women fashion that is more affordable. On the top 3 floors, it nests a variety of restaurants. We ended up trying Tamago to Watashi.

Tamago to Watashi focuses on omurice. It’s an omlette filled with fried rice and can be topped with several different sauces. The most original one is probably topped with ketchup. This is a western style Japanese dish.

Omurice with Demi-Glace Sauce

C and T shared the Omurice with Demi-Glace Sauce. They said the sauce was very good!

Demi-glace and White Sauce Omurice

K and I chose the Demi-glace and White Sauce Omurice. The omlette was mixed with both the demi-glace sauce and a white creamy sauce. The demi-glace came with some mushrooms to bring more flavour to it. The rice was cooked well and served hot.

The restaurant forces you to purchase at least one item per customer, whether it be just a drink or what not. So we ended up getting an iced tea with it. The iced tea was the American type of iced tea, where it was unsweetened. Our meal also came with a soup, which had a very flavourful stock. Overall, Tamago to Watashi was decent. I found it a little pricey with the omurice being at least 1,000 yen. It was good, but wasn’t amazing.

Address: 160-0023 Tokyo, Shinjuku, Nishishinjuku, 1 Chome−1−3, 小田急新宿ミロード7F

Kindenmaru 金伝丸 (Shibuya) – Tokyo

September 5, 20142 Comments

The next morning, we woke up early to take the airport limousine to Incheon Airport. We had the worst luck ever and were stuck in a huge lineup for check in. Luckily, after some speedy runs, we made it to the gate and boarded our Asiana flight. Super happy with the service on Asiana Airlines and I would definitely recommend it! We had great meals even for a 2-3 hour flight, and the flight attendants were extremely friendly! Next thing you know, we were in Tokyo, and we took an airport bus to Shibuya station. We had a terrible encounter dealing with our Airbnb host, but we finally settled in. We stayed literally on the streets of Shibuya, so it was extremely convenient.

For dinner, we walked across the street and found a bunch of restaurants. Shibuya is filled with restaurants, but the shops are also very small! Most of them were actually all occupied. We ended up at Kindenmaru 金伝丸, where we luckily snatched four seats at the bar table. Here, you can watch the chefs prepare your noodles.

In Japan, it’s pretty neat how many ramen shops just place a vending machine, and you can insert your money and click on the dish you want. A little ticket will print out, and you just give it to the server or chef. It’s not about the service at these shops, but rather about the efficiency. You can sit down, get your food, and leave. We realized that most Japanese people don’t linger around and chat at these shops. The ramens at Kindenmaru were roughly 800 to 1000 yen, which was actually a bit pricier than many of the other ramen shops.

Garlic Ramen

T got the Garlic Ramen, which had a deep brown coloured broth. I had a taste of it, and I really enjoyed the flavour! Very rich and thick. If you like more flavourful broths, this is the one for you.

Miso Ramen

K and C both got the Miso Ramen. As you can see, the broth is again very cloudy, showing that the stock had probably simmered for many hours.

Shoyu Ramen

For myself, I chose the Shoyu Ramen, which is soy sauce based. Like the other ramen, it came with a soft boiled egg split in two. The yolk could have been more runny as I found that it was starting to become more of a hard boiled egg. It also came with two slices of cha-shu (pork), beansprouts, corn, kelp, and green onions. The noodles were bouncy and chewy. Loved it! There was also quite a lot of ramen and I was thoroughly full. The only downside was that I found the broth to be a little too salty. Otherwise, it was a delicious bowl of ramen!

Address: 2-9-2 Dogenzaka, Shibuya, Tokyo

Kishimoto

August 3, 2014Leave a comment

On my birthday, I asked to have dinner at Kishimoto. I’ve seen gorgeous platings from this Japanese restaurant for quite some time now, but Commercial Drive isn’t exactly the area I usually drive by. Finally, we made our way here, and there’s surprisingly quite a lot of free parking in the residential areas across the street. There was a line up as usual, and we waited roughly 15-30 minutes before we got a seat. The restaurant doesn’t have many fans, so it was boiling hot as well. Most of the servers and chefs looked and spoke Japanese, so I’m assuming it’s Japanese run. Not a huge restaurant though, so I see why there are always line ups.

Hamachi Ishinabe

First, we got the Hamachi Ishinabe, which I apologize for the blurry picture. It’s very similar to a Korean bibimbap, where the rice is served in a hot stone bowl. It’s topped with hamachi fish, a raw egg, and some seaweed. When you squish the sides of the rice to the sides of the bowl, you get some crispy rice.

The server helped mix the rice for us, and this is the final product. The fish was very soft and smooth, and I love the flavour of the sauce used. It tasted sort of like the unagi sauce.

Salmon Oshi Sushi

Next was the Salmon Oshi Sushi. If you’re familiar with Miku’s signature Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi, then you’ll find the one at Kishimoto very similar. Except it’s a few dollars cheaper! The sushi rice is shaped into a rectangular shape, topped with salmon, a creamy sauce and crackled black pepper and seared with a torch to give it a nice char. It’s then topped with a slice of jalapeno. Everything was great about this dish, but if you’re had Miku’s, then I think that their special Miku sauce still wins. Otherwise, I could settle for this less pricey version.

Chopped Scallop Roll, Spider Roll, Dragon Roll

Kishimoto is known for their plating – especially that thinly sliced radish and edamame flower. I was excited when the rest of our rolls came, since it came just with that beautiful plating. It also came with a candle with a radish sliced into a cylinder. Super cool! You can basically eat all this art too, but I’m not sure how clean it is. On the top left was the Chopped Scallop Roll. Quite average, with a good amount of filling and fresh scallops. In front, was the Dragon Roll, which feature 2 pieces of prawn tempura, tobiko, and avocado and unagi on top. It was flavoured with an unagi sauce. On the right around the flower, there was the Spider Roll, which was filled with avocado, softshell crab tempura, massago, cucumber, and lettuce. It was wrapped around a thinly sliced sheet of radish.

Salmon Sashimi (9pc) & Tuna Sashimi (6pc)

Then came the sashimi, which came in an impressive block of ice. That’s a huge block! The fresh fish were decorated with flowers and leaves. Super pretty! In the back were the Salmon Sashimi, which we opted for 9 pieces. Each were cut at just the right amount to have a a good texture. Very fresh! In front, the Toro Sashimi were curled up like flowers. Again, very fresh and the toro was smooth and buttery.

Plain Okonomiyaki

Lastly, we had the Plain Okonomiyaki, which was probably one of my favourites! It came with a side of bonito flakes. The okonomiyaki was quite thick, but filled generously with vegetables. I loved the flavouring and it was something that helped fill our stomachs.

Overall, Kishimoto lived up to it’s hype. Great food at decent prices. I’m not sure if I would make the trip all the way here that often though. But if I’m in the neighbourhood, I wouldn’t mind coming here for some Japanese food!

Kamamarui Ramen & Don

August 1, 2014August 1, 20142 Comments

J, S, and K had intended to surprise me with an afternoon of kayaking in the Burnaby Deer Lake, but unfortunately, it began pouring. We ended up going to Metrotown to walk around, and the sun decided to come out… As lunch time passed, we got hungry and began looking for food on our phones. After what seemed forever, we finally decided to go to Kamamarui. There’s barely any parking in the lot, so you may need to park somewhere further away. The restaurant is extremely small. It fits probably under 20 diners. It’s also run by only two young Korean men, so service is definitely much slower. One cooks, while the other serves. However, service is friendly and the decor is simple but clean. We waited roughly 15 minutes, and was able to get a seat.

Tonkotsu Cha-shu Ramen

They basically only have 3 types of ramen. Two pork soup based ramens, with one flavoured with soy sauce and one flavoured with miso. The other is the Veggie Ramen, which is miso soup based. Then you have the option to add cha-shu or sliced pork to it. For myself, I chose the Tonkotsu Cha-Shu Ramen, which was pork soup based and seasoned with soy flavour. It had green onions, bean sprouts and cha-shu (sliced pork). You get quite a lot of cha-shu compared to other ramen shops, but they were quite different. These were more marinated and flavoured. They were also slightly seared or grilled on the sides. I enjoy the traditional cha-shu much more than this modernized version. As for noodles, you get a decent amount, and the texture is chewy, just how I like it. On the table, there are three sauces. There is a chili sauce, a spicy sauce, and a ramen sauce. You can add these sauces as you wish if you find that you want more flavour, saltiness, or spiciness. To be honest, I found that the broth lacked flavour and depth. It wasn’t rich like the ones at Kintaro. I found it rather bland, and had to add quite a bit of the ramen sauce to bring more flavour to the soup.

Miso Cha-shu Ramen

J got the Miso Cha-shu Ramen, which is a miso & pork soup base seasoned with miso flavour. Again, it had green onions, bean sprouts, and cha-shu. Both the miso and tonkotsu ramen come to $11.50 if you choose to add the cha-shu. For each ramen, we also added the Special Nigiri Bomb, so the total became $13 for the set. I’ll speak more about the bomb below.

Vege Ramen

K got the Vege Ramen, which was miso soup based seasoned with miso flavour and topped with green onions, bean sprouts and corn. I actually wish my ramen had come with corn as well, but you had to pay for extra toppings for the non-vegetarian ramens. K said her vege ramen was quite delicious.

Soft Egg

I love soft boiled eggs in my ramen, since I love that runny yolk in the middle. Plus, it’s not something I would spend time making for breakfast in the mornings at home. For an extra $1.50, I chose to add the “Soft Egg“. We were all sad to realize that the soft egg wasn’t what we were hoping for. Instead, it came in it’s own separate dish, and looked like it had been pre-made. It had a runny yolk in the middle, and the whites were also very runny. It was topped with a teriyaki sauce and some green onions. I didn’t really like it and wouldn’t order it again.

Special Nigiri Bomb

Lastly, the Bombs arrived! They were seasoned seaweed with rice and teriyaki sauce and they were my favourite part of the meal! The rice was seasoned so well, and it wasn’t too sticky. Absolutely loved the flavouring!

All in all, the ramens are average, but if you’re in the Burnaby area, it’s not a bad choice. I would still choose the downtown ramen shops as I find the broth more flavourful. I really like the bombs though, so that’s something I would definitely re-order. They also have several donburi choices, so perhaps that would be something to try next time.

Guu Richmond (Lunch)

July 31, 2014Leave a comment

Negitoro & Spicy Sashimi Chirashi Set

For my birthday, N took me out for lunch and since we were too lazy to drive all the way Downtown, we settled for Guu Kitanoya in Aberdeen Centre. It was actually my first time at Guu for lunch, so I was excited as I heard they have good lunch sets and deals. They have daily lunch specials from 11:30am, and on Saturday, they featured the Negitoro & Spicy Sashimi Chirashi Set for only $10.80. I went for that set and it was super filling and delicious! It came with a miso soup and a spicy cold mini udon. The udon was one of those with a little bit of soy sauce, but it also had a kick to it. I loved it! Then, there was the chirashi set, which came with negitoro, spicy sashimi, and seasoned jelly fish with perilla sauce on rice. The chirashi set was negitoro style, as it was all minced sashimi. I really enjoyed the seasoned jelly fish though. It had a distinct flavour, and I loved the crunchy texture. Definitely was filled up with this set!

Chirashi – assorted sashimi on sushi rice

N got the Chirashi Don. It was super colourful and pleasing to look at! It came with a miso soup and a side of cold macaroni. The macaroni was seasoned with a bit of spice and was quite interesting. Her don featured salmon, tuna, surf clam and more. It looked really delicious! I think she enjoyed her meal just as much as I did, and she was very filled as well.

Overall, Guu never fails to satisfy me! I absolutely love their lunch sets too. They’re of such great value, quality, and quantity! They have a variety of other lunch sets, which I want to revisit and try!

Kintaro Ramen

July 7, 2014Leave a comment

Miso Ramen – medium broth and fat Cha-shu

After a sunny afternoon of biking at Stanley Park, K and I were hungry for food. Since we were on Denman, we began walking towards Robson and of course we came across Kintaro. I’ve been to Kintaro years ago, when it first got all hyped up with the long lines. This was before I started this blog, so of course I had to document it this time. Luckily, it was an odd time to have dinner as it was a bit too early, so we quickly got a seat. Soon after though, there began to form small lines. Definitely still not as crazy as years ago, since there are several other ramen shops in the neighbourhood now. Anyways, I decided to get the Miso Ramen. For the broth, you can choose heavy, medium, or light. As for the Cha-shu (bbq pork), you can choose fat or lean. I chose the medium broth and of course the fat cha-shu. My bowl came and it was a deep yellow broth. A spoon of the broth told me it was going to be a satisfying meal. Their broth is so rich and flavourful! The ramen is chewy and the cha-shu had just the right amount of fat and meat. A good portion of noodles, topped with bean sprouts, green onions, and corn. You only get one slice of cha-shu though, which is similar to many of the other ramen shops. However, the price at Kintaro is always very reasonable.

Cold Ramen

K went for the Cold Ramen. I’ve never actually tried this one, but it looked very colourful! Since it was such a hot day, it was probably actually a good idea to get this dish rather than the boiling hot bowl I had. It came with a variety of veggies and kelp. She had the cha-shu on the side, so I had them. The cha-shu in her bowl was definitely not as good as mine. It was much more rough and also had no fat on it. I guess it would’ve worked well with her noodles, but definitely not with mine. She had a light sauce to go with her noodles. She said she was quite satisfied with her noodles.

Overall, Kintaro is always a good spot to grab some ramen, especially after hitting up Stanley Park. I find that their ramen are much more reasonably priced, compared to some of the other nearby shops. Small shop with limited seating, but people eat ramen quite quickly, so the line usually moves quickly.

Sushi Town (Burnaby)

July 6, 2014Leave a comment

Spicy Salmon Sashimi

Sushi Town is very similar to Sushi Garden, with cheap prices and large portions. They have two locations – one in North Burnaby and one in Coquitlam. We went to the one in Burnaby, and it’s located in a weird area with a lot of residential housing nearby. You’ll probably be able to find free parking just down the streets in front of someone’s house. The place is packed, but since I was half an hour late, my friends were already seated. We shared the Spicy Salmon Sashimi, which is one of their popular dishes. Loads of salmon sashimi cut into cubes with a spicy sauce. I love the mix of cucumber cubes in it as well. A good deal!

Chopped Scallop Roll

I chose the Chopped Scallop Roll. It was filled with lots of scallop, but I wouldn’t say it was that great. The rice was falling apart and the flavour wasn’t the best I’ve had. But for the price, you get filled up if you don’t look at the presentation.

Takoyaki

For the Takoyaki, it came quite nicely presented, with bonito flakes on top. The inside however was more dough than filling. Definitely not a lot of octopus. I would say they are average.

Mango Roll

We also chose two of their specialty rolls. The specialty rolls are pretty good deals since they’re around $4-$5. Normally, specialty rolls are at least $8 at other restaurants. But then again, they use more expensive ingredients. The Mango Roll came with imitation crab, cucumber, and some mango. It was topped with cooked ebi or shrimp and drizzled with a mayo sauce. Not bad as you get some of the sweet and sour from the mango. I do wish they had put a bit more mango though.

Awesome Roll

Lastly, S recommended the Awesome Roll. I believe this was one of their pricier rolls at around $7. However, it included tons of ingredients. It had imitation crab, cucumber, avocado and masago. On top, there was a slice of salmon sashimi, a sweet teriyaki sauce, and bonito flakes. Great flavours when mixed together!

Overall, I was quite satisfied with Sushi Town. You need to go in knowing that quality is not going to be best. This place is all about value, and you’ll definitely be filled up without breaking your wallet. I know that people say that service is quite bad here, but I actually didn’t really experience it at all. The servers took our orders right away (although they sort of rushed us to get our orders down as quickly as possible), but they also poured us tea very frequently. At the end of our meal, we had probably sat for quite some time too, and they didn’t throw us the bill, like many other places would. Definitely would revisit more often if it wasn’t so far for me.

Charcoal Sushi & BBQ (Revisit #3)

July 2, 2014July 2, 2014Leave a comment

Chopped Scallop Roll

After my graduation, we decided to go grab a quick graduation dinner. We didn’t have much planned, so we just headed to Charcoal Sushi & BBQ. I’ve blogged quite a few times about it, but I tried a few different items this time, so I find it worth blogging about. First, we got my all time favourite Chopped Scallop Roll. They are filled with lots of scallop and cucumbers and topped with sesame seeds.

Beef Yaki-udon

Next, we had the Beef Yaki-udon. I think the Mentaiko Yaki-udon was much better. This was flavourful, but wasn’t too special. Tasted just like any other yaki-udon you could get elsewhere.

Snow White Roll

For rolls, we got the Snow White Roll. It was filled with cooked salmon, and topped with chopped scallop and shaved coconut. I thought the coconut would be sort of weird, but it actually tasted really good together! It was also a spicy roll, as there was a spicy mayo sauce.

Rainbow Roll

We also got the Rainbow Roll, which is really just California roll with a mixture of sashimi on the top. It came with tuna, salmon, hokkigai, and other white fish I’m not familiar with. Love the sashimi on top! Very fresh!

Tuna Tataki

Oddly enough, our appetizers came last. I found this a little disappointing, since I was looking forward to eating this at the beginning of my meal. Anyways, we got the Tuna Tataki and although it was seared nicely on the sides, I found it lack flavour. I wish it had a stronger sauce. I felt like I was just eating seared tuna with no seasoning.

Beef Sashimi

Lastly, we were presented with the Beef Sashimi, which again would’ve been preferred as a starter. It came with many slices and was actually quite fresh. The only issue I had with it was that it was a slightly thick cut and I felt like they had not defrosted it enough. Otherwise, the flavour was really good with a hint of a vinaigrette taste to it.

Overall, Charcoal is always a decent place to go for Japanese food. It’s by no means authentic food, but it’s definitely better than many of the Chinese owned restaurants. Prices are also average. Only issue is the restaurant has a small seating capacity, so it’s important to make reservations.