Maruwa Sushi

July 21, 2015July 21, 2015Leave a comment

Beef Roll, Chicken Roll, California Roll

Maruwa Sushi is a Japanese restaurant in Ironwood Mall. I felt like I should switch it up with my usual sushi take out spots and try a new one, so we ended up going to the restaurant to place our order. A short 15 minutes, and our food was ready. S got the not-so-traditional rolls as he usually goes for. The Beef Roll and Chicken Roll both looked packed with meat. S said that the rolls were decent.

Chopped Scallop Roll, Negitoro Roll, Salmon Roll

As for myself, I went for my usual favourites, which are the Chopped Scallop, Negitoro and Salmon Roll. I found that they were rolled pretty nicely and tight. However, I did find that there was slightly a bit too much rice. I liked how they put wasabi in the rolls already. The seafood was fresh and overall, it was quite good.

Overall, Maruwa Sushi is a decent choice for take out sushi. Prices are reasonable and quality is pretty good. Service was also quite friendly.

Pros:
– Decent sushi
– Reasonably priced

Cons:
– A bit too much rice to filling ratio

Price Range: $10-15

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

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

Sushi Van

July 4, 2015July 4, 2015Leave a comment

Roll Combo

Sushi Van is located on Granville near Broadway, and is among one of my favourite spots to have lunch with my colleagues since it’s close by and we don’t really have any other sushi restaurants nearby. It’s tucked away underneath the Vancouver Bullion Currency Exchange, so is a bit of a hidden gem for some. The tiny, but busy restaurant is run by Koreans, but the food is still pretty authentic and there are some decent eats.

My typical order will consist of the Roll Combo, since I find it to be a pretty good deal. For $9, you can choose any of their rolls which are under $6 and you get 5 pieces of assorted nigiri. The nigiris consist of Hokigai (surf clam), Tamago (egg), Ebi (shrimp), Tuna, and Salmon. The sashimi is actually pretty fresh and the rice portion is pretty on par. For the roll I can choose, I usually go for the House Roll, which consists of assorted fish, usually salmon and tuna, crab meat, cucumber, avocado, and masago. You really get a mix of ingredients here, and it works pretty well.

Negitoro Roll

I usually also add on a Negitoro Roll, and then I am filled.

Teriyaki & Sashimi Box

They also offer a variety of bento boxes during lunch hours,and E got the Teriyaki & Sashimi Box. It features beef teriyaki, an assortment of appy size sashimi, appy size tempura, salad, 4 pieces of California Roll, and rice. It’s quite a lot of food for around $12, but the quality is actually pretty good. You get quite a lot of sashimi too, with tuna, salmon, hamachi, and amebi.

Dynamite Roll and Chicken Teriyaki Roll

S went for some of the basics and got the Dynamite Roll which was filled with prawn tempura, avocado, cucumber, crab meat, masago. He also got the Chicken Teriyaki Roll, which is filled with chicken teriyaki and cucumbers. The neat thing about Sushi Van is that they use green tea in their rice, so you’ll find the rice to be a bit tinted in green. Apparently it’s more healthy this way.

Beef Box

Stevie D got the Beef Box, which features beef teriyaki, 4 pieces of California Roll, an appy size of tempura, salad, and rice.

Party Tray A

On another occasion, E and I decided to go all out and get the Party Tray A for just the two of us. It’s designed for 2-3 people, as the menu says, but I guess it’s really ideal for 3 as we ended up having quite a bit of leftover. You get quite a large variety, including the salmon roll, California roll, dynamite roll, spicy tuna roll, calamari roll, and Salifornia roll, which is California roll wrapped salmon and deep fried with BBQ sauce. For around $25, this is a pretty good deal if you share between 3 people.

Overall, Sushi Van offers some decent eats at a reasonable price. It can be quite busy during lunch hours, so service is not always the best. Seating can also be a bit cramped here since it’s relatively small. However, with the limited choices around here, it makes a good spot to enjoy some sushi. Oh, and be sure to try their Tokyo Tower, which is also a favourite!

Pros:
– Decent eats
– Reasonable prices

Cons:
– Service can be lacking during busy hours

Price Range: $10-20

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

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

Kaneda Japanese Restaurant 金田 – revisit

April 24, 2015April 24, 2015Leave a comment

Green Salad and Miso Soup

Kaneda is located just a short walk from work, and I actually visited the restaurant a few years back when it had opened. During that last visit, we had gone for their all you can eat dinner menu. Reading the post I had written back then, I commented that I wouldn’t be returning since the service and quality of food was pretty bad. However, since SD said his last visit was pretty good, we decided to take his word and give it a try. During lunch, they also have the all you can eat menu, but we ordered a la carte. We all went for their lunch bento boxes, which were priced at a great value of $9.00. All bento boxes start with a green salad and miso soup. This was very average. Tasted just like your typical all you can eat soup and salad.

Lunch Box C

For myself, I got Lunch Box C, which featured Chicken Teriyaki, Assorted Tempura, Assorted Sushi and Rice. The chicken teriyaki was very average and I found it quite oily. The assorted tempura had way too much batter, hence very oily. I felt like I was just eating fried oil after a few bites. You do get two ebi tempuras, but it’s coated heavily in batter. The assorted sushi ended up being 3 nigiris. You get salmon, tuna and ebi. I found that the seafood wasn’t too fresh. I guess you get what you pay for. This will fill you up, but the quality isn’t great.

Lunch Box A

SS got Lunch Box A, which featured Chicken Teriyaki, Assorted Tempura, California Roll, and Rice. S also agreed that there was way too much batter on the tempura. He felt the California rolls were mediocre and not memorable.

The lunch boxes also end with a mango pudding, but this was also quite sub par. E and I both agreed that it lacked any flavour and the consistency wasn’t very smooth. There were bits of the batter that didn’t seem to be mixed thoroughly or sifted. Will I be returning again? Probably not. Good value, but quality is below average.

Pros:
– Lots of seating
– Inexpensive

Cons:
– Poor quality sushi

Price Range: $10-15

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

Food: 2
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 3
Overall: 2

Ebisu (Richmond) – revisit

April 20, 2015April 20, 2015Leave a comment

Party Salmon Sashimi

The last time I blogged about Ebisu at the Richmond location was around 2 years ago. Since I ended up giong to Ebisu two times in a week, I thought it would be a good time to do a revisit post. The first revisit was during a weekday dinner time with J, S, and M. We started with the Party Salmon Sashimi, which comes with 12 pieces of sashimi. The sashimi is fresh and each piece was cut to a good size.

Tiger Mayo

Next was the Tiger Mayo, which featured deep fried Black Tiger prawns with mayonnaise sauce. The prawns came on top of a crispy wonton cracker. The prawns were large, but I didn’t find the batter to be light or crispy enough. These were just sub par.

Chicken Karaage

Another appetizer we ordered was the Chicken Karaage. These boneless chicken were marinated with sake and soy sauce, then deep fried. Again, I found them to be just average. Nothing mind blowing.

B.C. Blazer

We also ordered the B.C. Blazer, which was California roll topped with salmon and a special combination of teriyaki sauce and spicy mayo. This was pretty good for a modern style roll, with the roll having lots of sauce and flavours.

Inferno Toro Sushi

We also ordered one of their signature dishes, which is the Inferno Toro Sushi. This is box pressed with sesame and sushi rice and the toro is seared at the table by the waitress. Hidden inside the rice is a shiso leaf, which gives it a distinct flavour. The toro melted in your mouth and this was probably my favourite dish of the night.

Royal Miyagi Oysters

On a second visit, S and I decided to visit during Happy Hour, which is daily from 3pm to 6pm. During happy hour, they have a couple of deals going on. One of them were the Royal Miyagi Oysters, which go for a special deal for $0.99 per piece with a minimum of 3 pieces per order. Since S doesn’t eat raw oysters, I ordered half a dozen for myself. These are tiny oysters and come from the Cortes Island in B.C. They were fresh and sweet. Great with a dash of Tabasco sauce.

Thunder Fries

We also ordered an appie of Thunder Fries, which were discounted to $4.95. These are freshly cut deep fried sweet potato sticks and are served with a tangy house cajun dip. I like the use of sweet potatoes, but I find that the tempura batter is too oily and thick. The dip is pretty good though.

Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings

During happy hour, they also have chicken wings for 49 cents each. We decided to have an early dinner, so went all out with the wings. The minimum order is 10 pieces per flavour, so we chose three different flavours. We started off with the Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings, but this was underwhelming. I felt like they barely even put any salt or pepper on it. It just tasted like regular wings, but the wings were way overcooked. They ended up being very dry. Almost felt like eating dry ribs.

Japanese Miso Chicken Wings

The second flavour we chose was the Japanese Miso. This was probably one of the better flavours, but it still fell short. They literally just pour some sauce on top of the salt and pepper wings. They aren’t actually marinated and some of the wings aren’t even covered with sauce. Again, super dry meat. The wings are also extremely small.

Traditional Teriyaki Chicken Wings

Lastly, we had the Traditional Teriyaki Chicken Wings. These were probably the worst. This didn’t even taste like teriyaki. They were slightly spicy with an odd flavour. Very disappointed with their wings and I wouldn’t be returning for wings for sure.

Overall, Ebisu is your typical Japanese chain restaurant. I find the dishes to be pricey for the quality of food you get. If you’re looking for izakaya food, I would much rather visit Guu, which I find executes the dishes much better.

Pros:
– Modern sushi rolls are decent
– Ambiance is pretty nice with a bar in the middle

Cons:
– Terrible chicken wings
– Regular menu is pricey for the quality of food

Price Range: $20-30

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

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

Takeya Sushi

April 15, 2015April 15, 2015Leave a comment

Takeya Sushi is located in the Seafair Mall on No.1 and is Japanese run. The restaurant offers sit in, but is not the largest or most glamourous looking restaurant, so many choose to order take out. When we arrived just before 6:00pm, there was already a wait for tables. We decided to skip the dine in and ordered take out.

Sushi Combo H – 1 California Roll, 1 Mango California Roll, 1 Papaya California Roll

S chose Sushi Combo H, which comes with three variations of the California Roll. You get your typical California Roll, and then one filled with mango and the other filled with papaya. I’ve seen many restaurants with mango in their California rolls, but was surprised to see the papaya. S thought the sushi was good and yummy. He said he would likely return.

Takeya Nigiri – lightly grilled (Salmon Toro, Tuna Toro, Saba, Amaebi, Unagi, Salmon Roll (3pcs), Tuna Roll (3pcs)

For myself, I went for the Takeya Nigiri. They have Chef’s Specials every motnh, and you can check online to see what’s new. The Takeya Nigiri set was this month’s special. It was a great deal at $11.95 for an assortment of lightly grilled nigiris along with two maki rolls. The fish was very fresh and I especially liked the Salmon Toro and Tuna Toro. These two just melted in your mouth.

I can see why people line up for Takeya. It is a gem in Richmond with affordable, fresh and authentic sushi. Presentation-wise, it’s not the fanciest, since they use paper cups for the wasabi and pickled ginger. However, quality beats it. I’ll definitely be returning and it’s a great choice for take out.

Pros:
– Fresh and good quality sushi
– Reasonable prices

Cons:
– Always long waits for dine in

Price Range: $10-20

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

Food: 4
Service: N/A (take-out)
Ambiance: 2
Parking: 4
Overall: 3.5

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

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

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

Every Day is a Food Day

Tag: Sushi

Maruwa Sushi

Sushi Van

Kaneda Japanese Restaurant 金田 – revisit

Ebisu (Richmond) – revisit

Takeya Sushi

Sushi Gallery

Zipang Provisions

Miku – DOVF 2015