Sushizanmai (Shibuya East Exit Branch) – Tokyo

September 15, 2014Leave a comment

C’s friend suggested that we should try Sushizanmai, which has several locations in Tokyo. A popular location is actually the one near the Tsukiji Fish Market. However, we decided to check out the one at Shibuya’s East Exit. Here, they are open 24 hours! When we arrived, there was a bar table and some tables, and all were empty but around two. However, they told us they were all reserved. We were only allowed to eat at the bar table.

Plum Wine

I love plum wine and since I hadn’t tried it in Japan this whole trip, I decided it was time to try it out. Sadly, it was slightly different from the ones I’ve had before. It wasn’t that sweet ume plum taste. It was also quite pricey for a very small glass. Should have probably bought a bottle at the sueprmarket instead.

Maguro Tuna, Squid Legs, Scallop

The nigiris here are a lot more pricey than the ones I’ve had so far. But by no means is it crazily expensive like Jiros. I would say it’s quite average pricing and similar to Vancouver’s. Since we were here for more of a snack, we each ordered a few nigiris only. I chose the Tuna, which was probably the best I had so far. Next were the squid legs, which were decent, but not the best. I wish they had added a sauce to it. Lastly, the scallops were very fresh.

Blue Fin Toro Temaki

I also added an order of the Blue Fin Toro Temaki. The toro was very fatty and buttery. There was actually quite a lot wrapped in the rice. Yummy!

Fried Squid

C ordered the Fried Squid for us to share. Grilled Squid which was then battered and fried. It was decent with the squid being very tender, but I thought the batter was just decent.

Uni Temaki

K ordered the Uni Temaki, which is sea urchin. She said the uni here was much more fresh than the one at Sushi Daidokoya.

Maguro Tuna, Fatty Tuna, Scallop

She also got a few nigiris. She got the Maguro Tuna and Scallop, just as I did. However, in the middle, she also got the Fatty Tuna, which she said was very buttery.

I believe they also have nigiri sets, which are probably a better deal. Good quality food, but I would settle for the standing sushi bar since it’s much cheaper.

Address: 2 Chome-22-11 Shibuya, Tokyo

Sushi Daidokoya すし台所家 (Shibuya) – Tokyo

September 12, 2014September 11, 2014Leave a comment

Sushi Daidokoya is located in Shibuya and literally just by the corner of our apartment. Every time we walk past it, there are people in it. For me, it’s always a good sign when I see people inside a restaurant. It’s open from the morning until late night. During the day, they have some pretty good deals like Chirashi-don. Wish I had tried that… Anyways, after a tiring day in the sun, we decided to head down to grab a late night snack.

Sushi Daidokoya offers kaiten sushi, or more familiarly known as conveyor belt sushi! However, at the time we arrived, there weren’t too many sushi on the conveyor belt. Instead, we were told we could just tell the chef what we wanted and they would place the order. Pricing is determined by the colour of the plate. Luckily, a Japanese couple sat next to us and were able to speak English fluently. They were able to give us some tips on what was good!

The server gave us an English menu with pictures. Most orders come in two and are very well priced. Some items are pricier than at the Standing Sushi Bar (my personal favourite), but some are cheaper. Really depends on what you order. It ranges from 120 yen to 500 yen.

Maguro – Tuna (120yen)

The tuna did not look as nice as the one at the Standing Sushi Bar, but was still very fresh. Cheap price tag too!

3 Types of Grilled Fish (500 yen)

We ordered the 3 types of grilled fish, which were as named, all slightly seared on the top. I didn’t try all of them, but I had the one in the middle. I believe it was aburi salmon. Not bad!

Grilled Fatty Salmon – Aburi Toro Salmon (240 yen)

The grilled fatty salmon comes in two as well, but someone ate the piece too quickly! This piece of salmon was more fatty than the previous one. It was lightly seared and topped with some wasabi. It melted in your mouth! Loved it!

Tamago

The Japanese couple recommended us to try the Tamago. Here, the tamago are in thick blocks and filled with other ingredients like sausage! It was really yummy! Not your regular tamago.

Scallop – Hotate (240 yen)

The scallop were thick and fatty. Again, I found that they put much more wasabi in the scallop nigiris. I wonder why… Still good!

Sea Urchin – Uni (240 yen)

Say what? Sea urchin nigiri for only 120 yen a piece? That’s equivalent to roughly $1.20 in Canadian! However, we were slightly disappointed. It wasn’t as fresh and had a fishy taste. They also had the Supreme Sea Urchin on the menu for double the price though… Perhaps we should’ve gotten that instead?

Yellow Tail – Hamachi (120 yen)

Yellow tail can be quite pricey in Canada, but this was a steal! I didn’t get a chance to try this one, but the girls said it was pretty good!

Octopus – Tako (120 yen)

I tried the Octopus, which was very good. Normally, octopus can be slightly too chewy. However, this one was more tender than tough.

Horse Meat – Sakura (500 yen)

Um ues, this was horse meat. Raw horse meat to be exact. I know it may be a taboo in many countries, but it isn’t something too rare in Japanese cuisine. Topped with a bit of ginger, you can still see some of the fat. I took a nibble from the meat and found it to be very gamey. It sort of reminded me of lamb. K ate it and said it wasn’t terrible, but not something she loved. Apparently, they serve raw whale meat here too…

Raw Octopus – Namadako (240 yen)

Lastly, we had the Octopus. I found that it reminded me of cuttlefish. It’s not live octopus, so don’t worry about the suction cups like in Korea… I liked the bouncy chewy texture. Yummy!

Overall, Sushi Daidokoya is great if you want to try a large variety of fish. They also have specials written on signs on the conveyor belt, but it’s mostly in Japanese. If you’re daring and want to try some exotic items you are unlikely to find in America, then this is the place to go! Prices aren’t too bad either and the chefs are very nice even though they don’t speak too much English.

Standing Sushi Bar Uogashi Nihon-ichi (Shibuya) – Tokyo

September 9, 2014September 8, 2014Leave a comment

Prior to our trip, I had done some quick Googling to see which restaurants would be great for sushi, specifically nigiri sushi. There was the popular but expensive Jiro, and a popular one was the Standing Sushi Bar Uogashi Nihon-ichi. Luckily, there are two in the Shibuya area, and one was literally right across the street of our airbnb. It is also extremely close to the Shibuya metro station. K and I decided to head here for a late night snack.

What’s cool about a standing sushi bar is that there are no seats at all. You must stand in front of a bar table to eat, so it’s not the ideal place if you’ve walked too much and need a seat. Perfect if you want to just eat and go though. You meal will usually last from 10 to 20 minutes. Plates and chopsticks are on the lower bar table. On a higher level, they place a lotus leaf where they place the sushi on. You also make your own tea here. There is a hot water dispenser, and you just add a bit of green tea powder in your cup. You tell the chef what you want to order, and he will make it for you on the spot. They provided us with an English menu and we just pointed.

Squid (Ika)

First up was the Squid, which was probably the best ika I’ve had! It was very fresh and had a nice bite to it without being too chewy.

Red Tuna

One of my favourite was the Red Tuna. I liked it because it wasn’t as soft as normal tuna. It had more of a chew, similar to salmon. Very fresh again!

Egg (Tamago)

Next, K wanted to try the Tamago. I didn’t end up trying this since she wanted both. She said it was very good! As you can see, all nigiri come in a pair. The above three items were all only 150 yen for the two pieces. That comes to only 75 yen a piece! That’s like impossible to get in Vancouver! Such a great deal!

Scallop (Hotate)

Next, we got the Scallop, which was also one of my favourites. Each nigiri had two pieces of scallop. All nigiris come with wasabi already placed inside. It’s usually the perfect amount, but I found that they put more in the Scallop one. It might be to remove the fishier taste that scallop usually has. Nevertheless, the scallop was smooth and fresh.

Grilled Squid Tentacles

We then realized many customers were ordering nigiri that were lightly seared with the torch to make it aburi-style. We decided to order the Grilled Squid Tentacles, which was delicious! The tentacles were lightly grilled and topped with some mayo and torched. Loved the grilled flavour and the squid had a nice chew. These were roughly 200 yen, so only 100 yen per piece! A good deal again!

Toro

Since we enjoyed most of the food so far, we decided to just go for it and purchase one of the pricier items on the menu. The Toro! Tuna belly is expensive in Vancouver, and here, they sold the pair for 400 yen. The toro was very smooth and buttery, but I felt like I’ve had better in Vancouver. To be honest, we thought that the red tuna was more worth it! We ended up getting more of the red tuna instead since it’s of much better value. The chef also served us another pair of the red tuna, but didn’t charge us. Super nice!

Grilled Salmon

Since the aburi nigiri was so good, we also got the Grilled Salmon. Again, the salmon was topped with mayo and lightly seared. Loved how the salmon would now melt in your mouth. Yummy!

Overall, I would definitely recommend coming to the Standing Sushi Bar. There are many locations all over Tokyo. Great value and great quality. The service was also extremely friendly! I think we paid less than 1,500 yen each and were more than full! I’d definitely come back here again!

Address: 2-9-1 Dogen, 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!

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.

Akari Japanese Restaurant (Revisit #2)

June 24, 2014Leave a comment

Akari Japanese Restaurant is located in the Coquitlam Town Center and they have made major changes in their menu since the last time I visited. J told me that they now have a $4.95 menu for every item on the menu, so you really need to do some math to figure out which items are a good deal. It’s a Korean owned restaurant, so it’s not exactly authentic Japanese food. We ended up getting several appetizers, but J began to eat them before I even got some pictures! Anyways, here are some of the sushi we got. This included Hamachi, Ebi, Tuna, Sockeye Salmon, and Saba Nigiris. We also got a Chopped Scallop Roll. So basically, each fish was priced at $4.95 and some of them would come with two nigiris or up to four. The salmon and tuna were pretty good deals as each nigiri would come to under $1.25. I found the rolls to be a bit pricey though, as you can usually find typical rolls at a lower price for the same quality. All in all, our food was average. It wasn’t the freshest I’ve had, but it did it’s job. You end up ordering quite a lot since it seems like a good deal, but in the end we ended up paying almost $20 each. You need to be wise when you pick your items here with the new menu.

Minami

June 12, 20141 Comment

A spontaneous night took J and I to Minami, the sister restaurant of Miku. Miku is one of my favourite Japanese restaurants when I’m looking for creativity and aburi sushi, so I had always wanted to try Minami. The restaurant was packed and although we had no reservations, we got a spot at the bar. The environment is definitely much more casual and loud compared to Miku.

Sitting at the bar was actually quite nice as the bartender pretty much serves you the whole night. We had some great prompt service and she was able to answer all our questions. The only downside is you may not have as much privacy since she’s always standing there making drinks.

You get two types of soya sauces at Minami. She said that one is the regular soya sauce, while the other is a little sweeter. I liked the sweeter one.

Premium Nigiri – chef’s selection traditional nigiri

J loves traditional Nigiris, so he got the Premium Nigiri set. It came with seven nigiris that the chef had chosen.

I believe there was tuna, salmon, saba, unagi, and scallop to list a few. He said they were all very fresh and the amount of fish to rice portion was perfect.

Aburi Sushi Sampler – aburi temari, oshi and roll topped with specialty sauces and garnishes

For myself, I got the Aburi Sushi Sampler. It came with 7 dainty little sushi. They were so cute! Some were in the form of temari, which are ball-shaped sushi. Others were oshi (square shaped), while some were regular rolls. They were beautiful to look at! I almost didn’t want to eat them.

Some of the fish I remember included, saba, scallop, salmon and tuna. They were all quite delicious, and the fish was very fresh. However, you don’t get too filled up by these, since they are really half the size of a normal nigiri.

Ebi Oshi Sushi – pressed shrimp, lime zest, ume sauce

We also shared an Ebi Oshi Sushi. We wanted to try one of the oshi sushi, since Miku and Minami are famous for them. The bartender recommended the Ebi Oshi and it was absolutely delicious. The shrimp was slightly seared and it melted in your mouth. I loved the hint of smoky flavour. Definitely recommend trying this!

Green Tea Opera – green tea genoise, dark chocolate ganache, matcha ice cream

Obviously we were still a little hungry by the end of the night. We shared a dessert, and I chose the Green Tea Opera. I’ve had this back at Miku, but I found the one at Minami presented slightly different. Again, it was delicious since I’m a huge matcha fan. It was made of a green tea genoise, which is an Italian sponge cake which is really thin. It had layers of dark chocolate ganache, which made the dessert very smooth in the mouth. It was then topped with fruits and caramelized sugar. On the side, there was a scoop of matcha ice cream topped with a sesame crisp. Definitely ended up our meal very nicely.

Overall, Minami wasn’t too bad. However, I find that the prices are only a few dollars cheaper than Miku. With that being said, I would rather pay a few extra dollars and dine at Miku, since the environment and dishes are much better in my opinion. I find the atmosphere too loud at Minami, and it’s more casual. I also found that the food at Miku was executed more carefully. Not a bad option if I’m in the Yaletown area though.