japanese Archives - Page 22 of 25

Kazu Japanese Restaurant

October 19, 2014

Kazu opened up last month, and replaced Kokoro (which was pretty bad to me, to be honest). Kazu is owned and operated by Japanese staff, hence the authenticity and detailed preparation of their dishes.

I came here with some friends, and couldn’t stop thinking about how damn good their sashimi was and ended up coming for dinner again the next day. This post is a combination of my last two visits (with more to definitely come in the future).

The restaurant itself isn’t that big, but the seating is comfortable and not cramped. The past two times I came here, they had two very friendly staff working. Their English isn’t perfect, but they worked really hard and were really friendly.
As I mentioned earlier, their wild sockeye salmon sashimi was amazing. I was in love at first bite, and I know I say that relatively often, but it absolutely melted in my mouth. The salmon was very fresh, flavourful juicy, and had a slight smoky flavour to it. Look at how rich in colour their wild sockeye salmon is!

On the first visit with our friends, the boyfriend ordered the chopped scallop and negitoro roll. I had a bite of the negitoro roll, and just like the salmon sashimi, I was in love and impressed with how delicious and fresh it was. The tuna was incredibly soft, and melted in your mouth. As for the chopped scallop roll, it was pretty average but there was nothing bad about it. The sashimi really takes the spotlight at Kazu.
We ordered this on a whim after seeing it advertised on the wall. This was the squid karage, it was very crunchy and the lemon juice that we squeezed on top really enhanced the flavours of the squid. We would have liked it better if the tentacles were cut up into smaller pieces instead of two big pieces. It was a bit hard to eat that way, this way was messier and harder to eat without burning your mouth.
For our entree on the first visit, we ordered the tonkatsu, which came with miso soup, salad, and a bowl of rice. The tonkatsu was very juicy and crunchy, tasting exactly like how my Japanese grandma in law (I realized that made me sound like I was married… I meant that my uncle married my aunt, who was from Tokyo oops LOL) would make it in Tokyo. I’m not sure what the salad dressing was, but I’m pretty sure it was made fresh in the restaurant daily, as I noticed that the paste began to separate after 25~ minutes. The salad was very fresh too, and the miso soup was average.
For the second visit with just the boyfriend, we wanted something warm since it was pouring rain that day. We decided to get the tempura udon. Again, this was pretty good. You can tell how clear the broth is, since you can see the noodles at the bottom. It came with chopped onions and different veggies. The broth was a bit salty, but we didn’t find ourselves thirsty after having it. As for the tempura, I was happy that it came with two pieces of shrimp. A unique thing about Kazu was that they served green pepper and string bean tempura, which we haven’t seen before. So the tempura came with shrimp, string bean, green pepper, squash, and yam.
Up next for our second visit was the BC Roll. I didn’t try this since I’m not too big of a BC roll fan, and I had my salmon sashimi (first picture above) already. He really enjoyed the BC Roll and was impressed with how much juicy salmon meat was inside. They definitely did not cheap out on the salmon.

It is quite small and hidden, but the quality and taste of their sashimi is undeniable and top notch for what you pay for. If you’re not a big fan of sashimi, then I wouldn’t recommend that you come here as their cooked dishes are pretty standard. But if you’re a sashimi lover like me, do yourself the favour and check this place out.

-Carmen

Kita No Donburi = Kita No Food

October 1, 2014

I’ve been wanting to try Kita No Donburi for a couple of years now, but never had the chance to. I’m a big fan of Japanese “fast food” type restaurants, such as Ebi Ten by the downtown main library (Which reminds me, I went there a few months ago and never ended up writing a review on it….). Kita No Donburi is at a pretty convenient location for me, which is why I was really looking forward to going. I finally got a chance to try it out today on my lunch break, and I’m sad to say that I was a bit disappointed with my dish. Kita No Donburi = Kita No Food instead?
Originally, I was going to order take out but decided last minute that I rather sit down and eat there. My coworker and I arrived around 12:30, and a lineup had just started to form out the door.

One thing I really liked about this place, and Japanese fast food restaurants in general, was their efficiency and friendliness. We were given take out menus and our orders were taken while in line, so that there was a shorter wait time for when the food came out. Since we came right during the lunch rush, seating was almost at capacity. Luckily, we managed to get the last available table! YAY! It looked a bit cramped since there were so many people inside, but it was actually pretty comfortable to sit.

My coworker already had lunch packed, so she decided to just get a small snack. She ordered the takoyaki ($4.75), which came with eight pieces. Not a bad price for the portion and taste! It was very flavourful, loved the mayo and flakes on top! If you want delicious takoyaki in downtown Vancouver, this is the place to go 🙂
I decided on getting the katsu curry ($8.25). This plate doesn’t look that big here, but it was as wide as the table! The curry was well spiced, flavourful, and had little chunks of potato in it. The katsu was delicious as well, it had a satisfying crunch and the pork was very juicy. Even though it was good, I felt that it was very overpriced. As you can tell from the picture, more than half of the plate is deceivingly just the curry sauce itself. The most expensive portion of a dish is usually the meat, but the portion of katsu was also very small for $8.25. Look at the amount of curry and katsu ratio! I would have hoped for more meat, or rice even, if I’m paying $8.25!

To be fair, they did have a picture of their curry dishes on the menu, but I didn’t expect the katsu portion to be so small. Overall, just definitely not worth the price compared to what was received. =( But I guess when it is in such a centralized location, building space is going to be insanely pricey which means sacrifices on food size.
On the menu, it also said that donburi dishes come with miso soup. I know that this is not a donburi (rice bowl), but they shouldn’t include this item under the donburi menu if it’s not a donburi OR doesn’t include soup as well.

Would I return? Not sure. I definitely won’t be ordering the same dish again though.. Disappointing, because I was hoping I had found a decent and convenient lunch spot. Don’t get me wrong, the dish I had was good and the service was excellent, but I can’t afford to pay that much for what I (don’t) get! It’s definitely not worth it, imo.

-Carmen

Kishimoto Japanese Restaurant

September 19, 2014

I have heard amazing things about Kishimoto, both from my friends and also online. I’ve always wanted to try it, but know that it’s a sushi hotspot and I do not really want to wait ages in line.. 🙁

Finally, one day, timing worked out and my boyfriend took me there to try it! I was very eager, and had extremely high expectations before even walking in the front door.
As always, finding parking along Commercial Drive was a hassle but we did find free street parking that day! Yay! Kishimoto is a relatively small restaurant, and adding to the popularity= long, expected wait times. We went around 5:30pm right after I got off work, because I knew if we went around 6-7pm we would have to wait.

Walking in, you will see signs everywhere instructing guests to wait until they’re seated, no sitting down until all the guests have arrived, etc etc. Just shows how busy it gets! We waited around 5 minutes for the server to clear the table for us. Smooth sailing so far!
My boyfriend has been here before, and said that their tuna tataki ($11.95) is a must order. So, of course, being the curious food blogger I am, I had to give it a try. When the server put down the plate, I thought that she had mistaken our order cause all I saw were onions. The tuna tataki was actually under all the onions and roasted garlic. I was in love at first bite.

The tuna was incredibly soft, and melted in your mouth. It had a slightly grilled taste to it. Adding the onions, roasted dry garlic, and ponzu sauce, it was absolute perfection. My favourite dish of the night.
I knew that Kishimoto specialized in intricate plating techniques, so I was quite eager to see how our dishes would be plated! Here is the negitoro roll, chopped scallop roll ($4.95), and wild salmon nigiri ($3.00). I thought that the chopped scallop roll tasted pretty average. I really liked the negitoro roll since the tuna tasted very fresh, and had a lot of flavour.

The wild salmon nigiri also had a great, fresh, and juicy flavour to it as well. I ordered one piece of salmon nigiri, turns out that one order is actually equal to three pieces! I really enjoyed the sushi rice, it was cooked perfectly and had that distinct delicious sushi rice taste to it. Definitely worth the $3 since you get three pieces of nigiri! The “flower” art at the bottom was composed of daikon (type of carrot) sheets, edamame beans, and ginger. The candle seen at the top picture was a real candle, wrapped around a daikon sheet. Pretty interesting concept! I wonder if anyone has accidentally lit their daikon on fire…. Knowing how clumsy I am, I’m surprised I didn’t knock it over…
Up next, was our salmon oshisushi ($12.95). Oshisushi is a type of sushi made by placing all the ingredients into a box and pressing it together, hence the rectangular shape. The salmon oshisushi came with creamy sauce, crushed black peper, jalapenos, and salmon sashimi. After it is pressed, it then gets lightly torched. I enjoyed the salmon oshisushi as well, but found that after a few pieces, it was a bit too heavy for me due to the creamy sauce. I ended up requesting for a lemon slice, where I then lightly squeezed the juice onto the remaining pieces. I found that cut a bit of the cream heaviness out. Oshisushi = oishi 😉 If you know some Japanese haha…
The second oshisushi we ordered was the ebi ($12.95). This one came with cooked prawn, basil, pesto, creamy sauce, and crushed black pepper. Just like the salmon oshisushi, I found that it was a bit heavy to eat though I did enjoy the pesto sauce. There was a slightly grilled taste to these as well. I ended up drizzling a bit of lemon juice to this one as well. For those who have tried Kishimoto’s oshisushi, did you find that it was a bit on the heavy side due to the cream?

I noticed that all their desserts were made in-restaurant, so I wanted to give it a try. We ordered the house-made strawberry sorbet, which came with condensed milk topping and served with a cute wooden spoon! Our waitress informed us that it was still frozen, and to wait a few minutes before digging in. There was a very strong strawberry flavour to the sorbet! Adding the condensed milk on top, the dessert was sooo gooood. There were also bits of strawberry seeds in the dessert as well!

All in all, I did enjoy my visit to Kishimoto and left satisfied. Service was a bit slow at some points, since they had a full house. I noticed that it got busy around 6pm so I’m glad we had an early dinner. I highly recommend trying the tuna tataki here! What were your favourites?

-Carmen

PS. Stay tuned for some delicious Seattle eats next week! 😉

Hamburger 2.85 Food Truck

September 14, 2014

Hi everyone!

Finding new places to eat in downtown Vancouver is definitely not hard, especially with the addition of food trucks popping up on every corner! My coworker and I had a small list of places we wanted to go to, including the famous Hamburger 2.85 food truck.

I was sold and set on going after reading Meaghan’s post on this in the day before, and thankfully my coworker agreed! It definitely did not disappoint.
Hamburger 285 is located on the corner of Granville and Pender. The menu is really basic, so don’t be expecting any fancy add ons or anything of that sort. In fact, I can’t even recall if they even sell pop.

The concept is simple, the title is simple. But their taste is definitely not simple as I will explain below. You can either order a hamburger for 2.85 (yes, you read that right, TWO EIGHTY FIVE whaaat) or a cheeseburger for $3.95. I decided on getting the cheeseburger that day.
I normally don’t go to food trucks, it’s not that I have a thing against them or anything, but I just haven’t really had the opportunity to. With that said, I’m not sure if the wait for our burgers was considered longer than usual than not. We waited around 10 minutes for our burgers afterwards, so in my opinion, that seemed longer than the standard.

They had lively, upbeat top 40s playing, which made the line up go a biiiit faster but I was really anticipating my burger! “Number 33, cheeseburger!” Yes! That was my cue and I was handed what looked like a delicious burger.
After both our burgers came, we walked down to Canada Place to enjoy our burgers….except there was one problem. I had already devoured my burger! The lettuce and tomatoes tasted extremely fresh and crunchy. The bread was thick and lightly toasted, giving it a slightly grilled taste but it had a really soft bite to it. The patty was well cooked, juicy, and flavourful.

The BEST part of this burger was their teriyaki mayo sauce of some sort. I’m not too sure what exactly the sauce was, but I definitely tasted some teriyaki and goodness, did it complete this burger!

I kind of expected that the portion would be smaller since it is so cheap, so I should have ordered a second one. If you are pretty hungry like I was, I would recommend ordering two of these delicious things. Other than that, my quick visit to Hamburger 2.85 was pleasant and I predict I will be back here before my internship ends.

Also, I am definitely going to miss the sunshine as the days get colder, so I included a beautiful view in this post as well.

What are some other good food trucks/restaurants that I should visit around the Canada Place/Harbour Center area? Please let me know in the comments!

-Carmen

Richmond Night Market 2014

September 13, 2014

(Updated Sept 2014) The Richmond Night Market is back for another Summer! I love coming here for the cheap things you can buy, even though a lot of the products are very cheaply made and questionable… and of course, the food! I went with a few friends and it was actually their first time at this night market (the new one by the casino), seeing that they are both here on a working visa from Australia. They were excited and curious to try the different food that the stalls offered. It was my first time trying the S. Korean ice cane dessert, which is basically an ice cream that comes in a “J” shaped cone and made out of cornpuff. It was truly interesting… keep on reading below to see what it looked like and how it tasted!
It was very busy and crowded the night that we went, probably because it was an ideal summer’s night.
Takoyaki and squid! The takoyaki ($6) was very chewy,delicous and doughy. The squid was very good as well. Felt kind of bad for the guy grilling the squid because he didn’t wear a mask, and kept having to hold his breath while he was cooking it. The squid itself ($6.50 for a small) was very good. There was a nice satay sauce, with a hint of sweetness and smokiness.
The famous hurricane potato ($6). Basically a lightly deep friend potato on a stick, seasoned with your choice of flavouring salt. We chose the cheddar, and it was really good. There was also a long line up for this booth, but we didn’t wait that long. There were 60 numbers ahead of us in line, but the wait was only around 10 minutes. Pretty efficient! However, I’m not sure that it’s worth $6 for a potato though, it just looks cool.
The Korean snow cane stand! They were pretty busy as well, and ended up selling out of the duo cane cone right after we ordered. It was $3.75 for the single J shaped cone, which I got below…
The cone is made out of a corn puff pastry and into a tube, which they put the soft serve ice cream into. The ice cream was your standard soft serve. As for the cone itself? I enjoyed it. It reminded me of the cereal corn puffs, only harder and less puffy. Imagine eating corn puffs cereal with ice cream, that’s basically how it tasted. The cone also did not go soggy, as I expected it to and remained crunchy until the end. It was also very clean and not messy to eat. Would I get this again? Probably, I love corn puffs!
My friend’s deep fried Snickers bar ($6). She said it tasted amazing, and loved it a lot. I’m not sure if I’ll ever try one of these in my lifetime though, what about you?
Update: Going back a second time in September, we didn’t order as much. I wasn’t too hungry, but knew I would regret not trying anything new here and end up snacking at home later. So we walked around the food stands until something caught our eyes. I am a big fan of mangoes, and I saw someone holding this mango dessert and decided to order one as well ($5.75). It came with a generous portion of fresh mango chunks and vanilla ice cream under a bed of crushed ice, topped with condensed milk. I loved the freshness and sweetness of the mango chunks, and the juices soaked into the ice chunks! The condensed milk was the cherry on top of a great dessert. I have to warn you though; it’s a really, really cold dessert so you might be cold after you finish eating this, because I sure was.
The second item we ordered was the takoyaki balls ($5.50). It came in original, chili, curry, and wasabi flavour- this one was the chili flavour. I didn’t try this, but I was told that it there a mild spice and did not overpower the taste of the takoyaki. The sauces themselves are only drizzled on the top.
Apart from food from our second visit, I also ended up buying a cute pair of fuzzy fleece socks ($4) too! My feet get really, really cold in the fall and winter so I wanted a thicker pair of socks. I am also a HUGE fan of polkadots and Minnie Mouse (I was Minnie Mouse last Halloween) so it’s a win-win situation. I’ll probably wear these as slippers around the house as the weather gets colder. I’m just hoping that these socks won’t be of horrible, cheap quality and actually keep my feet warm!
Andddd to finish this post off, a picture of some random product stands! Korean socks and iphone case stands were the most popular. Hope you enjoyed the post, now go and try the J corn cone ice cream!

-Carmen