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Curiously Carmen

Ebisu – Richmond Location

October 29, 2016

The boyfriend and I are avid sushi lovers. On any given day, we are probably eating Japanese food or otherwise just cooking at home. One of our favourite places to go is Ebisu, although we don’t go there as often as we’d like.

After a busy summer semester, we decided to celebrate by going to Ebisu in Richmond! I wish I remembered to take a photo of our booth, but unfortunately, I didn’t. We were seated in a booth right next to the bar, and was able to see the exorbitant array of alcohol up close. Although I’m not a fan of hard liquor, their collection was truly impressive and pretty cool!

img_0615Prawn tempura nabeyaki udon, $11.50: The price for the udon was a bit steeper than what I normally would pay, but Ebisu is a bit more upscale. I don’t like when the tempura comes inside the soup, as it makes it soggy. We quickly took the tempura out before it got super soggy.

This dish was comforting and filling, and had a good amount of udon in it. It could have used a bit more chicken, and the breast was a bit bland but still juicy. The boyfriend really enjoyed the soup, which was a bonito base.
Ebisu RichmondMiso soup, free: This came with the other dish. The miso soup was pretty standard, but I liked how it came with a good amount of tofu and seaweed inside.
Ebisu Richmond 2Ebi sunomono, free: Again, this came with the party boat that we ordered. Both of us aren’t really big fans of ebi sunomono, but this one was pretty standard.
Ebisu Richmond 3Chicken teriyaki boat, $14.95: Don’t let the giant boat fool you, because the boat is actually only good for one person. It looks big but it isn’t really thaaaaat much food.

We really enjoyed the chicken teriyaki. The chicken was very juicy, and the skin had a nice smoky crunch to it. The tempura tasted fresh. Meanwhile, the 3 pieces of california roll and 3 pieces of dynamite roll were pretty standard.
Ebisu 5Chicken karaage, $8.25: Yum, this was delicious! My stomach is pretty sensitive to oily foods though, so I only ate the small piece. However, it was very crunchy and fresh! We would definitely order this again. Although, we came back to this location a year later and the chicken karaage was not as good.

All in all, we enjoyed our visit to Ebisu and will be back to one of their locations. The service was a bit slow at times though. There were a couple times where we were trying to order/get our bill, but the server was cleaning and wiping down the tables for closing.

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Ebisu Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, japanese Tagged: asian food, food blog, food blogger, foodie, japanese, japanese food, miso soup, sashimi, sushi, udon

Kilala Sushi

October 2, 2016

Earlier in the summer, myself, the boyfriend, and Sangria decided to venture out from our usual sushi joints and try a longstanding but hidden restaurant, Kilala Sushi. They’ve been around for awhile now, and I hear their name getting tossed around from time to time.

Kilala Sushi is an authentic Japanese restaurant, run solely by a husband and wife team. They also specialize in distributing tamago for various restaurants in Vancouver, so this place is half restaurant/half tamago-making factory? I say that because the sitting area itself is quite small but you can see that the back is a bit factory like, with a very big stainless steel kitchen.
Kilala SushiAppetizer sashimi, $5.95: The appetizer sashimi comes with three pieces of tuna, and two pieces of salmon. The salmon was average, but the tuna was really good. It was very soft and buttery, and melted in your mouth.
Kilala Sushi 2Tamago roll, $2.25: As I mentioned above, they specialize in tamago, so it was only natural to try it! The tamago was sweet, fluffy, and tasted fresh. I really liked how it had a fluffy texture, as a lot of places I’ve been to have a harder texture with dried edges (which means it’s not fresh and has fried out).

Negitoro roll, $3.00: The boyfriend and I ALWAYS order negitoro roll, so we had to try Kilala’s version of it! It was pretty good, and above average. Just like the tuna sashimi, the tuna in here was also soft and buttery. It was filled with lots of green onion too. They definitely did not skimp out on the tuna and the onion.
Kilala Sushi 1Hmmm, I don’t recall what these two rolls were called and I can’t find anything similar on the online menu! Sorry.

Even though I don’t remember what they were called, I remember how they tasted! Both tasted very fresh, and were filling. Just look at how big that salmon sashimi is inside the roll!

All in all, Kilala serves quality and authentic sushi, and the three of us enjoyed our meal. Everything was fresh, and even though there was only one server (the wife, husband was the chef), service was quick and friendly.

The only downside of this place is that it is quite hidden behind a bush and the seating is also a cramped.

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Kilala Sushi Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, japanese Tagged: burnaby, food, food blogger, food review, foodie, fresh, japanese, negitoro, salmon, sashimi, seafood, sushi, tamago, tuna, vancouver, yvr

G-men @ Nan Chu

August 23, 2016

Lately, I’ve been trying to diversify my food adventures and going to Richmond more often. Apart from the worst drivers in the Lower Mainland, Richmond is famous for delicious Asian food! One of the highest rated restaurants on Zomato in Richmond is G-Men, and I’ve heard great things about this place from friends.

Unfortunately, I tried to come here twice already before the third successful attempt. The first time was due to a last minute event I had to go to, and the second time was that there was no parking! Seriously, trying to find parking in that area is so difficult on a Friday night. Finally, the third time we decided to go later and were able to find parking!

Gmen1Takoyaki, $3.75: Since it was our first time here and wanted to try more of the menu, the four of us decided to split a couple of appetizers. We ordered the four piece takoyaki and this was simply delicious! It was drenched in delicious sauce and the takoyaki were a pretty decent size.
Gmen2Potato fries ($4.50): These fries were amazing! They were incredibly crispy and seasoned with such a delicious combination of herbs. We ended up ordering another plate because we all couldn’t stop eating this. In retrospect, that was a bad idea because we didn’t end up finishing the second order of fries and ended up packing it home. But seriously, this is a must try here!
Gmen3Shio ramen ($8.95): Shio broth is made with chicken broth, and is my go to flavour for ramen! Macaroni and I both ordered the shio ramen. The shio ramen definitely did NOT disappoint. This was amazing. The broth was so well rounded – incredibly flavourful and thick. Meanwhile, the meat was melt in your mouth soft.
Gmen5Tan tan men ($10.25): The boyfriend ordered this because he loves spicy peanut sauce. Again, the broth here was rich and thick, and full of spicy peanut flavour. Although I don’t love spicy peanut sauce as much as he does, I found this to be delicious as well!
Gmen4Shoyu ramen ($8.95): Cheese ordered the shoyu ramen. Again, this was just as delicious as the rest of our meal. Rich, flavourful, and a very generous quality. No complaints.

G-Men was amazing and I definitely will be back. This place lands the spot of one of my top favourite ramen places in Vancouver now. All the food we had that night was delicious and full of quality. I’m already excited for my next visit here!

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

G-men @ Nan Chu Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, japanese Tagged: comfort food, food, food blogger, food lover, foodie, japan, japanese, noodles, ramen, shio, shoyu

Ebisu on Broadway

July 25, 2016

The boyfriend and I were planning on grabbing dinner but ended up eating too many snacks at home while watching TV that we weren’t hungry for a full meal anymore. Oops =P

So, we decided to get some light snacks in Richmond, but we couldn’t find parking. We ended up going back to Vancouver to Ebisu on Broadway Street as the boyfriend has been wanting to try this Vancouver chain out. Yes, there is an Ebisu in Richmond but we wanted to be back in Vancouver.
EbisuI’ve been here a few times already with my family years ago (along with the location in downtown), but this was the first time the boyfriend has tried Ebisu.

This location is on the second floor of a plaza, just off Broadway on one of the quieter inside streets. Luckily, we arrived just after 10pm so meter parking was free already!

The outside doesn’t look that nice, but the inside is a lot better. The seating is comfortable and spacious, while the service was really warm and fast.

We didn’t know that they had happy hour from 8:30pm-close, so that was a nice surprise! Unfortunately, none of the happy hour items really stood out to us so we ended up only ordering one item from their happy hour menu.
Ebisu2

Sashimi salad $9.50 small | $15.95 regular: I’ve been on a sashimi salad kick lately, so naturally, I had to order Ebisu’s sashimi salad! You can choose from either creamy, house ginger, or spicy dressing. I chose the house ginger.

The veggies were pretty fresh, and the house ginger sauce was really tasty! It tasted more like a garlicky, miso sauce but we both really liked it.

The amount of sashimi was a bit disappointing, I would have wished there was more. Albiet a small portion, the sashimi tasted pretty fresh and came with octopus, tuna, wild salmon, and salmon sashimi.
Ebisu3Takoyaki, $5.95 happy hour | regular hours $6.50: The takoyaki was plump and flavourful. The boyfriend enjoyed the takoyaki here more than Manzo because they have less lemon juice sprinkled on top, making it less sour. I found the takoyaki pretty delicious and would order it again here.
Ebisu5Dynamite roll $3.95 happy hour | $5.50 regular: We decided to try out the dynamite roll because it was pretty cheap during happy hour! Unfortunately, the cheap price justified the cheap taste. The rice was bland and mushy.

While it looks appetizing here, it collapsed once we picked it up. The tempura was very soggy and did not taste fresh at all.

We wouldn’t order this again and I hope the regular dynamite roll tastes better than the happy hour version!
Ebisu4Truffle fries $4.95 | regular $5.95: Oops, I forgot to take a photo of the truffle fries but you can see it in this picture!

The truffle fries were AMAZING. They truffle oil really enhanced the flavour of the fresh, crispy, piping hot fries. It was dusted with some sort of herbs as well. I would come back to Ebisu just for these truffle fries!

——

All in all, we had a lovely experience at Ebisu and I would definitely come back for snacks(esp. the truffle fries!). The prices are a bit higher than what I’m used to, but I don’t mind coming here once in awhile. It’s a nice change of scenery from the regular Japanese restaurants I visit.

I wish they opened later than 11 pm for happy hour, but it is located in a quiet area so I understand. The Ebisu in downtown is open until 1 am though!

I’ve only been to the Ebisu in downtown and Broadway. I would say they are both pretty similar in terms of quality and service. I actually went to the downtown Ebisu in the summer but never got around to writing a review.

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Ebisu Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, happy hour, pub Tagged: food, food blogger, foodie, happy hour, japan, japanese, late night

Sushi UOmo – Revisit

July 11, 2016

Update 11/2018: Since writing this post, it seems that Uomo has changed ownership and things have gone downhill. The prices increase each time, while the quality and quantity decreased. We have stopped going here now. 


I thought it was finally time to do a revisit post on Sushi UOmo! The last time I wrote about this place was December 2014, when we first tried it out.

Since then, UOmo has easily become our top place to go for cheap, consistently delicious sushi.

We come here probably at least once every two weeks, sometimes even more. My last review didn’t really do UOmo justice, so I finally took some pictures (after our 50th visit or more probably LOL) and will be talking about the go-to items we order here!
Uomo1Tuna tataki, $7.95: Mmmm, where to even start with how delicious this is? The tuna tataki is cut thicker here than other places I’ve been to. The ponzu sauce is full of great, tangy flavour.

Coupled with the fresh onions and slightly grilled taste of the tuna meat, we order this every time we come now.
Uomo2Sashimi salad, $8.95: If you’ve been keeping up with my food posts (and thank you if you do, I appreciate it!), you’ll know that I’ve been on a sashimi salad-loving streak lately. UOmo’s sashimi salad is what jump started my interest in sashimi salad, and has made me love it! Every time I order sashimi salad, I use UOmo as the standard to compare it with.

With that said, it’s usually pretty hard to top off, especially with the price. For $9, the plate comes with a VERY generous amount of assorted sashimi, that fills me up every time. Usually, I’m not full on salad but this hits the spot every time. It comes with an assortment of wild sockeye salmon, regular (farmed) salmon, tuna, shrimp, squid, octopus, tilapia sashimi.

I love the salad because of the generous assortment of sashimi. I used to just order salmon sashimi, but I like the salad because I get a variety of different sashimi that I normally wouldn’t order. The veggies are always fresh, and crunchy and comes with the same ponzu sauce as the tuna tataki, plus olive oil.
Uomo3Crunch roll, $4.25: The crunch roll comes with shrimp tempura and avocado on the inside, and topped with either yam or sweet potato on the outside. The tempura here is consistently fresh and crunchy, making this roll super delicious. The avocado is always nice and creamy too!
Uomo4Negitoro roll, $3.00: Yum! Our go-to maki roll, the negitoro. Negitoro is made from the tuna belly, so it contains more fat than a regular tuna sashimi. Then, it is mixed in with onions before being put into a roll. There is always a generous portion of sashimi to rice, and always tastes really fresh.
Uomo5B.C. Roll, $3.50: Funny story – I used to hate B.C. rolls. I always saw them as the ‘food scrap’ roll aka. “let’s throw the salmon skin and wilted lettuce into a roll and call it a BC roll”. Basically, as the leftover ingredients mushed into one roll.

With that said, the BC roll at UOmo is the ONLY BC roll I would voluntarily order. A traditional BC roll comes with just salmon skin, but they include a decent amount of actual salmon meat. The salmon skin is also fried and tastes really fresh, as with the lettuce.

This is the only place I’ve been to where I feel like they actually put quality in a BC roll, because other places seem to snub the BC roll. Whenever I take people here, I tell them that they must order the BC roll but I am met with the same response I had before I tried that place (‘Ew, BC roll is gross and it’s just salmon skin’.). However, their minds always change after trying a piece because it’s that good!
Uomo6Overall, UOmo is a fantastic joint and my go-to Japanese restaurant. It’s cheap, delicious, friendly service, and in the neighbourhood.

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Update 11/2018: Since writing this post, it seems that Uomo has changed ownership and things have gone downhill. The prices increase each time, while the quality and quantity decreased. We have stopped going here now. 

 

Sushi UOmo Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, japanese Tagged: delicious, food, food blogger, foodie, japanese, japanese food, sashimi, sushi

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