pork Archives - Curiously Carmen

I came across Sushi Mura one day and enjoyed it! The only downside is that I’m usually never in this area, so going here would definitely be a treat or a trek. I enjoyed all of their dishes, and judging from the packed line waiting at the door, many other Vancouverites do too. Everything was delicious and I can’t wait to come back!

I also forgot the prices of the dishes, but they were pretty cheap and reasonable, I’ve included the estimated price range from what I can kinda remember (they didn’t have an online menu, boohoo).
The interior has a lot of wooden accents to it. The style reminded me of a contemporary west coast design with all the wood panels everywhere, even in the washroom! As you can tell, their interior is pretty modern and nice. Let’s move on to the food!

The first thing that we ordered was the house salad (I believe that was what it was called), which tasted like a standard salad you’d get at a Japanese restaurant, $4ish.

However, we were surprised when we found a bed of vermicelli underneath the salad. I don’t like eating salad so it was a pleasant surprise for me! Usually, restaurants don’t serve vermicelli with their salads.
Next was our tuna and salmon sashimi $8-9ish. As you can tell from the pictures, the slices were quite generous and thick! My cousin also ordered a ikura nigiri (type of fish egg) which was good.
This was my second favourite dish, apart from the deep fried california roll. Their tonkatsu portion is HUGE, we were pretty surprised at how big the portion was when it came. It was only around $7 and you get so much with it! To give you a ratio, the side of rice is a standard bowl size. There were also two tonkatsu cutlets on top of each other! This was so good! It was super crispy but juicy, and I liked how they give you more sauce on the side. YUM!
Lo and behold, the deep fried California roll (Less than $5)! I’ve seen this on a couple of menus at other restaurants before, but I never felt inclined to order it because I don’t want fried food, and California rolls are average to me. But this intrigued me due to the different colours of sauce layered on top. IT WAS SO GOOD. It wasn’t as heavy as I expected it to be, since it was deep fried, but still lightly crisp. Here’s a close up:
Look at that outer tempura layer! It was so crunchy and delicious.
This was the mango and avocado roll ($4-6ish). Again, I really enjoyed this dish due to the amount of mango they had in it. It was also very sweet.
This is the red roll, chopped scallop with spicy tuna sashimi on top ($4-6ish). It tasted pretty standard, but I liked how they put fresh green onion on the top of the roll.
I forgot what this roll is, but it was basically smoked salmon, crab meat, tempura, and cucumber ($4-6ish). Again, it was pretty good. The negitoro roll ($2ish) was good as well.

All in all, I enjoyed my visit to Sushi Mura due to their delicious rolls and tonkatsu. My cousin, her husband, and I went and we were completely stuffed after eating everything.

However, service is pretty slow especially since it was so busy that day. Our rolls took longer to arrive too, but everything else arrived promptly. I would come back here again just for their deep fried California roll, Sushi Mura has converted me to liking deep fried rolls (never thought I would see that day..)!

-Carmen

Whenever I am craving hearty, delicious, and authentic pho, my mind and tummy travels to Saigon Bistro. I love Saigon Bistro because their pho broth is lighter, and less salty than other places.

Their pho really reminds of authentic home cooking, and the vegetables served here are really fresh and crunchy. I never leave this place feeling bloated and gross due to their light but delicious broth. Not only is their broth healthier, the owner of the restaurant is an extremely friendly and cheerful Vietnamese man!

Let’s get the review started:
This is one of the pho dishes that I normally get, pho tai nam gan sach (rice noodle with beef flank, rare beef, tendon, and tripe) $6.75 for small. I normally ask for extra tripe and no tendon, and the owner is glad to accommodate my requests.

As you can tell from the picture, the broth is pretty light in colour and clear. Although the broth is lighter, the flavour of the pho itself isn’t sacrificed. It really reminds me of home cooked pho due to its light but delicious flavour- really only a broth that a mom/grandmother could perfect! But somehow, they accomplish it!

The noodles are also cooked perfectly, and do not clump together.
This is the nuong cuon (salad roll with grilled pork) ($3.50). This dish is pretty tasty due to the marinated and grilled pork. The wrap also isn’t that sticky, so pretty easy to eat.

There is also vermicelli and lettuce inside the wrap. In addition, the roll comes with a peanut butter (I think there’s also Hoisin sauce in it?) dipping sauce which complements the flavour.
This is the salad roll with shrimp & ham, goi cuon ($2.95 for 1 roll, $5.50 for 2 rolls). Nothing too special about this dish, but I love ordering it when I’m not that full yet and want something light.

All the vegetables taste really fresh and crunchy. I find that their slice of ham isn’t as big as other restaurants.
This is the banh mi thit nuong ($4) grilled pork with vegetables and hot pepper, toasted on a french bun. The bread is super crunchy on the outside, but soft in the inside. I love this sub because there is an equal amount of meat to vegetable. The vegetables, again, also taste really fresh (Look at that fresh, yummy cilantro!). I normally dip every bite into hot sauce and it’s delicious!

-Carmen