Kishimoto Japanese Kitchen & Sushi Bar: I got Lucky

I love sushi! I've heard so much about Kishimoto Japanese Restaurant on Commercial Drive, so I finally decided to go. Please note that they do not take reservations and you have to walk in and write your name down! On the brighter side, they can text/call you when they have seats so you can walk around! The place is fairly small and we were told that it'd be almost an hour wait for table for 2. After waiting 15 minutes, we were going to go elsewhere and hence, we walked back to the restaurant to let the hostess know to remove our name. She did not seem disappointed as this probably happens often at this restaurant! As I was walking out the door and outside, she called me back and said they have a table ready for us as somebody else left and cancelled their table! Joy! 

Salmon Oshi (wild salmon/jalapeno/creamy sauce/cracked black pepper/torch seared)

Salmon Oshi must be one of their most popular dishes as this has popped up on my instagram numerous times! It is without a doubt that this dish is popular - it was amazingly delicious! Kishimoto is known for their reasonable prices and fantastic plating and without a doubt, I was indeed impress with their fancy plating!

Caterpillar Roll (unagi, cucumber, unagi sauce, wrapped in avocado, mayo and ikura on top 

Again, the presentation was a full 10/10. Ingredients tasted very fresh, each piece was detail oriented, and I was only wanting seconds!

Toro

To me, the toro was good, but not great. To be fair, I'm not a huge fan of tuna sashimi to begin with. For freshness, it didn't taste 10/10, maybe a 9/10. 

Unfortunately, I don't recall what this was called but it was one of their seasonal specials. This dish came on ice and while there are the sashimi pieces, the head is fried! 

3 types of sauces!

Entrance

Another look at the details put in to the Salmon Oshi dish! 

Overall, very yummy indeed. I would say Kishimoto is definitely one of my favourites in Vancouver. Not only do they have unique rolls, but also fresh and delicious. Also, for the average prices, you also get fantastic plating. Nevertheless, be prepared to wait! They are busy and popular and hence, no surprise you'll have to wait if you go during a popular time! 

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1/2 Roll Japanese Grill & Sushi Bar: 2 disappointments, but will try again

1/2 Roll opened not too long ago and is situated on Main street off King Edward St. We were actually planning on going to Hawker's Delight, but because that was quite packed and it didn't seem like it had air conditioning, my friend suggested we go across the street for some sushi.

1/2 Roll used to be Itadakimasu, which is where the sushi in cute little balls (that were surfacing on my Instagram) came from. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to try Itadakimasu and now it has probably changed owners and is now known as 1/2 Roll. As their name says it, this sushi restaurant allows you to order half rolls, which I think is quite nice. If you're just going with one other person (like I did), then that allows you to have more variety. However, it didn't seem like their menu was promoting the 1/2 roll concepts as when the menu came, I totally forgot that we could order half rolls.

We ended up getting takoyaki ($4.95) and a House Combo ($21.95). I don't know what happened to me, but lately I've been shy of taking food pictures. You'd think that the more you do something, the better you'd get. But this has been the other way for me. Anyways, back to the takoyaki... that was a disappointment for me. The order came with 5 takoyaki's and I thought they were too oily, the batter was too sticky, and they were quite small. I'd rather go to the night market and get some there.

On the other hand, the House Combo was quite impressive when it first came. Considering the price, I would say it's a cheap eat. From left to right in the picture: House roll, dynamite roll, spicy tuna roll, California roll, tuna roll, sockeye salmon roll, tuna and salmon sushi. This definitely was able to fill us both up. However, even though the salmon looks good, it had a slight fishy taste to it....which leads me to think that it isn't so fresh.

House Combo

One thing I have to get at a sushi restaurant is green tea. Not only do I love having sushi with green tea, but I think the green tea that they serve can say a lot about a sushi restaurant. (Though, I'm still trying to figure out what it is saying.) Usually, I'd prefer genmaicha (green tea with roasted rice) with my sushi. This restaurant served more of a matcha green tea, which was still very good and tasted authentic. In addition, I really liked their cute ceramic cups.


I really liked the wallpaper in this restaurant. It brought a nice sense of environment that made me feel like I wasn't in Vancouver. I did hear that these were from Itadakimasu, the previous restaurant. Is that true?

One thing I found that was a little unique/weird about this restaurant is this table. It's kind of smack right in the middle of the restaurant and it holds some toothpicks, a plant, candies, and their business card. 

Even though the takoyaki and the salmon sashimi were a disappointment, I'd still come back to this restaurant to try other things offered on their menu. Plus, they have reasonable prices and provided a pleasant customer experience.

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Sushi Garden: Affordable, wide variety, but be prepared to wait!

When I talk about sushi in Burnaby, I hear Sushi Garden a lot. Hence, I had to go see what it was all about. The pictures and this post will actually reflect my second visit there as I did not take any pictures on my first visit. Yes, I've already returned to Sushi Garden once. If you do plan to meet up with friends at Sushi Garden, be sure to clarify which location as there are 2: one is right across from Metrotown Shopping Centre (4635 Kingsway) and the other is on Lougheed Highway (4269 Lougheed Hwy). Both times, I visited the one on Kingsway as it at a more convenient location for me. 

We got there on a Monday at around 6:30pm and it was packed! We waited for about 30 minutes before we got a seat for 2. As we got to look at the menu while we were waiting, we already knew what we wanted.

Recently, I've discovered spicy salmon sashimi and have been craving it since I last ate it. This is like a Korean x Japanese dish as the spiciness comes from the kimchi that the sashimi is mixed with. I loved it as it was very appetizing.

Spicy Sashimi $8.95

Their combos are super good deals as for less than $10, you get a roll and the common nigiri. In this dynamite combo, the nigiri included 2 salmon, 1 tuna, and 1 ebi (shrimp). As you can see, the piece of salmon sashimi is quite big, but as for quality and freshness, it was mediocre - like in typical average sushi restaurants reflecting the price.

Dynamite Combo: dynamite roll + nigiri $8.30

Now there is one more piece in that picture that is not included in the combo that I had ordered separately. Yup, that is the tobiko (fish roe) with quail egg.

Tobiko with quail egg $1.50

Even though I'm not a fan of fish roe, I wanted to try this combination with quail egg. Basically, you should eat this in one bite because you want to break open the yolk in your mouth and have the creamy yolk mix with the popping tobiko. I think this is a rather nice combination as they both complement each other to give a unique texture. 

I can see why Sushi Garden is rather popular. At a rather central location, their prices are super affordable and they have a wide variety of sushi catering to everyone's favourite sushi and rolls. 

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Zakkushi Charcoal Grill (on Main): For those who are Adventurous or Drinkers

Zakkushi is one of my favourite non-sushi Japanese restaurants. They are known as tapas - snacks, appetizers, finger foods usually to accompany drinks. At Zakkushi, they are known to use a special type of Japanese charcoal grill, Binchotan. This flameless type of grilling has a high component of carbon (~95%) so the food is able to retain its own flavour without impurities.

They currently have 2 locations in Vancouver: Denman street and Main street. We visited the one on Main street and it may be easily missed as it's kinda in the dark corner of a square. Even though we were only a party of 2, we had to wait over 30 minutes to be seated, so we actually went to have dessert at Sweet Revenge first.

I think the seats at this location is quite cute and cozy. Perfect for couples, not so much for groups. Here we have the zakkushi set for $9.20. I recommend getting this one for the first-time visitors as it's like sample taster as it includes 5 different skewers: mono, umeshiso yaki, me maki, p-toro, and oropon beef. My favourite is the p-toro (pork belly) as it tasted unique, tender, and fatty!

Zakkushi set - momo, umeshiso yaki, me maki, p-toro, oropon beef $9.20

As you probably already know, I love chewy things and I fall for anything mochi, hence, I had to get the mochi maki.

mochi maki (sticky rice wrapped with pork) $2

I love trying new things and this was definitely different and you probably won't find it at a typical restaurant. Mochi (sticky rice) wrapped with pork?! Tasty!

Now on to one of my Zakkushi favourites: yakitori don $7.50. I loved this Japanese-style soft boil egg with teriyaki chicken sprinkled with seaweed. Break the egg and mix it up! Another one of my favourite dons (rice bowls) with the soft boiled egg and eel is from Deer Garden Restaurant.

Yakitori don - teriyaki chicken, half boiled egg, mayo, green onion, seaweed on rice $7.50

To finish off, I got the salmon onigiri (rice ball). What's so special about onigiris? I'm not sure, but I wanted to try one. I didn't find anything special, it was just like eating rice mixed with bits of salmon but in the same of a triangle.

Salmon onigiri

This restaurant is quite for those who are adventurous as the menu has a variety of unique items that one can order a bit of this and that to try. It's also great for those who like a drink or two with some light snacks. 

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Soho Tea Room: Salmon Wellington & Fire on Ice

A few years ago, I'd always go to Richmond for bubble tea and Chinese food, but it seems like there are more and more bubble tea cafes here in Vancouver now. Soho Tea Room opened not too long, and they're owned by the same owners as Flo Tea Room (which ironically closed their former Vancouver location on Granville).

Upon entering the restaurant, the environment and atmosphere seemed more modern than typical bubble tea cafes.

Salmon Wellington

Salmon wellington with prawns & spinach cream in puff pastry $19: I don't know about you, but when I first hear the word, wellington, I think of Gordon Ramsay. Then when I take a bit of this, I could hear Gordon Ramsay say "what a shame". Where's the layer of spinach and prawns? It looks completely different than their picture in the menu which had a thick reddish piece of salmon and then a layer of spinach and prawns. Some parts of the pastry was soggy and the salmon was a bit dried. I didn't expect much though, as this is like a western dish and most of the time western dishes aren't perfected in an Asian restaurant.

Thankfully, the set came with soup of the day and a choice of fries, salad, or spaghetti.

fries

Pan fried thick noodles with pork cheek

Braised pork cheek with black bean sauce pan fried thick noodles $9: I knew I wanted this the second I finished reading its name. Pork cheeks are my favourite parts because it's not fatty and is chewy, yet tender. Thick noodles are also my favourite type of noodles. This dish was not disappointing at all and exactly what I expected. I thought they would give a very small amount of pork cheeks, but I was wrong. I also thought the portion was large, so it's great for sharing.

Fire on Ice

The look of this drink corresponds with its name - fire on ice. On the menu, it says "approx. 30 minutes" and when we asked the waitress, she said this drink takes 30 minutes to serve if they're busy. Really? I don't know why a drink would take that long to make. I think it took just about 10 minutes this time even though the restaurant was neither full nor empty. I don't know why they would write that beside the drink, which will probably in turn make customers unwanting to order it. This slushy consisted of lychee, peach, mango and strawberry - fruity, sweet, with a twist of tanginess. 

There are actually other quite a handful of other bubble tea cafes close by such as Corner 23, Copa Cafe, and Gloucester Cafe. I think their wide variety of drinks (and the names for them) and their extensive menu are things that make Soho Tea Room stand out. 

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