Tokyo John

Tokyo John, another Korean-run Japanese restaurant. It was kind of odd, because it was located a couple stores north and then we thought it was closed. But we eventually found it.

The decor was nice, I liked the details on the walls.

B couldn't turn down a Tonkatsu, so that's what he ordered. He said the meat was very tender and the breading was nice and crispy. The sauce was very well balanced as well. All in all a good dish.

I saw a picture of the flaming unagi roll (not sure if this was the correct name) and thought it looked cool, so I ordered it. I don't think you can see the flames in this picture, but it was burning for a good 3-5 minutes. It burned a little too long, in my opinion. I was just sitting there staring at the flames for the longest time and just wanted to eat.

The taste was fine. The parts at the end were a little "burnt" tasting, but otherwise, it had great texture (from the tempura) and the flavours were well balanced.

B had to order a Saba nigiri, of course, but he accidentally ordered the ebi nigiri instead of the ika. He said they were well prepared but the Saba wasn't rich enough.

Overall, it was a solid restaurant. It's a little difficult to get to for us and parking may be an issue, but we'd recommend it to people in the area.

Kissa Tanto

Our friend suggested we should try this new place, which was nominated as the top restaurant on enroute.

The decor gave off a prohibition / speakeasy kind of vibe. It was pretty cool.

I had the Oasis on the Ginza to start while I waited for the rest of the party. It's basically a mojito served in a margarita glass, pretty tasty.

As an appetizer, B and I shared the King Fish Crudo. It is basically raw fish drizzled with oil and lemon, because that was all we could taste. I thought the king fish would have a stronger saltier taste, but the fish itself was rather bland and overpowered by the oil and lemon.

Then B and I shared the Tonkatsu because we were curious what Tonkatsu at a fancy restaurant would be like. We couldn't really taste the pork, just that there was something salty. We mostly tasted the squid. The black mustard was quite good though.

Overall the food was good, but it didn't blow me away. Usually if the food is good, I would be too busy trying to taste all aspects of it. Here, I was more concerned about the conversation at the table. Also, normally at any restaurant we would be full sharing an appetizer and an entre, especially if the entre said "sharing plate". Unfortunately we were still quite hungry when we left.

We won't recommend not return.

Sushiyama

We were craving sushi and Sushiyama was on our way home so we stopped in to try a restaurant that had a 4.0 rating on Zomato.

  

Run by Koreans, the decor and atmosphere was quite bland and functional. The tabletops were a bit sticky. Nothing really echoing a Japanese run restaurant at all.

Having a special board was neat and let's you know what's fresh and in season. It makes life a lot easier by limiting what you order, given the extensive menu.

B hasn't had tonkatsu in what seems like a lifetime, so he immediately knew what he wanted. The tonkatsu was good, exactly what he wanted. It was a little on he tough side, but the flavour and crispness was all there. It came with miso, rice and salad.

I ordered a bunch of nigiri sushi. Above, from bottom to top, we have Hamachi Toro, Toro, and Shima Aji. The Hamachi Toro was a pleasant surprise. It was very velvety fatty and not fishy at all, with a hint of lemon. The Toro was not as fatty as expected. The texture tasted very much like normal Tuna, but at least it wasn't fishy. The Shima Aji had very good mouth feel, a bit of crunch and tastes not at all overwhelming like mackerel normally tastes.

From bottom to top again, we have the uni, ikura, and unagi. The uni was the fourth nigiri on the dish that I ate. I think I made a tactical mistake. I should have eaten it first because the seaweed sat for too long and became very chewy. The uni itself was fresh and well prepared - it wasn't too fishy or overly mushy. It was creamy but still had a bit of texture. The seaweed on the ikura was similarly tough, and the salmon roe itself was not as fresh as I'd hope. It didn't "pop" in my mouth and had a stronger fish taste than normal. Lastly the unagi was okay. It wasn't extraordinary, the sauce was fine. I don't hate it, but I was hoping for a melt in my mouth kind of experience, so I was left a little disappointed.

B had the Hokkigai and the Torigai. The Hokkigai was fine. The Torigai was a little bit chewy. They were acceptable; nothing exceptional.

Of course B had to order the Tako Sashimi. It was also just fine. It wasn't mushy or fishy - like some places that don't prepare them well. But it wasn't exceptional either. It was a little on the chewy side. It didn't have the nice crunch that good Tako has. Although the slices were thin, they were a bit uneven - indicative of some poor knife skills.

Lastly, of course we always try the Salmon Sashimi, although I'm not sure why anymore. This salmon was so bland I kind of left feeling like I don't like salmon anymore. Also, the pieces on the left were colder than the pieces on the right, and left my teeth a bit numb. They weren't terrible, but they were so underwhelming, I was a bit angry about it.

Overall, I think Sushiyama has the 4.0 rating because of the price. Some of the fresh nigiri were good, but it didn't make up for the underwhelming nature of everything else. I left the establishment feeling a little nauseated, so I likely won't return. B would recommend it if you're looking for cheap sushi, especially cheap nigiri. I personally would rather pay a little more money for better quality food. The service was prompt and friendly, but sometimes that's just not enough.

Shiro Japanese Restaurant

On Sunday we were down on Main Street, and wanted to try a Sushi place we had never been to. We found Shiro Japanese Restaurant on the corner of Cambie and 15th after a search on Urbanspoon, and decided to give it a try.

It is a small, clean restaurant, and we were seated promptly. The waitress was friendly, and the service fairly quick. Unfortunately the prices have increased from the menu we saw on Urbanspoon, although they do have the new prices on their own website. Still relatively reasonable, not too pricey - but no longer cheap. 

We ordered a small tuna sashimi and a large salmon sashimi. 

The pieces are medium in size, and tasted pretty fresh. The wasabi was very good, possibly home made, maybe with some garlic mixed in. 

Then we had the smoked salmon roll and the house roll. The rolls were tasty, but the house roll had way too much rice. 

We also ordered tonkatsu, which was very overcooked and chewy:

Finally we had nebeyaki udon, which was pretty good. 

Overall a decent place, but not somewhere I would go out of my way to go again.