Friday 9 December 2016

Bao Down Gastropub & Raw Bar (Olympic Village)

I've referred to Bao Down's service before in my post on the Flying Pig. It's great to finally see how it works at the restaurant itself. But first, the decor. It had a nice rustic yet industrial look to it. Raw.


I especially liked the reclaimed wood, but it makes me think of this article about burgled barn wood because of interior design trends.


We started with 2 dozen oysters (they were $1 each during happy hour). They were very well shucked. I only got one piece of shell in the dozen that I ate. We especially liked the jalapeno ginger sauce that came with it. The Joyce Point ones were the best in our opinion. At least we *think* they're "Joyce Point" because the server who brought us the oysters didn't know what they were. It was only later, when the bartender / oyster shuck-er walked by and heard me talk about it that he pointed out what they were. This happened the second time we visited the restaurant as well. No one knows what they're serving except for the bartender / oyster shuck-er.


Of course we had to try their baos. Mini baos were $4 each during happy hour. We tried one of each flavour (from left): Bao Chicka Bao Bao, Vevo, and YVR. Our favourite was the Bao Chicka Bao Bao because it had some texture in it and the lemongrass flavour was prominent. The Vevo and YVR weren't that great because they had no texture at all. It was mush in a bun, but the flavour was good. I especially liked the peanut flavour in the Vevo.



Wings were half price and we chose the Spicy Thai flavour. They were well fried and the sauce was well balanced, though not spicy at all.



We liked the Bao Chicka Bao Bao so much we ordered one more for each of us. Unfortunately, the inexperienced server (referred to above) brought it to the wrong table and we waited quite a long time before following up with another server (who was serving the table next to us). She asked if we were sure it didn't come and then told us it will come soon. I then saw her approach the inexperienced server to tell him he brought the baos to the wrong table.


Overall, the food was good. The service was so-so. Our first server (the bartender) was quite attentive and knowledgeable. But then he kind of disappeared after we ordered the last two baos and the place got a little busier. It would have been more professional if he told us, "Hey, it's getting busy and I'm going to get behind the bar now. So and so will now be your server." We had no idea who to flag down when we wanted to order more food.

The staff need to communicate with each other better, or find a way to educate everyone. When the server brought us our oysters without knowing what they were, it was unprofessional. He was obviously not as well trained since he brought our food to the wrong table too. We later overheard him bringing more food to the table next to us, food they are sure they didn't order.

We will likely only return during happy hour (which we have done already) and recommend that people visit during happy hour as well. It's not as busy so they'll serve you better.


Bao Down Gastropub & Raw Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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.


Tokyo John Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Manna Sushi

We went to Manna Sushi because it was close by and my parents said good things about it. The decor was subtle and nice, but not quite the rustic style of a Japanese-run restaurant. That was the first hint it's not Japanese-run.


We started with the Angry Jalepeno which wasn't angry at all. There was barely any spicy taste to it. It was uninspiring and sad looking.


Next, B ordered the Assorted Aburi Nigiri combo because it's always nice to have the chef choose their best stuff to present to you. Not here, apparently. All the nigiri look the same and there were a lot of common fish on the dish. It was hard to discern what each piece was because they were drenched in sauce.


Of course, B has to order Tako Sashimi. As you can see, the knife cuts were not great. It's not the worst we've had, and at least it's not slimy.


Lately we've been on an Ika Karage (sic) binge (ever since Yuji's), so we decided to try it here. Ika Karage is a misnomer. They should really call it calamari, because that's what it is, substitute the mayo instead of the tzatziki. The texture of the squid itself was tough and the breading was so oily it was nauseating.


I ordered a bunch of different nigiri's. The chopped scallop was bigger than expected, but the ikura was sadly lacking (look at how flat it is) and very fishy, like it's been sitting in its juices for a long while. The ika was very tough and the amaebi were sadly too tiny. I don't remember much about the hotate but I do recall the Saba was over pickled. It was like I was transported to a Swedish restaurant. The Toro was fishy and not that creamy and the negitoro was fine.


Overall, the experience was not worth recommending or returning. We would prefer walking those few extra blocks to Hime than to come back here.

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

Saturday 1 October 2016

Clubhouse Japanese Restaurant

We were craving Japanese food so we thought it was about time we tried the restaurants in our new hood.

First we stopped at Toko, because Google said it was a Japanese Restaurant and it was heavily advertising their Asahi. After we walked in, I noticed the decor seemed more Chinese than Japanese. Lo and behold we looked at the menu, and saw wonton, chow mein, and a bunch of Chinese dishes. We left.

Then we thought we should try the yakitori place down the road because we walked by it once. The host greeted us, asked us how many (2), and said wait a moment. He proceeds to walk around the restaurant and then grab two menus and set them on a table. Then he walks around the restaurant some more, serves a couple dishes, and tells us to wait 5 more minutes. It struck me as odd until B heard the host say something about happy hour ending soon to a couple patrons. So basically, he didn't want to seat us until 6pm, when regular dinner begins. Why didn't he just say so? Or just seat us and wait until 6pm to take our order? We left.

Finally we thought maybe we should try the Clubhouse since we drive by it all the time and it looks pretty cool from the outside. We walked in, and it strikes me as one of those restaurants on Restaurant Impossible that used to be good and then everyone just gave up trying to make it better.


We started with the Assorted Sashimi. We didn't expect it to be good, but we didn't think it could be this bad either. The knife cuts were noticeably sloppy, the tuna was still frozen, and the salmon had no taste at all. 


The Sweet Jane vegetable tempera roll was better than the sashimi but not that great. The rice was overcooked and soggy, the seaweed was tough, and he yam tempera was undercooked and had a bit of crunch to it still.


Next we had the Chicken Yaki Soba. It tastes like ketchup. B said he's had bad food and he keeps eating it, very rare does he not want to eat something and this was the dish.


The Squid okonomiyaki came smelling like it was burnt-and not because of the smoky fish flakes on top. It tasted a little burnt too, and soggy, and generally had very little texture. We found four squid rings in total. If the chef would only chop them up and divide it evenly throughout the pancake, it would have more texture and we wouldn't notice how little squid there is.

The only redeeming factor was that the owner came to pick up the dishes and saw that we didn't finish the okonomiyaki and asked if we didn't like it. We told her it was bad and she offered to refund us. We didn't want to be those customers who complain to get free stuff, because then our complaints won't be taken seriously. She thanked us for our feedback so we decided to tell her how bad EVERYTHING was. She seems to take it all seriously so I appreciated that. We probably won't return, but I appreciate the effort.

Clubhouse Japanese Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Friday 23 September 2016

Yuji's from Japan

We decided to visit Yuji's because it was well reviewed and comments were that they were authentic Japanese.

We made reservations for 5pm on a Friday night and were told that there was a two hour seating limit because it was the weekend. When we arrived the restaurant was empty. So if it's ever busy when you want to visit, just go back at 5pm.


I loved the decor, it was like a little sushi hut on the side of the road.

Started with some sashimi and sushi omakase.


The sashimi omakase was $25 and for two to share. It came with: 2 Big eye tuna, 2 Yellowtail, 4 Sea bream, 2 Amberjack, and 2 Toro. They were all good, but really, really small. The big eye in particular was a lot creamier than when I had it at Sushi S. The Yellowtail was really strong and oily. The toro was less creamy than I expected.



Then we each had 1 order of the sushi omakase, which was also $25 each. From left to right: Big eye, Sea bream, Yellowtail, Flounder, Striped Jack, Young Yellow Tail, Scallop, and Spanish Mackeral.

The yellowtail, in my opinion, tasted a lot better and more balanced with some rice to tone down the fat and fishy taste. I barely tasted any fishiness. The flounder had a very interesting texture- I can't decide if I should say it's creamy or crunchy. But it tasted like butter. We liked the firm texture of the Striped Jack, but the taste wasn't anything special. The Spanish Mackeral was a lot milder than expected. It was served with a bit of ginger and onion on top and that was all we tasted.



The rice to fish ratio was on point and the temperature of both served correctly. But the size, price, and speed made us miss Seto in Richmond and kind of encourages us to maybe brave Richmond traffic and try more Japanese restaurants there.

Because we were still quite hungry after the sashimi and sushi, we ordered a couple more hot dishes.



We tried the spicy curry calamari, which is just fried calamari, lightly tossed in salt and curry. I could smell the curry as soon as it arrived. With no batter, it was more refreshing than calamari at other places. The texture was chewy and tender at the same time and the salt and curry flavour were very well balanced. Nothing overpowered the other. It was really good (and not spicy at all, despite what the dish is called).



We also had the grilled beef tongue- which caused the table next to us to cringe. But honestly, this was the best beef tongue I've ever had. The beef was sliced so thin and was very tender. The beef flavour was strong and though you can taste the salt and pepper, it did not overpower the meat at all. The only down side was that it was so such a small plate I felt like I didn't have enough.

Together with our bottle of hot Kome Dry Honjozo sake, our bill came out to $125. Although the food was good and we enjoyed everything, we thought the price for good sushi was better at Seto- maybe rent is cheaper in Richmond. Tim Kang lookalike sushi chef was also a lot quicker and seemed more skilled. We will likely return to Richmond before returning to Yuji's, but for those who don't want to travel across the bridge because they want to enjoy a bit of sake, I would recommend visiting Yuji's.

Yuji's from Japan Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Monday 22 August 2016

Seto Japanese Restaurant

We went to Seto because Zomato said it was the closest thing to where we were with good reviews. It was almost all reserved by the time we got there (almost 6pm) unless we wanted to sit at the sushi bar, which was exactly what we wanted to do.

The three sushi chefs were all Japanese, which was a great first sign. Also, the youngest one in the middle reminded me of Tim Kang (love).


B and I ordered 7 nigiri each. Left row: 2 ika, Aji, kampachi, albacore toro, and Tako. Right row: Saba, 2 salmon toro, and 2 hamachi toro.

We ate them in this order so that will be how we describe it.

The ika was very well prepared and so creamy and crunchy at the same time. It was in no way tough to eat.

B said the Tako had a good, firm, and crunchy texture.

The Salmon toro was creamy. In my opinion, salmon usually had no taste, but this has a lot of flavour to it.

The Hamachi had fish taste but it was not fishy, if that makes sense.

The Kampachi had a subtle flavour and was very smooth.

The Albacore toro had a strong tuna taste and falls apart in your mouth.

B said the Saba was good and had the strong taste he wanted, but not fishy. It was very well balanced.

The Aji was subtle but good.

Generally the rice had a good balance of vinegar and the fish was fresh all around.


We also had a chopped scallop nigiri and ikura nigiri. The chopped scallop was very creamy, but the flavour of the scallop itself was not overpowered by the cream sauce. The ikura was as good as it gets here in Vancouver, so I still miss the ones I had in Sapporo.


(They served a good amount of wasabi and ginger separately)


We also ordered a hot sake to go with our meal. It was $28 for the bottle, and despite the really strong smell, it went down really smooth.


Instead of the Saba Battera, I thought we should have the Anago because I have had good experiences with eel and less good experiences with the Saba. Here, the eel was well proportioned to the rice and it had the perfect amount of sauce. The textures were on point and the temperature of the rice perfect.


Lastly, we can't not have the Saba Shioyaki if they have it, and good thing we did. Best one we've had yet in Vancouver (even better than Isami). It was oily and moist but the skin was still crisp. It was well prepared and served with a generous amount of daikon to help take some of the grease away.


Overall we had a great experience. The bill came out to around $110, after tip it was $130. It might be considered expensive but we thought it was well worth it, considering we also had a sake.

The chefs were really good. Especially Tim Kang (that's what I'll call him). He was putting out nigiris and rolls at the same pace as the chef we met in Sapporo and they were perfect. The older chef directly in front of me was blocked by the fridge door, so I didn't see how good he was. According to B, he was so impressed by the way he sliced the fish to get all the fish without the skin perfectly.

We will definitely recommend and return.

Seto Japanese Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Thursday 18 August 2016

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.

Kissa Tanto Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Sunday 7 August 2016

Sushi by Yuji

We've heard and read good things about Sushi by Yuji and decided we had to give it a try. We saw that usually they're quite busy, but we decided to risk it and go at 5pm, when it opens, without a reservation. The sign on the door said "Open" so we walked in and all the tables had a reserved sign except for this one table for 2. We were lucky, I suppose. As soon as we sat down, one of the servers flipped the open sign to "Open for Reservations only". Only able to seat about 18-20 at most, I don't think they necessarily need to take reservations and still do well.


Wasabi and garlic was served separately. I suppose we could have asked for more, but I did wish they gave us more to begin with given that we ordered 18 pieces of nigiri. That being said, the wasabi was very fresh, it still has flavour despite the burn.


First up was the chopped scallop and ikura gunkan. It was smart to serve it first, so the seaweed doesn't get soggy and tough. The scallop was really cold, but creamy and delicious regardless. The Ikura was sharp and oily, just the way I like it.


Next up, I had the Tuna and Ika, B had 2 Ikas and 2 Takos. The tuna just dissolved in my mouth. It was not fishy at all, but it was a little on the cold side.

The Ika was very creamy. It wasn't hard to chew because of how small it was.

The Tako was sliced very thin, which gives it a different texture. It wasn't crunchy or chewy, but soft.


You may recall from the post on Shima-Ya and my complaint about the portion of rice and how large it was. I really enjoy the small rice portion here at Sushi by Yuji. Much smaller and more manageable.


Next is the Saba. It was really good; it was fresh and clean. Despite the saltiness, the flavour still came through well.


I ordered the Toro, B had the Hamachi, I had the Engawa, and B had the two Hokki. I thought the Toro was less creamy than the tuna, which is odd because it's supposed to be more fatty. The engawa had a nice crunch to it but very bland otherwise.

B thought the Hamachi was really good and "It melted in (his) mouth in fresh flavour." The Hokki, however, was very chewy and he got sand in one of them. It had an unpleasant texture and was very gritty.


The last nigiri was the Aji. It was very lemony, and did not have the same fishy-salty flavour as the Saba. We didn't like it as much, but it was still good.


We also ordered the Grilled Kanpachi Kama. The sauce was sweet, but not disgustingly sweet. It was enjoyable. The topping / rub was also very well developed. It had better flavour than the one we had at Sushi S, and cooked better, being more moist. However, we still prefer the salty and heavier flavour of a Saba Shioyaki.


We also saw that they had a big selection of Sake, so we ordered a bottle to be served hot. It was very smooth, too smooth, too easy to drink. We tried to portion it and make sure we had enough to last the whole meal. For some reason, the bottle couldn't keep the sake hot enough. It's weird, because when we had it in Kyoto, our sake stayed hot despite being poured out into a cup.

Overall, we had a good experience. We would recommend it, but we're not sure if we'll return because we really like our grilled mackerel, and they didn't have it.

Sushi by Yuji Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato