Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Episode #71: Sushi Boss

Coquitlam, $$ (Moderately Priced)

Never would I ever expect a sushi restaurant to pop up in Westwood Plateau anywhere other than in Plateau Village, the main shopping plaza for residents of the plateau. However, the unthinkable happened and sitting in a mini-plaza ("mini" because it consists of only a large house where three small businesses operate) is a sushi restaurant named Sushi Boss. Now, you would normally expect buses that run less frequently to at least be more reliable, but the bus that I was supposed to take never seemed to depart from the station. Not wanting to wait another 20 minutes, I took the next closest bus, which meant that I still had to walk most of the way up the plateau. This was a double bummer because the best way to make your allergies 10 times worse than they already are is to go for a hike in Westwood Plateau.


Sushi Boss is a small Korean-operated Japanese restaurant that serves all the main categories of Japanese food that you would expect at a sushi restaurant. In addition, they also serve organic Arabica coffee, hence the word "Coffee" on their sign in front of the restaurant. The meat used for their Chicken Teriyaki and Galbi (beef short ribs) is sourced locally and is gluten-free, but I figured on a previous visit that despite the health benefits, gluten-free meat tends to be tougher.

Salad - B+

My meal started off with a complimentary salad! There was lots of variety in the salad, and I found a gyoza, a blackberry, edamame, and an apple slice among other things. The vinaigrette used to dress the salad was the standard Japanese vinaigrette dressing, but I felt that the richness of this one was just right. The gyoza was just a tad too crispy and dry for me.

Gomae - A

With fresh spinach and avocado and a well-balanced sesame sauce, this was a refreshing and splendid appetizer. The sesame sauce was accentuated by the sesame seeds sprinkled on top for a richer flavour.

Aburi California Roll - B+

The Aburi California Roll (one of their newest rolls) consisted of seared cheese and mayonnaise on a California Roll. The filling had a decent soft texture, while the top tasted like grilled cheese with its sweetness enhanced by a small amount of teriyaki sauce drizzled on top. For the most part, the flavours worked together, but it could have more of a smoky flavour.

Sockeye Salmon Sashimi - A+
Tuna Sashimi - B+

The Sockeye Salmon Sashimi was surprisingly fresh with a delicious, smooth texture. It also has a nice subtle smoked sockeye salmon taste to it, and it is some of the best sashimi I have ever had in the Lower Mainland. The Tuna Sashimi could be a bit softer and was slightly on the saltier side, but it was still a bit above average. Furthermore, it finally broke my unfortunate consecutive chain of sushi adventures with not-fully-thawed tuna sashimi!

Unagi Teriyaki - A

The unagi in the Unagi Teriyaki was cut in an unorthodox way, but was soft and very smooth. I liked the addition of green onion and sesame seeds. It could have even more of a grilled flavour, but was quite decent overall. Behind the rice sat a few pieces of pickled asparagus, and the taste of those reminded me of dill pickles.

Toro Nigiri - B+
Aburi Tuna Nigiri - A

The Tuna Nigiri was dressed with sesame seeds and had a good texture. However, it would fare better with even more of a creamy flavour. The Aburi Tuna Nigiri was better-executed, and the sweet teriyaki sauce brought out the flavour of the tasty half-seared tuna. 

The service was some of the best in town, and the friendly waitress constantly made sure that my tea was refilled. In fact, my tea was refilled at least five times during my short visit! It was the type of service that I would be willing to reward with a >20% tip. In addition, I enjoyed the Classical piano music in the background, which reminded me of all the Bach, Mozart and Liszt masterpieces that I used to practise daily. Of course, I also enjoyed the food, and every item that I tried was above average. Who knew that some of the best sushi in Coquitlam would be found high up in the middle of Westwood Plateau?

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

2 comments:

Sushi Wallpaper said...

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Raymond Zeng said...

You're very welcome! I'm glad you found my blog useful.

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