Sunday, August 30, 2015

Episode #114: Narita Sushi

Coquitlam, $$ (Moderately Priced)
www.naritasushi.ca

Last Tuesday, my friend Tamsen and my family joined me on a bowling adventure at Zone Bowling Coquitlam to take advantage of their 2 Buck Tuesday special. We had a blast. The highlight of our bowling adventure was when I scored a strike so epic that I broke my glasses in the process. No longer being able to see properly as only one of the lenses were still intact, I called for a celebration of my incredible moment by going to nearby Narita Sushi.


Narita Sushi is a small Korean-operated Japanese restaurant that I had visited several times in the past whenever I needed a quick Japanese meal. On previous visits, I have found the service to be friendly and efficient and the quality to be above average compared to the other Japanese restaurants in Coquitlam. Due to its small size, the restaurant has difficulty seating groups with more than four people.


If you're coming from the SilverCity across the street, take note of this discount!

Salmon Sashimi - A-

The first item to arrive was the eight-piece Salmon Sashimi. My mom kept complaining the pieces were too small, but I thought that the superior freshness of the salmon made up for the smaller cuts. The sashimi had a nice, smooth texture and a delicious, creamy flavour.

Tuna Tataki Roll - A-

Next up was the Tuna Tataki Roll, which consisted of tuna, crab meat, avocado, cucumber, tuna tataki, and spicy sauce. Again, the pieces were a bit smaller than I had expected, but I do not have a problem with small portions if the food is executed well, and in this case, it was. The tuna was quite soft and had a delectable tataki flavour that was accentuated by a drizzle of spicy mayonnaise. The chopped green onions provided a nice crunchiness to the roll.

Spring Rolls - B-

While we were enjoying the Tuna Tataki Roll, we were presented with a complimentary dish of Spring Rolls! I really appreciated this gesture, but unfortunately, the Spring Rolls were soggy and the pastry was a bit hard to chew. On the bright side, the teriyaki sauce helped to enhance the flavour of the meager amount of filling.

Energy Roll - B+

The Energy Roll consisted of crab meat, unagi, cucumber, salmon tempura, and potato crunch. I liked the soft texture of the unagi, but the roll tastes a bit too salty if dipped in a normal amount of soy sauce. The salmon tempura was one of the better-executed ones I've had. The salmon was juicy and moist, and the tempura had enough crunch, although it was slightly thick in places.

Chicken Popcorn - B

This was executed well on previous visits, but not so much this time. The deep-fried chicken was sufficiently tender, but the batter was too thick, making the Chicken Popcorn chewier than it was supposed to be. Flavour-wise, I enjoyed the slight spiciness of the sweet chili sauce.

Dynamite Roll - B-

The Dynamite Roll tasted a little strange as the crab meat was much colder than the rest of the ingredients. The prawn tempura was a little heavy with the batter, but the amount of rice on the outside was just right. 

Orange Dessert - B

At the end of our meal, we received a complimentary Orange Dessert! We all thought it was strange how there were only three oranges for the five of us until we noticed that there were actually five toothpicks. The oranges were sufficiently juicy but neither particularly sweet nor sour. 

I found the quality of the food reasonable for the prices, but the service was quite disappointing. The waitress seemed really disgruntled the whole time, and it got to the point that some of us began to lose our appetites. Furthermore, our dishes were never cleared. With the exception of Le Crocodile, this was the worst service I have had at any restaurant this year. Without the complimentary dishes, our experience would have been quite a disaster. I can no longer recommend this restaurant due to the service I experienced during this visit, and I won't be returning either. 

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