Episode #160: Matsuzushi

Port Moody, $$ (Moderately Priced)

As a kid, I used to be very talented at distracting others while still managing to get my own work done. Now, it seems to be the other way around. While I was trying to write my paper at the library, I was constantly distracted by the bright sunshine, the singing children, the walking librarians, and the bright, colourful dictionaries. Not only was I getting more words down on my Facebook news feed than my Word document, but I somehow also managed to fall asleep in my chair. By the time I actually managed to start working on the first paragraph of my paper, I suddenly felt hungry, which meant it was time for some more sushi.

Matsuzushi is a new authentic Japanese restaurant that replaces the former Fresh Combo House. The decor inside is very simple, and it feels almost like a food mart rather than a restaurant. It appears to be a husband-and-wife operation, with the husband making the sushi and the wife preparing the cooked food.

  

(menu - click to enlarge)

The menu focuses on traditional dishes and contains very few special rolls. Since I could not find the menu online to browse beforehand, I once again took forever to order. In fact, I took so long that diners from another table came up to me and kindly offered to help me order in case I couldn't understand the menu. Nope, that was not the issue. I just needed time to formulate and design my perfectly balanced "nutritious" lunch.

Miso Soup - A-

The diners who offered to help me suggested that I get one of the lunch specials, so I did. The Chicken Teriyaki Lunch Special started off with a solid version of Miso Soup. It was garnished with seaweed, green onion, and tofu, and the balance of ingredients was just right. It was not too salty, but the miso paste was rich in flavour.

Wakame - B+

Next came a small serving of Wakame in a miniature goblet. It was served a little warmer than expected, but it was adequately seasoned and easy to chew. It had a prominent rice vinegar flavour to it.

California Roll - B+

Tuna Nigiri - B+

Sockeye Salmon Nigiri - A-

Ika Nigiri - B

The California Roll was rather interesting as there was just as much avocado as crab meat (or in the case of the piece to the right, more avocado than crab meat). I found it quite rice-heavy, but the creamy flavour of the crab meat was strong enough to balance out the overage of rice. The sushi rice in the nigiri was slightly on the drier side and was not remarkable. However, both the tuna and sockeye salmon were fresh and came with generous cuts. The chef also seared the Ika Nigiri for me, but the seared flavour didn't really come through, partly due to the overdose of wasabi underneath.

Chicken Teriyaki - A

Salad - B-

With tender, succulent pieces of chicken, the Chicken Teriyaki was a savoury success. The skin on top had an appealing crispiness to it and was quite aromatic. The mashed potato salad and the marinated and sliced radishes and carrots were welcome additions to this dish. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the salad. The top half of it was dressed with Thousand Island sauce, and the bottom half of it was soaking in teriyaki sauce. Although the teriyaki sauce was a bit too heavy for the salad, the salad arguably tasted fine with either the dressing or the sauce. When you accidentally mix them together, oh the horror...

After the lunch special, I tried some of their very expensive nigiri. Yes, the three pieces on the left cost more than $10. I also went for some of their pressed sushi since I wasn't particularly intrigued by any of the rolls on the menu. I tried to ask the sushi chef whether the pressed sushi was seared, but apparently, the word "seared" wasn't part of his vocabulary. Well, I did the wisest thing possible, which was to just order it and pray to my lucky stars for the best.

Hirame Nigiri - B

Botan Ebi Nigiri - B+

Unagi Nigiri - A-

The Hirame Nigiri tasted fresh, but there was too much wasabi inside, which overpowered the fish. The Botan Ebi Nigiri was sweet and tasty with a soft, creamy texture. The best of the nigiri was the Unagi Nigiri, where the unagi was very soft and had a smoky, sweet flavour. The sushi rice was also noticeably better in this particular piece. Overall, the nigiri tasted fine, but not worth more than $3 per piece in my opinion, even though I recognize that these are typically expensive types of nigiri.

Saba Battera - B+

Whereas six pieces of saba nigiri would have cost me $18, I could get six pieces of saba battera (box-shaped sushi) for only $8. The pricing system is surely quite strange. The saba was not seared and sliced thinly, but it was not too salty. Texture-wise, the saba had a bit of an odd snap in some pieces. However, I liked how the chef used transparent kombu (kelp) to enhance the flavour of the saba, and as a result, this could be consumed with minimal or no soy sauce.

The service was very friendly and welcoming. Although the food here isn't top notch, it is above average and generally prepared carefully. The prices are quite reasonable with the exception of the nigiri that is sold by the piece. Overall, I enjoyed my visit, and with my power to focus restored by sushi, I managed to whip up a few decent-sounding paragraphs for my paper afterward.

Episode #137: Namoo Sushi

Port Moody, $$ (Moderately Priced)
www.toktokvan.com/namoosushi

** Merry Christmas to all of my dear readers! **

Despite the extra amount of travel time needed, I enjoy doing my studying in different places around Greater Vancouver. I claim that studying in different places helps me remember things better, but most importantly, I get to go to different sushi restaurants in the process. One of my favourite places to study is the Port Moody Public Library (even though I don't live in Port Moody), and I've been stealing their Wi-Fi and desk space on numerous occasions. Over two such occasions, I completed a Sushi-a-thon at Namoo Sushi while my brain was overflowing with math formulas.

Namoo Sushi is Korean-operated and has a very extensive menu. The dining area was spacious and decorated with many Japanese fans along with an endearing water fountain. I found the booth seating a bit tight, and I had some trouble getting into the seats. Just to be clear, I am neither beefy nor well built. If you want to picture my body shape, just think of one of those feeble nerds who spends too much time studying and you'll have approximately the right idea.

1st visit:

Miso Soup - A-

To get a sample of everything, I started with the Sashimi Box, which came with a Miso Soup. The Miso Soup arrived steaming hot and came with green onion and tofu. It was well balanced with a sufficient amount of flavour.

The Sashimi Box was neatly arranged, and the portion sizes were quite generous.

Salad - B

Starting with the top-left corner, the Salad was standard fare and consisted mainly of bite-sized pieces of lettuce dressed with the standard Japanese salad dressing.

Tempura - A-

The Tempura came with one prawn and one piece each of sweet potato and yam. The prawn had an excellent texture and was covered with a light, crispy layer of batter, which provided a delicious, savoury burst of flavour. The batter on the sweet potato was a bit heavy, but both the yam and the sweet potato exhibited a good balance of sweet and savoury flavours.

Fruit - B+

As strange as it may be, I have always rated single pieces of fruit on this blog and will continue to do so. I found this piece of orange neither sweet nor sour, but it was sufficiently juicy.

Salmon Sashimi - A+

Tuna Sashimi - B+

The Salmon Sashimi blew my mind. It was extremely fresh and sliced into large, thin pieces for a softer texture. It had the perfect creamy flavour and was definitely the highlight of my entire day. There's nothing in life that can compare to an excellent piece of sashimi, right? The Tuna Sashimi exhibited no fishiness at all and was cleanly cut, though it wasn't very soft. 

Beef Teriyaki with Rice - A

The Beef Teriyaki with Rice came with tender, savoury beef that was dressed with a good amount of teriyaki sauce. Underneath was a flavourful layer of bean sprouts, chopped onions, and lettuce. A slight hint of black pepper livened up the flavours. I enjoyed virtually every aspect of this dish, though I guess if I was really, really picky, I could say that it was the slightest bit greasy. 

Baked Salmon Roll - B

After finishing the Sashimi Box, I got the Baked Salmon Roll, which came with avocado, crab meat, red pepper, baked salmon, melted cheese, green onion, and bonito flakes. Now, if you're one of those people who eats fajitas and goes "I wonder what these would taste like in a sushi roll," I have no better solution to offer than to try this roll. The melted cheese was a blend of white and yellow cheeses, and the cheese + baked salmon + teriyaki sauce combo sort of worked. The salmon was not fully cooked to retain a smooth texture, and there was a generous amount of salmon. 

2nd visit:

 Yakitori - B

The Yakitori comprised two extremely bulky skewers, each with several gigantic chunks of broccoli. Thrown into the mix were a few large, crunchy pieces of red pepper. The chicken, no longer the center of attention, was sufficiently juicy and tender, and the broccoli had a subtle seared flavour. While I wasn't paying attention, one of the wooden skewers magically broke apart into three pieces, possibly due to its own weight. The "mysteriously disintegrating skewer" is a skill that I have never witnessed before.

Ebi Mayo - B

The Ebi Mayo came with six battered shrimps dressed with mayonnaise and a bit of honey for some extra sweetness. The shrimp had a decent snap to it, and I liked how it was peeled all the way to the tail, making it cleaner and more convenient to eat. However, the honey made the batter slightly chewy in places, and the shrimp still remained weak in flavour.

Dragon Roll - A

The rest of my order was exquisitely plated with a beautiful shrimp head in the middle. Behind the shrimp head is the Dragon Roll, which came with crab meat, cucumber, avocado, tobiko, BBQ eel, and teriyaki sauce. The crab meat was very rich in flavour and made the roll quite addicting. The unagi was pleasantly soft and had a savoury, sweet flavour. 

Amaebi Nigiri - A-

Toro Nigiri - B+

Saba Nigiri - A

Once again, the raw seafood was fresh. The amaebi (sweet shrimp) was creamy with a slight, appealing snap, while the toro was soft and came in a very generous piece. The Toro Nigiri is one of those rare times where I thought there wasn't enough sushi rice underneath. However, the Saba Nigiri (mackerel) was excellent. Not only was the saba very fresh, but it also had just the right amount of saltiness and just the right amount of sushi rice. The smooth, soft texture of the saba added a few points to the delicious-o-meter.

The service was very friendly and attentive on both of my visits, and I was quite pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food, especially given the price. From what I tried, it appears that their greatest strength is their fresh supply of fish. The classical piano music in the background made my dining experience more classy. Unfortunately, some of the pieces were played a bit too slowly, and I heard a few wrong notes while I was eating the Ebi Mayo. Oh deer...

Episode #131: PSI Sushi & Roll (Port Moody)

Port Moody, $ (Budget)
www.facebook.com/sushiandroll2

My favourite type of Nestle chocolate is Smarties because eating them makes me feel smarter. Last month, I went to Walmart and bought one of those boxes of bite-sized Nestle treats to hand out to the trick-or-treating kids, but unfortunately for me, the Smarties were the first to run out. To get my revenge, I went to Walmart again and bought an entire canister of Smarties so that I could stash it in my room and enjoy it "in moderation." However, in addition to indulging in excessive amounts of sugar, I also needed to indulge in excessive amounts of sushi, so I left Walmart to meet up with my dad at the newly opened PSI Sushi & Roll in Port Moody.

PSI Sushi & Roll is Korean-operated and runs a large, busy location in Surrey. Everything on their menu is quite affordable, and there is a good abundance of items on the menu. As their Port Moody location had just opened, there were very few diners when I entered the restaurant. I suppose the fact that I decided to eat at 3 p.m. also contributed to the lack of customers I saw.

Prawn Tempura - B+

One of my dad's favourite Japanese foods is Prawn Tempura, and he can never seem to get enough of it. This Prawn Tempura came with 6 soft, juicy prawns and two bonus pieces of green bean tempura. The batter was slightly thick for some pieces, but thankfully, it was crispy and not hard at all. The flavour of the prawns was preserved well.

Tuna Sashimi - A

Salmon Sashimi - A-

Ebi Nigiri - B+

Seared Tuna Nigiri - B

Seared Salmon Nigiri - A-

Masago Nigiri - A-

Chopped Scallop Nigiri - A-

Next, I got the Sashimi & Sushi Combo and had the tuna and salmon nigiri seared. Both types of sashimi were delicious and fresh, and the tuna was especially soft. Although the Ebi Nigiri was slightly chewy, it had a nice sweetness. The Seared Tuna Nigiri would have fared better with some dressing, but the Seared Salmon Nigiri had a nice drizzle of mayonnaise on top along with a nice smoky flavour. The Masago Nigiri had a soft, bubbly texture and a nice burst of flavour. The Chopped Scallop was soft, fresh, and sweet, but the rice was packed a bit too tightly for this one piece.

Awesome Roll - B

The Awesome Roll consisted of crab meat, cucumber, avocado, baked salmon, green onion, masago, and bonito, and is similar to Sushi Town's Awesome Roll. However, it was slightly rice-heavy, and the teriyaki sauce severely lacked impact. On the contrary, I did enjoy the spicy mayonnaise and the neat construction and presentation. Overall, Sushi Town is the clear winner on this roll (unless PSI Sushi & Roll was just having an off day).

Okonomiyaki - B

For $6.95, I was totally not expecting a 10-inch Okonomiyaki, so this was a very good deal! It was quite thick with lots of cabbage-based filling. There was a slight, appealing crispiness on the outside, and the mayonnaise worked well with the sweeter okonomiyaki sauce. Unfortunately, some of the pieces were a little burnt on the bottom.

We received friendly service and decent food for the most part. This is one of the most affordable places for sushi in the Port Moody area, and I would expect that it would gradually pick up more and more customers as it becomes more well-known in the area. However, previous restaurants that have occupied that building had significant trouble lasting more than about two or three years. Let's see if PSI Sushi & Roll can finally put a stop to the frequent changing of ownership. 

Episode #74: Nagano

Port Moody, $$$ (Higher Priced)
www.facebook.com/portmoodynagano

The California Roll from Nagano in Coquitlam used to be one of my favourite foods as a kid (clearly, times were tough back then). I would get 3 or 4 orders of it at a time and then bring it home to have a feast. Recently, the Coquitlam branch closed down (Urbanspoon says that this is temporary), so the only branch of Nagano in operation at the moment is the Port Moody branch. The Port Moody Nagano appears to be Korean-operated and has a good variety of dishes on the menu.

Miso Soup - B

Not wanting to spend forever deciding on what to order (as I had a paper due), I ordered the Sukiyaki Dinner, which came with a Miso Soup, an Ebi Sunomono, Sukiyaki (with rice), and dessert. The Miso Soup was the first to arrive and it came with seaweed, tofu, and green onion. The temperature was just right, but it was quite salty.

Ebi Sunomono - B

The Ebi Sunomono was served with baby shrimps. It had a tangy, citrusy flavour due to the piece of lemon that it was served with. I liked how the vermicelli had just the right chewiness, but it would be nice if the shrimps had more flavour to them.

Alien Roll - B+

The Alien Roll consisted of chicken, crab meat, two beans, noodles, broccoli, roe, combined with "an appearance of alien". Normally, I spend a lot of time pondering which special roll to get, but as soon as I saw the words "appearance of alien", I decided that I had to get this roll. It had a distinct aroma due to the tempura broccoli, and surprisingly, the flavours worked well together. My only concern was that the seaweed was quite firm, and any of my attempts to chew it ended up pulling the whole roll apart. At this point, I also noticed that I wasn't given a soy sauce container, so I had to use my Miso Soup bowl instead. Oh well, close enough!

Sukiyaki - A-

  

It might not look like it in the photo above, but it reality, the Sukiyaki was huge! It would most likely have been enough to serve as both my lunch and my dinner. The beef was sliced thinly enough and had a soft texture along with a nice hint of spiciness. The vermicelli was soft and flavourful, and overall, the Sukiyaki was quite enjoyable. 

White Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream - B-

For dessert, I got the White Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream (there were three different choices to choose from). It had a good amount of sweetness, but it was too frozen, even for ice cream. 

I found the service to be quite friendly, and my server was quite apologetic after I told her about the missing soy sauce container mishap. However, it didn't really affect my meal, so I told her not to worry about it. The food wasn't stellar, but it was good enough for the restaurant to have a nice, steady flow of customers. The prices are on the higher side, but that goes for every other Japanese restaurant in Port Moody that I've been to.

Episode #37: Fuji Sushi

Port Moody, $$$ (Higher Priced)
www.facebook.com/fujisushi

Perhaps the most well-known of the Japanese restaurants in Port Moody, Fuji Sushi is authentic and has had a successful past, gaining a substantial number of regulars. They recently undergone a renovation, which transformed the restaurant from having a light theme to a darker theme. I guess it looks more like a Japanese restaurant than before, but in my opinion, I found the lighter theme (from before) more inviting. In fact, I thought the restaurant was closed and still under renovation when I walked by until I saw the chefs inside.

After the renovation, I also noticed that many of the prices had gone up. They also added a wide range of more expensive items to the menu, such as special rolls and aburi nigiri. Wanting to sample a bit of everything and sticking with the basics, I decided to order to Sashimi Combination ($19.95), which contained Miso Soup, a salad, Agedashi Tofu, Tuna and Salmon Sashimi, California Roll, 5 pieces of tempura, a mashed potato appetizer and Chicken Teriyaki. 

Miso Soup - B+

The Miso Soup was served hot and the miso paste was quite flavourful, but I found it a bit on the salty side.

Salad - A-

The salad contained fresh lettuce and tomato and the tangy vinegar-based dressing was a light, mostly liquidy vinaigrette.

After I finished the salad, the rest of the combination arrived:

It may not look like it, but the combination is actually quite large and filling.

Agedashi Tofu - B-

The Agedashi Tofu had light, crisp batter on the outside with a large piece of white tofu in the middle. I'm not sure if this was a good idea as the inside would have tasted much better if it was closer to the sauce. I prefer the smaller bite-sized pieces as those tend to be more savoury. It also could have used more sauce.

Tuna Sashimi - A-

Salmon Sashimi - B

The tuna sashimi had a bit of a sandy texture and was sliced quite thin, but it was adequately soft. It had a decent mild and balanced taste to it. The Salmon Sashimi was quite smooth and slippery (to the point that I had quite a bit of trouble picking it up with my chopsticks) and was a solid display of knife skills. However, it was quite lacking in taste, and was rather unwilling to absorb the soy sauce.

California Roll - B-

The California Roll contained relatively little crab and had a strong presence of avocado (which bordered on being overripe). The sushi rice was decent, but overall, I found the roll to be mushy due to the excess amount of avocado. The cucumber was also noticeably hard and could be cut into thinner pieces for better integration with the rest of the roll.

Sweet Potato Tempura - B

Prawn Tempura - A-

Zucchini Tempura - B-

Carrot Tempura - C+

Onion Tempura - C

As for the tempura, the batter was laid on very unevenly and a most of the batter had a soft bread-like texture instead of the desired light crispy texture. Perhaps they had an accident when preparing the tempura but decided that I would probably tolerate a minor slip. My favourite piece out of the tempura was the prawn, which was thick, meaty and tasty. The Sweet Potato Tempura was cut to the right thickness and was soft, but the batter on this piece was hard in some places. The zucchini was thin and juicy while the carrot had a snappy texture. If the Onion Tempura was an attempt to mimic onion rings, then I must say it was a rather poor attempt. The slice of onion they used was huge and because of the soft batter, I felt like I was eating a large slice of unchopped onion. I failed to finish it. 

There was a small mashed potato appetizer in the middle of the combination box. There were small chunks of various vegetables inside for added variety. For mashed potatoes, it was quite decent but I won't assign a grade to it because me and mashed potatoes just don't get along. Yep ...

Chicken Teriyaki - A-

The Chicken Teriyaki was executed the best out of all the various items in the combination. The teriyaki sauce was delicious and brought out the flavours of the chicken quite well. They also did an excellent job of stir-frying the vegetables underneath.

Oyster Motoyaki - B

The Oyster Motoyaki was not part of the combination, but was one of the smaller items I could get without ending up too full (funny enough, this seems to be a common problem of mine). They were surprisingly generous with the amount of oysters in the motoyaki and the custard had a nice, creamy texture. The only issue was that the custard tasted excessively acidic (maybe the mayonnaise was too strong? or too much mayonnaise was used?). A bed of sliced onions lined the bottom of the motoyaki and the mild-tasting oil went well with the onions.

The service was very friendly overall and the servers' bright attitudes clearly distinguished them from those at other restaurants. The food I received was a bit of a hit-and-miss game and despite the decent service, I don't think the price premium was justified. In fact, I remember the food as being substantially better before the renovation. The restaurant was mostly empty at prime dinner time on a Thursday night and I believe they would need to lower their prices or come up with a few first-class news-inspiring dishes if they wish to continue their past success.

Episode #36: Sango

Port Moody, $$$ (Higher Priced)
www.facebook.com/sangores511

Sango is a Japanese fusion restaurant located in Suter Brook Village (across the street from Newport Village), one of the latest additions to the city of Port Moody. The restaurant is quite large, has a great ambience and is suitable for large parties. If you are familiar with Kami Sushi, you may notice that the menus of the two restaurants are remarkably similar.

Wanting to try sample a variety of nigiri, I ordered the combo called "8 piece sushi with California roll", which contained ... well, the name says it all:

Moving on to describe the different pieces of sushi:

Tuna Nigiri - B+

Salmon Nigiri - A-

Tai Nigiri - B+

Ebi Nigiri - B

The nigiri was generally fresh and neatly cut. The Tuna Nigiri was generous with a thick cut. It had just a slight fishy aftertaste, but was otherwise alright. The Salmon Nigiri had a fresh, sweet, buttery taste with a nice smooth sheen. The Tai Nigiri delivered in terms of taste and was a bit on the chewy side, but for tai, it had a smooth texture. They used a rather large shrimp for the Ebi Nigiri which packed a significant burst of flavour, but it would be nice if it was softer.

California Roll - B-

I felt like California rolls were not their specialty. Maybe I should have stuck with the fusion items since they advertise themselves as a Japanese fusion restaurant. The mayonnaise in the California roll was rather dry and the avocado was a touch overripe, but at least the roll itself held together well. A little more crab meat would also have been appreciated.

After I finished the combo, I got the Miso Roll:

Miso Roll - B+

The Miso Roll consisted of shrimp tempura, eel, sockeye salmon, special sauce (most likely a light teriyaki sauce with some miso mixed in). The highlight of the roll was the sockeye salmon, which was fresh and had an appealing, smooth texture. The taste of the shrimp was noticeable and the batter had a light crunch for some of the pieces. The crab meat was a bit dry (same issue as above) and the unagi was sliced thin with some bony sections. Overall, there was a decent attempt to create harmony with all the different flavours.

The restaurant wasn't very busy during my visit (I walked it at about 5 p.m.), so I received friendly and attentive service throughout my stay. In fact, the servers came to me three times before I was ready to order, though I'll admit that I'm quite slow at ordering. The regular Japanese items were decent, but not spectacular, so it felt like I was paying some premium for the ambience. I was craving salmon during this visit, but perhaps I should return and try some of their fusion items, which is allegedly their specialty.