Episode #69: Sushi Bar Iori

Maple Ridge, $$ (Moderately Priced)

Touted by many to be the best in Maple Ridge, Sushi Bar Iori, a small Korean-operated Japanese restaurant, became my next target for my series of Maple Ridge sushi adventures. As their name suggests, they focus mainly on sushi and do not serve cooked items or noodles. Unfortunately, I was stuck in a traffic jam and arrived exactly when their break (from 3:00 to 3:45 p.m.) started. I had to temporarily keep my palate entertained at Yumi's Frozen Yogurt next door. Afterward, since I was in a hurry, I snapped a photo of the menu that was taped to the door and proceded to think about my order inside the small shopping mall to which the restaurant was attached.

Appetizer Tempura - B+

The Appetizer Tempura came with 3 prawns and 3 pieces of yam (even though the menu only says 2 pieces of yam). I was surprised that this would be the first item to arrive, but I was glad that it came out in less than 10 minutes. It wasn't fine-dining quality, but the tempura was mostly decent. The prawns were meaty enough and the yam was cut to the right thickness with sufficient sweetness. The dipping sauce has a nice mild hint of ginger.

Barbie Roll - A-

I wanted to try their seared stuff, so I went with the Barbie Roll, which consisted of prawn, crab meat, asparagus, seared wild salmon and avocado. The roll was cleanly cut and well-presented. The sesame added flavour and the salmon was seared the right amount. The sauce applied was just barely enough, and it helps if you slide the pieces around in the teriyaki and spicy mayonnaise sauce to capture more of its flavour. Despite its name, I think it tastes better than a Barbie, though I can't say for sure because I have never actually tasted a Barbie before. Maybe one day ...

Tuna Sashimi - B-

Sockeye Salmon Sashimi - B

Tai Sashimi - A-

Hokkigai Sashimi - A-

The Half Assorted Sashimi came with 3 pieces of Tuna Sashimi, 2 pieces of Sockeye Salmon Sashimi, 2 pieces of Tai Sashimi, and 2 pieces of Hokkigai Sashimi. The Tuna Sashimi was cut to the optimal thickness, but when I bit into it, I realized why it came last. In fact, they had been trying to thaw it on the counter for the duration of my meal, but when it came to me, two of the pieces were still half frozen. At least they tried. The Sockeye Salmon Sashimi was fresh, albeit sliced a little thick, making it a bit tough. The Tai Sashimi and the Hokkigai Sashimi were both decent and fresh. 

The one waitress was enough to provide sufficient service to all of the tables. I enjoyed the freshness of the food and the neat presentation of each dish. The food at Sushi Bar Iori has a slightly more traditional Japanese feel than Shinobi. However, it is a bit questionable whether Iori or Shinobi serves better food overall. I would say that Iori has better consistency due to its limited menu, but there are some spectacular items at Shinobi that make neither restuarant a clear favourite over the other.

Episode #68: Mega Sushi

Steveston, Richmond, $$$ (Higher Priced)
www.toktokvan.com/megasushi

Sushi restaurants in the quaint Steveston village are notoriously expensive, but tend to serve some of the freshest sashimi in the Lower Mainland since the village has its own Fisherman's Wharf. The two most well-known sushi restaurants in Steveston are Ichiro Japanese Restaurant and Mega Sushi. Mega Sushi, unlike Ichiro (which is Japanese-operated), is Korean-operated and serves a wide selection of Japanese dishes with more affordable prices. They were unbelievably packed for a Tuesday evening, and even a party of one was subject to a 20-minute wait (which was a first for me). Make sure you have a reservation!

The atmosphere inside was quite boisterous due to the number of patrons but the seating was clean comfortable. The restaurant is moderately sized and the decor has a modern feel to it. In my opinion, the restaurant is not very well named, as it is not the type of restaurant that serves jumbo-sized portions with low prices.

Ebi Sunomono - B+

In my quest to try every category of Japanese food, I got the Mega Bento, and the first item to arrive from it was the Ebi Sunomono. It was nice that they brought me a bit of the bento before the whole bento was ready. The Ebi Sunomono was quite cold with a modest amount of vinegar that didn't overwhelm the other ingredients. I found the ebi to be slightly tough, possibly due to the colder temperature that the sunomono was served at.

Miso Soup - A-

The Miso Soup (part of the Mega Bento) was served hot and had a good balance of miso paste and dashi broth without being too salty. I also liked the neat container that the Miso Soup came in.

Godzilla Bite - A

The Godzilla Bite contained deep-fried seaweed and rice, torched tuna, salmon, and chopped scallop, and alfalfa. This was a highly inventive roll (or is it even a roll?) that was very well executed. The deep-fried seaweed and rice formed little soft, crispy pillows on the bottom for the torched tuna, salmon and chopped scallop, which had decent smooth textures. The good balance of sweetness and mild spiciness was highly enjoyable. There is also a small container of crispy rice in the center that was lit up to produce a small flame!

Tuna Sashimi - C+

Sockeye Salmon Sashimi - A

The Appetizer Sashimi came with three pieces of tuna sashimi, two pieces of sockeye salmon sashimi, and a piece of celery as a decoration on top. Unfortunately, the Tuna Sashimi was not fully thawed, though it wasn't very far off either. To fix the problem, I came up with the brilliant idea of holding the Tuna Sashimi over the small flame from the Godzilla Bite above. The resulting tuna tataki tasted excellent! As for the Salmon Sashimi, it was very fresh with a smooth sheen, as expected from a Japanese restaurant in Steveston!

Next, the rest of the Mega Bento arrived. There was Chicken Teriyaki, an Alaska Roll, a Salad, Appetizer Tempura, and Gyoza. Once again, I ordered way too much food to fit on my table!

Chicken Teriyaki - C+

The Chicken Teriyaki had good flavour from the sesame seeds and was tender with a smooth texture. The only issue I had with it was that the skin was really mushy and too reminiscent of mashed potatoes.

Alaska Roll - B-

The Alaska Roll consisted of cream cheese, cucumber, avocado, imitation crab and smoked salmon. The smoked salmon was of high quality and the avocado was fresh, but there was an overdose of cream cheese. I think the cream cheese had a larger volume than the cucumber, avocado, and imitation crab combined.

Salad - B+

The Salad consisted mainly of arugula leaves dressed in the appropriate amount of vinaigrette. It was quite refreshing even though I had already had a larger salad from the Godzilla Bite.

 Prawn Tempura - A

Sweet Potato Tempura - B+

Kabocha Tempura - B

The batter on the tempura was particularly well made and had an excellent soft but crispy texture. The Prawn Tempura was by far the best of the bunch and was nearly as good as Ichiro's A+ Prawn Tempura. The vegetable tempura (sweet potato and kabocha) paled in comparison, but still retained the good qualities of the batter.

Gyoza - B-

I wasn't a big fan of the Gyoza as the filling was weak in flavour and the wrapper was a bit dry. However, there was sufficient juiciness inside the Gyoza.

The servers were quite busy throughout my entire visit due to the especially high demand, but they tried their best and maintained a pleasant attitude. Although not every dish was exactly stellar, the restaurant does have its fair share of must-trys, such as the Godzilla Bite. I wanted to try the Mega Tower too as it looked very delicious when others ordered it, but then, I would end up with three salads and so much food on the table that I would have to start putting items on the floor. Oh, the terrible dilemmas I face during my sushi adventures!

Episode #67: Shinobi

Maple Ridge, $$ (Moderately Priced)
www.shinobisushi.com

For this episode, I decided to go to Maple Ridge, the land of the inexpensive and sometimes decent sushi. The first time I had sushi in Maple Ridge was at Shinobi, and that visit eventually led to many re-visits. With a large selection of items, where they serve everything from kanisake tempura to ahi tuna sashimi to seared rolls, I constantly find new things to try with every visit. They also serve a variety of lunch boxes from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Since I have never had a lunch box from Shinobi before, I fled from my class as soon as it ended and made it to the restaurant with just enough time to place my order at exactly 3:00 p.m. Score!

Miso Soup - B

The lunch boxes come with your typical miso soup. I found this miso soup to be slightly heavy on the salt.

The Teriyaki & Tempura Box came with Appetizer Tempura, Chicken Teriyaki (with rice on the side), Spring Rolls, California Roll (4 pcs.), and Green Salad, all for just $8.95! I apologize for the inconsistency in lighting as I had to use flash for certain dishes and not use it for others.

Appetizer Tempura - A-

The Appetizer Tempura came with 2 prawns, and 1 piece each of yam, sweet potato, and kabocha. The prawns were sufficiently meaty and coated with a nice crispy batter that was not too hard. The vegetable tempura was also executed well, demonstrating good moisture and flavour preservation.

Chicken Teriyaki - B+

The Chicken Teriyaki came with thin pan-fried strips of chicken. The chicken was mostly tender, but I found the crispy skin to be a little thick. 

Spring Rolls - C+

The Spring Rolls were the only real flop of the day, as parts of the pastry were hard to chew. The sweet teriyaki sauce helped to liven up the flavours as there was barely enough filling.

California Roll - B

The California Roll came in the basic version with avocado and crab meat. It tasted pretty average, but there was enough sweetness from the avocado and the crab. The most memorable part of this roll was that while I was eating it, the sign for the Honey Valentine Roll fell down on me. Laughter ensued. However, I didn't need to be reminded that I was dining by myself, so err ... no, thank you.

 Green Salad - B+

The Green Salad came in the form of fresh greens dressed with a mild, tangy Japanese dressing. The dressing was a thin one rather than the typical thicker vinaigrette.

Oxygen Fitness Roll - A

The Oxygen Fitness Roll consisted of seared salmon, green onions, bonito flakes, masago, crab meat, cucumber, avocado, spicy mayonnaise and teriyaki sauce. The salmon had an excellent soft and silky texture while the spicy mayonnaise helped to project the nice smoky flavour of the roll. This has been and remains one of my favourite rolls in the suburbs, and yes, this is the reason why I listed Shinobi under my favourites. I believe this roll is named after the Oxygen Yoga and Fitness center down the block, but I am not 100% sure.

Tuna Sashimi - A

Salmon Sashimi - B+

I was in the mood for more food so I decided to order the Appetizer Sashimi, which came with 3 pieces each of tuna and salmon sashimi. The Tuna Sashimi was very fresh with a decent soft texture and the salmon sashimi had the fresh, creamy flavour that I was looking for.

Overall, it was a satisfying visit as the service was sufficient and there were successful dishes across the various categories of Japanese food that I had. The quality-to-price ratio at Shinobi is significantly better than the average Japanese restaurant in Vancouver. Maple Ridge's southern counterpart, Langley, doesn't seem to fare so well in this respect. I will never forget that time I had sushi in Langley where I genuinely liked the iced water better than the sushi.