Episode #98: Akane Japanese Restaurant

Walnut Grove, Langley, $$ (Moderately Priced)

Trying to find a good sushi restaurant in Langley has been one of my greatest challenges for me since starting this blog. My previous sushi excursions to Langley were quite eye-opening, featuring unagi topped with Worcestershire sauce, Tai Sashimi that I could confuse with mashed potatoes, and this one rare incident in which my favourite item of the meal ended up being the iced water. Still hopeful that I would be able to find an above-average sushi restaurant in Greater Vancouver's city of rich farmlands, I decided to visit Akane Japanese Restaurant, reportedly one of the best Japanese restaurants in Langley.

Akane Japanese Restaurant is a moderately small Korean-operated Japanese restaurant in Walnut Grove (which spans the north part of Langley). When I walked into the restaurant, I was quite surprised to see that all of the tables were occupied by diners who were busy enjoying their lunches. This was the first time I had ever encountered a near full house at a sushi restaurant in Langley, which made me hopeful that I was going to get good food this time. I managed to avoid a wait by grabbing one of the last remaining seats at the small sushi bar.

Miso Soup - B

I ordered the Akane Lunch Special Combo ($12.95), which entitled me to a Miso Soup and allowed me to choose a special roll and an appetizer (from a small list). The Miso Soup came with tofu and green onion and was served at the right temperature. The miso paste was quite rich, but it was a notch too salty for me.

Hot Night Roll - B

Merely seconds after I had finished taking a picture of the Miso Soup, the Hot Night Roll arrived at my table. I chose this roll simply because it was the most expensive special roll out of all the choices under the lunch special. This roll consisted of prawn tempura, yam tempura, avocado, cucumber, spicy tuna, and crispy tempura crumbs along with their signature hot sauce. The sauces worked well together to create a creamy, sweet accompaniment to the roll. However, the "crispy crumbs" (which were actually yam fries) were rather hard and obtrusive and I had to pick them out of the spicy tuna in order to enjoy the soft texture of the tuna. For those who mind, the roll is a bit sauce-heavy. 

Yam Tempura Roll with Hot Sauce - B+

While I was eating the Hot Night Roll, the sushi chef presented me with a complimentary one-piece Yam Tempura Roll with Hot Sauce! I liked the nice tang of spiciness as well as the crispiness from the yam tempura.

Tempura - B+

The Tempura came with one prawn, one green bean, and one piece each of carrot, sweet potato, and yam. The oil used to fry the batter was slightly overused, but besides that, the Tempura was quite well-executed. The dipping sauce was the non-gingery kind (I don't have a preference for one over the other) and went well with every piece of tempura. The prawn was quite soft, the green bean was juicy (for a green bean), and the vegetables were sweet with ample moisture.

Toro Tataki Nigiri - B

Unagi Nigiri - A-

Sockeye Salmon Nigiri - B

Tuna Nigiri - A-

Atlantic Salmon Nigiri - C+

Tai Nigiri - B+

I wasn't expecting first-class sushi rice, but the sushi rice here was adequately seasoned and not too tightly packed. The Toro Tataki was soft and juicy. Although I could see the sushi chef blowtorch the toro, it still lacked a seared flavour. The Unagi Nigiri, on the other hand, had a nice smoked flavour. The Sockeye Salmon Nigiri was a thin slice of mediocre freshness, while the Tuna Nigiri was surprisingly soft (to the point that I could confuse it with toro). The Atlantic Salmon Nigiri was weak in flavour and consisted of two pieces of salmon stacked on top of each other (the cutting was flawed). The Tai Nigiri was not tough at all, but it didn't have the smoothest texture.

Salmon Toro with Masago Nigiri - B

Saba Nigiri - A-

Oh my goodness ... I was presented with two more pieces of nigiri on the house! I got eight pieces of nigiri for the price of six! Now, this is a restaurant that truly tries to make its customers happy! I'm not a big fan of salmon toro (it's not even listed on the menu) due to its tougher texture, but here, they tried to alleviate that issue by slicing it thin. The masago on top was a nice touch. Out of all the nigiri, I would say that my favourite was the Saba Nigiri due to its excellent soft and silky texture. It had a surprisingly well-balanced taste too!

The service was definitely on the friendlier side, and the servers were quite attentive except for the clearing of plates. However, they weren't totally at fault for this as I was sitting in a position that would have made it hard for them to clear off the dishes without distracting me from enjoying my meal. So far, this is the highest standard of food that I have experienced from a Japanese restaurant in Langley. At last, I have found a sushi restaurant in Langley that can compete with its sisters and brothers in Vancouver!

Episode #97: Sushi Mura

Vancouver (Southwest), $ (Budget)

I don't usually venture out to the southwestern part of Vancouver for sushi, so I asked my friend Tamsen who knows the area better for some advice. He suggested either Applause Japanese Restaurant or Sushi Mura. Since I had already been to Applause in the past, we eventually decided on Sushi Mura. I also brought my friend Katie along since she had just recently visited Japan and claimed to know her sushi. In order to avoid a line-up, I suggested having lunch at noon (this was on a Monday), and the restaurant was only a quarter full when I arrived.

With a seating layout like Sushi Garden and a menu like Sushi Town, Sushi Mura is one of the most popular places for affordable sushi on the south side of Vancouver. Like Sushi Garden and Sushi Town, Sushi Mura is Korean-operated. Katie's favourite Japanese food is Salmon Sashimi, so we made sure to get her both kinds (the Atlantic kind and the Wild Sockeye kind).

Tuna Sashimi - A-

Salmon Sashimi - A

The first thing I had was the Salmon Sashimi, and I was quite pleasantly surprised by the amazing freshness and the clean cutting skills. It had a delicious buttery, sweet flavour and an excellent soft texture. The Tuna Sashimi was fresh and soft without any fishy aftertaste, though the knife skills here were less spectacular. I got my hopes up for a possibly phenomenal lunch!

Wild Salmon Sashimi - C+

My hopes died when the next dish, the Wild Salmon Sashimi, arrived. It was lacking in flavour and was on the tougher side. The knife skills were abysmal, and there were loose bits and dangling pieces of salmon. I could have probably done a better job of cutting the sashimi with a pair of kids' scissors.

Awesome Roll - A-

Feeling awesome, I ordered the Awesome Roll, which consisted of crab, cucumber, avocado, mayonnaise, masago, salmon, green onion, bonito flakes, and special sauce. It was pretty much identical to the Awesome Roll at Sushi Town, except with a slightly neater presentation. The slightly spicy mayonnaise gave the roll a well-harmonized creamy, sweet flavour. The fresh Atlantic salmon was finely showcased. The only issue was that all three of us had accidents while picking the pieces up. One of our accidents made a nice little splat on the floor. Whoops!

Seared Salmon Nigiri - B+

Seared Tuna Nigiri - B+

The Seared Salmon Nigiri had a creamy seared taste while the natural flavour of the tuna was still quite evident in the Seared Tuna Nigiri. I liked how they added the mayonnaise and then seared that along with the salmon, as this often gives the nigiri a richer smoky flavour. I found the sushi rice a little too tightly packed, which distracted me from enjoying the soft textures of the fish on top.

Prawn Tempura - B+

Yam Tempura - A

Zucchini Tempura - B-

Sweet Potato Tempura - B+

Katie doesn't eat tempura, but the Appetizer Tempura was only for $3.95 (the cheapest I have ever seen an Appetizer Tempura), so I couldn't resist the urge to order it. Tamsen was kind enough to split all the pieces with me so that I could write my own opinion of each. The Prawn Tempura was rich and savoury, the Yam Tempura was pleasantly soft and sweet, the Zucchini Tempura was as thin as a chip but still somewhat juicy, and the Sweet Potato Tempura was decent and sufficiently soft. I didn't have any issues with the batter as it had that light, sought-after crispiness and was not overly hard. 

Beef Teriyaki - A-

Grilled on a hot iron plate, the Beef Teriyaki was tender and savoury with no overdose of teriyaki sauce. The bean sprouts had a tasty pan-seared flavour, and the rice that accompanied the teriyaki was also decent.

All of our dishes arrived in a timely manner, though keep in mind that the restaurant was never extremely busy during our visit. The service was efficient, but it could be friendlier. The quality of the dishes wasn't entirely consistent, but there were more hits than misses. Given the price of the dishes, I was satisfied with the food, and so was Tamsen. Katie seemed to happy with all of the dishes she tried except for the Wild Salmon Sashimi. After leaving the restaurant quite full, I was ready to get obliterated by the sun once again.

Episode #96: Sushi Karis

Coquitlam, $$ (Moderately Priced)

www.facebook.com/pages/Sushi-Karis/141682322644942

Sushi Karis has the highest rating on Zomato out of all the sushi restaurants in Coquitlam. By the laws of statistics, this means that the restaurant surely must be good enough to warrant my immediate attention. I also brought my dad along to ensure that I could order a fair number of dishes. However, on my way there, something in the air felt amiss. Before I even got out of the car, a few flies, wasps, and various other flying monstrosities swarmed around me, causing me to continually slap myself like a drunkard. Three ominous flying ants danced erratically on the windshield, while another lurked just outside the passenger door.

I mustered up the courage to step out of the car, and to my horror, there were literally hundreds of flying ants in the air! Like any other smart human being, I ran to the restaurant in an attempt to flee the Revenge of the Queen Ant, and luckily, I managed to escape without having any ants make love to my skin. The restaurant was empty at the time, but the waiter gave us a friendly welcome. While the decor wasn't particularly new, some effort was put into making the place appear clean and pleasant.

In order to try a bit of everything, we ordered the Sashimi Box, which came with 4 pieces of sashimi, tempura, a California Roll, and a small salad.

Tempura - A-

The Tempura in the Sashimi Box came with one prawn, one piece of kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), and two pieces of yam. The prawn was aromatic and rich in flavour, while the kabocha was adequately sweet. The yam was cut to just the right thickness. The batter was quite plentiful, but it was not overly hard. Overall, the tempura was well executed.

Tuna Sashimi - A-

Salmon Sashimi - B+

The Tuna Sashimi was quite soft and did not have a fishy aftertaste. The Salmon Sashimi was also soft and was cut into thick slices. The Tuna Sashimi was fresher than the Salmon Sashimi, which was slightly weak in flavour.

California Roll - B+

The California Roll contained soft imitation crab meat and fresh, sweet avocado. The sushi rice was above average. The roll wasn't particularly spectacular, but there were no major mishaps.

Green Salad - A-

The Green Salad was your typical lunch box green salad with mixed greens. However, I particularly liked the dressing, which had a pleasant sweetness and was not too acidic in flavour.

Takoyaki - A-

Needing some "Japanese Octopus Dumpling Balls," I ordered the Takoyaki, which came 6 balls. They had a nice zing to them, and the octopus in each ball was sufficiently large. The flour filling in each ball was quite soft, and I enjoyed the bonito flakes and seaweed.

Dragon Roll - A-

The Dragon Roll consisted of unagi and avocado on top of a California Roll. They were quite generous with the unagi, and the avocado had the same enjoyable sweetness as the avocado in the California Roll. The imitation crab meat was quite fine in texture.

Chicken Rice Bowl - A

The Chicken Rice Bowl came with many meaty, tender chicken strips whose flavour was accentuated by the light sprinkling of sesame seeds on top. The chicken was not quite as full-flavoured as pan-fried or grilled chicken, but both my dad and I greatly enjoyed the homemade feel of this rice bowl. Furthermore, the quality of the rice was excellent, which made this rice bowl quite memorable to both of us.

Sushi Karis appears to be operated by a Korean family, with the dad as the sushi chef, the mom as the cook, and the son as the waiter. The service was decent, and the prices are very reasonable (close to those of a budget restaurant). The food was carefully prepared and substantially more refined than the food I've had at Coquitlam's budget sushi restaurants (ahem, Sushi Town). Sushi Karis is one of the better sushi restaurants in town and is definitely worth the few extra nickels and dimes!