Episode #125: Blowfish Sushi

Vancouver (Northeast), $$ (Moderately Priced)
www.blowfish101.com

After the somewhat traumatic experience of writing two math midterms one after the other, my mind quickly switched from 100% math to 100% sushi. It's always good to have a versatile mind. Not wanting to bus a whole hour to downtown Vancouver for sushi, I settled for lunch at Blowfish Sushi instead. A few years ago, I had a positive experience at Blowfish Sushi, and this time, I returned to see that the restaurant had been renovated and now exhibited a more classy, modern look. They had also added a few more Japanese fusion items to the menu.

Blowfish Sushi's menu is now quite extensive and ranges from standard Japanese dishes to an assortment of innovative special rolls and Aburi oshi sushi. The math part of my brain decided to no longer function properly, so I ended up ordering enough food to feed a family of three. Goodbye, wallet...

Miso Soup - A-

Among the things I ordered was the Sashimi Combo, which contained a Miso Soup. The Miso Soup was so hot that the bowl started doing bowl pirouettes on the table. While there were several close calls in which I nearly tipped the bowl over or made it fall off the table, I enjoyed the Miso Soup for its rich flavour, which came from its high concentration of miso paste. Green onion, tofu, and seaweed garnished the miso soup.

Next, the rest of the Sashimi Combo arrived on a large tray. Everything was presented neatly, and the portions were on the larger side. I immediately remarked to the waitress, "I'm definitely going to need a takeout box."

Tempura Taster - B-

The Tempura Taster came with one prawn, one piece of kabocha, and two pieces of sweet potato. While Blowfish Sushi has many strengths, tempura doesn't seem to be one of them. The prawn, being the best of the bunch, was meaty and had a good snap. Both the kabocha and the sweet potato were sliced much too thickly, but at least they remained amply moist. The batter was rather thick and hard in places.

Green Salad - B

The Green Salad consisted of lettuce and thin slices of carrot with a drizzle of very tangy Japanese salad dressing. The pieces of lettuce were not the easiest to chew, but the small amount of dressing was enough to provide enough flavour to the entire salad.

Tuna Sashimi - B+

Salmon Sashimi - A-

The Tuna Sashimi was soft and sliced into thin but large pieces. Aside from a very slight hint of fishiness, it was decent. The Salmon Sashimi was fresh and had a nice buttery flavour along with a really smooth texture.

Chicken Teriyaki on Rice - A-

The Chicken Teriyaki was the quite the filler and came with several tender slices of chicken. The pan-fried skin on the chicken had a crispy texture, and the vegetables underneath were adequately dressed with teriyaki sauce. 

Aburi Salmon Oshi - A-

Whenever I see Aburi Salmon Oshi on the menu, you can quite safely bet that I will order it. Here, it was $12 for 8 pieces, which is a good deal for this dish. The Aburi Salmon Oshi came with pressed salmon, very thin slices of jalapeño, and a seared layer of signature sauce. They used lots of buttery Atlantic salmon for a rich flavour and a smooth texture. I also liked how the jalapeño did not overwhelm the creamy oshi sauce. It would be excellent if it had slightly less rice.

Salmon River Roll - A

Because I just needed to have more salmon, I also ordered the Salmon River Roll, which consisted of salmon tempura, avocado, smoked salmon, sesame crumble, and house vinaigrette. The harmonization of flavours from the vinaigrette, the smoked salmon, and the sesame crumble was excellent. The vinaigrette provided a slight tanginess that was balanced by the sweet flavour of the sesame crumble. With all this going on, I was still able to taste the savoury salmon tempura inside the roll. I liked this roll years ago and I still like it now!

Much to the waitress' surprise (and my own), I managed to finish all of the food at the restaurant, saving the restaurant a takeout box. I felt like I still had room for dessert, but I didn't want to go overboard. I can now see why midterms are bad for your health. The service was friendly and attentive from beginning to end, and most of the food was well-prepared. I definitely would not mind coming back for a third time!

Episode #124: Tsuki Sushi Bar

Vancouver (Downtown), $$$ (Higher Priced)
www.tsukisushibar.ca

In Vancouver, there are rich neighbourhoods and poor neighbourhoods, but Tsuki Sushi Bar is located in one of those few places with a nice amalgam of the rich and the poor. On one side of Abbott St., there is a row of modern-themed, higher-priced restaurants, while on the other side, there is International Village, which is surrounded by people with discoloured hair who like to hoarsely yell at seemingly nothing. These people need more sushi in their lives.

Around 80% of Tsuki Sushi Bar's menu consists of sushi and sashimi. There are a large assortment of special rolls (called "craft rolls" on the menu), which include the Slug. Mmm, slug sushi... However, being the die-hard Aburi sushi fan that I am, I decided to start with the Oshi Sushi Combo, which featured two types of oshi sushi, four types of nigiri, and a salad.

Green Salad - A-

The Green Salad came with assorted greens dressed with a strong, tangy Japanese dressing. There was only a small amount of dressing, but it had enough impact to provide adequate flavour to the entire salad. The addition of daikon and red onion gave the salad a nice zing.

Ebi Oshi Sushi - A-

Salmon Oshi Sushi - A-

Seared Salmon Nigiri - A-

Sockeye Salmon Nigiri - B+

Seared Tuna Nigiri - A-

Tuna Nigiri - A-

Starting with the top-left, the Ebi Oshi Sushi came with some meaty pieces of shrimp, which were dressed with a savoury in-house oshi sauce. Crab meat was inserted into the block of sushi rice to enhance flavour. Next, the Salmon Oshi Sushi was decent with a soft layer of salmon on top and some flavourful seasoned rice on the bottom. The sushi rice could have been packed a little less tightly, but it wasn't far off. Both the Sockeye Salmon Nigiri and the Tuna Nigiri tasted fresh (the tuna a little more so than the salmon). The seared pieces of nigiri were lacking a smoky flavour, but the dab of miso sauce on the salmon and the touch of seaweed paste on the tuna helped liven up the flavours a bit.

Red Heatwave - C

The Red Heatwave is a torched roll that comes with red tuna, cucumber, spicy mayo, green onion, and jalapeño. The pieces of jalapeño, although small, were spicy enough to be used in a daring game. Unfortunately, the jalapeño kept tumbling off the top of the roll, so when I subconsciously put a few bits of the pepper into my mouth, instant death struck my tongue and my throat. It was hard to enjoy the texture of the expensive red tuna due to the copious amounts of cucumber, and there was no way I could tell what the tuna actually tasted like.

Gindara Saikyo - A+

After rinsing my mouth with lots of green tea, I tried the Gindara Saikyo (Garlic Miso Marinated Sable Fish), which turned out to be surprisingly good! It definitely tasted better than it looked. The sable fish was very juicy and silky, and the miso sauce added a delicious sweet edge to the soft, savoury fish. The temperature at which the sable fish was served was just perfect. Who would have thought the best item of the meal would be one of their very few cooked items?

The service was friendly and very attentive from beginning to end. One of the servers even offered me a basket to put my backpack in so that I wouldn't get it dirty by sliding it around on the ground. Most importantly, the servers kept refilling my green tea (which was above average) so that I could wash down the spiciness from the Red Heatwave. As for the sushi, it wasn't the best I've had, but the sushi chefs put substantial effort into constructing and presenting the sushi neatly. 

Episode #123: Nu Sushi Bar

Burnaby North, $ (Budget)
www.nusushibar.com

I've been hearing lots about Nu Chinese Bistro (in Richmond) lately, but the opening of Nu Sushi Bar seems to have just disappeared under the radar. Although it's not the most convenient place to bus to, the food appeared to be quite affordable, so I decided to give it a try. When I went inside, I found that the dining area wasn't particularly large, but they had a sizable beverage cooler with a large assortment of canned drinks, which included three different types of Crush soda. You know your sushi is going to be good when the drinks are displayed more prominently than the sushi.

1st visit:

There were too many things that looked like good deals on the menu, so I decided to do a Sushi-a-thon! On the first day, I decided to give the waitress a hard time by ordering a very random assortment of nigiri sushi. At first, the waitress seemed confident that she could remember my order, but by the time I got to nigiri #9 or so, she had to hurry back to the counter to grab a notebook. The things I do when I need a new Facebook cover photo...

I probably gave the sushi chef a hard time too, as it took around 20 minutes for the nigiri to arrive at my table. However, the platter of nigiri did make for a good photo. I like how they alternated the colours of the fish to make the dish more aesthetically pleasing.

Starting from the bottom:

Inari Nigiri - B-

Tai Nigiri - B-

Sockeye Salmon Nigiri - B

Tuna Nigiri - B+

Atlantic Salmon Nigiri - B

I started with the Inari Nigiri and enjoyed the small helping of sesame seeds that accompanied it. However, it was slightly weak in flavour. The Tai Nigiri was also weak in flavour, but it was moist and not too chewy. The Sockeye Salmon Nigiri and Tuna Nigiri were not rich in flavour either, but the Tuna Nigiri had a nice melty texture. The Atlantic Salmon Nigiri was buttery in flavour and had a nice smooth texture. 

Toro Nigiri - A-

Saba Nigiri - A-

Amaebi Nigiri - B+

They ran out of hamachi, so they substituted toro instead (for the same price). I would have appreciated them asking me first, but what happened turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the toro was the best piece out of all the nigiri. It was fatty and deliciously smooth. I also enjoyed the Saba Nigiri, which was neither too salty nor too tough and had a rich but well-balanced flavour. The Amaebi Nigiri came with the characteristic slight stickiness as well as a sweet and creamy flavour. 

Negitoro Nigiri - C+

Chopped Scallop - B

Ikura Nigiri - B

Unagi Nigiri - B+

I wasn't a big fan of the Negitoro Nigiri because it was overloaded with negi (green onion). There was more than enough green onion to completely mask the flavour of the toro, so it tasted like Negimush Nigiri instead. The Chopped Scallop Nigiri fared better, and the scallop had a smooth texture. The Ikura Nigiri contained lots of salmon roe, providing a nice, juicy pop. The Unagi Nigiri came with a generous portion of BBQ eel. It had a nice smoky flavour, but it would be nice if it had slightly more moisture.

Hawaii Roll - B+

Of course, 12 pieces of nigiri were not enough to satisfy my virtue of gluttony, so I had the Hawaii Roll, which consisted of cucumber, avocado, deep-fried soft-shell crab, mayonnaise, tobiko, masago, sesame seed, bonito, and special sauce. The soft-shell crab was fried to a crunchy and crispy texture. There was very little crab meat, but the crab shell and its surrounding batter were very rich in flavour due to the addition of copious amounts of seasoning. I liked how the roll was neatly constructed and how the creamy avocado balanced out the savoury interior of the roll.

2nd visit:

On my second visit, I ordered the Bento Box #5, which came with an Appetizer Tempura, a Dynamite Roll, Deep-Fried Salmon Gyoza, BBQ Black Cod on Rice, and a Green Salad. The whole bento box cost only $10.50! I can't think of any other place where you can get black cod with so many other things for just $10.50. (Note that this is a lunch special.)

Appetizer Tempura - B-

The Appetizer Tempura came with two prawns and one piece each of zucchini, yam, and sweet potato. The prawns were the best as they were meaty and savoury. The tempura batter was crispy in some places, but soft and bread-like in most places. The zucchini was juicy but sliced way too thick. The yam and sweet potato were both sufficiently sweet, but both were a touch dry.

Dynamite Roll - C+

The Dynamite Roll came with five large pieces, and the best part of it was the creamy, sweet avocado. The sushi rice, for some odd reason, was almost completely tasteless. The lack of warmth from the prawn tempura made the roll taste pre-made.

Deep-Fried Salmon Gyoza - B+

Exhibiting a cracker-like, crispy exterior, the Deep-Fried Salmon Gyoza were stuffed with lots of cooked salmon and a few tiny bits of cabbage. The salmon filling had a good amount of moisture. The slightly sweet vinegar-based dipping sauce helped enhance the flavour of the cooked salmon.

BBQ Black Cod on Rice - A

The best part of the bento box was the BBQ Black Cod on Rice. The black cod was silky, soft, and juicy. What made the black cod especially tasty was a small but masterful dab of teriyaki sauce, which gave the cod a sweetness that was by no means overpowering. 

Green Salad - B+

The Green Salad consisted of cabbage leaves dressed with a Japanese salad dressing (an apple and citrus vinaigrette) that was infused with a few subtle shavings of ginger. Since I have to eat so many Green Salads like this one (they're like the healthy but annoying side item that comes with almost every bento box), I appreciated the slight modification.

Tataki Roll - B-

I typically do not get full with just a bento box, so I decided to try the Tataki Roll, which consisted of cucumber, avocado, spicy tuna, seared tuna, tataki sauce, ponzu sauce, tobiko, masago, sesame seeds, and green onion. Whew, what a long list of items! I think the list was too long for the sushi chef to remember correctly, because the "spicy tuna" turned into regular tuna instead. As a result, the very tangy ponzu sauce easily overwhelmed all the ingredients of the roll. On the bright side, the tuna inside the roll was very soft and had a nice melty texture.

The waitress/cashier was quite friendly and attentive. Nu Sushi Bar is quite small and diners are expected to pay at the till, but besides that, the service was just as good as most other Japanese restaurants. Most of the dishes were of average quality, but the prices are definitely on the cheaper side. It seems that the special rolls come with 10 pieces too (rather than the typical 8). If you're not a picky eater, Nu Sushi Bar is one of those places you can keep visiting without breaking the bank.