Episode #18: Toshi Sushi

Vancouver (Northeast), $$ (Moderately Priced)

"San-nin desu ka?" The sounds of the busy authentic Japanese restaurant could be sensed all the way from Main St. When I arrived at the restaurant with my family at 5:45 p.m. late Saturday afternoon, a small crowd had already gathered outside the restaurant. After waiting 45 minutes in which we strolled all around the Main St. and 16th Ave. area, we finally got a table. All the while, my parents were wondering why people would choose to wait such a long time for a table at Toshi than to just visit one of the nice-looking sushi restaurants in the vicinity (there were actually quite a few, and most of them were almost empty).

Despite being so busy, everyone who ate at the restaurant had ample space to do so. They did a superb job of making sure that the diners would remain comfortable throughout their dining experience.

Ten minutes after placing my order, the first item to arrive was the House Combo, which came on a large plate and consisted of a House Roll, a Salmon Roll, and 6 pieces of chef's selection sashimi. The sashimi included two pieces each of Sockeye Salmon, Albacore Tuna and Hamachi (Yellowtail).

Hamachi Sashimi - A+

Albacore Tuna Sashimi - A

Sockeye Salmon Sashimi - B+

Toshi Sushi managed to wow me with the very first dish that came out. The Hamachi Sashimi was some of the best hamachi I have ever had, and it had a smooth toro-like texture. The softness of it was just perfect, as it was almost soft enough to melt in my mouth. The Tuna Sashimi tasted very fresh too, and was mildly salty with just the right amount of flavour. The Sockeye Salmon Sashimi was a bit chewier than the other two, and both my sister and I agreed that it was the least tasty out of the three.

Salmon Roll - B

House Roll - A-

The Salmon Roll came with chopped smoked salmon, and the pieces were quite large. However, the rolls stuck together and fell apart quite easily. In addition, I would have preferred if they used Sockeye Salmon or even Atlantic Salmon instead. The House Roll, which came with shrimp tempura, cucumber and avocado. There was a small amount of chili sprinkled on top to give the roll a spicy tinge, which I felt was tastefully added and in the right amount. The abundance of avocado made the roll sweet and buttery overall, and blended nicely with the shrimp tempura.

Dragon Roll - B

Alaska Roll - A-

The Dragon Roll consisted of unagi, cucumber and avocado on top. I prefer some amount of unagi sauce every time I have unagi, as the sauce greatly helps enhances the taste of the unagi. There was a severe lack of sauce with the Dragon Roll, and as a result, the whole roll ended up being quite dry. However, they were quite generous with the unagi, which made up half (if not more) of the inside filling. The Alaska Roll, which was a California roll with salmon slices on top, used an imitation crab stick which was almost as soft as snow crab. The roll was garnished with a small lemon slice on top and used mayonnaise in the right amount, which helped the roll achieve a delightfully melty texture.

Chicken Miso Yaki - A+

My dad had a look at what others were having and insisted that I order something grilled, saying that it was very well done from what he saw. From the Yakimono (grilled food) section, I randomly picked the Chicken Miso Yaki, which came with grilled chicken, sweet miso sauce and a mini salad. Now, I must say, whoever came up with that sweet miso sauce is a genius, certified by me. It was extremely savoury and was an excellent coating to the juicy chicken, which came with a very thin layer of slightly crispy skin. Well, by sheer luck, I managed to pick one of their must-trys!

Tempura Udon - A

At $5.95, the Tempura Udon is probably the most inexpensive way to get yourself full at Toshi. The tempura consisted of two prawns and one piece of yam. The soft, buttery shrimps were coated with a light, crispy layer of batter. The piece of yam, although quite small, was tasty as well. The dipping sauce that came with the udon was a weak soy sauce with a hint of ginger. The udon noodles were quite easy to chew (with no sign of being mushy) and were surrounded by a very well-balanced broth.

Throughout my meal, my parents and I both agreed that there were indeed no misses. Toshi Sushi puts out excellent grilled food and their tempura is usually a solid choice. Their main weakness seems to be maki sushi (rolls) - sometimes the pieces stick together or the roll ends up being a bit dry. The service wasn't first-class, but was friendly and sincere for most of my visit. From the carefully-prepared grilled/fried food to the fresh sashimi, I could understand why people were willing to endure a 45-minute wait for a table at Toshi Sushi.

Episode #17: Kami Sushi

Surrey Southeast, $$$ (Higher Priced)
www.kami-sushi.ca

My summer semester at SFU has finally come to a close, and to celebrate, my dad offered to take the family to sushi somewhere in Surrey. Kami Sushi sprang to mind, and I told my dad the addresses for both of their locations. He ended up choosing the one in South Surrey (the Grandview Corners one) in order to avoid the direct glare of the sun from the west. Now, from the outside, Kami Sushi looks like just another cheap sushi joint. I really wish they could do something to make the outside of the restaurant match the ambiance of the inside.

Inside, the decor more closely resembles that of an upscale Japanese restaurant. There is a sushi bar, a high table with 8 seats, and about 8 regular tables, each seating about 4 people (but they can be adjusted to accommodate larger groups). Business was bustling inside, and we were told to wait 10 minutes for a table. The actual wait turned out to be 3 minutes. One funny thing I noticed - at Japanese restaurants, if they say the wait time is 10 minutes, the actual wait is usually less than 10 minutes. At Chinese restaurants, if they say the wait time is 10 minutes, the actual wait can be 15 minutes, 20 minutes, or even an hour! (That's when I just gave up and walked out ...)

Ebiyonnaise - B+

The Ebiyonnaise consisted of 5 tempura prawns with a lemony mayonnaise sauce. The prawns were served hot with a slight amount of lemony mayonnaise drizzled over them. The mayonnaise added some desirable sweetness to the prawns, but I would have preferred more of it. The batter on the prawns was flaky, crunchy and a bit too thick, while the prawns themselves were sufficiently voluminous and fresh.

Fighting Shrimp Roll - A

The Fighting Shrimp Roll came with shrimp tempura and crab crowned with cooked shrimp. They were quite generous with the cooked shrimp on top, and they also did a good job of making sure that the cooked shrimp retained a soft, bouncy texture. The shrimp in the tempura had almost exactly the same texture as the cooked shrimp. The slightly sweet teriyaki sauce helped to bring out the flavour of the shrimp and was sufficient in making the crab meat and avocado quite savoury.

Negitoro - A

The Negitoro came with 6 pieces of negitoro nigiri sushi. I was most impressed with the sushi rice, which was compact, but remained soft and not mushy. The toro was mashed and was very soft, while the onions were chopped into pieces small enough so that they added flavour but did not intrude with the softness of the toro.

Mad Man Roll - B+

Deep-fried California rolls aren't my thing, but this was one of the best ones I've had. The tempura batter was crunchy, but was thin enough to remain soft. I also liked how the crab meat was not mushy, as is often a problem with deep-fried California rolls. The roll was also cut slanted to increase visual appeal.

Mary Kim - B-

This dish was named Mary Kim, and I wasn't quite sure why. Did Mary Kim come up with this dish? Was this dish designed in honour of Mary Kim? Or did someone decide they wanted their name to show up on the menu but couldn't decide where? In any case, Mary Kim consisted of salmon and asparagus wrapped in seaweed and then deep-fried. The sauce that came with it had an unusually thick consistency, and resembled a mixture of teriyaki sauce and soy sauce. The asparagus was soft and juicy. Unfortunately, the asparagus and salmon cancelled each other out. Maybe Mary Kim can re-design her dish so that it contains three pieces of asparagus tempura and three pieces of salmon tempura?

White Snow Roll - A-

I'm always tempted to read this as the Snow White Roll, particularly because of the Disney font used on the menu. The Snow White Roll (oops! I meant White Snow Roll) consisted of a California roll topped with red snapper, spiced cheese, teriyaki sauce, and then baked. The melted spiced cheese tasted heavenly while the teriyaki sauce accentuated the sweetness of the crab and avocado inside. The tai (red snapper) was cut so thin that I almost forgot it was even there.

Kami Sushi pays excellent attention to the presentation of their dishes and I noticed that the dishes served to the tables around me looked very visually appealing as well. The food was generally well-prepared and my dad approved of this Japanese restaurant, particularly because they excelled in their warm rolls (he doesn't like cold food). Despite being seated in one of the nooks and crannies of the restaurant, service was considerably attentive. Well, looks like I'll be back for more creative sushi!

Episode #16: Asahi Japanese Restaurant

Port Coquitlam, $ (Budget)

After completing a 7-hour editing spree for my report which is due in less than 48 hours, I decided to take a little trip to Port Coquitlam for some sushi. Asahi Japanese Restaurant is located in the corner of a small plaza in the southeastern corner of downtown Port Coquitlam, close to the Port Coquitlam West Coast Express station. As I walked into the restaurant, I was quite surprised by how big the restaurant actually was. There were at least 15 tables, each of which can seat 4 or more people. Some of these tables were housed in small private tatami rooms.

Right away, I could sense that service was one of the priorities of the restaurant. I was seated promptly, and received apologies for even the slightest of errors, such as taking a few seconds longer to walk to my table to take my order. The servers were literally running (or at least doing a quick shuffle) constantly, trying to get all the food to the diners as quickly as possible.

Edamame - B

Wow, I even got a complimentary Edamame (soybeans) to start off my meal while I was waiting for my food. I enjoyed the cashew-like flavour of the beans, and although they were a bit dry, I could easily pop them into my mouth.

Yakitori - A-

At $1.25, this was some of the most inexpensive Yakitori I have ever had. The sauce was especially savoury and the leeks provided juiciness to this carefully prepared skewer. The chicken was not tough, but it would be nice if they let the sauce seep into the chicken a little more. 

Just as I finished the Yakitori, I received the Starter Sashimi, which came with 3 pieces of tuna and 2 pieces of salmon.

Tuna Sashimi - B

Salmon Sashimi - A

The Starter Sashimi displayed commendable knife skills and had quite a visually appealing sheen. Here is a side view:

The Salmon Sashimi was not only fresh, but also had a soft texture without being fatty. The Tuna Sashimi also had a perfectly soft texture, but was quite bland, and this was especially noticeable in the absence of soy sauce.

Oyster Motoyaki - B-

The Oyster Motoyaki came with quite a bit of oyster - about two or three large ones to be precise. The tasty oysters were the prominent feature in terms of taste, and the custard surrounding them was a bit thick, being almost sticky. Of particular interest is the layer of cheese on top of the motoyaki. It was quite crispy, and was almost an exact replica of the cheese layer found on a pizza.

 

Next, the three different kinds of rolls I ordered came all on the same dish. Oh my, that's a lot of sushi! Asahi does provide half orders on special rolls, but when they came, it was evident that "two-thirds orders" was a more accurate term to describe the sushi. Each of the "half orders" of special rolls I ordered came with 6 pieces instead of the regular 9 pieces. The prices of each of the special rolls ended up being about two-thirds of the regular price as well. 

 BC Roll - A-

The description next to the BC Roll said "grilled salmon skin". This was not listed as a special roll, but clearly, it is equally elaborate compared to the rolls in the Special Rolls section. In addition to grilled salmon skin, there was avocado, cucumber, crab meat, masago and teriyaki sauce. The teriyaki sauce was drizzled quite evenly over the roll and successfully amplified the harmony of crab meat and avocado. There was slightly more salmon meat than salmon skin, and although the skin was not crispy per se, the salmon itself was tastefully grilled.

1/2 Dragon Roll - B

The half order Dragon Roll came with 6 pieces containing crab meat, avocado, and cucumber with barbequed eel, avocado and unagi sauce on the outside. Unfortunately, the eel on top was a little dry and under-seasoned, even though the rest of the roll contained the right amount of moisture. The crab meat had a good amount of mayonnaise and went well with the avocado. The Dragon Roll was remarkably similar to the BC Roll, but was not as well executed as the BC Roll, considering the choice of ingredients.

1/2 Crispy Crunch Roll - C+

The half order Crispy Crunch Roll consisted of 2 pieces of prawn tempura, yam tempura, crab meat, cucumber, crispy crumbs, mayonnaise and unagi sauce. The crispy crumbs were ground very finely and provided a soft and crispy topping to the roll. The roll itself was a little dry and the tempura prawn was overshadowed by the sweet yam tempura, giving the roll a sweet taste overall. The other issue was that the unagi sauce was too strong and didn't go very well with the tempura yam (one being very savoury, the other being very sweet), which resulted in a clash of flavours. 

After my meal, I also received a complimentary orange dessert! That's two complimentary items in one meal! Needless to say, service remained attentive and pleasant up to the end, when I was thanked several times for the tip I gave. The most satisfying part of my visit was that for every aspect of my meal, I got more than what I expected. The restaurant was larger than expected, the yakitori was bigger than expected, the service was better than expected, the BC Roll was fancier than expected, the bill was higher than expected (oops, I forgot to count as I was ordering) ...