Episode #26: Matsuyama

Richmond, $$ (Moderately Priced), $ (Budget) after 9 p.m.

Last night, after an afternoon of fetching some discount sockeye salmon from Fisherman's Wharf and after an evening of shopping at Aberdeen Centre and testing out world-class pianos at Showcase Pianos (also in the mall), 9 p.m. came just around the corner. What does that mean when you are in Richmond? That's right, time to participate in the war of late night specials! With an abundance of restaurants offering a late night special menu and extraordinarily little parking space, it is quite often a scramble to get into the restaurant of your choice. That was the situation at Matsuyama, a large Chinese-run Japanese restaurant located right in the middle of all the late night action. My family and I were one of the first to arrive for the late night specials and had to wait 20 minutes for a table. Right behind me was an entire parade of hungry customers which more than doubled the size of the queue ...

Despite the waiting area being very cramped, the dining area was quite the opposite, with an adequate and comfortable amount of dining space allocated to each table (unless you are a party of 6). The food came surprisingly fast considering the amount of people who were dining. Either they had 20 sushi chefs in there or some of the items were pre-made.

Six of our orders (Salmon and Toro Sashimi, Salmon and Tuna Sashimi, Dynamite Roll, Salmon Tempura Roll, Unagi Roll, Crab & Ebi Tempura Cone) came in just under 10 minutes. They previously had a problem with running out of certain kinds of sashimi due to the reduced prices (especially the toro), so now, all of the sashimi choices on the late night specials menu come with two kinds of sashimi. To give you a rough idea of how cheap it is, each order of sashimi (5 pieces) is $4.95, each roll is $3.25 (except the Dynamite Roll, which is $3.75), and the cone is $2.25. Nigiri is $0.99 a piece (with no deluxe choices like unagi, ikura, uni, etc.).

Salmon Sashimi - C+

Tuna Sashimi - B

Toro Sashimi - B+

The Salmon Sashimi was fresh, but it was lacking in flavour. Some of the pieces were cut too thick, which made it tough to chew. The Tuna Sashimi had quite a salty flavour and needed a bit more time to thaw. The Toro Sashimi was soft and had a nice, buttery flavour to it, but it had a bit of a metallic aftertaste.

Unagi Roll - C-

Salmon Tempura Roll - C+

Dynamite Roll - C

Unfortunately, the sushi rice was a disaster. The rice was all mushed together and there was way too much vinegar in it - overall, it was a tough barrier to chew. The unagi successfully matched the toughness of the rice barrier. The salmon tempura was lightly battered and actually quite decent, but this was obscured by an extraordinarily tough layer of seaweed. The sour rice also masked the taste of the prawn tempura, which was already lacking in flavour itself. My parents and my sister all decided that they had had enough of these rolls after about 2 or 3 pieces, so I had to be the garbage can. Oh, the horror ... sucks to be me. Towards the end, I couldn't stand the rice anymore myself, so some of the rice ended up in a real garbage can (hopefully).

Crab & Ebi Tempura Cone - B-

The Crab & Ebi Tempura Cone had the same rice issues, but to my relief, there wasn't that much rice in the cone. The mayonnaise on the crab was a bit too dry, but the prawn tempura was the highlight of the roll and was well-executed. The seaweed had the right amount of toughness - it wasn't too tough to chew or too soft to hold the cone together.

Prawn and Vegetable Tempura - A

The Prawn and Vegetable Tempura came with two large tempura prawns and three generous pieces of vegetable tempura (zucchini, yam, eggplant). The tempura did a very good job of preserving the moisture of the ingredients inside. There was also the right amount of batter on each item. The prawn itself was fresh, the zucchini was juicy, and my parents were quite pleased with the eggplant and yam. The light soy dipping sauce had steam coming out of it at first and complimented the tempura well. This was, without a doubt, the best dish of the meal.

Chicken Teri-Don - C+

The Chicken Teri-Don appeared to be a good deal at $4.95. The chicken had a nice thin layer of fried skin on top. I wish the teriyaki sauce was more spread out. Some parts of the rice were unbearably bland and so were most of the vegetables. Then, I got to the bottom of the bowl ... looks like the mushy, vinegary rice has come back to haunt me, once again ...

Beef Udon - B+

The Beef Udon also came in a generous portion and the udon noodles were pleasantly soft. The imitation crab meat was also a delight, while the beef was a little tough (it was still tasty though). The broth was well-balanced and savoury with help from the beef.

 Masago Nigiri - C

Finally, we had the masago nigiri - the $0.99 nigiri can't be avoided completely, right? I guess if there isn't enough food to fill up the plate, it's a good idea to scatter masago all over the plate. There was a lot of masago and it had a nice bubbly texture but was a bit sticky. And I'm pretty sure you can guess what was lurking under all that masago ...

If you don't order anything with rice in it at Matsuyama, you would be quite satisfied with your visit. After all, there weren't any other major mishaps and the rest of the food was quite decent, especially the tempura. The service is better than what you would expect from a Chinese-run restaurant. Despite being over-crowded, the servers maintain a good attitude and won't snatch your empty plates away right under your nose.

Episode #25: Sushi Garden (North Burnaby)

Burnaby North, $ (Budget)

Situated smack in the middle of two Skytrain stations and lacking bus service is Sushi Garden (on Lougheed Hwy). Despite not being in the most convenient of locations, this Korean-run restaurant has a relentless amount of business, generating a significant queue even on a Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. The restaurant isn't even that small either and could seat more or less around 50 people. Is it really true that being light on the wallet does the trick?

Due to rather large portion sizes and the seemingly immense popularity of the restaurant, I did a "Sushi-a-thon" and made two visits on consecutive days, the first on Tuesday at around 5:45 p.m. and the second on Wednesday at around 3:15 p.m.

1st visit:

First up came the Sashimi & Sushi Combo, which arrived in only two minutes after placing my order. I didn't even peel off the paper wrapper for my chopsticks yet! Considering that the restaurant was packed, what kind of wizardry is this?!

 Tuna Sashimi - C+

Salmon Sashimi - A-

Ebi Nigiri - C+

Tuna Nigiri - A-

Salmon Nigiri - B

Hokkigai Nigiri - B-

Chopped Scallop Nigiri - B+

The Tuna Sashimi displayed some very flawed knife skills and was quite fragmented (the sashimi started to disintegrate into individual slices). The flavour and saltiness of the tuna were decent. The Salmon Sashimi tasted sweet and fresh and unlike the tuna, it was cut cleanly. Unfortunately, there was a very slight but strange sticky residue on the bottom of the sashimi - perhaps take an extra minute to clean things properly? Now onto the nigiri ...

The Ebi Nigiri was very sweet (to the point that it tasted very artificial) and was rather tough. The Tuna Nigiri came with an extremely generous piece of tuna which was soft and surprisingly, it was neatly presented with no fragmentation issues. The Salmon Nigiri also came with a very large piece of salmon which was unfortunately a bit tough. The rice was also too bland to match well with the fish. The Hokkigai Nigiri (surf clam) was too chewy and needed more flavour. The Chopped Scallop Nigiri, on the other hand, was on the sweet side, while the seaweed wrapping for it was a little too firm.

 Ikamite Roll - B-

The Ikamite Roll consisted of a coleslaw on top (with cabbage and daikon) and fried squid on the inside. This is an excellent display of when a restaurant decides that putting as much stuff as possible on top of a roll makes it better. If you're looking for an inexpensive way to stuff yourself full, voilà! I'm at a total loss of words ... but I'm pretty sure they had fun stacking the ingredients for this roll. I liked how the squid inside was adequately chewy without being tough. The coleslaw was refreshing, creamy and sweet but the roll itself was also creamy and sweet, which culminated in an overload of sweetness and creaminess by the end. A large swath of my table became a sticky danger zone after I finished eating this roll.

Tempura Udon - B

The Tempura Udon is a good deal at $5.95. The prawn tempura was very well-executed and was meaty while not being heavily battered. The tempura zucchini successfully preserved the natural juiciness and sweet flavour of zucchini. The yam tempura was on the soft side while the carrot tempura was on the tough side. The udon noodles were smooth and moderately chewy, but were sticky with a slight floury aftertaste. (Dear stickiness, why must you appear again?!) The fried bean curd and naruto placed on top were rather hard to chew and disruptive in terms of texture.

I wasn't impressed with the service, even considering that they had a few people waiting for tables. I was never asked about how my food was, and most of my dishes were handed to me hurriedly with at most an "excuse me" if my head was in the way. My bill was handed to me 10 minutes too early (way before I would have asked for it) and it felt like they were trying to shoo me out of the restaurant. Let's see if they do any better if I come at a time when they're only 20% full.

2nd visit:

During my second visit, this was the first dish to come after a reasonable ten-minute wait. I'm not sure why someone thought it would be a good idea to roll a few empty garbage bins through the dining area. Is there no door at the back to do this?

Unagi Nigiri - C

Wild Salmon Nigiri - B+

Toro Nigiri - B+

The Unagi Nigiri was sliced very thick and thus became overly chewy. It tasted more like the BBQ Tilapia Belly at T&T than unagi. The Wild Salmon Nigiri was not as generous but it was softer than the unagi and tasted fresh. The Toro Nigiri was also generous with only a slight metallic taste. It was good to see that the stickiness from last day was gone.

Dynamite Cone - C+

The Dynamite Cone came with some tough seaweed that had me clenching my teeth in order to eat the cone. The mayonnaise was mixed with a slightly sour sauce, which made it taste like a salad inside. The tempura prawns lost their crispiness by the time they made it to my table and became rather soggy.

Chi-Chee Roll - C+

The Chi-Chee Roll consisted of baked chicken and melted mozzarella cheese. At Sushi Garden, it looks like the cheese curds in a poutine are considered "melted". The chicken was lightly fried and a bit dry. Overall, it needed more preparation time. And also, why is there tomato in it?!

Haru Maki - C+

The Haru Maki consisted of vegetables (red pepper, lettuce and avocado), tobiko, crab meat and rice paper. The beautiful presentation was worth some extra points. I also liked the abundance of crab meat, which was in my opinion the tastiest part of the roll. The Haru Maki is a juxtaposition of soft items (avocado and crab meat) and crunchy items (red pepper and lettuce). The rice paper is akin to the wrapping for a Chinese shrimp dumpling (but much thinner) or a Vietnamese sub. The layer of sauce below was made up of mayonnaise and a sweet sauce similar to Peking sauce. The roll itself was okay, but the sweet sauce didn't go well with the crab meat or any of the vegetables.

This time, the servers at least didn't shove me my bill too early, but overall, the service is something you put up with and not something to be enjoyed. Besides the raw fish (most of which was decent), everything else was very close to all-you-can-eat quality. I couldn't understand why so many people would choose Sushi Garden as their go-to place even at times when it was jam-packed. Did I miss the good stuff?

Episode #24: Sushi Hoon

Vancouver (Southwest), $$ (Moderately Priced)
www.facebook.com/sushihoon

This morning, I challenged myself to walk from Sperling Ave. to Main St. along Hastings (9.8 km) in under 2 hours, since that was the time listed on Google Maps. I did it in 1 hour 50 mins (even though I crossed some red lights), and feeling accomplished and a bit thirsty, I met up with two of my friends to have lunch at Sushi Hoon, one of whom is a regular and recommended this restaurant to me. This small Japanese restaurant in the Marpole neighbourhood opened just a few months ago, and the lone waitress gave me a very warm welcome into the restaurant. Before stepping in, I noticed this sign attached to the window:

Since I wanted to visit the restaurant on a Monday, this gave me more conveniences than inconveniences. I also submitted an update to Urbanspoon to minimize the inconveniences that may occur to future diners who wish to come on a Sunday. Before the arrival of any of our orders, we received tea, soft drinks, compressed hand towels, and miso soup for each of us, all courtesy of the house. Even the chef came out to greet us at our table. What a friendly start!

Miso Soup - B+

The Miso Soup (complimentary) was served very hot and contained a good amount of green onion and very small blocks of tofu. It was a little watery in flavour and needed a slightly stronger miso paste.

Salmon Sashimi - A-

Tuna Sashimi - A+

The Tuna & Salmon Sashimi came with 3 medium-sized pieces each of salmon and tuna, which were placed on top of some leaves, shredded daikon, and yes, a small pile of ice cubes. Interestingly enough, some of the best sashimi I have had either came with ice or nothing. Freshness was present in both kinds of sashimi here. The tuna sashimi was very soft and melted in my mouth perfectly with a hint of a lemony taste. It had exactly the right amount of saltiness, creating a very delicious, balanced taste. The salmon sashimi needed more flavour, but I liked how it was not stringy at all.

Alaska Roll - B

The Alaska Roll consisted of avocado, crab meat, cream cheese and smoked salmon and came with a small green salad. The neatly sliced smoked salmon was accentuated by the teriyaki sauce (which I wish there was more of) and made contact with seasoned rice vinegar, which provided a faint alcoholic taste to the roll. The crab meat inside had a good amount of mayonnaise, but could be even softer. Some of the pieces had an overwhelming percentage of cream cheese, while some had barely any.

Lion King Roll - B+

The Lion King Roll was a baked roll containing avocado, cucumber, crab meat, salmon, cheese and tobiko. It appears to me that the cheese represents the mane of the lion, the salmon represents the lion's face, while the salad represents ... perhaps the lion is eating cabbage? The use of a weaker vinegar would help the flavours blend together better. Otherwise, the roll was quite well-balanced as none of the ingredients stole the spotlight from the other ingredients. The baked salmon on top, which was covered with melted cheese, tobiko and teriyaki sauce, was quite savoury. I also enjoyed the salad in the middle, but wished that it had more Japanese salad dressing.

 Appetizer Tempura - B-

The Appetizer Tempura came with 2 prawns, one piece of kabocha (pumpkin) and one piece of yam. I liked the creative presentation, which reminded me of White Spot due to the white and green checkerboard pattern. The prawn was decent and had a soft texture, while the kabocha and yam were sliced too thin (and were consequently obscured by the batter). The batter was on the heavier side for all of the pieces of tempura, and the yam tempura had enough batter to cover two similarly sized pieces of yam.

Service was very friendly and attentive throughout my meal, and the waitress did her very best to ensure that we would enjoy our experience. Sashimi and service are clearly their areas of expertise, and their menu contains a good amount of variety. All they need is a creative gimmick to grab the attention of all the potential diners nearby!