Episode #228: Sushi Hub

Vancouver (Southwest), $$ (Moderately Priced)

I probably would have never found out about Sushi Hub had they not followed me on Instagram. Located on one of the less busier parts of Main Street, the restaurant makes it quite obvious that its feature dish is Aburi sushi. As soon as I returned the follow, half of my Instagram feed was filled with delicious-looking photos of fusion sushi from Sushi Hub. I took this as a sign that Instagram was persuading me to try the restaurant and got Tamsen to join me for lunch. 

The restaurant is not very large, but the dining area appeared clean and in order. I suppose word about this restaurant had not really spread, as it was not packed even during peak lunch hours. As such, we had a comfortable amount of room at our table.

Miso Soup - A-

Since we ordered an Aburi Box, we were entitled to one miso soup. However, they were nice enough to give us two. Served hot, the Miso Soup came with green onion and bean curd and was well-balanced.

Edamame - B+

The daily special that came with the Aburi Box was a small serving of edamame. These were salted and tasted fresh with sufficient moisture.

Salmon Sashimi - A-

Tuna Sashimi - B+

Next up, the Salmon Sashimi was buttery and creamy with a pleasantly smooth texture. The slices were not particularly large, but the cutting was on point. The Tuna Sashimi was very soft and refreshing.

Aburi Box

There was some peculiar pricing going on, as the Aburi Box ($11.50), which contained 3 pieces of Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi, cost less than an order of 6 pieces of Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi ($12.50). Since it was lunch time, it didn't make much sense to get an order of Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi, so we opted for the Aburi Box.

Salad - B-

The Salad was comprised of mixed greens and came with rather little vinaigrette. Although this made the Salad slightly too dry, perhaps this was a good thing because the vinaigrette was oddly salty.

Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi - B

The main feature, the Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi, came with thinly sliced pieces of seared salmon, which were graced with huge, honking slices of jalapeño. Although the seared salmon had a nice smoky flavour, the jalapeño was quite overpowering and brought death and havoc to our poor tongues. I also found the oshi slightly rice-heavy.

Teriyaki Beef - B+

The Teriyaki Beef was sweet and helped bring our tongues back to life. The beef was tender, though sliced thickly in some places. The steamed rice underneath was well-prepared.

Tempura - B+

With a light layer of crispy batter, the Tempura was one of the better items in the box. There were 2 juicy prawns along with 3 small pieces of yam. The prawns were excellent, though the yam could have used a little more moisture.

Volcano Hub - B+

Of course, our visit wouldn't be complete without trying one of the hubs (their code name for special rolls). I wanted to go for the Barbie Hub (for obvious reasons), but I couldn't convince Tamsen that having asparagus in a roll works if done right, so we went for the Volcano Hub instead. With crab meat, avocado, chopped scallop, spicy mayonnaise, and sweet sauce, the Volcano Hub came with some really soft scallops. The roll was quite sweet with a delectable, cheesy layer on top.

Overall, the service was reasonably friendly, and the food was reasonably consistent. However, the food didn't exactly have the wow factor suggested by the restaurant's Instagram photos. With average prices and slightly above average food, Sushi Hub would have to do more to perfect its Aburi sushi before attracting crowds.

Episode #227: Sushi Mania

Vancouver (Northeast), $ (Budget)

I am usually quite good with numbers, but recently, that hasn't been the case. This time, not only did I miscalculate the amount of time it would take for me to get to Sushi Mania on Main St., but I also bussed down to 32nd Ave. instead of 23rd Ave. Getting stuck in a traffic jam did not exactly help. After doing a few facepalms, I had to frantically speed walk to the restaurant so that I would not miss any sushi photo opportunities. I ended up being 30 minutes late to my own dinner, but thankfully, Gee, Pat, and Jaden were patient enough, and none of the food landed on the table yet.

Sushi Mania has a reputation for being affordable and decent as well as having a good variety of dishes. Indeed, we found many intriguing appetizers and special rolls, and much of the food that whizzed by us looked appealing. However, we agreed to keep the dinner light, as dinners with me are almost always followed by a visit to a dessert shop. The restaurant was quite busy, and we found the seating a little tight, but bearable.

Spicy Salmon Nuggets - A

After having a very good version of this from Ki Isu, I was looking forward to trying the same dish here. These delectable salmon nuggets were no disappointment. The salmon inside was very juicy, and the batter had just the right amount of crispiness. The spicy mayonnaise complemented the nuggets without overwhelming them.

Sushi Pizza - A-

Next, we had the Sushi Pizza, which came with salmon, tuna, crab meat, and avocado. The fish was fresh with smooth, appealing textures, while the crispy rice at the bottom was not hard. We also enjoyed the sweet imitation crab, but thought there could have been a bit more of it.

Crunchy Munchy Roll - B

While we were musing over the menu, one of us spotted something very cool-looking, and we were determined to order it before we even fully knew what it was. This turned out to be the Crunchy Munchy Roll, with spicy tuna, cucumber, and yam tempura bits. There wasn't a lot of spicy tuna, so the tuna provided little flavour to the roll. What produced most of the flavour were the yam tempura bits on top. These were crunchy and went well with the accompanying drizzle of spicy mayonnaise.

Black Dragon Roll - A-

Our next roll of choice was the Black Dragon Roll, which came with crab meat, avocado, cucumber, and seared unagi. The roll came in small pieces, but was neatly constructed. The searing of the unagi created a wonderful smokiness, which was easily the highlight of the roll.

Mania Roll - A-

The Mania Roll consisted of crab meat, avocado, cucumber, and seared chopped scallop. Once again small but neatly constructed, this roll came with excellently seared scallops. The soft textures of the scallop and the sweet crab meat were a delight.

Hokkigai Sashimi - A-

Salmon Sashimi - B+

Saba Sashimi - B-

Tuna Sashimi - B

Tai Sashimi - B+

Tako Sashimi - B

For some odd reason, our Assorted Sashimi arrived towards the end of our meal. The hokkigai tasted the freshest and had a nice sweet flavour. The salmon and tai also tasted fresh. The tuna and tako were slightly less fresh, and the saba was rather chewy and salty.

Even though the restaurant was packed the whole time we were there, we received friendly service. Most of the food exceeded our expectations, especially after considering the price. If this place was a little more convenient to bus to from SFU, I would be a regular. 

Episode #226: Kimu Japanese Cuisine (2nd Visit)

Vancouver (Southeast), $ (Budget)
www.kimucuisine.com

Every semester, I try to organize a sushi meet-up so the TAs in my office can meet and get to know each other. This time, however, my attempts to organize were more or less a fail. Despite drawing a huge availability schedule that spanned our chalkboard and personally bugging each TA to fill out the schedule, more than half of the TAs ended up cancelling hours before the dinner for various reasons. Somehow, 15 confirmed guests became 7, and plus-ones almost outnumbered TAs that actually share the office with me. Nonetheless, the dinner went on with Andrea, Angus, Anya, Ashton, Patrick, and Sean in attendance.

Even though the restaurant still displays a "Grand Opening" sign, it has actually been open for many months. It has been gaining popularity, and now, it is one of my go-to places for casual group dinners.  Their menu features a great assortment of fusion dishes, most of which are Instagram-worthy.

As is usual for dinners with me, no ordering took place until around 45 minutes after we had sat down at our table, by which point the restaurant began to get busy and the service became sparse. We placed all our orders at the same time, but for some reason, my food came way later than anyone else's.

Belly King Roll - B+

After awkwardly staring at my friends enjoying their food for a very long time (some of them were already finished), my Belly King Roll finally arrived. This roll came with avocado, negitoro, seared sake toro (salmon belly), jalapeño, capers, garlic chips, balsamic reduction, and pesto olive sauce. Despite its small size, the roll was very successful texture-wise, especially with the smooth and soft seared salmon. I thought the salmon could've used a bit more smokiness though.

Spicy Crunch Roll - B+

Since Sean was with us, we got the obligatory Spicy Crunch Roll. A deep-fried California roll topped with spicy tuna, tobiko, tempura flakes, spicy house sauce, and BBQ sauce, the Spicy Crunch Roll packed a lot of flavour, and it was nice that the batter was not too hard. The spicy tuna had a delectable, soft texture, but it was slightly overwhelmed by the aggressive use of chili sauce.

Beef Gomae - B

Next, I had the Beef Gomae simply because I'd never seen the dish at any other restaurant before. It was essentially beef sashimi accompanied by gomae. The beef was tender and went well with the sweet gomae sauce, but the tangy ponzu sauce on the bottom complemented neither the beef nor the gomae. I had to let the ponzu sauce drip down before each bite.

Rainbow Sushi Pizza - B+

In honour of one of our guests, who really likes colourful things, I ordered the Rainbow Sushi Pizza, which came with crab meat, salmon, tuna, ebi, hamachi, tai, unagi, tobiko, BBQ eel, and wasabi mayonnaise. The crispy layer of rice at the bottom was slightly overdone, but the mixture of creamy sauces and smooth cuts of fish worked well. The tai and unagi were the highlights among the seafood.

Hamachi Toro Nigiri - A-

Madai Nigiri - A-

Shima-Aji Nigiri - A-

Uni Nigiri - B+

Ordering my nigiri turned out to be quite laughable for my entire table because they had run out of most of the more expensive types of nigiri. After having my order rejected again and again (feels bad), I finally ended up with the nigiri above. The nigiri was fresh and came in generous cuts. The delicate sweetness of the shima-aji and the smooth texture of the madai were highlights. There wasn't a lot of uni in the Uni Nigiri, but it still had a nice, creamy texture.

While the service was a little sparse as we came at prime dinner time on a Saturday, it was at least friendly. Once again, I enjoyed the innovation and the consistency in execution. I can foresee more adventures to Kimu, as there are still many creative dishes that I haven't tried yet, such as the Dontoro Bites, the Volcano Eggplant Seafood Yaki, and the Honeymoon Roll. Okay, maybe that last one will have to wait...