JT C.
Yelp
Saw a post of a new Japanese restaurant opened up on the hipster strip of Vancouver so decided to check it out. It is located in between Anh & Chi and Nikkyu restaurant. I was fortunate to find parking right in front of the restaurant. As we entered, we were greeted by the waitress and were promptly seated, the restaurant is quite small; a few seats by the sushi bar and about 8 tables along the windows and wall, however, it gave that warm vibe and ambience. The restaurant looked newly renovated and well ventilated with AC.
I believe it's doing a soft opening because the menu seemed a little limited. Here were the food we ordered;
1. Nidako sunomono. The octopus, noodle and sunomono base were pretty fresh and tasty.
2. Gomae. Simple and pretty basic
3. Miso soup. Quite basic, only took couple sips of it as I preferred not the quick style way. P.s. I though my meals came with 2 miso soups, maybe I misunderstood the waitress.
4. New York beef tataki. The beef tasted fresh and tender, the sauce was okay.
5. Maki set. I personally think it was too basic and nothing special, need a little improvement on the selections.
6. Sashimi Moriawase. The sashimi were fresh and of bite size, pretty good quality.
7. Nagasaki Bluefin tasting. Akami was pretty good and fresh, the chu-toro didn't have that nice taste and colour that I am used to, the seared or aburi o-toro was way off in terms of taste; freshness and texture. When tuna is cooked, the meat becomes more stiff then most fishes and pretty tasteless. As most would agreed or know, O-toro is the best part of the blue fin and best enjoyed by retaining its natural freshness and texture.
8. House panna cola dessert. It was nice, tasty and refreshing, nice little dessert to end the meal with.
Overall, the restaurant was small, but it was clean and had a nice warm welcoming ambience to it. I would say it's a nice little place to enjoy some fresh sushi with a few friends over a couple of drinks. The services were good; the waitresses were very attentive and informative on each food being served. As for the price, it's on the steeper side compared to some of the surrounding Japanese restaurants. I think the only thing I wasn't very satisfied with was the chu toro and O-toro, could've been fresher and the O-Toro was a failed to my taste. I would recommend it if you are looking for a new place to try and hopefully I can give it another go in the near future when it's fully opened and settled itself in. I would give it a solid 3.5-4 stars but cause of the chu toro and O-toro, 3 stars.
This review is more of a positive criticism because I would like to see this restaurant grow and stay. I am a strong believer that honest feedbacks are key elements in improving, growing and giving a business longevity.
Good luck to this business and much success!!!