Category Archives: Seafood

Kamei Kiss from VANEATS.ca

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Kamei Royale has been on the Downtown Vancouver sushi and Japanese dining scene for over 20 years now. The same people who own Kamei Royale own another Japanese eatery I’ve had the pleasure of dining at-Ebisu on Robson. Kamei has a more “grown up” feel to it with 2 sushi bars, private dining booths.  There is table seating in the middle of the restaurant which is OK but I really did enjoy the private dining booths.  I’ve always wanted to come to Kamei Royale before so I was really happy when I was selected by VANEATS.ca to preview this new dining package. I brought along Melissa from Eyes Bigger Than My Stomach to eat with me.

This time the guys at VANEATS.ca have teamed up to bring us Kamei Kiss. The $19, 4 item dining pass features signature dishes from Kamei Royale’s menu:

-Healthy Agedashi Tofu

-Crab Salad

-Oda Roll

-Ice Cream Tempura

The Healthy Agedashi Tofu. It was a nice mix of lightly fried tofu topped with okura mushrooms, edamame beans and lotus root.  Agedashi tofu is new to me, I enjoyed this dish even though the tofu isn’t the star of the plate and all the flavor is coming from the other ingredients. The broth or sauce served with it had a smokey flavor to it. The fried tofu was silky and soft on the inside but I would have loved a bit less of the sauce-it made the outside soggy.

Crab Salad. A sweet salad containing a mix of real crab mixed with avocado, mango, mayonnaise and tobiko. Light and refreshing is how I would describe this salad. The crab was super fresh and sweet. The dressing was also on the light side and it complimented the crab. This was overall a winning dish.

Oda Roll. A different and unique roll with mango, avocado, cucumber and salmon. The tempura fresh water eel and cream cheese are torched before your eyes. A feast for the eyes and senses is how I would describe this roll.  The aroma that hits you right away is from the torching of the cream cheese, I’ve seen it before with fish being torched.  The eel was the next flavor I when eating this and the mango added a great fresh element.   The salmon wasn’t a big flavor in the roll I found.  Lastly they put a lot of fresh avocado in this roll that made me very happy and added a nice creamy texture with the cream cheese.

Ice Cream Tempura. Vanilla ice cream deep-fried in tempura batter, drizzled with chocolate and topped off with powdered sugar and a cherry.  Lastly we have dessert.  I really wanted to like this but the tempura was soggy on the bottom and the batter was really thick.  I ended up eating the vanilla ice cream and leaving the tempura behind.

I think the Kamei Kiss is a great deal for $19.  The oda roll alone is $15 and change alone on the menu.  I ate most of this myself and also got some of their tiger mayo.  It was a very filling meal so I’d recommend this for 1 person or to share between 2 people with a couple other items from the menu.

The Kamei Kiss  4 course dining package goes is priced at $19 and sales start May 30,2012 at 7am and will be available in batches till September 30,2012.  You can get yours by clicking here.

**Disclosure-I did not pay for my dining pass but did order some other things from the menu at my cost, my opinions are completely my own.**

Kamei Royale Japanese on Urbanspoon

BC Spot Prawn Season

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It’s like Christmas time for foodies right now.  Once a year and only for 8 weeks BC Spot Prawns are in season.  Many of Vancouver’s restaurants are using these gems in dishes and even dedicating whole menus to the succulent West Coast crustacean.  I was invited to check out the 1st catch of the season come into dock and go right into C’s kitchen to be cooked up for us and diners doing the Spot Prawn tasting menu.  We all eagerly awaited the boats arrival with the prawns on-board.

What makes BC Spot Prawns so special is the face the season only runs for 8 weeks (May-June) and the fishery for them is completely sustainable so the fish stocks aren’t being affected at all.  They are also ethically raised and sourced.  Until 2005 most of the Spot Prawns were exported to Japan and we used to miss out since the fishery has been set up we now get our fair share of these beauty’s.

Here they come!

You can view the video of the harvest (The guy in the picture shot if for the Vancouver Sun) by clicking here.

We all were served some tasty bites while we waited for the prawns to be cooked up and brought out.

The first set of bites we were served were BC poached Spot Prawns with a yuzu jelly, Quail’s Egg topped with truffle aioli and crispy bacon and watermelon with a crispy basil garnish.  All of these were really good.  The eggs were perfectly cooked and of course the bacon was a perfect complement to the egg.  BC Spot Prawns and yuzu jelly were a natural pairing of sweet seafood and the citrus from the yuzu.

Lastly the watermelon and crispy basil was a nice clean, refreshing bite.  There was also smoked salmon bites with goats cheese that I had when I came here for Dine Out 2012.

Golden, pink and red beets topped with creme frache and thyme were also passed around the deck.  Beets are one of my favorite items and I really liked these.  I tend to like the red beets more because they are sweeter than the golden beets I find.

Seared tuna bites with a ponzu were cooked perfectly.  The inside was beautifully rare and just seared on the outside enough to add some firm texture, the sauce was a nice touch and added a bright salty hit to the bite.

These were the star of the event.

The whole BC Spot Prawns served whole in a pool of garlic butter.  Saying these are hands on are an understatement.  You get in there with your hands and twist the head off and strip the tail of shell and such.  The heads could be sucked like a crawfish head if you like to get the pure essence of the Spot Prawn-it’s not my thing but i made sure my head didn’t go to waste.  The meat is sweet and tender and reminded me of a little lobster tail!

The event was alot of fun and I enjoyed the delicious treats and drinks.  Get out there and enjoy some of there completely unique to BC treats before there all gone.

C Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Some New Dishes From Cosca

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Cosca is a place that is just around the corner from my apartment. Seeing it’s a local joint I’ve had a few dining adventures since they’ve opened there doors.  Recently they changed up their menu and there were a few things that caught my eye so I was happy when I received an invite to come down and try a few things.

I was joined by @TessTattles for dinner.  We were brought some fresh-baked focaccia with EVOO and balsamic vinegar when we were seated.  The bread had a nice moisture content to it and it was flavored with rosemary.

We ordered a couple appys, the grilled calamari flavored with sun-dried tomatoes, capers and lemon.  I wasn’t a fan of this-I prefer my calamari breaded and fried but I did give it a try, it was tender and the other ingredients gave it a real Mediterranean flavor.

This was something that I was looking forward to trying.  The breaded risotto balls, Gorgonzola with pomadoro sauce.  I loved these, the risotto was nice and creamy inside and the crisp outside held it all together and added a great crunchy texture, I could have eaten a couple more plates of these.

For mains Tess went with the Octopus Risotto, on the menu it was described like this-confit octopus, ham hock, oven dried tomatoes, I tasted the ham hock and octopus but I think they forget the tomatoes.  Tess really enjoyed this, the rice had a bit of bite to it and the risotto was nice and creamy and big on the octopus flavor.

I went with the Saltimbocca, they use chicken here for there’s.  It’s prosciutto and sage wrapped and served with a lemon potato pave and kale.  The chicken was seasoned nicely and the prosciutto was nice and crisp.  The potato pave was also seasoned perfectly and worked well with the big flavors of the chicken.

The kale was a nice healthy side.  I’ve never had purple kale before and don’t eat kale often so it was a nice change up for me.

For dessert we had a couple freshly made cannoli’s with a lemon scented filling.  The filling was on the loose side but other than that it tasted great.  There was also some blueberry compote on the plate with some hazelnuts.  The cannoli’s were a great way to end the meal.

From the dishes we had I’d say the new menu update is good and the addition of a new Head Chef the seasoning issues I had before have been worked out it would appear.

**Disclosure-our meal was comped by the restaurant, I was not expected to write a review and my opinions are completely my own.**

Cosca on Urbanspoon

Cactus Club Cafe English Bay

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The new Cactus Club Cafe at English Bay has not only become known for its amazing view but it’s also a place where you could find a 90 minute or more wait for a table at dinner.  I made my visit on a lunch hour so I was able to get a table on the patio without a problem.

The location does have all the favorite items on the Cactus Club menu but there are also a couple of dishes that are completely unique to this location.

I started with the Ravioli and Prawn Trio.  A Rob Feenie Signature Dish.  Tender jumbo prawns and silky butternut squash filling team up with a rich truffle infused sauce and pine nuts.  I was really surprised how rich this dish would be-it was a filling appy and surprised me for only being 3 ravioli.  The pasta was Al dente and the right thickness for being fresh pasta.  This is a winning dish that I would order again

Tuna tataki and prawn salad with mango, cucumber, radish, crispy shallots and a yuzu vinaigrette for $17.  Another Rob Feenie Signature Dish. I like salads and this was a winner for me, the tart yuzu/soy dressing was a perfect compliment to the tuna and prawns.  The seafood and fish were really fresh and the tuna melted in my mouth, the prawns were plump and juicy.  The greens in the salad were also nice and fresh, the mango was the star of the mix and I would have loved more in it.  Again I’d order this and recommend it for a nice light but filling lunch.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bar – with Tahitian vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce and crunchy chocolate pearls.  This tasted like a gourmet Wunderbar!  The caramel sauce was thick and rich.  The chocolate bar itself was amazing, it melted in my mouth and the peanut butter flavor was just right.  The ice cream was rich, creamy and smooth with the perfect amount of vanilla flavor.  This is a must try for peanut butter and chocolate fans.

At the end of the day I had a great lunch and with a great selection of items I’d say it’s a great fit for a leisure lunch or romantic dinner with that killer English Bay sunset that we all love so much.

Cactus Club Cafe (English Bay) on Urbanspoon

Lunch At Kingyo Izakaya

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Kingyo on Denman St is one of my neighborhood gems.  It was one of the first izakaya’s to open in the West End and I think of it as a higher end Guu.

Kingyo is super popular at night and has been a partner with the awesome guy’s at VANEATS.ca in the past, they also offer lunch service from 11:30am-3pm and that is when I made this visit.

The menu is double-sided and changes regularly but they do keep a couple of standard items on it all the time, with a mix of sushi and sashimi along with meats and veggie dishes it’s pretty varied and there is sure to be something that will appeal to you.

I started out with a house made ginger ale, the ginger puree at the bottom once stirred into the drink was good but I did get a couple sips near the end of the drink that were pretty pungent.  For $3.50 I thought it was OK but on the pricey side so I just kept it to one.

They also serve Asahi Black here so of course I had to have one of those!

Something that I have to order at every place I go that has it on the menu is Ebi Mayo, I’ve had some great ones and some not so great ones in the past but I’ve heard really great things about Kingyo’s offering and I was not disappointed.  The prawns were HUGE, juicy and tender, the chili mayo was flavorful and there was some of the chili sauce not mixed totally with the mayo so every now and then I would get a blast of heat along with my mouthful of prawn, in my dish I figured there were 6 or 7 large-sized prawns.  They were nicely lightly battered and not greasy.  For $9 the dish was fairly priced-I recently bought some fresh, large-sized prawns similar to these and I paid an arm and a leg.

One item that I have developed a craving for ever since I had it a their sister restaurant Suika is the Salmon Carpaccio, here they had that but also had a Ahi Tuna with Avocado Carpaccio so I decided to give that a try, it had thinly sliced ahi with avocado on organic field greens topped with kaiware radish, garlic chips, lotus root chips and a wasabi mayo with soy based sesame dressing.  It was $9.80 and was a solid dish but I would have liked to have more tuna in the dish for the amount of dressing that was used.

Another thing that caught my eye was the Cha-Shu Rice Paper Rolls for $7.20, they have roasted pork, lettuce and cucumber wrapped in rice paper with a special sweet sauce, mayo and yuzu sansho.  These were pretty good but I found the rice paper wrapper to be really sticky which made it kind of hard to eat in bites neatly, the pork was flavorful and super tender and along with the lettuce and cucumber inside there was Japanese mayo which added an unexpected creaminess and tang.

Kingyo is known for having very good chicken karage and it’s totally true!, They serve it with a salt trio-Himalayan Pink Salt, Japanese salt and the third I can’t remember, the chicken is super crispy on the outside and moist and juicy on the inside, as for the salts I ended up just using the pink salt for my chicken.  For $7.80 you get a nice serving to share with 2 people or it’s a great appy for 1 person.

I had this bad boy for lunch, the pork cutlet tonkatsu set for $14, I had my eye on this for a while now and again it lived up to expectations.

The set came with miso soup that was a bit different from what I’ve had other places, they add daikon and other fresh veggies to the bottom of the bowl that was a nice surprise, the soup was a nice balance between the miso and the broth, I love it when there is a nice flavor without being salty.

One thing that won me over with this was the interaction with my food I got to experience, there was a little Japanese mortar and pestle with black and white sesame seeds that I was encouraged to grind and mix with a sauce that would then become my dipping sauce for my pork cutlet.  When I was grinding the sesame seeds the aroma of them being freshly ground really stood out and added a great touch to the sauce.

Also in the set was freshly shredded cabbage that I drizzled with a tangy sesame dressing, it was nice and light with just the right amount of crunch, also they’ll give you more cabbage if you like if you gobble all yours up.

In the past I’ve had this dish at other places and the pork has been really dry, here that wasn’t the case at all, the meat was tender without being overly juicy and the panko breading was light and crisp yet didn’t take away from making the pork the star of the plate.  When combined with the dipping sauce it was a real feast for the pallet-the sauce has a spice or spices in it that I can’t put my finger on but it reminded me of Chinese five spice.  The set also came with a bowl of sticky rice, it was nicely cooked but I didn’t eat much of it because the other items I had filled me up quite nicely.

Of course I was going to have a dessert while I was here and they did have a new creation that did catch my eyes but I ended up trying something that I have not had-a sweet almond tofu topped with a jasmine jelly.  The jasmine jelly had a taste of cherry brandy to it to me-like very pronounced but the sweet almond tofu offset that taste quickly, it was a creamy rich yet not heavy dessert.  At $4 it was there cheapest dessert yet something that I had to have on a 1st visit seeing it is a Kingyo classic item.

At the end of the day I had a great lunch and the quality of my items was top notch and my service was outstanding, if your looking for a different Japanese lunch or dinner I’d definitely recommend Kingyo for a solid meal.

Kingyo Izakaya 金魚居酒屋 on Urbanspoon

Bistro 101 on Granville Island

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This week I found myself having to head to Granville Island to get some ingredients for a recipe in a cookbook I’m in the process of testing and in need of lunch and not wanting to deal with the crowded market scene I stopped into Bistro 101 at the Pacific Culinary Institute.

For lunch they offer a 3 course menu for $18 and it’s different everyday.  What I love about this place is that your served by the students but not only are they learning the art of service but they are also involved in the kitchen!, I did a course when I was a teenager at VCC and worked for a summer in JJ’s Dining Room and it was an awesome experience for myself so I can relate to the awkwardness that happened with service but the one thing I will say is everyone was really attentive and professional.

After I checked out the menu and made my selections one of the pastry students came by my table and brought out some fresh bread and butter and also took my dessert order~turns out she’s the one who made my choice~a deconstructed s’more that I saw as I was being seated.

Another student came by my table with a chilled amuse-bouche of a Puttanesca Prawn, it was an interesting bite but the prawn for me was over powered by the puttanesca sauce.

For my appy I had 3 choices~a mushroom egg drop soup,Oceanwise baby shrimp and avocado spring mix greens in a rice paper roll or a honey and five-spice quail~all decent choices on there own~I went with the Oceanwise choice.  The rice paper roll was served with a miso tahini sauce, the baby shrimp were cooked perfectly and there were a ton of them in there and the avocado spring mix filled out the roll perfectly, the avocado added a beautiful creaminess with the sauce underneath.  this is something that I would totally make at home on my own~avocado is going in all my rolls from now on!

Entrée wise there was a Grilled Beef Striploin with a devil sauce, Pan Fried Mahi Mahi that was a Oceanwise choice and was on the tropical side~served with a berry salsa and ginger coconut pilaf and to round out the choices the poultry option was a Smoked Turkey & Emmenthal Stuffed Chicken Breast with a basil tomato veloute and herb polenta~my choice!  The chicken was cooked thoroughly yet was moist and flavorful, the skin on top was nice and crisp, the smoked turkey added flavor and the cheese rounded everything out.  The sauce on the bottom was rich but not overly thick which was nice and the tomato side added a great acidic note to this rich dish, the herb polenta was flavored with thyme and was on the solid side~it was a disk under the tomato so it was perfect on get all that yummy sauce off the plate.

Dessert wise the choices were a Sour Cherry Vanilla Cake with a pistachio fig ice cream and hazelnut tuile, an Apple Crumble with vanilla ice cream and my choice~a Neoclassical S’more with a chocolate sorbet and homemade marshmallow on top.

The s’more part was a cake bottom, the creamy milk chocolate mousse middle wasn’t to sweet and the homemade marshmallow capped off a great dessert.

The chocolate sorbet was like nothing I’ve had before, it was totally smooth and intensely flavored with dark chocolate, paired with the milk chocolate mousse it made for one rich chocolate lovers dessert.  Graham cracker crumble rounded out the plate.

After taxes my bill came in at under $21 and they don’t take tips, they also offer a dinner service for $24 and buffet on Fridays, I’d advise making reservations for larger groups~they are a member of the Opentable reservation program if you’re a member or you can do so right on their webpage by clicking here.  The dining room is also fully licensed and has a deal on Wednesdays where all bottles of wine are half price (Promotion is not applicable on theme dinners, special events or bookings made through the Corporate, Catering & Event Department unless otherwise stated).  I had a great lunch here and I can’t wait to come back for many more great lunches and dinners!  I’d recommend it to anybody heading down to Granville Island looking for a great lunch or dinner at an amazing price.

Bistro 101 (Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts) on Urbanspoon

Kin Resto Bar

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The other night I had the pleasure of eating with my fellow blogger @MaryInVancity at Kin Resto Bar.  It’s been on our radar for a while now because of the partnership with the great guy’s at VANEATS.ca, the have put together a great dining package called Kindle With Kin and for $25 it’s a great way to get a taste of the signature dishes at this great West End eatery.

The space is nice, it’s split into 2 area~one with a darker more intimate mood and a projector showing the game on the wall and a more lit dining area that can accommodate bigger groups.

We started with some beer, the Red Truck Lager was the drink of choice for us at $5.50 each, it went well with all the dishes in the package and was an extra cost and not included in the VANEATS.ca package.

For our starter we were served the Prawn and Thai Basil Rice Paper Rolls.  These were totally delicious and we both gobbled them up, the prawn was nice and tender and the roll had some nice crunch from the lettuce and veggies and crispy noodles in the center, the dip for these baby’s was a great house made peanut sauce.  These were enjoyed by almost every table that was dining when we were there and I can see why there so popular.

Next up was a combo plate of Beef Short Ribs and Kin’s Beef La Lot Rolls.

The short ribs were marinated and grilled in 17 different spices, they were sweet, savory and tender like a great Asian short rib should be, because they were so thin the meat melted in your mouth and again we loved this and should have ordered more.

The beef la lat rolls were something that I have never heard of or had at other Vietnamese restaurants, they consist of grilled minced beef, star anise, black pepper and jicama, rolled in betel leaves.  They were totally delicious, the inside was crunchy from the jicama.

A salad was our next course, it was there Seafood Salad, it had shrimp, basa, asparagus, mango, grape tomato and rau ram sauce.  Originally it was supposed to have scallops in it and we were both looking forward to this but they served it to us with the different fish so it was a bit of a let down, all the other ingredients were great~the shrimp were plump and juice and the tangy dressing with the sweet mango worked great.

The Chicken Chay Curry was our main you could say.

I’ve never had this before, it reminded me of a Thai yellow curry, it had chicken, lots of veggies and tofu.  All the ingredients were cooked perfectly except a couple of pieces of yam which were on the underdone side but other than that it was a great bowl of curry, we could have easily eaten a bowl of this for each of us easily.

For dessert we split a Lemon grass Ginger Creme Brulee with Pineapple Chutney.

This was not your typical creme brulee, it wasn’t as heavy but still was satisfying and not overly sweet, the pineapple chutney was a great compliment to the custard, there was almost a jasmine tea sent to the custard part of the brulee.  It was a great way to end the meal and we both really enjoyed this.

This was one great meal and for $25 it fed 2 people nicely, if you’re a more hungry eater a couple extra items from the menu would be a great addition to this dining package and would leave you full and happy.  Were totally looking forward our next visit already.

To purchase a VANEATS.ca Kindle With Kin dining package they’re available till the end of February 2012, their for use during evening/dinner hours and the can be found by clicking here.

**Just a note of disclosure, this dining package was paid for by ourselves and not part of our normal previews of VANEATS.ca dining packages.**

Chau on Urbanspoon

The Boathouse English Bay

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For my next Dine Out 2012 dinner I was in the mood for some steak and with a long day behind me I didn’t want to go far so going to the Boathouse restaurant at English Bay was a no brainer seeing I live around the corner from it.

The views of English Bay are great and the patio that is open in the summertime is one of Vancouver’s best and should not be missed if you’re visiting the city.

They are offering 2 choices of menu’s~one for $28 and one for $38, both are 3 courses and offer some pretty appealing dishes, I went with the $28 choice and I was really happy with that choice.

For my appy I went with the Firecracker Shrimp, in this Dine Out portion size I got 10 nice big shrimp, the sauce was buttery and there was some heat in it form chili and some grape tomatoes in the dish, served along with it was a black olive bread that was perfect for dunking in that nice sauce that came with the shrimp~I’d order this again without hesitation on a future visit.

For my main I went with their 7oz Sirloin with Lobster Thermidor topping, the topping included shrimp, lobster, mushrooms in a sherry cream sauce.

The steak was cooked perfectly to my liking and was juicy and tender, I would have liked to see more lobster in the topping on my steak but it was delicious none the less.

The dish was served with a side of broccolini and buttered mashed potatoes~both were great and a nice accompaniment to the steak.  This dish alone is $28 on the menu so the rest of the meal was like a bonus!

For my dessert I went with their New York Cheesecake with a berry compote, it was a killer, rich thick cheesecake that anybody that likes cheesecake would dig!

Over all my Dine Out meal was totally worth $28 and shows a great value for money with you leaving with a full belly.

Boathouse (West End) on Urbanspoon

Akira Sushi-Some Cool Rice

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Akira has been open for quite sometime now and is a popular choice for great sushi with a special twist.  It’s one of those places that I’m guilty of not going to enough but after reading Erin Ireland’s Metro article showcasing the black rice used to make sushi I know I had to make a stop in at this local neighborhood favorite.

I went with some Avocado Maki made with black rice, it costs .75 cents extra per roll and is a makes for something different, it didn’t taste any different from the white rice to me and it seemed to me a bit looser in texture.

Next up I went with the standard Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box for around $9.

It came with the usual miso soup and I must say it was a set up flavor wise from other places, the broth had a great depth of flavor without being too salty.

Standard California rolls, not my favorite sushi roll so I didn’t eat all of these, from what I tasted the imitation cram mix was fresh and the rice was cooked nicely.

The usual green salad that comes with bento boxes, this one was good, the dressing was on the thick side but it wasn’t heavy or oily and there was a bit of sweetness to it.

Your rice for the chicken teriyaki, here it’s served on the side instead of under the chicken, it’s cooked perfectly and was defiantly more glutenous than the black rice.

And last but not least~the chicken teriyaki, it was nice and juicy, they use the chicken thigh here and it was also nice and crispy, the sauce was thick yet not overly sweet, it was some of the better chicken teriyaki I’ve had in a while and it was served on top of sautéed cabbage that was a different touch from the usual bean sprouts.  The was also a piece of broccoli and a baby carrot on the side.

Instead of gyoza you get a piece of fruit, honeydew melon in my case, it was fresh and a nice way to end a good meal.

Akira Sushi on Urbanspoon

Aki Japanese Restaurant

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On the hunt for a Japanese owned and run sushi spot in Vancouver I made it to Aki Japanese on Thurlow St, after hearing good things from @Foodologyca I was eager to try it but never made it in time for lunch~that changed a couple of weeks ago.  Seeing it’s one of Vancouver’s oldest Japanese restaurants still running in Vancouver, I had high hopes for this place.

The decor is dark and very traditional, there is seating at tables along the outside of the room and instead of sitting around a sushi bar, here you sit around an open BBQ grill, lanterns are hanging around the room so if your tall be careful and watch your head!

Food wise I went with something I usually get and is a “safe” option I find when checking out a new Japanese place~a chicken teriyaki lunch box with a selection of daily sushi instead of just California rolls.

The daily sushi was pretty simple, 2 tuna, 2 salmon and 2 cucumber rolls and 2 California rolls.  The fish was fresh and tasted just fine, I’m personally kind of tired of California rolls and try to swap them out for another roll but it wasn’t an option here~these were some darn good California rolls, the crab mix had a tangy Japanese mayo in it and was a bit sweet.

Sunomo was also included in this box, it was light and the dressing was tangy, the shrimp was abundant yet you could tell that they were frozen before.

Assorted tempura was next and it was a great mix of stuff, I especially like tempura green beans and they were included here along with 1 ebi, 1 piece of carrot and one piece of eggplant.  The batter was crisp and the tempura wasn’t oily, I enjoyed it all except the eggplant~it was bitter and had the skin on still.

The chicken teriyaki was different from what I’ve had at other places, they make their own sauce here and it’s pretty thin in consistency but tastes great, my chicken was cooked nicely but the skin on top was soggy from the sauce, it was served just on some bean sprouts and that’s it, I though there would be a side of rice but there wasn’t.

A couple of things to note are: they close at 2pm till dinner, they have a coat check for your stuff because the space is small inside and don’t sit around the BBQ area if your sensitive to smoke~there ventilation system didn’t quite catch it all and it for to me after about 20 minutes.

It was OK food but it really didn’t wow me in the presentation department and the service was pretty inattentive~it took forever to pay my bill and get change.

Aki Japanese Restaurant on Urbanspoon