Kingyo

I've been thinking of visiting Kingyo ever since I passed by it on my way to Qoola almost a month ago. I had called earlier in the week and found it closes at midnight on Fridays. Well, our hockey game tonight was at 9:15pm, so I knew we'd have to change, shower and boot it to downtown in order to make last call. Milhouse is notoriously slow getting out of the changing room after a game. I think a slug climbing a hill would be faster then Milhouse showering. I put a bit of pressure on him tonight and he came through with flying colours. I'm not sure if our coaxing did the job or maybe he was just really hungry.

I was first to get out and I made it down to Denman at 11:00pm. Once again, I was lucky to get a parking spot right in front (good thing, I could keep an eye on my hockey gear). Lionel Hutz and Milhouse arrived shortly after. We waited for about 10 minutes and got a choice seat right at the front. So far, the service was impeccable, everyone was very friendly. Also, we got our table in sequence. What I mean by that is we got our table even though someone arrived after us and apparently knew the staff. Despite that, he didn't get to jump the line. A restaurant with integrity, how cool is that?

Looking over the menu, we noticed that the selection of dishes was limited compared to that of Gyoza King, Hapa and Guu. However, we didn't have a problem finding things to order. We started with the Tuna Tataki with ponzu jelly. Ponzu is a citrus-based sauce; however, it is usually mixed with shoyu (soy sauce). The tuna tasted great with the combination of ponzu jelly and garlic chips. However, the slices were a bit small compared to Gyoza King and Hapa. I found it harder to appreciate the texture and flavours with such small pieces. The Sashimi Salad arrived on a really big plate and it looked fabulous. There were 2 slices each of yellowtail, salmon and tuna on a bed of spring greens. The soy vinaigrette was a good combination of tart, sweet and salty.

The Scallop Carpaccio was impressively presented. There were 6 lightly seared scallops on a bed of spring greens, daikon and carrot. It was topped with wasabi mayo, soy dressing and plum/seaweed paste. The scallops were plump and sweet; but the star of the dish was the plum/seaweed paste. The sweetness of the paste helped moderate the saltiness of the soy. Moreover, we squeezed some lemon juice over the scallops and this gave a complex combination of tart, sweet, salty, smooth and spicy (wasabi mayo). This was probably my favourite dish.

We then had the "World Famous!?" Mr. Yasu's Original Blended Spicy Chicken Wings!!! Yes, that's how it was described on the fresh sheet. I can never figure out Japanese expressions. Anyways, the wings were fried to a very pleasing dark soy colour. The wings were moist and a bit spicy. From what I can gather, the wings seemed to be marinaded in sweet soy, black pepper and cayenne (?). Next up was the beef tongue and it came on a plate with a sizzling hot stone. Lionel cooked the raw slices of tongue on the stone and not only was it a novelty, you could customize the rareness of the meat. It appeared that the same seasoning from the wings was used on the tongue.

The Ebi Mayo was fantastic. We got 6 large tiger prawns that were fried perfectly. They were just cooked inside; thus retaining it's crunchiness. The spicy chili mayo was a nice compliment to the sweet crispy prawns. I particularly liked that they didn't slather the prawns with mayo. Rather, it was near the centre of the plate. When the Grilled Black Cod arrived, our first impressions was "where's the meat?' It was a small fillet of cod on a very big plate. For $11.80, we were wondering if we got our moneys worth. However, this is a case of quality over quantity. The black cod was cooked perfectly with each flake still soft and moist. Before grilling, the black cod had been marinaded in Saikyo Miso. I wasn't familiar with this and looked it up. It's essentially a mix of mirin (sweet rice wine), sake, white miso paste and sugar. This flavours the fish with a very tantalizing mix of sweet, salty, a hint of tart and of course sake flavour.

The Menchi Katu or Beef Cutlet was accompanied by a Tomato Yuzu sauce. On the fresh sheet, it tells you to "Be a Man!". I'm not sure how a Yuzu sauce can turn you into a man. If someone knows why, please enlighten me... I wasn't a big fan of this dish. I think it's mainly personal preference because it reminded me of a fried Salisbury steak. Milhouse described it as a fried beef meatball similar to that of Chinese Dim Sum. For me, it was better than a Chinese beef meatball since it had no baking soda; thus there was still plenty of beef flavour and texture.

Our last dish, and it arrived quite a bit later, was the Kingyo Pasta Yakisoba. We figured why it was called pasta when it arrived - it looked like a pasta dish! It was fried up with cabbage and pork (seemed a lot like bacon), topped with bonito flakes and nori. On the fresh sheet, it stated that the yakisoba was fried up in Osaka Sauce. We had no idea what that was; but it tasted a bit spicy. I personally like the yakisoba; but Lionel and Milhouse were indifferent towards it. We finished our meal and got our usual complimentary frozen grapes. They're so simple; yet soooo good! The service was friendly and personable throughout our meal and we sat in comfort since the restaurant is a decent size. Looks like that if we need Milhouse to hurry it up in the changing room, we can use Kingyo as bait next time!

The Good:
- Good service
- Comfortable, an Izakaya with a decent-sized dining room!
- Food was bang on

The Bad:
- As with other Izakayas, it can get pricey
- Other Izakayas have a bit more selection

Kingyo
871 Denman Street
Vancouver, B.C.
604-608-1677