Nikkyu

Why does it always seem like such a chore to decide on a restaurant when meeting up with people? I guess it's due to people having differing tastes and expectations. We were trying to figure out a place to meet a friend who was visiting from Taiwan. We also had to take into consideration the 4 kids that would be eating with us as well. Since our friend was staying around the Main Street area, we looked at options around there. We went through quite a few options until finally settling on Nikkyu Japanese. Honestly, I wouldn't have even known about Nikkyu if I hadn't bumped into a family friend in front of the place last month. There are so many Japanese restaurants in the GVRD, it's not funny.

Upon entering the restaurant, I noticed that their air conditioning was not on. This was not particularly a good sign since it was a really hot day. This was the same problem we had at Pho 101, and it was made worse because we were eating hot soup! Luckily for us, Japanese food isn't as sweat-inducing. A quick look at the lunch menu and most of the combos were priced under $10.00. I decided to order the Grilled Black Cod, Scallops with 3pcs Tuna Sashimi. The dish arrived with a mound of rice, a small piece of cod and 2 scallops drowned in teriyaki sauce. The tuna sashimi was served on a separate plate. Although the cod and scallops were cooked perfectly, the teriyaki sauce overwhelmed any natural flavours that existed. This would've been a whole lot better with a different sauce, maybe a light Ponzu.

Viv went for the AAA Beef Steak with Salmon Sashimi. Her meal was essentially the same as mine, with beef substituting for the seafood. Again, the food was drenched in teriyaki sauce. It was too bad since the beef was actually grilled perfectly rare. It really didn't seem like a lot of food, but if you take into consideration that it was only $10.00 and the raw materials were high quality, it was alright.

We got the Chicken Udon with 3pcs Nigiri for the kiddies. The udon was pretty good being full of chicken and properly cooked noodles. The broth was quite light as well. There was no way my son would eat the nigiri, so we ended up eating it. Good thing too, because we weren't full. That was partially the reason we added a Yam and Prawn Tempura. Well, the real reason was that my son wanted it. Yes, he is spoiled. Surprisingly, the tempura was actually quite good. First, the batter was light and fried up perfectly. Second, the prawns were de-veined and had good elasticity. Our friend's son had a Bento box and it looked like a good value.

The food at Nikkyu was decent and the prices were reasonable. However, there is an inherent problem which Nikkyu faces due to its proximity to Toshi and Zipang sushi. In order to compete, Nikkyu has to either offer something different or be better than Toshi and Zipang. It achieves neither. If you put Nikkyu at a different location, it would probably rate much higher; but seeing where it is, there is no immediate threat to the competition.

The Good:
- Reasonable prices
- Friendly service
- Delivery available

The Bad:
- Food is average compared to the immediate competition
- Turn on the A/C!