Sherman's Food Adventures: Sushi Town (Coquitlam)

Sushi Town (Coquitlam)

Knowing that I wouldn't be going out to eat until Sunday, I lobbied with Viv that we really should go out for dinner tonight. Reluctantly she agreed, with one condition - we eat Japanese. Having already been to the Sushi Town in Burnaby, we decided to try out their Coquitlam location. As with the Burnaby location, there was a substantial lineup when we arrived. The trick here is to put your name and party size on the whiteboard at the entrance. If you forget to do this, your name will never be called. One thing that struck me about the place was the completely mismatched light fixtures. They have an antique look to them and do not go with the rest of the restaurant. I guess these lights were on clearance? Surprisingly, the wait for a table lasted less than 10 minutes. Too bad we were seated in a corner with little light. I did what I could with the pictures.

If you have never been to Sushi Town before, you will be impressed with the portion sizes and prices. However, if you were expecting really high quality Japanese food, you might want to go elsewhere. The food is decent; but it's the value you come here for. We started with one of my favourites, Takoyaki. Soft and fluffy with nice bits of octopus, topped with just enough mayo, bonito flakes and sauce, the takoyaki delivered. Too bad my son didn't want to try it. He doesn't like "things' in this food. Honestly, what food doesn't have things? I guess that's why we ordered a Plain Udon for him. It's not something that I would ever order for myself! The udon was... well... plain, except for a tofu puff, 2 slices of fish cake and sliced button mushrooms. Yup, you guessed it, he only ate the udon. For good measure, we got an Assorted Tempura for the kids. Well, for my son, he'd only eat the tempura batter anyways. At least my daughter ate the carrot and yam. For some reason or another, the tempura was not as good as the Burnaby location. There was just too much tempura batter and some of the pieces were cold. Did they fry some items ahead of time?

While we were in line, I saw that the nigiri sushi looked pretty good, so when we decided to get a few pieces. We went for 2 pcs of Unagi, 2 pcs of Inari, 2pcs of Scallop, 2 pcs of Toro and 1 pc of Tamago. With a generous amount of unagi, toro, scallop and tamago, the nigiri was pretty good. I liked how the rice was the right consistency as well. At this point, the constant nose-blowing due to using too much wasabi led to a nose bleed. The lady sitting right next to us kept staring. C'mon, have you not seen someone have a nose bleed before? Let's just say she must be extremely bored to watch someone bleed profusely from their nose while eating sushi!

On the topic of bleeding, we also ordered a Red Roll which consisted of scallop and cucumber on the inside and spicy tuna on the outside. Aesthetically, this roll look like someone slapped mushy fish on top of an amateurish roll. Also, there seemed to be too much rice as well. Although it was fantastic value at $4.95, the roll was poorly made and was overpowered by the spicy tuna. For some strange reason, the Spicy Salmon arrived last. By that time, we were quite full. As you can see from the picture, there is a plethora of large chunks of salmon and cucumber tossed in a spicy sauce. Unlike some other establishments, most of the salmon here are not leftovers. This is an excellent value at $7.95. There was so much, we actually didn't end up finishing it.

Once again, a pretty decent meal at Sushi Town. Much like the Burnaby location, you get good portions at reasonable prices. In terms of taste, there isn't anything to write home about; but it is more than acceptable. However, both locations suffer from hurried and minimal service. It's not that they're not friendly; but all the servers seem to be running around all time with too much to do. Getting more tea or even paying your bill may take you awhile.

The Good:
- Generous portions
- Low prices
- Food is fresh (high turnover)

The Bad:
- There is better Japanese food elsewhere (of course for more money)
- Always a lineup at peak times
- Service doesn't really exist

Sushi Town (Coquitlam) on Urbanspoon

3 comments:

holly said...

Yuck, there's nothing worse than cold tempura. This alone might be enough to turn me off from enjoying my meal, regardless of price.

It sounds like good value, but I'm not sure I would be prepared to put up with the crowds and lack of customer service as I prefer to enjoy my sushi in calmer and more relaxing conditions. Which is probably why I don't like Tojo's either as they have excellent sushi for reasonable prices.

While this kind of situation is common for dim sum, it's actually an expected part of the hustle and bustle.

Jenny said...

Sushi town is actually not bad, next time you are there, try their Awesome roll, it's actually pretty awesome LOL, but really it's quite good :)

Sherman Chan said...

Hi Jenny, I agree, Sushi Town is not bad at all considering the price and portions. I guess compared to some other Japanese restaurants (Iki, Zipang, Ajisai), it lags a bit behind. But again, Sushi Town wins on price and portions. Whipping Girl keeps bugging me to try the Awesome Roll. I'll do it next time! :)

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