Sherman's Food Adventures: Dream Sushi

Dream Sushi

Another weekend and another set of softball games. 3 at least and possibly a 4th (if we made it to the finals). The day started off on the wrong foot (or hamstring) since I was pretty sore from the hockey game on the previous night. I was able to make it through the game with considerable discomfort. In order to last the day, I needed drugs. No not that type of drugs; but legal ones. As we headed off for lunch, my intention was to grab some muscle relaxant and Tylenol. Well, that wouldn't be necessary since Bear whipped out his stash and began explaining what each pill was about. Wow. To think I knew Bear... Turns out he's a pusher! Well, it benefited me because I felt pretty good after the medication.

So this was just before our lunch at Dream Sushi, which was conveniently located not far from the softball field. Yes, the place is Chinese-run, for those authenticity-seekers. Again, it doesn't matter if the food is good. Just because it is Japanese-run, doesn't mean it is automatically good. Trust me, there are a lot of authentic Chinese restaurants in town that are not very good. So the reason we ended up here was due to my cousin recommending the place. Word is that the portions are generous and the food is decent (for a Chinese-run Japanese restaurant that is). For myself, I decided to go for the Dinner Set and started with the Salmon Sashimi. Well actually I started with a miso soup and green salad; but honestly, there was not much to say about them. Now the sashimi was another story. It was actually quite good. Arriving in large slices, the texture and appearance were good. The sashimi was surprisingly sweet and flavourful.

Next to arrive was the Tempura consisting of one piece each yam, green bean, mushroom and squash. It was fried up nicely with a crisp exterior which was lightly battered. It was not greasy and each item retained its texture. I liked how they added grated daikon into the tempura dip. For my main, I had the Chicken Curry which had a surprising kick. I say surprising since Japanese curry is usually more sweet than anything. It was indeed on the sweeter side; but it almost appeared to have some form of Chinese-influence. The pieces of chicken were tender and plentiful while the rice was the desired chewy texture.

To change things up a bit, I decided to share a Peking Duck Roll with Wendal (no, not Clark). And as the name suggests, the roll consisted of duck and cucumber in the middle with a piece of Peking duck skin on the outside then drizzled with mayo and teriyaki sauce. In terms of flavour, the roll wasn't too bad. There was duck flavour and sweetness. However, it would've been even better if the sauce was hoisin (or at least a stronger hoisin presence). The skin on top was not crispy at all, which was a bit disappointing since that is the best feature of Peking duck. I'm pretty sure it was BBQ duck, not Peking duck since they neither have the facilities or really the time to make Peking duck. What they should have done was torch the skin on top of the roll. Moreover, we found the rice on the gummier side. As for Bear, in between trying to push drugs, he ordered the Spinach Gomae to start. It was a freakishly large portion that could've easily made 3. It was the typical non-Japanese version with the sesame dressing on top. With that in mind, it wasn't too bad. There was plenty of roasted sesame flavour without too much sweetness. The spinach was a bit chewy though.

Inexplicably, both Judes and Milhouse ordered the Miso Ramen. Despite what you think, the surprising thing about it wasn't because this was not a ramen joint. Rather, it was really warm outside. Hot noodles on a warm day? Well, I've done it before and I guess that's what they do in South Asia... Besides, it turned out to be actually decent since there was realistic expectations. Considering that there is a "ramen" joint across the street that isn't impressive bodes well for the ramen here. I tried some of it and the soup base was quite flavourful with a rich miso taste. It wasn't bursting with meat flavour by no means; but decent nonetheless. The noodles were perfectly al dente as well; however, the chashu fat was a tad chewy. The weird-looking egg would make most ramen connoisseurs cringe; yet it was good in its own ways.

Sienna decided to order the Tuna Maki and it arrived on the same plate as Wendal's Spinach Maki. As you can clearly see in the picture, there is much more filling that rice. Too bad the rice was gummy like the Peking Duck Roll (of course it was, same rice!). Hot Chocolate (who we referred to as Hotter Chocolate since she had a new sexy hairdo) went for the Chicken Udon. Not the most interesting of selections; yet it was quite good with a flavourful broth and al dente noodles. She remarked that there was lots of tender chicken as well. As evidenced in the food, there are some authenticity issues here. Yet, does it really matter? I mean, most people that visit this place are happy with the value and overall food quality. Who are we to tell them otherwise?

The Good:
- Large portions
- Reasonable prices

The Bad:
- The place is tiny

Dream Sushi on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

LotusRapper said...

This place seems to draw families with kids (us included) for some reason I'm not sure why. Nevertheless, we like them for what they are, and not what they're not.

I don't recall seeing the chicken curry on rice on the menu. Hmmm, I should check it out sometime :-)

BTW, all the servers speak (Taiwan) Mandarin.

Sherman Chan said...

@LR Yup, take them for what they are and it's not bad...

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