Sherman's Food Adventures: Sushi Royal House

Sushi Royal House

Awhile back, we had visited Bentei Sushi out in North Burnaby and came away thinking, "what the heck was that???".  Then Viv had tried out their Grandview Hwy location (without me???) and it was pretty much the same.  Now that location has become Sushi Royal House, but with Bentei Sushi still plastered on the windows and on their receipts.  In fact, on this visit, Viv noticed it was the same sushi chef.  Merely a name change?  I guess we'd have to see...

If it wasn't obvious before, with a continuous feed of Hyuna on the flat screen TV, the place is Korean-run. Still can't listen to her version of Gangnam Style (wait, I can't stand the song in general!).  Anyways, we started with the Starry Night Roll consisting of avocado, tempura shrimp, imitation crab with spicy tuna on top.  We found the roll to be a bit haphazardly prepared with things falling out and a bit messy looking.  The rice was on the harder side with very little flavour.  That was somewhat alleviated by the spicy tuna and drizzle of 2 sauces.  Next up was the Prawn Tempura, which was fried up crispy.  It was mild on the grease with a relatively thin batter.  I found the ebi to be more meaty than cold-water crunchy.

Awkwardly and not really all that appealingly plated, the Assorted Sashimi was pretty average.  The tuna was really cold and a touch icy while the salmon was pretty bland.  Nothing was terrible yet it wasn't exactly a joy to eat either.  I guess the "flat" presentation didn't help matters either.  As for our filler items, the Oyako Don was a pretty typical non-authentic version packed with various veggies.  This essentially doomed the rice as it added far too much moisture where the rice became super soggy.  Moreover, it was pretty flavourless and the really chewy chicken didn't help matters.

Lastly, the Beef Yakisoba was decent.  Although it was lacking in overall flavour, the dish wasn't greasy and the noodles were still chewy (they were stuck together though).  The thin slices of beef were on the drier side. In the end, we didn't hate our meal, yet weren't all that enthused either.  Considering our total bill was North of $60.00 (with tax and tip), one could eat at many better Japanese restaurants (or better value Korean-run spots such as Sushi Town and Sushi Garden).  Therefore, it is not much of a surprise that the place was not busy on a Saturday.

The Good:
- Friendly server
- Lots of Korean pop music

The Bad:
- Not great value
- Food isn't good enough to compete

Sushi Royal House on Urbanspoon

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