Shishinori

Better late to the party than never right?  That's what happened when we finally made it out to the popular Shishinori out on Cambie in the Home Depot complex.  Yes, the place has been blogged-to-death as everyone has clamoured to try their "healthier" and light Japanese meals.  Wait, healthy and light...  For Milhouse, JuJu and I, those words are as foreign to us as a great experience dealing with ICBC.  However, on a warm Sunday afternoon, Shishinori was looking like a pretty good choice.

JuJu kicked things off by digging into the Chilled Tofu with bonito and nori.  This was a fairly straightforward dish with slices of smooth (yet firm) tofu that was laced with a mildly sweet and only marginally salty dressing.  For his main, he went for the Hawaii Ahi Poke Bowl with shoyu dressing.  It was served atop brown rice and served with a side salad.  The poke itself was quite pleasant, if not conservatively seasoned.  It did taste natural where the tuna wasn't overwhelmed.  As much as we aren't fans of soggy rice, the brown rice was on the firmer side with hard pieces of crust strewn throughout.

For myself, I had the Spicy Teriyaki Beef Sub as a starter.  In actuality, Milhouse and I got our orders mixed up as I ended up eating his sub.  It wasn't particularly spicy, but I did get the teriyaki hit.  The beef was sufficiently tender while the bun could've been more light.  I ended up with the Real Crabmeat California Bowl as my entree and made it a meal with a Lychee Tea and bowl of Enoki Miso Soup.  This was essentially a deconstructed California roll with the addition of apple in the mix.  The light fluffy crab was good on its own, but the entire thing could've used something to brighten up the flavours (such as some acidity).  Again, the hard brown rice was not that appealing.

Milhouse had what I had ordered in the Wasabi Mayo Beef & Avocado Sub.  Similar to what I had except without the teriyaki, this was also quite mild-tasting except for the creaminess of the mayo.  It wasn't particularly spicy though.  Although his Wild Salmon Carpaccio Bowl was the prettiest plate, it was also the least amount of food.  Hey, the salmon was buttery and naturally sweet, yet again, it seemed to be missing something.  Also, if he had not ordered the sub, that was not enough to fill his tummy.  This in itself is a problem for slightly bigger appetites as most items were not that substantial.  However, I guess that would be the point of it all - being a lighter meal.  In that sense, the food was not heavy and generally pleasant.

The Good:
- Relatively healthier
- Carefully prepared eats
- Fresh ingredients

The Bad:
- Flavours are light
- Portions are also quite light