Uchida Eatery

Sometimes, eating out becomes a chore.  Yes, #firstworldproblems I know.  Menus can become boring and worst of all, the food heavy and not very good for one's health.  That is partially why we dined at Gozen the night before.  Hey, it wasn't health food, yet at the very least, it was lighter and less fatty than other spots.  That is also the reason we chose to hit up Uchida Eatery on our lunch break.  Since we were at the nearby Victoria Conference Centre, it was a quick stroll over to the little lunch spot that specializes in Dons and little side dishes.

For my first dish of veggies so far for the trip to Victoria, I got Roasted Veggies that consisted of onions, sweet potato and squash.  This was not a complex dish and in fact, someone could make it easily at home.  But while away from home, this was familiar and frankly delicious.  The natural sweetness of the veggies came through while there was enough seasoning to create an appealing umaminess.  I liked how the veggies weren't overdone retaining some texture.  I also got the Chicken Chashu that was essentially rolled chicken cooked slowly so that it was still moist and tender.  Although it was white meat, it wasn't dry at all and the braising liquid penetrated the meat.  There was some grainy mustard served on the side.

For my bowl, I went for the Salmon Don featuring attractive slices of sockeye salmon.  There was a beautiful sheen to go with the buttery texture that retained a bite.  The fish was fresh-tasting and naturally sweet.  Combined with the lettuce, chewy rice, wasabi and ginger, this was a light-tasting, yet delicious mix of ingredients.  I didn't have to add anything else.  Keslo went for the Tuna Tataki Don and it was exactly the same except for the protein.  Perfectly seared on all sides, the tuna itself was rare (as it should be) and buttery.  Again, the fresh sheen was evident as well as the fresh taste of the sea.  It speaks for the simplicity of the dish when nothing much needed to be added for it to taste good.

She added the Grilled Mackerel on the side and it was fantastic.  Perfectly cooked, the meat was tender and moist.  The unmistakeable fishiness of the mackerel was there as the fats were activated.  As you can clearly see, the food at Uchida Eatery isn't complex or fancy.  What they are is a small little spot where one can pick up a healthy-ish lunch that doesn't break the bank.  This was the perfect place since we couldn't afford to go back to our conference full on burgers (wait, I did that the day before... LOL).

The Good:
- Fresh
- Simple and executed properly
- Inexpensive

The Bad:
- Small spot, fills up quickly
- Things can sell out before you get there