The Sushi Bar

In the GVRD, there are a few things that are for certain.  These include high housing prices, bad traffic and lots of Chinese restaurants.  But wait a minute, what do we see almost in every neighbourhood no matter where in the Lower Mainland?  No, not poor parked luxury vehicles... That is reserved for a city with an airport nearby.  Rather, it is the Japanese restaurant.  They are more common than gas stations and banks.  Sometimes, I wonder how they all survive.  Consider Newton for example, there are 6 Japanese restaurants within a 3 block radius.  Either they really love their sushi or something's gotta give.

Yup, something did give because 2 of them changed ownership and/or names including The Sushi Bar tucked behind Safeway along 72nd.  I ended up visiting the place twice because I could only eat so much per visit.  Yes, I have my limits, unlike Mijune...  I went for their lunch special first where I chose Tempura and Chicken Teriyaki.  I thought the tempura batter was a touch thick, especially with the ebi, yet it wasn't dense.  Rather, it was crispy and not overly greasy.  As for the chicken, it was juicy with a nicely sear and rendered skin.  I liked how they were conservative with the sweet teriyaki sauce.  For my second item, I had the Assorted Sashimi that featured reasonably-sized slices of fish.  I thought it was decent enough with a nice sheen and no fishiness.  Texturally, everything was okay, but the toro wasn't my favourite.

On my second visit, I decided to get takeout starting with the Rock n' Roll which looked like an oversized dynamite roll.  With many of the same ingredients, it ate as such.  I found the rice a bit dry where it lacked flavour.  But it wasn't bad in the grand scheme of things.  I also got an Oyako Don which was a pretty large portion.  It was not bad with enough sauce penetrating the chewy rice.  There was an ample amount of tender chicken mixed with egg.  For the items that I got to try, they were more or less acceptable.  I guess the value was there since the portions exceeded expectations.    Nothing particularly interesting, but decent enough for a bite or take out.

The Good:
- Decent
- Friendly enough people

The Bad:
- Decent, but then again, was it memorable?
- Food comes out a bit slow