Kumo Sukiyaki

Almost 2 years ago, I had visited the original location of Kumo Sukiyaki out on Anderson Road in Richmond.  It was a decent experience and the 3-level AYCE pricing was fair for what we got.  For those who are unfamiliar, Japanese Sukiyaki refers to sliced beef (sometimes pork), vegetables, tofu and noodles cooked in a shallow iron pot with a broth consisting of shoyu, sugar and mirin.  We checked out their newest location on Alexandra Road taking over from the shuttered Kazuhan.

The first order of business is to choose your AYCE menu from 3 options: $28.99, $38.99 and $54.99 per person.  There is also a soup fee of $9.90 per table (which is less than they charged at the old location).  We got the top tier which included more premium meats and also a wider choice of small dishes.  These included Wakame Salad, Tako Wasabi, Kimchi, Fried Chicken Wings, Takoyaki and Ebi Tempura.  All of the orders was through a tablet on the table.  All orders were sent directly to the kitchen.  This is a major improvement over the system we experienced at the Anderson Road location.

Onto the beef selection, we got all of them which included Pork Belly, Angus Beef Short Plate, AAA Top Blade Eye, Wagyu Beef Chuck Flat and Wagyu Beef Short Plate.  We had many orders of these since they were sliced thin.  That also meant they were quick to cook and super tender to eat.  Every one of them were good and the ones with more fat had more of a meaty flavour.  My personal favourite was the Wagyu Beef Short Plate.

There was also a selection of veggies, noodles and tofu to choose from too and we got them all.  Really enjoyed the mushrooms the most as well as the noodle bundles since they soaked up the broth.  Naturally, we also cracked some eggs so that we could dip our cooked meats into.  That's right, you dip the cooked meats into the egg.  This gives the meat extra butteriness and also cools down the meat.  Don't forget a bowl of rice too as it goes real well with the sweet and savoury meats coated in egg.

For dessert, there was some sliced Pineapple, but also a choice of one Melona fruit bar.  We had one each of the honeydew and the mango.  Actually, the Melona reminded me of my visit to Gyubee out in Ottawa.  Such a nice thing to finish with after subjecting our mouths to hot food.  I found the overall experience at this location of Kumo to be superior to my initial visit to the Anderson Road spot.  I liked how they addressed the ordering accuracy by employing tablets and also reducing the setup fee.  However, I think they should just add that into an all-inclusive price.   Although we had the highest tier of AYCE, I feel you can still have a satisfying meal with the $28.99 menu.  With that, it is a great value and of course you will be stuffed!

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Meats were tender

- Nicer setup than the original location

- Ordering system is efficient

The Bad:

- Should include the setup fee in an all-inclusive price

- Parking lot is insufficient for the amount of businesses

Liuyishou Hot Pot & BBQ (Robson)

Okay, you might be wondering why there is yet another Liuyishou post on my blog.  Also, why is it at the Robson location as I've visited it not that long ago.  Well, there are a few reasons for this.  First of all, I've never had the AYCE dinner menu at this spot before and more importantly, they now have the option to add AYCE BBQ in addition to the hot pot for only for $32.99 (+$2.00 on weekends and holidays).  I don't know about you, but just having the AYCE hot pot alone for that price (in Downtown by-the-way) is a steal.  Add in BBQ, then you really have an affordable meal that isn't just a burger and fries (if you haven't seen lately, that will cost you $25.00+ at most places).

In addition to their AYCE menu that you check off and hand over to the staff, there is also a Self-Serve section that consists of noodles, fish balls, tofu products and the sort.  This is a great way in cutting down the time waiting for items and being able to get cooking right away.  Next to it is the Sauce Bar, where you can make your custom dip for all the food you cook.  It isn't the most comprehensive selection, but you can create a pretty tasty concoction.  Over to the left of this section, you will find some braised pork bones as well as a jelly dessert.

Right beside the Sauce Bar, we found a few items including Boiled Peanuts, Grape Tomatoes, Pickled Daikon & Carrots, Orange Wedges, Spicy Chicken and Shrimp Chips.  Next to it, we found a selection of hot food too with fried chicken wings, salted crispy chicken and spring rolls.  There was also an adjacent chaffing tray with fried rice and 2 stir-fries.  However, that particular tray was never refilled for the 2 hours we were there.  The highlight had to be the juicy chicken wings.

So the BBQ plate sat atop the exhaust of the hot pot.  This was a space-saving way of having both types of cooking vessels.  For our hot pot broths, we chose Pork Tripe with black pepper and the Golden Chicken Broth.  Loved both as they were flavourful and naturally sweet.  Great for those who don't want spicy.  They put a piece of parchment on the BBQ plate and it was necessary as the meat got stuck on pretty hard on parts without it.  As you can see, we had the Liu's Beef & Lamb Platter that looked impressive around the hot pot.  Meats were sliced thin and cooked up tender.

In the pictures above, this was just a sample of the items that can be ordered from the AYCE menu.  These included cooked items such as Deep Fried Pork and Fried Chinese Donut.  There was also an assortment of tripe and beef aorta.  In addition, we found freshly made meatballs and also crispy sausages.  There was also a BBQ meat section that featured Signature Marinated Beef (also spicy version) and Black Pepper Chicken.  Overall, the combination of Hot Pot and BBQ with broth included as well as the wide selection of ingredients and cooked food makes this an absolute steal.  With the unaffordability of eating out these days, it is nice to see something so fulfilling for under $35.00.  Would totally do this meal again.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- You get both AYCE Hot Pot and BBQ

- Reasonable price

- Lots of choices

The Bad:

- Food does get stuck onto the grill where there isn't parchment

- Self-serve area is a bottleneck and some cooked food doesn't get refilled enough  

Sumo All You Can Eat (Kent)

So you've heard me talk about the comeback or revival of AYCE (All-You-Can-Eat) in the past few years right?  Well, there are a few reasons for that, but the biggest is to do with the prevailing shape of the economy.  People just want good value when they go out to eat.  Hence, restaurants are adapting to consumer behavior.  More often than not, these AYCE spots will be Asian (in particular, Japanese, Indian and Chinese Hot Pot).  So that has brought us to Sumo All-You-Can-Eat in Kent.  Unlike many other AYCE Japanese joints, Sumo has some pretty good reviews.

To order food, you scan the QR code and then select items off your phone.  Dishes are brought to you by robots, so in reality, you could have very little interaction with the staff.  We started off with some smaller dishes in the Sushi Bomb, Tuna Tataki and Yellowtail Jalapenoa.  On a cube of crispy rice, the Sushi Bombs featured spicy salmon on top.  This was a crispy bite that wasn't as heavy as it looked.  As for the Tuna Tataki, it was somewhat spicy due to the dusting of togarashi on the outside.  The Yellowtail was buttery and had a kick from the jalapeno and spicy sauce.

They also have some torched sushi on the menu as well, so we got the Aburi Salmon Nigiri as well as the Aburi Scallops.  I gotta say that these were fantastic, especially for AYCE.  The salmon was buttery and the sushi rice was quite decent being chewy and not dry.  The scallops were buttery and fresh (and we weren't forced to eat any rice with it!).  We got a selection of their sushi rolls including the Rainbow, Dragon, Pink Lady and Sweet Heart Rolls.  They were neatly-constructed and that was surprising for AYCE.  In the end, they were also quite good where the rice was just right and the amount of components exceeded the amount of rice.  I especially enjoyed the heart-shaped Sweet Heart Roll since it was wrapped in soy paper, which made it easy to eat.  The spiced imitation crab filling tasted great too.

Moving onto some fried appies, we had the Chicken Karaage, Tempura Shrimp, Coconut Shrimp and Fried Oysters.  The Chicken Karaage was okay, maybe a little dry, but crispy.  The Tempura Shrimp was a bit overbattered, but the shrimp was buttery.  Oysters were crunchy on the outside and buttery soft with brininess inside.  The star of the show was the Coconut Shrimp as there was a crunchy breading while the shrimp had a moist snap.

Our next set of dishes including Seaweed Salad, Imitation Crab Salad, Takoyaki, Nigiri and Unagi Don.  Strangely, I really enjoyed the crab salad even though it was drenched in kewpie mayo.  The crunch from the veggies did add texture.  As you can see, the Nigiri was pretty legit looking and it also ate well with a proper fish-to-rice ratio.  The Unagi Don was serviceable with buttery pieces atop chewy rice.  Takoyaki and seaweed salad were typical and decent.

In addition to ordering from your phone, there is a small section with serve-yourself dishes including Sesame Glutinous Balls, Calamari, Spring Rolls, Korean Spicy Wings, Edamame Salad, Jellyfish Salad, Bamboo Shoot Salad, Shrimp and a host of fruit and small cake desserts.  Of note, the Salads were actually quite good and well-seasoned.  Nice texture on them too.  Wings were okay, but a bit dry.  There was also Miso Soup in this section too.

Normally, AYCE restaurants serve crappy Ramen.  But believe it or not, the one at Sumo was passable.  Sure, the broth wasn't really that great, but the rest of it was.  The noodles were al dente while the chashu was buttery and torched.  It has legit soft eggs, scallion, wood ear, fried garlic and nori.  Also, the selection of Sashimi was decent as well.  Fish quality was acceptable and you can order as much as you want from a variety that included red tuna, tuna, tamago, ebi, tako, unagi, hokkigai and amaebi.

So far, the meal was great and I wasn't even taking into account that it was AYCE.  However, nothing is ever perfect and the cooked meats were a bit hit and miss.  Although the Grilled Beef looked fantastic, it was actually quite chewy.  The same could be said about the Grilled New York Steak.  Although prepared nicely medium, it was also not tender.  Both were seared well and had good flavor though.  As for the Beef Short Ribs, they were the best of the bunch, being fairly tender for non-tenderized short rib.  Once again, good sear and properly seasoned.

To end the meal, we had the aforementioned sliced fruit and sheet cakes in the self-serve station, but there was also a freezer near the front entrance.  In it, we found various Popsicles and Ice Cream Cups.  Nothing amazing, but satisfying and refreshing after a filling meal.  In fact, if you wanted to take it to go instead of eating it, you could do so!  Considering the quality and variety of food on the menu, the AYCE at Sumo has to be one of the better ones I've had in recent memory.  Of course we always need to have reasonable expectations for AYCE, but even with that, most of the food was "regular menu" quality (except for the grilled meats).  In that case, I do recommend you try this if you are hangry and don't want to sacrifice all the quality for quantity.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Reasonably-priced

- AYCE menu is extensive

- Overall food quality is good

The Bad:

- Avoid the grilled meats

- Was funny watching the robots get stuck sometimes

Daimanya

We have seen many AYCE spots pop up all-over-the-place in past year or so.  As mentioned in my previous posts, the economy has dictated this trend where people are looking for the best-bang-for-the-buck during these inflationary times.  Hey, if one was to eat out, better make it worth it, right?  Well, there is a new player in town that is actually just the re-imagined Meet Oyster.  It is now Daimanya, and although you can still get a personal hot pot, the main portions of the menu features Japanese Izakaya dishes.

So we started with an array of small dishes including Wakame Salad, Green Salad, Edamame, Tako Wasabi, Ankimo and Meet Ocean Tartare (nice play on the old name...).  The items were pretty typical with the ankimo being my favourite.  Definitely the foie gras of the sea with its soft butteriness and natural sweetness.  Tako wasabi was also good with just enough wasabi hit.  It was served with crispy nori.  The tartare was more of soy-based mix, but the fish had decent texture.

Next, we were served 2 large plates of Beef Tataki and Tuna Tataki. So if they were implying that their AYCE dishes were near a-la-carte Izakaya quality, then these 2 did their part.  The beef was vibrant in colour and tender to the chew.  I would've liked a bit more acidity, but it was good nonetheless.  As for the tuna, it was evenly seared on all sides and buttery soft on the inside.  It wasn't particularly sweet, but the dressing made up for that.  Once again, I would've liked a bit more acidity to it.

We were served 2 types of Chawanmushi including the Snow Crab Roe and Seafood.  Now with the snow crab roe, it actually meant there was crab butter too and for me, that was fantastic.  The natural sweet and briny nature of the crab butter added umami to the otherwise silky and slightly sweet egg.  We also had the Butter Sake Clams and this was another a-la-carte quality dish.  The clams were all open and cooked perfectly.  They were tender and buttery with a light sake essence.

On the menu, I was delighted to see that they had Baked Motoyaki Scallops.  Unlike some other AYCE spots, these were actual scallops (not imitation) complete with the mantle.  Therefore, beyond the butteriness of the scallop, we got the exterior chewiness.  They were sweet by themselves, but the motoyaki was quite good being creamy and sweet.  The Baked Oysters came in 2 flavours including motoyaki and garlic.  For me, I preferred the garlic and it was very garlicky.  The oysters were large, briny and fresh.

Probably the most striking and impressive-looking dish was the Sashimi.  It was an assortment of Atlantic salmon, akami, madai, hokkigai, hotate, ika, hamachi, tuna and amaebi.  By appearance alone, the fish was pretty fresh with a nice sheen.  Texturally, some of them were a bit watery while some weren't all that sweet.  However, considering the options available and the fact this was AYCE, the sashimi was more than acceptable.

Of course if we have sashimi, we would also have various forms of sushi too right?  Well we got a plate consisting of Black Dragon Roll, Aburi Tuna Love Roll, Green Caterpillar Roll and Aburi Salmon Oshi.  These were pretty decent with chewy sushi rice and plenty of components.  I particularly enjoyed the oshi as the salmon was buttery and the sauce was not too greasy.  The tuna love roll was good with a balanced filling-to-rice ratio.  The black dragon roll could masquerade as a non-AYCE item.

Onto some fried items, I was surprised to find Fried Soft Shell Crab on the menu.  These are usually $10.00-$15.00 a pop on most menus.  This was breaded with panko and fried pretty aggressively.  Hence it was super crunchy.  The soft shell crab was still creamy and delicate inside, but I would've liked a lighter batter.  As for the Tempura, it was crispy and not a dense as it appeared.  The ebi was still buttery and sweet.  Veggies were cooked properly.

Continuing with the deluxe items, they had Foie Gras.  So nothing particularly wrong with its preparation (being seared and then drizzled with sauce), but the piece of crostini was far too large for the small slice of foie.  Otherwise, it was buttery and decadent.  Then we had the Salted Egg Yolk Wings.  With rendered skin, the wings were beautifully fried where the meat was succulent.  Unfortunately, the salted egg yolk slid off the wings and left the flavour on the plate.  I had to take one bite of the wing and then scoop up the egg yolk to have any effect.

As if the luxurious items we had were not enough, they also featured Deep Fried Lobster Tail as well.  The lobster tail was cut up and then battered with tempura and fried.  This was good with bouncy and sweet lobster meat with a crispy batter.  To make sure we covered most of the other times, we had the BBQ Hamachi Kama and the Saba too.  I thought kama was a bit overdone in spots, but the more fatty portions were buttery.  The saba was cooked quite nicely being moist and typical saba-tasting (which is a bit fishy, but in a good way).

Maybe one of the under-the-radar items was the Corn Cheese Croquettes.  Coated with crispy panko, the inside was exactly a combination of stringy cheese and sweet corn niblets.  Not as sexy as some of the other dishes, but delicious in my opinion.  We also had the Mentaiko Udon which was decent, but could've used more brininess to the dish.  Rather, it was pleasant with equal parts savoury and sweet notes.  It just need more fishiness.

Getting a few more normal dishes, we had some Sushi Cones including salmon, unagi and chopped scallop.  These were solid with enough ingredients nestled within the chewy sushi rice.  If we had eaten them right away, the nori would've been crispy too (but alas we were taking photos).  The Unagi Don featured enough eel to go with the somewhat dry rice.  When mixed together with the eel and unagi sauce, it ate well enough.

The last deluxe item we had was the A5 Miyazaki Wagyu Sukiyaki.  As you can see, the fatty slices of wagyu dominated the dish.  When cooked down, it was buttery and super soft.  It was accompanied by some mushrooms and napa cabbage.  For dessert, we were served the Premium Ice Cream Bars (Kirkland brand).  Pretty good way to end off an AYCE meal that featured more than a few premium items.  In terms of quality, I believe it is better than most AYCE spots.  When they say it is a near a-la-carte Izakaya experience, I would agree with that.  It doesn't quite get there, but it is good enough to justify the price.  If you go in with reasonable expectations, your meal will be enjoyable.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Wide range of premium items on the menu

- Generally better quality than most AYCE spots

- Love those VIP rooms!

The Bad:

- It is better than typical AYCE spots, but it still isn't a-la-carte quality

- Parking lot can get full fast

Xiaolongkan Hot Pot

Man, I've been doing so many AYCE hot pots lately...  As I mentioned, AYCE (All-You-Can-Eat) has made a triumphant comeback during these inflationary times.  Another recent option is Xiaolongkan on Alexandra Road (or Restaurant Row or Food Street).  This recently announced AYCE costs anywhere from $35.99 to $39.99 per person depending on the day and time.  Seeing how they are merely serving what was on the menu before, the food quality is high.

Of course with any hot pot experience, we need to talk about the Sauce Bar.  Much like many in the city, the one here at Xiaolongkan has all the basics and a little bit more.  They have all of the base sauces in large dispensers so you can fill your bowl to your heart's content.  All of the other condiments such as cilantro, green onion, garlic, chilis and the rest were in the actual bar itself.  We also found some light snacks and fruit.  You could also help yourself to some guava candy as well.

Before we get to the "meat" of the meal, we have to talk about the Amaebi as well as the soup bases.  Presented sashimi-style, the sweet shrimp were exactly that.  Buttery soft with just the slightest snap, these were a nice start to the meal.  We ended up with 3 different broths to cook our food in including Tomato, Mixed Mushroom and Traditional House Special Chili (in medium spice).  My favourite was the tomato as it truly had all the tang and sweetness we were looking for.  It was slightly thick too so the broth adhered to all the items we cooked in it.  The mixed mushroom was the mildest and definitely had a salty umami thing going on.  For the house special broth, it was spicy and had plenty of depth thanks to the chili lard.

Onto some cooked items first, we had the Deep Fried Chicken Wings, Glutinous Rice Siu Mai, Crispy Deep Fried Pork, Chinese Donut, Pig's Ears with Chili Oil and Brown Sugar Rice Cake.  I thought these were all pretty decent where the pig's ear was my favourite.  They were tender with a crunch while appealingly spicy.  The brown sugar rice cake was also delicious being soft and sticky with a rich sweetness.  Fried pork was tender and came with a side of spiced salt.

Of course we have to talk about the beef right?  Presented on a "dragon boat" and also served to us by a robot, the Selected Beef Slices were thin and tender.  I especially liked it cooked in the spicy broth as it took on the silky heat well.  However, we really were here for the Superior SRF Wagyu Beef Slices (one order per 3 people).  Oh yeah, these were money with just enough marbling to ensure that each piece would be buttery soft.

We had many more items from the menu, but I want to highlight the ones presented in a box because it was nice to look at and I appreciate the effort they put into making things appealing.  We found Seaweed, Enoki, Shredded Daikon, Quail Eggs, Shrimp Paste, Spicy Beef, Shrimp Balls, Fish Slices and Marinated Beef Tongue.  The highlights included the sweet and bouncy shrimp paste.  Our server spooned little quenelles into the hot broth.  The beef tongue was tender with a bit of a chew.  Perfect texture.  The beef was also good being buttery since it was tenderized.  It still kept some of the marinade even after boiling.  There were a few more items that we had randomly and I know it is an easy thing to say they were good, but in fact, they were!  The food quality was really high for an AYCE menu and to top it off, the price is reasonable.  Would come back in a heat beat.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced AYCE
- High ingredient quality
- Nice space, nice presentation

The Bad:
- Sauce bar is smaller than other places
- Large parking lot, but very weird parking arrangements