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

Hachi Izakaya

This trip to Los Angeles did not involve much planning or research done into which restaurants we'd be visiting.  Normally, I have a schedule of where we would be eating every day!  But being super busy meant that I was unable to do my usual thing, hence, we just looked for restaurants on the fly.  We were staying around LAX this time around and we didn't want to venture very far for food if we didn't have to.  This lead us to Hachi Izakaya in nearby Torrance.  Reviews seemed to be good, so we went there for a late dinner.

We were only able to secure bar seating, but that worked fine for us.  We settled in with some bevvies and then ordered a bunch of dishes starting with the BBQ Beef Yakiniku Salad.  This was pleasant enough with shredded cabbage and sprouts with a classic Japanese sweet ginger dressing.  The thinly-sliced beef was tender and somewhat buttery while completely seasoned with sweet mirin soy.  There was some caramelization from the grilling.

The next two items came from their Robata section of the menu including the Skate Wing and Yuzu Pork Cheek.  I thought the skate wing was a bit chewy in spots, in particular the edges.  I guess it was a byproduct of trying to get some char.  Despite that, the rest of it was still fine where it was tender with a meaty bite.  It was served with kewpie mayo with togarashi.  We really enjoyed the pork cheek as it was at its bouncy best in terms of texture.  There was a nice sear to it and the bright yuzu did come through cutting the fattiness beautifully.

Onto a couple of raw items, we had the Snapper Yuzu Carpaccio as well as the Blue Fin Tuna & Avocado Tartare.  Fresh with the essence of the sea, the snapper was mildly sweet with its classic meaty texture.  The yuzu provided its usual tanginess.  As for the tartare, the avocado was ripe and creamy while the blue fin was buttery and naturally sweet.  There was just enough soy to accent without being salty.  Not sure if it needed all those greens on top though.

We moved onto a couple of typical fried items in the Chicken Karaage and Crispy Mayo Shrimp (aka Ebi Mayo).  Really solid chicken as it was juicy and well-marinated with a balance of sweetness and saltiness.  The exterior batter was light and crispy.  The ebi mayo featured fairly large and plump shrimp (oxymoron I know...) that were coated in a crispy tempura batter.  They were sauced with a chili mayo that was both sweet and mildly spicy.

Lastly, we had the Bara Chirashi Bowl.  Beyond being fresh and vibrant, there was a considerable amount of chopped fish, cucumber, tamago and ikura in relation to the rice.  Texturally, the rice was on point with an appealing chewiness.  It was also nicely seasoned.  We really didn't have to add much more to this as it was great as it was.  Overall, we enjoyed our late night dinner at Hachi.  Food was solid, prices were reasonable and the service was attentive.

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Reasonable prices
- Nice service

The Bad:
- Pretty busy, so better reserve a table, we were just lucky to get bar seating

Takenaka Uni Bar

I've been a fan of Takenaka since the beginning of his food truck days.  Actually, even when he was with Suika.  His food has always been top quality coupled with on point execution.  It was almost shocking that he was able to produce such high-end eats from a food truck!  Well, that started to change when he opened up his onigri spot and it has gone even up another level with Takenaka Uni Bar in the former location of Rodney's Oyster in Gastown.  They didn't have to do much in the way of renovations as the spot doesn't look worse for wear with a rustic seafood theme.

We were there to try as many of their signature items as we could being with some small plates including the Uni Toast.  This featured a toasted white bread finger topped with uni, negitoro and ikura.  Nothing complex about this, but it was ultimately delicious.  The simplicity allowed the ingredients to shine including the sweet Hokkaido uni, buttery tuna belly with bright green onion and the pops of brininess from the ikura.  Another dish we had was the Hotate Carpaccio where the sliced scallop was buttery soft and sweet with the hint of the sea.  It sad atop mesclun greens and onion.  On top, we found wasabi mayo, tobiko, garlic chips, kaiware and house-made dressing.  I really enjoyed the scallops, but maybe there was a little too much going on on the plate.

To make sure we got enough Uni, I ordered both the Uni Temaki and Uni Wagyu Nigiri.  Just by presentation alone, both the temaki and nigiri looked super appetizing.  Due to the high-quality ingredients, these were utterly delicious and supremely fresh.  The uni was silky smooth and sweet while the thin slice of Wagyu was buttery and required little-to-no chewing.  Loved that for the temaki, we had little soy squeeze capsules.  We could customize how much flavour we wanted to add.  Hidden beneath the uni and ikura, there was buttery negitoro with some sushi rice.

Keeping the uni train going, we had the Uni Chawanmushi with ikura and shiso.  This was clean-tasting where the ingredients were at the forefront but also in balance.  Although the shiso had the initial impact with its usual herbaceousness, the sweetness of uni and brininess of the ikura announced themselves shortly after.  The egg custard itself was smooth and silky with minimal moisture.  For some odd reason, I also ordered the Seasoned Quail Egg topped with chili oil condiment.  Somewhat like a mini-ramen egg, the quail egg was complimented well by the mildly spicy and smoky chilis and oil.

Adding more sushi rice to our meal we had 2 Onigiri including the Black Cod & Ikura and the Uni & Real Crab Meat.  These were quite large and plump with warm seasoned sushi rice.  The black cod was buttery soft and well-seasoned being sweet and savoury.  The pops of ikura added brininess.  As for the crab & uni, it was more subtle and naturally sweet.  The soft springy texture of the crab and the creaminess of the uni made each bite rather tasty.  Only thing I would've liked to see is the sushi rice be a touch drier.

Continuing with Wagyu, we were served the DIY Wagyu BBQ with a hot stone puck.  The trick here is to cook the meat quickly as the stone cools down fast.  So we got right to work and was able to cook all the slices of beef.  Mind you, the second round of beef did not sear up as well.  Anyways, the beef was super buttery and flavourful.  The sweet and spicy dip helped balance off the savoury heaviness of the meat.  But really, the meat was marinated enough that it could stand on its own.

Another Takenaka classic is their Aburi Sushi.  We ended up with the Omakase Aburi Sushi featuring seared salmon with a variety of condiments on top.  I thought these were pretty good where they were larger than most other versions.  The rice was warm (but a bit soft) and the sauces on top were quite tasty.  Something that seemed rather bougie was the Lobster & Chips.  So really, it was a whole lobster tail, cut in half, and deep fried in tempura batter (maybe the batter could've been cooked a bit longer).  This was served with crispy fresh-cut fries.  The lobster was cooked perfectly retaining its moisture while having a rebound texture.

The most epic dish we had was the Large Takenaka Luxury Seafood Platter consisting of 5 kinds of sashimi, Hokkaido uni tray, a dozen oyseters and all the fixins'.  Yah, this was large and with the dry ice, it was also showy.  But looking past that, the components were high-quality.  The royal miyagi oysters were shucked properly and were sweet with a certain creaminess.  Sashimi had a nice sheen with a taste of the sea.  There was soy and real wasabi as well as hot sauce for the oysters.

Back to the cooked stuff, we had 3 dishes including the Grilled Pork Cheek, Manga Wagyu Hamburg Steak and Grilled Black Cod.  Meaty with a buttery rebound texture, the pork cheek was exactly how we like it.  It was nicely grilled with caramelizaiton on the outside and topped with a salty green onion and white onion relish.  It was pretty pungent.  Looking like a meat on a bone, the hamburg steak was medium-dense and tender with a noted beef flavour.  It was beautifully seared on the outside.  As for the black cod, it was buttery and flaky with a fermented saltiness from the miso marinade.  On the side, we found a creamy and sweet uni sauce.

We moved onto the carb portion of our meal with a rice dish first.  It was the fully-loaded Luxury Deluxe Seafood Bowl sporting uni, negitoro, herring roe, real crab, cuttlefish, boiled shrimp, baby sardines, ikura, mountain yam and shiso.  Now if you think that was a lot of components, try mixing it together and taking a spoonful...  Yes, it was full of different seafoody flavours that were sweet and briny.  Personally, I could've done without the mountain yam since it made the bowl of rice sticky.

With yet another carb, we had the Lobster Uni Ramen.  This featured a rich chicken soup with the creamy sweetness of uni.  It included a whole lobster tail, chashu, seasoned egg, bamboo shoots and green onion with thin noodles.  Other than the same tempura lobster as the previous dish, the main draw here was the soup.  It was so silky and naturally sweet.  It would be shame to not drink the whole thing!  The noodles were not quite al dente due to the thinness, but it wasn't mushy.   Egg was perfect with a custardy centre and plenty of flavour from the mirin.

As for sweets, we were served 3 dishes in the Salt Caramel Pudding, O5 Matcha Panna Cotta and Chocolate Terrine with Earnest Tahitian Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. Of the 3, my favourite was the salt caramel pudding as it was definitely sweet and salty while being creamy.  The terrine was good too but maybe because of the ice cream.  Panna Cotta was a bit stiff and could've used more matcha.  Overall, the food at Takenaka Uni Bar was fantastic.  Sure, some things could be more refined, but in general, we enjoyed every dish.  Prices are on the higher end, but the quality of the ingredients reflect that.

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

The Good:
- High quality ingredients
- Delicious
- Nice vibe

The Bad:
- Sushi rice could be a bit drier
- Tempura batter could be fried a bit longer

Koto Izakaya

Here we go once again with a place that I visited quite some time ago but got lost in the new restaurant shuffle.  Hence, I never got a chance to return despite it being the appealing combination of decent eats, large portions and fair pricing.  The place is Koto Izakaya in Richmond.  This time around, it is the same story where an invite has both reminded me this place still exists and also gives me a chance to see if they have changed in any way.

We started with a pair of small dishes including the Tako Wasabi and an Appetizer Sashimi.  I thought the tako wasabi was pretty textbook with tender little pieces of octopus mixed with crunchy pickled veg while dressed lightly with wasabi.  This came with nori sheets as per usual.  As for the sashimi, you can clearly see in the picture that it was vibrant, colourful and had a fresh sheen.  I particularly enjoyed the hamachi.

Continuing on with some fried items, we had the Chicken Karaage as well as the Assorted Tempura.  Presented in large chunks of dark meat, the chicken karaage was tender and juicy.  I found the batter to be just a hair thicker than I would've liked, but it was still crunchy and well-seasoned.  The tempura was neatly plated and was also flawless in execution.  The batter was crispy and light while the veggies were not overcooked.  Ebi was buttery and had a nice light snap.

Onto some Aburi with the Aburi Salmon Oshi as well as the Aburi Nigiri Combo.  Despite being quite good, the oshi needed a bit more colour on the top from the torching.  I guess we eat with our eyes and it just would've looked more appealing.  But the rice was good, fish was buttery and the sauce was flavourful without being greasy.  As for the nigiri, there was more colour and hence, they looked more appealing.  These were pretty solid with vibrant fish and chewy seasoned sushi rice.

We got a bit fancier with the A5 Wagyu Beef Roll with avocado and asparagus on the inside with some green onion on top. This was a fairly straightforward roll that featured a soft texture with the butteriness of Wagyu beef.  One of the biggest treats was the Uni & Ikura Don.  Sometimes, uni can be a crapshoot, but this bowl was sweet and creamy with pops of brininess from the ikura.  The sushi rice also on point with an appealing chewiness.

We also got a selection of Robata including Beef Short Rib, Unagi, Angus Beef and Chicken Yakitori.  As you can see, the portion size was fair while the meat exhibited charring.  They were seasoned well with the short rib being my favourite.  The chicken and beef was also good with a nice marinade while being juicy.  Overall, the food at Koto Izakaya is a good value.  Prices are completely fair and the food is quite good.  Portion sizes are also decent.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this post*

The Good:

- Fair pricing

- Good portions

- Overall good food

The Bad:

- Charring on the salmon oshi could've been more aggressive

- Parking can be limited