Hamono Sushi

While trying to decide on which Omakase we were going to try while in Portland, I briefly considered Nimblefish and Nodoguro, however after reading up on Reddit, we narrowed in on Hamono Sushi in Downtown Portland.  Besides the Omakase course, the one thing that makes Hamono unique is that they offer an AYCE menu once the Omakase has been served.  Yes, that is a strange concept, but something we were willing to try especially for their reasonable $110.00 price tag.  The place is pretty intimate with only 4 bar seats and around 7/8 tables.

We started with some small side dishes including a Potato Salad, Imitation Crab Salad and a Cucumber Salad.  As much as these were pretty simple and basic, I enjoyed them.  Potato salad was creamy and sweet with chunks of tender potato and shredded imitation crab.  The crab salad had a great bounce texture and the savoriness was tasty.  Cucumbers were crunchy, sweet and a bit tangy.  Appetizing.  As for the Miso Soup, it was mild and had a rich saltiness.  Loved the fresh snow crab hidden on the bottom.  It was fluffy and briny.

So our Omakase featured a large wooden board with 15 pieces of Nigiri and a fried shrimp head.  By looks alone, all of the fish had a nice sheen and things smelled right.  As much as the uni looked a bit dark in color (could be a male), it tasted fine.  My favorite bites from this was the A5 Wagyu, Bluefin Otoro, Hotate and King Salmon (with delicious chili crunch).  This was a nice plate of nigiri but they were a little overzealous with the scallions.  Maybe change it up with the condiments instead of using it 9 times.

Our last course before the AYCE portion of the meal was the Seafood Chawamushi.  This was very delicate and maybe a touch too watery.  However, it ate with a silky texture and mild dashi notes.  The prawn hidden underneath was still buttery with a meaty texture.  It was briny and sweet.  The piece of snow crab was fluffy, briny and also sweet.

Now that we were at the AYCE portion of the meal, we got some more Nigiri in the form of King Salmon and Hotate.  We asked that the salmon be served plain without the garlic crunch on top.  Turns out that it actually needed it as the salmon wasn't that flavorful on its own.  It was buttery soft though.  The hotate was large and soft with natural briny sweetness.  Just like I said before, it didn't need any of the green onions on top.

We got a few smaller bites in the Yellowtail Jalapeno and the Uni Toro Tartare.  Although not the most attractive thing, the hamachi was fresh, buttery and sweet.  Nice kick from the jalapeno.  As for the tartare, it featured buttery tuna belly that had a nice tinge of the sea along with pops of brininess from the ikura.  Once again, the color of the uni wasn't the best, but it did eat well adding a creamy sweetness.  It sat atop a fried tortilla chip that added crunch.

Even though I knew it would put me over the edge, I had to get one of their specialty rolls.  I went for the Bluefin Tuna Roll that had a tempura ebi in the middle with imitation crab and cucumber.  On top, there was bluefin akami, scallion, fried onion, eel and ponzu.  Yes, this was quite the hefty roll with warm sushi rice that was a touch soft but still had a chew.  I though this roll was good but was a bit too big.  Also, they overused scallions quite a bit here.

One of the best things we ate was their Grilled Beef Shortrib.  Unlike other AYCE spots, these were good quality (as in more meat than fat) being tender and meaty.  The marinade was great being sweet and savory while the char on them was on point.  Although the batter on the Tempura was a bit thick, it ate crispy and fairly light.  Things were cooked right including the buttery ebi, sweet potato and zucchini.  Surprisingly, there was a piece of snow crab leg (not imitation crab) in the mix.

There were a few options for dessert, but we were stuffed at this point, so we opted for the Mochi Ice Cream in the form of matcha, passionfruit and mango.  We particularly enjoyed the passionfruit as it was flavorful with a soft mochi exterior.  Overall, we rather enjoyed this meal.  However, we thought this would be better named "higher-end AYCE" rather than Omakase.  Sure, the nigiri portion was good quality and reasonably-priced for $110.00.  Yet, it didn't feel like most other Omakase meals we've had elsewhere (as in not in Portland).

The Good:
- Ingredients are high-quality
- Preparation is quite good
- Price is reasonable for what you get

The Bad:
- Not really Omakase, but rather high-end AYCE
- Overuse of scallions on almost everything

Woomi Sushi

For the longest time, I never knew there was a food court in Royal Square Mall.  Now don't confuse this with Royal City Centre Mall on 6th Avenue.  This one is right on McBride and 8th Avenue.  From the outside, it looks like any other strip plaza mall where there is a big parking lot with stores facing it.  Therefore, it is hard to see that there is indeed a food court on the inside.  I've been there before, visiting IT Burger, but for this visit, it is to check out Woomi Sushi.  It has been visited by a few people on IG and it looked like a good value.

Even though we just returned from Japan, the kids went straight for the sashimi in the Chirashi Don as well as the Salmon & Tuna Don.  Yes, this was even more impressive in person than in the pictures.  The amount of well-portioned slices of fish were substantial and enough for all the chewy seasoned rice on the bottom.  We particularly enjoyed the buttery hamachi and no joke, the Atlantic salmon.  Temperature of the fish could've been colder as they were somewhat warm.

Viv wanted a bit more food than our lunch bentos, so we added the Salmon Salad.  By pictures alone, I don't have to convince you that the salad was overdressed.  I mean it did taste good with a spicy sweetness, but the greens were far too wet and lost most of its crunch.  We did find big slices of Atlantic salmon in there and in some sense, the amount of dressing did flavour the salmon.  However, maybe having the dressing on the side would be better, especially for takeout.

For myself, I had the Sushi & Sashimi Bento Box that included a green salad, spicy tuna roll and assorted tempura.  Both boxes also had miso soup on the side.  I thought the sashimi was bright and fresh with a nice sheen.  Tempura was quite crispy despite the batter being just a tad thick.  It wasn't greasy though and the items were cooked right.  Spicy tuna roll was mildly spicy with buttery pieces of tuna inside.

Viv ended up with the Teriyaki Beef Bento Box that also included assorted tempura, California roll and green salad.  At first, we found the beef to be salty from the teriyaki sauce, but when mixed with the veggies and rice, it was fine.  The beef was plentiful and tender.   Overall, we found Woomi Sushi to be a really good value.  Portions were rather generous and the overall quality of the food to be better than what you would expect out of a food court.

The Good:

- Well-priced

- Generous portions

- Nice people

The Bad:

- The salad should not be tossed, dressing on the side would be better for takeout

- Temperature of the sashimi could be just a tad cooler

Mama Katsu

From Legoland, we made our way to Disneyland and that is where our dining out stopped.  We spent most of our time eating at the park and also grabbed some fast food from Raising Canes and In-N-Out.  But I was able to squeeze a few meals in from Mama Katsu, which was on our way back to our hotel.  It was across the street on Harbor Drive and we walked by the place a few times a day. 

The first time we stopped by to pick up some food, we got the Original Kimbap.  Not only did I get it the first time, I got it again on the second visit!  Well first off, it was quite good where there was more filling than rice.  Definitely fulfilling and great for taking it into Disneyland.  Acts as a great snack or even a meal.  I thought the components were well-prepared (textures how they should be) and there was enough flavor to eat without any condiments.

So of course I got the Pork Katsu and it was a large portion of 2 cutlets, 2 fried gyoza, rice, slaw and katsu sauce.  Fried until uniformly crispy, the pork katsu was also tender and not dry.  Naturally, it paired well with the tangy and sweet katsu sauce.  I only wished there was more of it.  Dumplings were pretty typical, but did feature a thin wrapper and a fairly juicy filling.

Picked up a second dish for good measure in the Chicken Yakitori.  This came with rice, tempura prawns, gyoza and slaw.  Since they used chicken thigh meat, it turned out to be jucy and quite flavorful.  There was a light char on them which added some smokiness.  There was enough sauce to flavor each skewer, but probably not enough for all the rice.  I suggest you ask for a bit more.  Prawn tempura were only okay since the batter was a bit thick.

On another visit, I went for the Fish Katsu and it was also a pretty large portion.  Each piece was crunchy while featuring flaky and moist fish.  This came with tartar sauce, slaw, rice, fried gyoza and ebi tempura.  As a whole, this was quite a bit of food and definitely was enough for me.  I found this one to be considerably more greasy than the pork katsu.

For good measure, I decided I needed to get some Spam Musubi as well. This would serve me well in the moment and also be a great snack for later.  This was solid as the layer of chewy rice was actually modest in size.  Therefore, the seared Spam had much more effect.  Overall, the food at Mama Katsu was solid and served in large portions.  Great for a quick meal to take back to your hotel after a day at Disneyland.

The Good:

- Big portions

- Solid eats

- Well-priced

The Bad:

- There maybe a wait at times

- Can be greasy

Toshi Sushi

If you can believe it, I've not been back to Toshi Sushi in 17 years!  This is despite the fact I walk past it on a regular basis since my hairdresser is nearby.  Finally, after getting my haircut, I decided that we pay them a visit.  Actually, it was my son's idea since he was in the mood for sushi...  So for those who do not know, Toshi was popularized in Vancouver by Mia Stainsby.  Even before that, the little sushi bar had lineups upon opening every night.  It became even more so after she mentioned she loved the place.  In 2026, the lineups still exist but maybe not as extreme since there are many more options to choose from.

We were able to snag a table for 2 at around 5:00pm and soon after, it was full and there was the usual lineup.  So what makes Toshi "special"?  First of all, the place is Japanese-run and authentic.  Now, that may not mean anything, but they do a good job in being a true sushi bar with the freshest of ingredients.   We began with the Assorted Sashimi consisting of hamachi, sockeye salmon, albacore tuna, butterfish and hotate.  Presented in manageable slices (not giant ones), these had a nice sheen and smelled fresh.  Texturally, the hamachi was buttery while the albacore was soft but not mushy.  Salmon had a firmness to it and was super sweet.  Butterfish was slightly seared and firm, but had a tenderness to it.  Scallops were buttery and delicate.  Really great plate of sashimi.

Next, we had the Kaisen Roll stuffed with ahi tuna, tuna, Atlantic salmon, sockeye salmon, oshinko and cucumber.  Fully-loaded but not gigantic, the pieces were also manageable by either being a one-biter or two-biter.  The layer of sushi rice was balanced in quantity while the texture was on point with a firmness that wasn't too hard or dry.  Much like the sashimi, the fish quality was high with natural flavours that only required just a touch of wasabi and soy.  Crunch was added by the cucumber and the lightly pickled oshinko.

We went for a selection of Nigiri off their regular menu and featured menu.  The Tamago was only okay for me as I would've liked to see more discernible layering.  Flavours were great though with a natural sweet egginess.  Loved the Unagi Shirayaki as the grilled eel had a firm butteriness.  It was topped with a shiso miso which was both rich in fermented saltiness and herbacousness.  Buttery and sweet, the King Salmon was a real treat.  Unlike the Atlantic and sockeye, this was more delicate and flavourful.  Lastly, we had the Bluefin Otoro and of course it melted in our mouths.  A bit of a chew on one side of the cut, but great nonetheless.  Had a bright taste of the sea.

We debated over ordering the assorted tempura or just the Sweet Potato Tempura.  The latter won out since we both love sweet potato!  This was good with fairly thin slices of sweet potato that were not cumbersome to eat.  However, at the same time, there a robust texture that was tender and soft.  The tempura batter was medium-thick being crispy and not greasy.

Last item was the Chicken Karaage which featured large pieces of leg meat.  With the skin on, it added extra fat, and hence added flavour.  The skin was fully rendered and crispy.  Chicken meat itself was juicy and slightly gelatinous.  Super tender and fully-seasoned.  Overall, I felt this visit to Toshi was solid and satisfying.  Despite the increase in competition, I believe it is still a great place to get authentic sushi at a reasonable price.

The Good:

- Authentic and well-made food

- Excellent service

- Does one thing and does it well

The Bad:

- Super cramped inside and you will probably have to wait for a table

Tozen Sushi Bar

We all are aware that there are a tonne of Japanese restaurants in the Lower Mainland.  Most of them are not Japanese-run and many are your typical average neighbourhood spots.  Then you have the upper end of the spectrum where you find predominantly Omakase-focused Japanese restaurants.  Let's not forget about the bigger, great value places such as Sushi Garden, Tentatsu and Nanaimo Sushi.  Those serve a purpose and whether you think they are good or not would be subjective.  In the past 5 years, we've seen another class of Japanese restaurant emerge to fill that gap between really high-end and middle-of-the-road spots.  Sushi Hil is an example where the quality is definitely above-average, but it doesn't reach the level of establishments such as Okeya Kyujiro.  Prices reflect that too.  Another one is Tozen Sushi out on Broadway near Oak Street.  I've been there before, but decided to do a revisit recently.

We got a variety of deluxe and regular items beginning with the Bafun Uni.  Yes, this was the good stuff that comes from Hokkaido.  We much prefer this over local uni due to its more intense sweetness and to me at least, less fishiness (or none at all if it is fresh).  The one served to us was exactly that being creamy and custardy with an intense sweetness.  No need to add anything as this was delicious all by itself.  However, it did include nori strips as a serving vessel.

Onto a more typical item, we had the Assorted Tempura for $17.00.  Considering smaller, less fancy spots charge roughly the same or just a bit under that price, this was a great example of the generally reasonable prices at Tozen.  It was also a good portion size consisting of 2 pieces each of yam, kabocha, green bean, lotus root and prawn.  I found each item to be at its optimal texture while the tempura batter to be fairly thin, crispy and light.  It wasn't too greasy either.  I would've liked to see a bigger dish for the dip as it was far too small.

Going for something also regularly found at most sushi bars, we had the 4 pieces of Tuna Toro.  Although the presentation was a little lacking, the toro itself was excellent.  Each piece was super buttery and soft.  Practically melting in our mouths, the toro had a clean smell and taste (as fresh as flash frozen and then defrosted can get).  We found the brightness of the sea to be present and also a wonderful natural sweetness.

Unlike my previous visit, the Corn Karaage was terrible.  They were in very large pieces, which hindered the deep-frying from making them uniformly crispy.  Rather, the whole thing was soft and doughy with barely any any crunch from the outside.  I did enjoy the pops of sweetness from each corn niblet, but that didn't help things much as the mushiness of each piece was off-putting. 

We moved onto 2 orders of the Bluefin Nigiri Set featuring 1 piece each of negi bluefin, akami, chutoro and otoro.  If I had to compare this to something similar, I've had this at Sushi Hil (where they no longer offer this combo) and the one at Sushi Hil is superior.  With that being said, this particular offering at Tozen was still very good and we were satisfied.  All the different cuts of bluefin were fresh and clean with a nice sheen.  Naturally, the otoro melted in our mouths while the chutoro wasn't far behind.  Nice sweetness on them too.  Akami was meaty of course, but still plenty tender.

Okay, I hate to be so negative, but really, there was no other way to describe the Scallop Motoyaki and the Oyster Motoyaki...  They were awful.  I've never had a motoyaki like this before where the overcooked scallops and oyster were mixed with onions and mushrooms while topped with an inordinate amount of melted cheese.  There was no mayonnaise sauce to be found.   If this was called a gratin, that would've been more accurate.  Not sure why this was prepared in this fashion.  We even let our serve know this.  I've had superior versions at AYCE places, no joke.

Thankfully, our 2 versions of Chawanmushi turned out to be excellent.  We chose the Dungeness Crab & Ikura as well as the Mushroom.  Served hot, the egg was silky, smooth and not watery.  It was tasty too with an impactful sweet smokiness from the dashi and soy.  With the mushroom, it added earthiness and plenty of umami.  As for the crab and ikura, there was brininess, sweetness and a touch of sea.  We really enjoyed this.

Getting back to the deluxe items, we went for the 2 piece Seared Miyazaki A5 Wagyu Nigiri.  Love how they presented it in a box with smoke.  Once the lid was lifted, our senses get the smokiness from sight and smell.  Popping the nigiri into our mouths, the smokiness hit our palate first and then the richness of the beef came next.  With nicely textured sushi, rice, it helped cut the heaviness of the A5.

We ended off our meal with a sneakily delicious Beef Yakiudon.  For $18.00, we felt it was a fair price for the portion size and overall execution of the dish.  Noodles were textured how we would want it to be, tender but with a rebounding chew.  This was also seasoned properly with a certain meatiness with sweetness from the mushrooms and the onions.  They weren't skimping on the ingredients either.  Overall, we enjoyed our visit to Tozen, but the corn karaage and motoyaki were real downers.  It was confusing to us since all of the other dishes were done right and genuinely delicious.  How could they mess up so badly on these as opposed to everything else?

The Good:
- Well-priced for a bit more premium Japanese experience than the usual
- Modern and upscale decor
- On point service

The Bad:
- Corn Karaage and Motoyaki were legitimately terrible
- We informed our server, but no one from management spoke to us

Kingyo

Here is one of the classic spots in Downtown Vancouver - Kingyo Izakaya.  It all started here and it has spawned into a restaurant group that encompasses Raisu, Rajio, New Fuji, Toyokan Plaza, Toyokan Bowl and Takenaka.  They also have locations in Toronto, Seattle and Tokyo.  But here we were to grab some food at the original located on Denman. 

Before we even ordered anything, they started us off with a complimentary item in the Deep Fried Nori.  Yes, they coated the sheets of nori with tempura batter and dropped it into the deep fryer.  If you've ever had something similar in a snack bag, this was much better as it was fresh, crunchy and benefited from the umami from the seaweed.  Served on the side was a tomato dip with some fried garlic.

Our first actual dish was the Deep Fried Fresh Corn.  I was only mildly happy with these as the coating was a bit gummy and dense.  However, the corn itself was excellent being plump with pops of intense sweetness.  The addition of soy butter helped add saltiness as well as the nuttiness of butter that paired well with the corn.

On their featured menu, they had both Aburi Pressed Bluefin Sushi as well as the Wagyu Pressed Sushi.  These were quite solid with chewy sushi rice more than enough topping to balance things out.  I enjoyed the buttery bluefin more than the beef.  The beef was a bit chewy.  Loved the combination of yuzu kosho, teriyaki sauce, ikura and tobiko on the tuna as it offered sweetness, brightness and saltiness.  For the beef, there was some spicy mayo with a small piece of seared foie gras, sliced black truffle and ikura.

We ended up with a dish that would be found on almost every Japanese restaurant menu outside of Japan - Chicken Karaage.  Sure, it is merely fried chicken, but not all are made equal.  This one was definitely better than most.  It consisted of chicken leg meat that was nicely marinated with hits of saltiness and ginger.  The coating was thin and fried until crispy.  It was served with a lemon wedge, which we squeezed onto the chicken.

One of the other daily features was the Beef Croquettes.  These were doused with a homemade gravy that was thick and starchy.  It had sweetness and tang which helped lighten up the dish.  By no means was it heavy though as the creaminess of the potato was light and airy.  Mixed into it was of course the tender beef and also a good amount of melty mozzarella.

One of my favourite cuts of pork is the cheek (and also the jowl).  So I ended up ordering the Grilled Pork Cheek.  This was at its buttery and fatty best with a classic rebound texture.  Since this was marinated in miso, there was a rich umaminess to it with a background saltiness.  This was served with a 7-spice blend on the side for dipping.  However, I didn't even need that.

Back to the featured items, we tried the Grilled Duck Breast.  I was a bit so-so with this dish as the duck fat was pretty flabby.  It wasn't surprising though as most Izakayas I've been to do not render the fat much (and also the type of duck has a significant layer of fat).  The duck itself was juicy but a bit chewy.  It did have a measured saltiness to it.  On the bottom, there was some creamy foie gras potato and on top, some fried carrots, arugula and Japanese pickled plum.

The most stunning dish was the Deluxe Sashimi Bowl.  The small amount of sushi rice was topped with tuna tataki, bluefin chutoro, sockeye salmon, Atlantic salmon, akami, hamachi, hotate, uni, ikura and spot prawn.  Very nice selection of sashimi that had a nice sheen and was nicely textured.  There could've been much more rice to go with the bounty of fish though.

One of my all-time favourites when it comes to Izakaya dishes is Ebi Mayo.  This version here was solid with large tiger prawns that were meaty with a sweet snap texture.  They were lightly battered and fried until crispy.  Unlike some other places, the amount of chili mayo was balanced where each prawn was coated on the bottom, but not drenched.

We finished off our meal with the Uni Miso Udon topped with crab and ikura.  Coated in a silky and naturally sweet miso cream sauce, the slippery and chewy udon noodles were fully flavoured.  Nice taste of the sea from the uni, crab and ikura.  As you can see, the food is pretty appetizing at Kingyo and they continue to have high standards in terms of food quality and execution.  Sure, not everything was perfect, but overall, it was good.  One of my go-to Izakayas in town.

The Good:

- Solid eats

- Good quality

- Good service

The Bad:

- Bill can add up if you are hungry, but things are expensive all across the board right now