Edokko Nigiri Sushi

We have an overwhelming amount of Japanese restaurants in the GVRD.  So much so, it would take you over 3 years just to visit all of them if you were to eat out every day.  However, as many of you already know, less than 10% of them are actually Japanese-run.  Now, don't get me wrong, just because they are Japanese-run, that doesn't guarantee anything.  However, it does mean that the food is more simple and of course, authentic.  As much as I enjoy specialty rolls with sauces and fried things on them, that is usually a fusion creation of some sort.  Recently, I made 2 visits to Edokko Nigiri Sushi out in Richmond.  They are most certainly authentic and also feature some pretty interesting items.

During my first visit, we had a few smaller items including the Spinach Gomae.  Sure, this was a simple few bites, but it was done right.  Tender with some crunch, the spinach was at its optimal doneness.  It was dressed lightly with a mildly sweet sesame dressing that was nutty and aromatic while not being too overwhelming.  In addition to the regular version, we also ordered the Uni Seafood Chawanmushi.  This featured ikura, snow crab and uni atop a silky steamed egg.  It was delicate with only a hint of dashi.  The beautiful seafood on top made this a bit more special than the regular version they have on the menu.

Continuing with my first visit, I decided to try their Edokko Special (half portion) with various pieces of sashimi, nagaimo, cucumber, ginger and shiso.  This was a very subtle-tasting roll with the shiso standing out with its herbal and minty flavour.  I thought the layer of rice was a bit thick, yet at the same time, it wasn't an issue since it was beautifully textured with a chewiness.  On my next visit, I had the Futomaki (also half version) with the usual components.  Although I loved the sushi rice, I would've preferred less of it (as mentioned with the Edokko Special).  With that being said, the pickles and mushroom did provide enough flavour for the roll to stand on its own.  Served along the Futomaki was Saba Battera.  The pressed sushi was good since it employed the same sushi rice and the balanced amount of saba was flavourful.

On that note, we also had the Salmon Battera and it was comparable to some of the best in the city.  The salmon was buttery and complimented the chewy rice while the torched mayo-based sauce was a bit tangy, smoky and sweet.  There was the requisite thinly-sliced jalapeno on top.  Also had the Dynamite Roll and Chopped Scallop Roll.  Both had a generous amount of filling where the tempura ebi was huge while the delicate scallops were sweet.  As you can see, we had a selection of Nigiri including Chopped Scallop, Toro, Chutoro and Kanpachi.  They were well-constructed and the sashimi had a nice sheen and textures were on point.  The Tamago was also quite good being fluffy, moist and sweet.

On my initial visit, I also ordered a selection of Nigiri including Hokkaido Uni, Chopped Scallop, Chutoro and Otoro.  The uni was fabulous being bright, sweet and creamy.  Chutoro was buttery and sweet while the Otoro was curiously chewy in spots.  Other parts were melt-in-my-mouth buttery.  It had the brightness from the sea in every bite.  Second visit yielded some Toro and Atlantic Salmon Sashimi.  Once again, nice sheen on the slices and they were perfectly bite-sized.  Soft texture on both and naturally sweet.

Staying with raw fish, we had the Chirashi Don with tuna, salmon, tamago, ebi, hotate, abalone, tako, ika, ikura, flying fish roe and red tuna.  This was a good amount of quality sashimi on top of nicely-textured and seasoned sushi rice.  On our second visit, we had the Assorted Tempura with ebi, ika, hotate and veggies.  As you can see, the batter was lightly applied to each piece.  Hence, it was crispy and not overbearing.  That meant each component could shine on its own.

At the front of their menu, they feature a Shokado Dinner with a selection of items.  Many of them we'd already had as a la carte dishes.  But for those who want variety all in one box, you would find some sweet & sour chicken, sashimi, zaru soba, tempura, gindara, salmon battera and aburi tuna nigiri.  On the side, there was chawanmushi and a seasoned rice.  This was more than enough food for one person and for $40.00, this was a good way for one person to try it all.

Yes, the place has Nirigi in its name, but another dish they are known for is their Unagi Hitsumabushi Set.  Sure, the whole top of the bowl was covered in buttery soft unagi, but there is an option to have it layered in the middle too.  We got that and literally every bite was more unagi than rice.  Nice flavour on the unagi too where it was glazed but not doused.  Hence, we got the sweetness and caramelization, but not sickingly sweet.

Another dish that caught our attention on the menu was the Kamonan Soba featuring roasted duck breast, green onion, seaweed, fish cake and tenkasu.  Although robust due to the duck, this was a subtle dish where the flavours were balanced.  The broth had depth with some background smokiness to go with the umami and sweetness.  The duck itself was super tender and had a nice brine on it.

For my first visit, we ordered dessert in the form of the Hojicha Panna Cotta.  This was quite good with a silky panna cotta that was creamy and not "jello-like".  It was mildly sweet and aromatic while the hojicha exhibited some smokiness and sweetness.  Overall, these 2 meals at Edokko were enjoyable and satisfying.  They really live up to their namesake with a wide selection of well-made Nigiri.  However, their Unagi Hitsumabushi Set is also a must order.

The Good:

- Delicious authentic nigiri

- Unagi Hitsumabushi Set

- Excellent service

The Bad:

- Maybe their maki sushi could use a bit less rice

- Hard to get a seat without a reservation

Mauna Sushi

Okay, so this is like my 16th visit to Mauna Sushi?  I've been here so much that we have lost count.  It is not secret that I absolutely love this place where the food is delicious and prices are fair.  They offer up a variety of dishes including their signature aburi oshi, that is Downtown quality.  For those who don't know, they were closed for renovations for quite some time, but they have reopened with a refreshed interior and a revamped kitchen.  Hence, they can offer up a wider variety of cooked dishes as well as pumping out more sushi with quicker turnaround.  Jackie and I went recently to check them out.

We started off with a few things that weren't available on the previous menu (at least not officially) in the Hamachi Sashimi and Uni Nigiri.  As you can tell in the picture, the hamachi had a nice sheen and fresh appearance.  It was buttery with the taste of the sea.  As for the uni, it was creamy and sweet sitting atop chewy seasoned sushi rice.  Nice to see these options available now as the old selection of sashimi and nigiri were quite basic.

Now they also offer a few more small plates including the Ebi Fritter and the Ika Karaage.  Super light and crispy, the ebi fritters had an exterior texture similar to the deep fried taro dumplings you'd find at Cantonese Dim Sum.  The ebi itself was meaty with a snap while the combination of chili mayo and unagi sauce added just the right amount of flavour.  As for the fried squid, it was coated with just enough batter for some crunch.  Otherwise, the squid itself was the star with a tender bite while being well-seasoned.  It came with a side of kewpie mayo.

So we can't forget about the classics right?  Therefore we had the Aburi Ebi Oshi, Aburi Salmon Oshi, Aburi Saba Oshi and the Aburi Hotate Oshi.  Yep, these are just as good, if not better than the ones you find at Miku and Minami.  Due to its location and lack of high-end amenities, the prices for these at Mauna are also more affordable.  I really like how the components are well-portioned and fresh.  Also, the sauces are on point with proper torching.  Can't go wrong with these.

We tried a couple of new noodle dishes starting with the Kaisen Soba.  Okay, we manipulated the noodles so you could see the ample seafood.  Usually, it is hidden underneath.  Anyways, the noodles were al dente and bathed in just enough moisture to keep them from being clumpy.  There was a rich soy/dashi flavour to it that was savoury and full of umami.  The seafood was cooked perfectly with buttery prawns, soft scallops and tender squid.  Loved the shiitake mushrooms too as they also added body and more umami.

As for the second noodle dish, the Seafood Yaki Udon also had a bevy of the same seafood except we didn't touch it and left it how it arrived (LOL).  Once again, the seafood was perfect with the same textures as the soba.  In this one, there was plenty of mentaiko mixed in with the stir-fry adding a lovely brininess.  There was lots of sweetness provided by the seared onions and the overall seasoning of the dish was just right.

In addition to their popular Explosion Roll, they have now created a King Explosion Roll that has limited availability.  The original one consisted of imitation crab, spicy tuna and cucumber with torched oshi sauce, tobiko and black pepper on top.  The new one replaces the imitation crab with real crab, subs sockeye salmon for the tuna and adds uni.  For me personally, I still would go for the original explosion roll, the flavours work more in harmony.  The marinated spicy tuna with sesame oil notes along with the fairly neutral-tasting imitation crab with the bright crunch from the cukes are complimented well by the pops of brininess of the tobiko and creamy smokiness of the aburi sauce.  The new one has some of those elements but the uni does dominate the flavour profile and hence breaks the harmony.

So we can't pay a visit to Mauna without having one of their awesome Sushi Tarts.  They take everything tasty that they have in their arsenal and employ it into one item.  That is the tart with its sushi rice base, a layer of ripe and fresh avocado, they some spicy tuna, more sushi rice, a layer of sockeye salmon, aburi sauce, chopped scallop and ebi.  Put that all together and we have some elements of the explosion roll but with more distinct layers of impact.  So delicious.

Two more new specialty rolls on the menu are the Galaxy Roll and the "Bird's Nest" Roll.  The galaxy roll had very little rice compared to the considerable amount of hamachi, hotate and spicy prawn with large slices of tuna tataki on the outside.  This was pretty subtle-tasting with only unagi sauce doing the heavy lifting.  As for the bird's nest, it contained real crab, hotate and asparagus on the inside with red tuna on the outside.  The impact came from the fried leeks with ponzu on top.  They were pretty sweet and added crunch as well.

When we were served the Tonkotsu Black Ramen, I was initially quite skeptical.  Normally, non-ramen spots do not make good versions of the dish.  However, this one here was more than acceptable with flavourful broth with umaminess.  The black garlic really came through with its fermented essence.  The chashu was buttery soft while the noodles were chewy.  Even the egg was soft and custardy.

Onto a pair of rice bowls, we had the Chicken Katsu Don and the classic Unagi Don.  The piece of chicken featured a crunchy batter while being tender inside.  There was some egg and seared onions added to the mix.  Underneath, we found chewy rice with enough sauce for effect.  Sure, an unagi don can be pretty typical, but this one featured small slices that were individually seared so it was caramelized and smoky.  Of course there was the sweet unagi sauce on top with the same chewy rice underneath.  Pretty tasty.

Okay, you might be wondering why there is a picture of a California Roll and a Dynamite Roll ending this blog post.  Sure, these are not necessarily the rolls I would personally order here, but they have a lunch special that features a small roll of each and miso soup for only $9.99.  Good deal for those looking at a quick meal or take out.  But for me, it is all about the aburi oshi and specialty rolls.  Glad to see they added some other delicious cooked items to round out the menu.  I guess it means I'll be here even more!

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

The Good:

- The aburi sushi here

- Cooked food is solid too

- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:

- Loved how they addressed the limited menu issue and also added another sushi chef to speed up the orders, but due to the physical limitations of the place, seating is still limited  

Tozen Sushi Bar

With so many Japanese restaurants in town, it is sometimes hard to wade through the mediocre to find that superior spot.  Now we aren't talking about the higher-end places such as Okeya Kyujiro and Masayoshi.  We are referring to the ones that are less pricey than the aforementioned restaurants, but also more premium than the value, mass-produced places such as Sushi Garden (nothing wrong with eating there, just using it as an example!).  Tozen Sushi Bar is one of these spots where they offer more premium ingredients, but still accessible to many.

We started our meal at Tozen with some more usual dishes in the Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki and Corn Karaage.  These were all very good with the okonomiyaki featuring a slightly crispy exterior giving way to a soft and fluffy interior.  There was a balanced amount of cabbage that was not overdone.  Yakoyaki was pretty typical, but the corn karaage was the star of the 3 dishes.  The clusters of corn niblets had pops of sweetness.  It was only lightly battered, being crispy.

We were presented with 2 platters of sashimi next including the Assorted Sashimi and the Tozen Special Sashimi.  Obviously, the latter of the 2 was bigger and cost more.  The first platter featured salmon, tuna, hamachi, amaebi and madai.  The larger platter consisted of akami, chutoro, otoro, hirame, kanpachi, shima aji, salmon belly, hotate, amaebi, and saba.  By looks alone, you can tell this was fresh and vibrant.  Naturally, the 3 types of bluefin sashimi stole the show, but the rest were sweet and texturally on point.

Moving onto our next few dishes, we had the Salmon Jalapeno Aburi Hako as well as 3 different Chawanmushi (mushroom, madai and dungeness crab).  The aburi was nicely seared where the sauce was creamy with a touch of tanginess.  Jalapeno was sliced thin enough so it wasn't too intrusive.  Rice had a nice texture, being chewy but not dry.  Silky and slightly briny, the chawanmushi was delicious.  I liked the dungeness crab version the most.

Continuing on with more sushi, we had the Negi Kanpa Hama and the Tuna Bomb.  I found both of these to be very appealing and tasty.  Bright and fresh-tasting, the kanpachi was complimented by the balanced amount of chives.  Now that was good, but the tuna bomb was my favourite with its flavourful and buttery mix of tuna.  There was nice spice to it and spreading it onto the crispy rice, it created a nice textural contrast.  There was also a good mix of warm and cold.

Okay, the tuna bomb was well, bomb, but the Bluefin Nigiri Set was truly the best thing we ate.  It consisted of Akami, Chutoro, Otoro and Negi Bluefin.  Similar to the one found at Sushi Hil, this was every bit as good.  Naturally, the best piece was the buttery and melty otoro.  It had the unmistakable umaminess and natural sweetness.  Of course the other pieces were good in their own way with the akami being meatier, but still soft and full-flavoured. 

Featuring some more akami, chutoro and bluefin negi, the Premium Nigiri Set also had hamachi, amaebi, tamago, saba, hirame, kanpachi and anago.  Neatly constructed with a balanced amount of chewy seasoned sushi rice, the nigiri was good.  Particularly enjoyed the large piece of buttery eel (and of course the bluefin).  For our roll selection, we had the Saba Bou featuring house-marinated saba with rice and shiso.  Loved how the saba was mild-tasting but still full-flavoured.  Rice was on point and the shiso added its usual herbaeousness.

We finished off the meal with 2 beef dishes.  The more luxurious of the 2 was the A5 Wagyu Nigiri.  This was served with a lid and once removed, it revealed the smoke.  Hence, beyond the butteriness of the meat, it was also slightly smoky.  Super delicious!  Last item was the Beef Yukke Salad that was quite the big portion.  I thought the beef was buttery and well-seasoned, however, maybe a bit too salad?  I prefer my yukke as it is with some crunchy vessel of some sort.  However, that is a personal preference and I'm sure others would like this as the meat was excellent and it was a fairly light dish (despite the generous amount of beef).  Overall, the food at Tozen was really good.  Things were fresh, prepared properly and visually appealing.  Yes, the food was delicious too.  Sure, the pricing will be more than the usual neighbourhood restaurant, but Tozen is not that.  Splurge a little and you will notice the higher quality of ingredients and attention to detail.

*All food was complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Quality ingredients
- Careful preparation
- Nice dining space

The Bad:
- Parking in the area a little difficult due to Skytrain construction
- You will be paying a bit more than the usual neighbourhood Japanese resto, but well worth it

 

Tekkaba

It seems to me that there are places that offer Premium Omakase experiences in Vancouver more than ever.  Maybe our palates and experience has levelled up to the point where we can appreciate these meals for what they are (which is a combination of the freshest ingredients, prepared expertly and artfully).  However, these meals come at a price and usually $250+ per person.  That is not really an affordable option considering the economy as it stands.  Yet, there is one place that charges only $118.00 a person and it's located in Downtown.  Sure, Tekkaba will never be confused with Okeya Kyujiro, but at 1/3rd the price and reasonable expectations, it is truly a steal.

In fact, you can even go with the $78.00 Dinner Omakase that has just as many courses, but just with different items.  Now that is an even bigger steal.  For our Omakase, we started with the Chawanmushi with some ground pistachio & pumpkin seeds and Ichiban sauce.  This was purely just egg without other components hidden within.  As you can see, the steamed egg was not watery nor bubbly.  Hence, it was silky and smooth with some background sweetness.

For our next course, we had the Beef Tartar Salad made with AAA beef tenderloin.  On the side, there was a organic spring mix tossed with a Japanese fruit dressing (made with 12 types of fruit) and drizzled with balsamic.  As you can imagine, the dressing was naturally sweet and needed the balsamic to balance it out.  As for the beef tartar, it was buttery soft with a definite spiciness.  There was a cracker and chip to use as a vessel for the tartar.  Good crunch on both.

We had the Sweet Prawn Tempura for our next course and it came with dendashi sauce.  It came in two pieces with one being the tail (without shell, except the very tip of the tail) and the other being the head.  Since the head was fried with a tempura batter, the shell wasn't able to fully cook until it was crunchy.  Hence, I couldn't actually eat it.  Rather, I ate the antenna and the insides.  For the tail, it was buttery and sweet.  The batter was super crispy and light.

From the tempura, we moved onto Traditional Japanese-Style Clam Soup with garlic and green onion.  Although this looked pretty simple, the broth itself was both subtle and impactful at the same time.  The brininess and sweetness of the clam really came through in the broth.  It wasn't a strong flavour, but enough to create impact in our minds (if that makes sense).  The green onion added some brightness to the soup.  As for the clams, they were plump and buttery.

Onto the Sashimi course, we were presented with one piece each of the Madai, Hamachi and Bluefin.  To compliment this, we had matcha salt, ginger and real wasabi.  We were encouraged to use the matcha salt with the madai.  The bitter-saltiness really did compliment the sweetness of the firm fish.  The hamachi was aged for 7 days and it showed in terms of its rich fishiness and the buttery texture.  As for the bluefin, it was aged 5 days and it had its umistakable strong sweet fishiness.  Being the akami, the bluefin was meatier, but still buttery soft.

We had two hand rolls next consisting of Uni and Fuagra (Foie Gras).  Well, it was suffice to say that these were a treat.  Sweet and creamy the uni was lightly torched where it heightened the sweetness while still imparting a smokiness.  The warm rice was still appealingly chewy.  As for the foie gras, it was also torched and topped with some tobiko caviar.  Also fatty and buttery, this was a bit smoky and slightly sweet. As part of the same course as the hand rolls, we were also served two pieces of Atemaki.  From what I can gather, one was chopped hamachi and the other was some type of whitefish, maybe hirame?  Whatever the case, these were nice little bites.

For those keeping track, we moved onto Step 7 of our meal with three nigiri including Hirame, Kinmedai and Saba.  Topped with shiso pesto aged for 3 months, there was definite sweetness.  The hirmae had a halibut-like texture being firm.  As for the kinmedai, it was beautiful and was subtle in flavour with a clear taste of the sea.  With the saba, it came with so lemon juice and it was at its mackerel best with an appealing fishiness.  It was nicely torched on the top.

Our next course consisted of Aburi Nigiri.  The Hotate was served in a shell while doused in lemon butter.  The rice was actually served on the side with some tobiko caviar.  The trick here was to sandwich the rice in betwen the split hotate.  This was absolutely delicious with buttery soft and sweet scallop with chewy rice in the middle.  The other nigiri was more traditional with Baby Squid topped with yuzu and lemon rind.  The squid was lightly torched being smoky while the texture was crunchy and not chewy.  Nice sweetness tempered by the tanginess.

From the aburi, we had another trio of Nigiri including Bluefin with caviar, Hamachi with black truffle sauce and Shima-Aji.  The bluefin akami was still buttery and sweet even though it wasn't the toro.  It was definitely meatier and less melty.  I found the hamachi sweet and pleasantly fishy with black truffle sauce really coming through.  Lots of woodsiness and some tangy-saltiness from the olives.  Lastly, the shima-aji was fishy (in a good way) and had a slight snap before being buttery tender.

The heaviest and last course was the Caviar Truffle Uni Pasta.  Yes, put all of the most luxurious items and put it in a heavy cream pasta right?  Well, it was not just that, the execution was good!  The pasta was al dente but not hard.  There was enough heavy cream to coat each strand without drowning it.  There was just enough truffle for effect and the uni and caviar provided sweetness and umaminess. Some grated parm added even more flavour to the mix.

We ended off the Omakase with some cake and we all had something different.  For me, it was a square of Oreo Cheesecake.  Pretty standard and pleasant enough.  Maybe not very creative, but it did the job.  Next to it, we had some Yuzu Tea that was clean, refreshing (despite being hot) and helped end everything by cleaning my palate.  Overall, this premium omakase is a fabulous deal.  For what you get, the pricing is a steal.  Sure, the meal isn't perfect (but nothing ever is), but the majority of the items are prepared well and are ultimately delicious.  Really, that is all that matters right?

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

The Good:
- Fabulous deal
- In general, it was tasty
- Super nice people

The Bad:
- I would prefer they do not pre-cut their sashimi
- Maybe a more creative dessert?