Omakase, a Japanese tasting menu of sorts, is quite the experience. Other than taking into account certain dietary restrictions or allergies, anything goes. The menu is left up to the chef and you merely go along for the ride. Most often, you are looking at $100.00 per person for the good stuff. Now, one of the first places that come to mind in the GVRD is
Tojo's. And why not? He has received a lot of fan fare for his cuisine on TV, internet and print media. However, whenever there is hype, there comes a price. Recently, Pomegranate and I went all out for the "no limit" Omakase at
Tojo's. That means sitting at the sushi bar with Tojo hims
elf supervising and making many of the courses. Basically, we kept eating until we told him to stop. At that point, we had already spent almost $500.00 between the two of us for food, sake, taxes and tip (around $350 on food alone). Was it worth it? Well, that really depends on the point of view. In terms of value, of course not. But if someone wanted to buy a Ferrari, are they looking for value? That would be the same with
Tojo's. It's for the experience and the right to say you've eaten at Tojo's. Now, there are those who would like to point out that a true Omakase experience which
will cost you much less can be found at Octopus' Garden. Completely the antithesis of
Tojo's, Octopus' Garden is a small place run by sushi chef Sada-san. He is a humble man who is both skilled and creative. He will greet you with a friendly smile and make you laugh with his honest humour. There is no pretentiousness and certainly no arrogance. The food does the talking here, not the hype.
While we were dining at
Tojo's, Pomegranate and I had already planned to do the Omakase at Octopus' Garden as a comparison. Due to circumstanc
es beyond our control, it has taken us nearly 4 months to do so. Better late than never I suppose. No longer advertised on the website nor printed on their menu, the Omakase is still very much available. There are two choices: $60.00 and $100.00. Naturally, the more expensive option comes with all the bells and whistles. Of course we went for the bells and whistles! We're men and we like shiny things... Actually, we did start with something relatively shiny in the
Oyster on the half shell. Simply presented, the Kumomoto was sweet and fresh.
Up next was a
Bluefin Tuna Salad. Another simple dish consisting of mesclun greens with a few pieces of beautiful tuna dressed with a light ponzu shoyu. Mixed together, there was a nice balance of salt and acid to accent the natural sweetness of the fish. And about that tuna... The simplicity of the salad allowed the star of the show to shine with its smooth meaty texture. Delicious. Onto one of Sado-san's signature items -
The Uni Shooter. Consisting of mountain yam, rice, quail's egg and uni, this is a very unique offering. Although the egg and uni share a similar consistency, somehow it all works. Very
delicate tasting with natural sweetness from the uni, the mountain yam offers up some much needed crunch as a textural contrast. Served on the side was a
Bluefin Tuna Skewer with green onion. Honestly, I didn't care much for this. It's almost a shame that such a beautiful fish would be overcooked on a skewer. Lost is the wonderful meaty texture and rich flavour. Instead, what we got was a hard piece of tuna with salt.
A very delicate
Matsutake and Geoduck with spinach broth was p
resented to us next. We drank the aromatic broth first with a touch of lemon and then proceed to eat the ingredients. The flavours were very subtle with some sweetness derived from the geoduck and unique aroma from the matsutake. A refreshing interlude before the wow kicked in. That's right, up until this point, we were happy with the meal; but hardly kicked in the gut with flavour nor blown away by anything. That all suddenly changed with the
Monkfish Liver with Tako Sashimi. A combination of monkfish liver atop wakame, daikon and topped with tako sashimi resulted in both a texture and flavour revelation in our mouths.
There was crunch from the daikon, chewiness from the tako, smooth "foie gras of the sea" from the monkfish liver and umami from the wakame. Outstanding.
To further kick it up a notch, we were served
Wagyu Beef with grated spicy daikon. As you can see, the beef was not completely cooked all the way through. This is significant. Since Wagyu beef is so well-marbled, any instance of rareness will result in some chewiness. Thus, the beef wasn't as tender as one would expect. But, in the end, this did not matter because the high-fat content only r
esulted in an abundance of flavour. The spicy grated daikon complimented the delicious beef very well. As we were still licking our lips from the tasty Wagyu Beef, an enormous
Sashimi Platter arrived at our table. The "wow" factor x 2. Beautifully arranged with super fresh components, we were chomping at the bit to dig in (after I took photos of course). There was a plate of Albacore Tuna, Tuna Tataki, Amberjack, Mirugai, Wild Salmon and Tako. A whackload of fresh Uni and 2 Spot Prawns. The centrepiece was a whole Lobster with the tail served as sashimi topped with Ikura and edible gold (yes, gold)
. What a treat I tell ya. Everything, and I mean everything was fresh and delicious. I needed very little soy and freshly grated wasabi for the sashimi. So naturally sweet.
Then a strange dish of sorts arrived next -
Braised Red Snapper Head with bean curd skin and Shanghai bak choy. Hey, I love head, er... I mean fish heads... But it really didn't seem to fit within the flow of the meal. With that being said, I liked it - from the gelatinous skin, soft cheek, to the soft belly. The sweet soy braising liquid was a nic
e flavouring agent. And as if we didn't get enough head already, we got the
Fried Spot Prawn Heads. For those who haven't tried this, it is a real treat and not scary at all. Fried until super crunchy, the whole head can be eaten. Only seasoned with some salt, it is almost like a shrimp cracker of sorts. For awhile there, I was worried that I wouldn't get a chance to sample any sushi or nigiri. I was really happy to see the next dish which consisted of 2 pieces of
Nigiri, one geoduck and one bluefin toro (with a piece of tamago). Once again, simple; yet delicious. The geoduck was sweet and had a nice crunch while the bluefin toro was nice and fatty.
The sushi rice was nearly flawless with a nice chew while not being too dry. Vinegar and sweetness was easily apparent as well.
As if we could actually eat any more food, we were surprised to see the
Mango Lobster Roll (or Lobster on Vacation according to Sado-san). A balanced combination of lobster, mango, snow pea, tempura bits, tobiko, avocado, nori and ikura, this roll was very good. Different textures and flavours really made this roll interesting to eat. The sweet mango finish left a pleasant aftertaste. By now, we were so full, it was not
funny. I really couldn't eat anymore. In fact, I was too full to eat prior to the lobster roll. Hence, when we were offered a choice of desserts - either to have the small or large - we chose small... until we asked what they were. The small was only ice cream, while the large was
Fried Banana with ice cream. Pomegranate and I immediately changed our minds and went for the large dessert even though we could not eat another bite. It turned out to be a good choice since the tempura fried banana was yummy. Perfectly fried crunchy tempura gave way to sweet soft banana. Topped with ice
cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and a strawberry, we scoffed it down like you would think we were still hungry.
OMFG. What an outstanding meal. We got twice the amount of food for nearly half the price we paid at
Tojo's. Of course,
Tojo's and Octopus' Garden are not really all that alike in many ways; but the bottom line is that the omakase here is both superior and less expensive. The quality and selection of ingredients was fabulous. Think of it: Wagyu beef, monkfish liver, bluefin tuna (and lots of it),
geoduck, lobster, uni, spot prawns and the list goes on. I would not hesitate to say that the $100.00 represents a very good value. Take into account that there is no pretentiousness, hype, and unrealistic expectations at Octopus' Garden compared to
Tojo's, there is absolutely no contest as to which one has a better Omakase. But in the end, if you have money to burn and people to impress, then
Tojo's it is. However, I would gladly do the omakase at Octopus' Garden again because it is awesome and the fact I can actually justify spending the money on it.
The Good:- Food is just excellent
- Friendly, honest service
- Outstanding omakase
The Bad:- Prices are on the higher side; but worth it in my opinion
- Super small place is not really all that great for big groups
- Parking is an issue here
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In what would only be a breather in my 20 hour day, Vandelay and I headed to Richmond for some eats. You see, my day started off at 7:00am and was not going to end until 3:00am the next morning. A full day of work, then off to Tsawwassen for a hockey pool and immediately afterwards, a hockey game in North Vancouver. There was really no reason we should have stopped in Richmond for food. After all, Bubbly was preparing some pasta for all the poolies at the draft. Yet, when Vandelay indicated that he wanted to carpool and would be available for some eats, I knew what I had to do. Although it took me o
n the scenic route from North Delta back to Vancouver and on to Richmond, I could not pass up an eating opportunity. The question was where to eat? No shortage of good food in Richmond. No shortage of bad drivers either. It is indeed a catch-22. Good food in lieu of hazards to ones' vehicle. Well, we ended up traveling to a relatively calmer location on Garden City and Blundell for a quick bite at Master Hung.
those items out. We got the 3-Item BBQ Platter consisting of BBQ Duck, Roasted Pork and BBQ Pork. Luckily, we got the duck breast. Hence, it was meaty and easy to eat. The flesh was moist and the fat mostly rendered. Furthermore, I could taste the duck as it was not over-seasoned with salt. Very well executed BBQ duck, no complaints here. Although the roast pork arrived pretty much cold, it was still very pleasant to eat. The skin was crispy without being chewy and there was a good fat-to-meat ratio. The meat was very tender and moist while also not over-seasoned as well. I could definitely taste 
the roasted pork. This was executed much better than many larger restaurants. And with the BBQ Pork, you guessed it, was also very tender and moist. The exterior had a nice glaze with some charring. There was also a good mix of fat and meat as well.
usually pretty critical of pork & shrimp wontons. However, in this case, I was okay with the ones here. I liked how the pork was slightly chewy while still moist. The wontons were well-seasoned too. One minor issue. I asked for no green onions and as you can see, they did it anyways. The green onions showed up in our bowl of Liver Congee as well. Is it just me or Chinese restaurants forget or simply don't give a damn about special requests? Anyways, the congee base itself was slightly thin and bland. It wasn't exactly watery; but it definitely lacked depth. It resembled home-cooked congee more 
than a restaurant-type version. The liver was cooked perfectly and in fact, was probably marinated in baking soda. It had a pronounced "bounce" texture, not the grittiness we normally associate with liver. Both Vandelay and I thought the food was pretty solid, especially the BBQ items. Naturally that would be an expectation since it is in the name. If it weren't located so far away, I'd probably come here for the BBQ alone. And I'm not saying this to avoid Richmond. The traffic in this area is much less apparent.
