As you know, food costs are through the roof where restaurant menu prices are scarier than driving next to a logging truck (a la Final Destination). So when we find places that offer up good food at reasonable prices, we must cherish them like Taylor Swift tickets. Recently, we were invited to try out Kinkura Sushi out on Davie Street where we (spoiler alert) were impressed with the food, the portion sizes and yes, the reasonable prices.
We started off with an item that caught my eye on the menu. It isn't often we find a Zombie Brain on any menu, especially in a Japanese restaurant. There was no description on the menu but in reality, it was an avocado stuffed with imitation crab meat than then coated with panko and deep-fried. Then it was drizzled with unagi sauce and mayo. Think of it as a Japanese scotch egg of sorts. This was quite good with the creaminess of the ingredients contrasting with the crunchy exterior.
Next up, we had a selection of Nigiri including Hotate, Salmon Toro, Hamachi and Unagi. As you can clearly see, the sheen and colour on the seafood was bright and vibrant. Each piece ate as such too with the toro being buttery and sweet while the scallop was similar except softer as scallops generally are. The hamachi was on the firmer side, but still bright.
One of the most delicious items of this meal was the Sushi Cake consisting of sushi rice, imitation crab, mango, salmon, spicy tuna, aburi sauce and masago. With the top torched, this concoction ate with plenty of smoky caramelization as well as the sweetness from the mango. Add in the spice from the tuna and creaminess of the imitation crab, every bite had flavour and texture.
We ended up ordering 3 versions of their Aburi Oshi including Salmon, Hamachi and AAA Tenderloin Beef. As you can see, all were constructed neatly and had a balanced amount of ingredients to rice ratio. I found it interesting that they torched the thinly-sliced jalapeno rather than leaving it raw like most other versions. However, they might be onto something as it worked with activation of flavours due to the charring. I enjoyed the salmon oshi the best as it featured the classic combination of sockeye salmon, aburi sauce and jalapeno.
Not finished with Aburi as we also had the Aburi Combo featuring beef, toro, ebi, tobiko, salmon and hamachi. Loved the bright colours as well as the freshness of the ingredients. As you can see, the torching on each nigiri was noticeable and hence there was the usual smokiness. The aburi sauce was creamy and sweet without being too greasy. Once again, the sushi rice was on point.
When the Assorted Tempura arrived, we were shocked at the portion size. This was easily double, if not triple the size of most other places. Beyond the portion size, the execution of the dish was on point. We found the tempura batter to be crispy and light, despite it not looking as such on the ebi. For the veggies, they were cooked perfectly where the zucchini was not mushy while the sweet potato was soft, yet with a bite.
We got a couple orders of the Chicken Karaage including the soy and the spicy. By looks alone, these had some serious KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) vibes and in reality, it was a good thing. These large pieces of thigh meat were super juicy and tender with a crispy batter. I personally loved the soy flavour the most as it was sweet and savoury. Spicy was good as well with sweet, tangy and spicy notes.
We got something a bit different in the Chef's Roll as it did not contain any sushi rice. Rather, it was wrapped in rice paper featuring tuna, sockeye salmon, ebi, chopped scallop, avocado and cucumber. Without rice, this ate much more hearty with the tuna being the star of the roll. Loved the chopped scallop with tobiko as it was creamy and sweet. The mess of sauce underneath was quite sweet as well.
Interestingly garnished with cooked spinach, the Special Seafood Cream Udon was one of our cooked selections. This was quite saucy and yes creamy. I thought the udon was a little soft, but it still had bite. There was enough seafood for effect including bay scallops, shrimp and mussels. Still not sure if the spinach went with this dish, but it did give colour.
Onto the most majestic-looking dish, we had the Lobster Roll. On the outside, we found creamy and buttery chopped scallop, sockeye salmon and tobiko mixed with thin slices of avocado. Inside, we found lobster tempura, spicy mayo and masago. On the side, there was some more lobster tempura bites. This was reasonably-priced at $19.50. That is pretty much the theme at Kinkura as there is value to be had here. At the same time, the food is carefully-prepared and delicious. Excellent mid-tier Japanese option in Downtown Vancouver.
*All food and beverages were complimentary for this post*
The Good:
- Large portions
- Well-prepared
- Reasonable-pricing
The Bad:
- Possibly some items being too saucy
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