Bentei Sushi (Burnaby, BC)

Being that the last while has been stressful and that we've been pressed for time, we have been eating our fair share of take out.

Actually, on the occasion that we consumed the three following dishes, we'd just found out that MB had been in an accident and had returned from the hospital. Initially, we'd had reservations at a Thai restaurant, but found out on our way there that MB was at Royal Columbia. We immediately changed our course and made our way to RCH - by the time we spent some time visiting with the family and MBs M, we were starving. As my father would say, between the stress and the hunger, we "didn't feel human".

Instead of Thai, we opted for a homey Japanese meal. Bentei Sushi, tucked away in a small strip mall off of Lougheed Highway would have to do the trick.



If homey was what we wanted, we knew we'd order a katsudon. Breaded pork cutlet with sauteed onion topped steamed rice. An egg was cooked over top of the pork, and the sauteed onion provided a savoury-sweet sauce to mix in with the rice. I still maintain that the katsudon at Vanya is my hands-down favourite (hence us referring to Vanya as the "pork chop rice place").



By chance, we also ordered a chicken teriyaki, which came with a helping of yakisoba, and salad. At $6.45, it was good value and in terms of comfort food, it hit the spot as well.



We also ordered a dynamite roll. At $4 a roll, it was good value as well.



On a separate occasion, I had a dynamite combo to myself. I also added on one piece of inari since the combo was only $8.80. The fish was fresh, and having hotate (scallop) sushi included in a combo was great! I love scallops, so I've already already aded Bentei Sushi to my phone book for a quick meal on busy workdays.

In short, I think I've found my favourite little sushi spot. Its proximity to home and quality make it a good take out restaurant for busy times.

Bentei Sushi
5901 Broadway
Burnaby BC
P: 604-291-0080

Vanya (Vancouver, BC)

I thought I had done a post on Vanya / Van-ya, but I guess I was wrong!

Vanya has been in operation on Harold Street in Vancouver for as long as I can remember. Originally, it was owned by an older couple and as far as I know, it is where me and my family began our love affair with sushi!

I remember going when I was in elementary school and working my way from the California rolls, to their special rolls - an ever-changing assortment of fish and seafood packed into a roll. We continued going to Vanya as we grew older - it made for healthy and hearty lunches, a quick eat-in or take-home dinner. Suffice to say, it helped out mom a lot as it was something that she would eat, and that us kids enjoyed as well!

A little over a year ago, Vanya changed hands to a younger couple, and for the first bit, the old owner / chef stayed on to train new staff. The food has held up their quality and standards, and prices have gone up a little, but that is quite understandable in todays' economic climate and inflation!

The restaurant serves a number of bentos / combos and also a slightly different number of bentos for take out. It is all good. :)

One one occasion with M, my mother and sister, (before work got all crazy!) we enjoyed a simple dinner. I didn't get all the photos I wanted, but here are some highlights!



Vanya serves fresh sashimi. Another perk is that they serve wild Sockeye salmon - better eat up before its all gone! Both the salmon and tuna are carefully picked over for bones and sliced beautifully and arranged.



The aforementioned Special roll - filled to the brim with fresh, mouth-watering sashimi, it makes for a healthy, low-fat meal for one, or the perfect dish to share. The dynamite roll is also tasty. My mother always says that Vanyas' tempura is the best; the perk of a small restaurant is that your food arrives quickly, and fresh, crispy tempura is what makes a dynamite roll excellent.



Here is one of my favourite dishes, katsudon, at Vanya. You could say that its one of my favourite comfort foods! Deep-fried pork cutlets with egg cooked onto the top, on a bed of carmelized onions. M is not necessarily great at remembering the names of restaurants, so for the longest time, I referred to Vanya as "the pork chop rice place! You know! How can you not remember?!?" Finally, he is remembering Vanya, so no need to call it the "pork chop rice place". You know. Less confusion. :)



Here's a last shot of the tempura. Crispy, fresh, tasty while still retaining moisture in the shrimp. Vanyas' yam tempura and assorted tempura are also very good.

As an aside, if you order the Nabeyaki Udon, be sure to order the tempura on the side. And in the summertime, be sure to try their cold noodle.

I'm glad Vanya hasn't changed too much with the new management - the place has a lot of nostalgia for me!

Vanya

5615 Harold Street [map]

Vancouver BC

P: 604-433-1303

Ebisu on Broadway (Vancouver, BC)

My family has been enjoying sushi at 601 Broadway for the longest time. We were patrons of Kamei Royale and Kamei Robata in years past, and with its newest reincarnation and slight management tweaking, we still love eating quality sushi at Ebisu on Broadway.



First up, beef tataki, served with slices of sweet cherry tomato, radish, green onion, shiso leaves, radish sprouts, and a light vinagrette. A refreshing start to a huge meal...



Then some dynamite roll (one for each side of the table), spicy gyoza, and chopped scallop sushi. What I love about (now) Ebisu is that their ingredients are always fresh, and there is care taken when preparing each variety of sushi. In addition, they have a number of chefs (hot and cold sides) so the food never tastes rushed; instead, you can taste the food as it was meant to be. :)



Large appetites call for large party platters! We dug in and finished it in no time.



A favourite of mine is the mango paradise roll. You know those sushi places that serve you crunchy fruit on sushi? Well Ebisu is NOT that place - the mango was perfectly ripe and complimented the underlying smoked salmon and California roll quite well! The tobiko added a nice, slightly bitter crunch.



We also ordered the lobster sushi boat, which comes with fresh lobster, tuna and salmon sashimis, and a variety of other sashimis.



A distinguishing dish is their grilled ika / octopus. Come to think of it though, because I almost always go to Ebisu with family, I have *rarely* done the ordering, so I don't exactly know what this dish is called. The octopus comes pre-blanched and with a touch of marinade. There is also a small "grill" to prepare the octopus to your liking. After grilling for a short amount of time per side, the octopus is dipped in the sesame-soy sauce. Yum!



Next we had some uni (they did not have fresh uni that day, so we settled for frozen) sushi and oyster motoyaki. I am a huge fan of uni, so I savoured that little morsel like nobodys business! The oyster motoyaki, however, was surprisingly good, even though I hadn't "ordered" one at the beginning of the meal (you pay a steep price for eating food that you hadn't ordered in my family. heehee!). The motoyaki wasn't too heavy, but still had huge chunks of oyster and complimenting vegetables baked into the half shell.



Dads favourite is the salmon belly and the salmon kama (salmon neck). The salmon is grilled, so the skin gets blistery and crisp, while still keeping the flesh meaty and moist. Typically, the salmon (either one) gets grabbed up once it hits the table. I wasn't even able to get a photo of the salmon belly, it disappeared that fast!

We also ordered a number of tempuras (assorted and yam). Ebisus' tempura always arrives fresh and piping hot. As usual, fried food is always good!

Grandpas' favourite is the unagi-don (grilled eel on rice). It comes with a wonderful sauce and the rice does a great job of soaking it all up. There have been times, dining at Ebisu, that members of the family find only a skimpy piece or two of eel left - all the seaweed and rice is gone. *That's* how good the sauce is. :)



Finally, remember that lobster sashimi boat? After you are done eating all the sashimi, the staff will take it back to the kitchen and prepare a miso soup with the claws and shell. For an extra charge, you may add in noodles - ramen, udon, or soba. We usually opt for ramen, but they had ran out that day. So, we ordered udon. It hit the spot as I'd been craving some udon anyways.

Change your name all you want Ebisu / Kamei / whatever! Just don't change the food!

Ebisu on Broadway

601 West Broadway [map]

Vancouver BC

Phone: 604-876-3388

Review: Tentatsu (Hastings-Sunrise, Vancouver, BC)

We felt like sushi after coffee this weekend. Driving down Hastings, we remembered a busy restaurant that we had passed many a time while shopping at Donald's Market, or picking up bbq pork at a nearby Chinese butcher shop. It was always busy, and had traffic whether for an eat-in meal, or a for take-out orders.

Judging by the menu posted in the window, it was easy to see why. Tentatsu seemed to offer good value.



I will admit - I am a *lot* like my dad when I am hungry. I get grumpy. I get exasperated. I just *need* food, to, as he puts it, "feel like a human again".

Such was the case this Saturday, when we had driven for a while and M was still at a loss at what type of food he wanted to eat, or what he wanted to order. I was about to lose it. :p

We decided on three items: seafood okonomiyaki, a Japanese pancake / omelette of sorts, a sashimi combo, and the Love Flower. Unfortunately, due to my brain going on "starvation mode", I can't remember which sashimi combo it was, all I know is that it was good, and the fresh ebi were huge!



The ebi were the most impressive part of the sushi combo, which came with twelve pieces of fresh-tasting sashimi, including mackerel, salmon, tuna, surf clam, the ebi, and snapper. It *definately* satisfied the sashimi / sushi craving!



While I made the ultimate decision to try the okonomiyaki at Tentatsu, I was a disappointed when it came. It was a great deal thicker than what I was expecting. It had a suitable amount of seafood in it, and the flavour of the shrimp and octopus came through nicely, but it wasn't cooked long enough to give the crisp outer later nor the "charred" flavour that I wanted from a good okonomiyaki. M said he liked that it wasn't greasey, and would order it again, but I found it too starchy and would likely pass on ordering it again in the future.



What I was impressed with, was the Love Flower. It was sure awkward to eat, however! The Love Flower is a center of chopped scallop set atop sushi rice, wrapped with two thick slices of salmon, and garnished with lettuce and roe; one piece is topped with flying fish roe, the other, salmon roe. Perhaps it was the chefs play on comedy & tragedy masks? The flavour of the bitter salmon roe cut through the slightly sweet scallop and salmon, while the flying fish roe made that piece even sweeter. . . such is love!

At just over $30 for two people and a full belly, we'd come back to Tentatsu. Their rolls looked great - I just wouldn't order their okonomiyaki next time. Tentatsu doesn't beat the North Shore for sushi in my books, but it is plenty fine for Vancouver! ;)

Tentatsu
2430 East Hastings Street [map]

Vancouver, BC

Phone: 604-255-3733

Review: Dundarave Sushi

Me and M were in Dundarave killing some time before we ate mountains and mountains of pasta at his moms house.

We visited the consignment store, and a womens' boutique (M excused himself and went to the man / hardware / etc store nearby). Since we'd only had breakfast, and it was already late afternoon, we knew that we had to have something to eat.



Dundarave Sushi looked great - inexpensive, quick, and light. There was a great bargain advertised on the sandwich board outside. Two combos at only $6.95 each! Of course, being the piglets that we are, we ordered something else off the menu. For $13.95, we shared a combo that included miso soup, tuna, tai, and salmon sashimi, two pieces of california roll, tuna, salmon, ebi, tamago and kani sushis, a green salad, and side of tempura of generous proportions.

At first I was reluctant to agree to order the combo, but once the tray of food came, I was glad I ordered it.



The food was delicious and the fish was so fresh! I literally ate my first piece of tai sashimi and said to M, "the north shore is really the place to go for sushi."

I'm glad to have found Dundarave Sushi - it offers fresh sashimi and sushi at a great price. And to boot, it's across the street from one of the best yarn stores in town!


Dundarave Sushi

2459 Marine Drive [map]

West Vancouver, BC

Tel: (604) 922-5588