Sushi Robo
1709 Robson St
Vancouver, BC V6G
The first time I had Japanese food was in Panama in a chain called Sushi Itto. Without any reference point or somebody to guide me, I ordered some dishes and hope for the best. Out of the dishes I ordered, I remember a roll (might have been California Roll, can’t say for certain) and some sashimi – most probably snapper. The meal was really bad, as it was bland and the sashimi was not sliced properly. Not knowing better, I just ate my dinner without making any fuss. The odd thing was that the memorable part of the dinner was the dessert: fried ice cream… In other words, I had a really bad start with Japanese food. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that I found there was a better Japanese restaurant in town (run by second generation Japanese) and had I gone to this other one instead, my experience would have been completely different. Oh, well…
When I moved here, I was surprised at the amount of Japanese restaurant here. Well, I shouldn’t have, considering Metro Vancouver is a multi-cultural city. Still, the bad memory of that dinner lingered and was not really interested in trying it. Until one day, that is, I decided to give it a second chance. The question of course was where. I could have had gone to any but I was feeling slightly intimidated. In the end, my first sushi experience in Vancouver was from a small shop called Sushi Robo…
“It’s too easy to criticize McDonald’s”
by KimHo on October 11, 2008 · 2 comments under: Comments,Food
“Really?”. That was my reaction after I read an article in The Globe and Mail about Ferran Adrià when asked about McDonald’s – The full quote being “It’s too easy to criticize McDonald’s. But give me an alternative for €3? What can you make better than that?” (For reference purposes, as of October 10th, 2008, 3 Euros was around CDN $4.75, around US$ 4.10).
Before I continue, I have read about Mr. Adrià; however, the likelihood of me visiting ElBulli, the restaurant he runs, is nil. Sure, it is an expensive place but, if I commit myself to do it, cost would not be really an issue. No, that’s not the problem; the problem instead is that the restaurant is open only a couple of months per year and there is always a waiting list. As for his cooking methodology/ideology, well, it is a bit unfair to comment about it without having actually tasting it but, if Alton Brown of Good Eats is the “mass” version of the ideology, I can only say “it sounds good!”.
Now let’s get back to the main issue: What you can purchase with $5? (For sanity sake, I am rounding this number and any reference to currency is in Canadian Dollars, as mentioned above, as of October 10th, 2008, 3 Euros ~= CDN $4.75 ~= US $4.10). In my case there are lot of things I can think of and most of them better than MickeyD’s… For example:
And the list could go on but I am sure you get the idea.
To a certain extent, I have the odd feeling Mr. Adrià is a bit detached of reality. Sure, $5 might be what he will spend for a pound of tomato or a small chunk of mozzarella but those are his standards. More often than not, for the average Joe or Jane, there are cheaper alternatives. It is a matter of us wanting to act on it or pay $5 for our laziness and patronize MickeyD’s instead.
(Of course, all this is based on Canada costs; YMMV depending on your country!)