Rikka Japanese Kitchen
28 8th Street
New Westminster, BC
My quest for good restaurants outside of Vancouver, specially that in Downtown Vancouver, lead me again to New Westminster. Burger Heaven – the place I dropped by in my previous visit to this area – was a really good spot. Would Rikka Japanese Kitchen be able to match that visit?
I arrived around 7:30 p.m. and the only other customers were a couple in another table. Other than that, one another customer walked in for take-out. This is usually a flag but I decided to have dinner anyway.
The place itself was odd. The furniture, although functional, felt like something it was made in a hurry and/or they ran out of budget. I think this is the first time I have been to a place where I thought IKEA furniture would have worked better…
I quickly browsed the menu and, although extensive, there was one category I thought I could not go wrong: their dinner specials. Specifically, I ordered the Rikka Dinner, aka the “Chef’s Daily Special”.
The staff was just a waitress and the chef. The food took easily over 20 minutes to come out, starting with the already expected…
Miso soup. Feel free to call it stereotype… Until I have a miso soup that can be considered “groundbreaking” or different enough, I think I will just say it was average. One of these days I will order clam miso soup for a change…
That night’s dinner special was short ribs and fish teriyaki. Now, I was not sure what exactly the fish was, as I swear one piece was salmon and the other could have been another fist (saba, most probably). In both cases, they were good. Does it look like a big meal? Well, it is. According to the menu, the dinner specials “comes with nigiri (3 pcs), Sashimi (5 pcs), Tempura (2pcs), Salad, Daily Ohitashi, Rice and Miso Soup“. So now, a close-up of the components:
Salad, the dressing was tangy but not overdressed.
I am not sure what “component” this would be. Ohitashi is not be because “ohitashi” refers to boiled greens and, obviously, this ain’t. They were pieces of fried fish wrapped in shiso leaf.
Sushi, 3 pieces.
Tempura. In the bottom shot, a vegetable hash tempura, the first time I have seen it in Vancouver.
Sashimi. Nicely set-up, in my opinion…
As for the taste, I can’t help myself say it was mixed. During the wait, I could hear the oil sizzling. Also, I noticed the chef slicing the fish. Unfortunately, because I took a bit too long to take the pictures, the tempura lost a bit of its crispness. My fault, though. However, the sushi/sashimi was a bit of a let down. There wasn’t enough vinegar in the sushi rice (if there was any, there was not enough for me to “taste” it) and the slices itself was… Odd. While on the picture above the slice looks “perfect”, the side under was a bit jagged, as if the knife used to cut it was not sharp enough.
During the wait, the waitress left the restaurant and the only two people there was the chef and myself. While I was taking the pictures, a funny situation ensued: The chef started talking to me in Japanese and I had absolutely no idea what he was saying, other than he said shashin (photograph) a couple of times.
Overall, I have a really wacky feeling about the chef and, as a result, this place. My theory is that the chef’s specialty is tempura. However, because the public thinks Japanese food equates to sushi, he has been forced into that field, though the fact there is a bigger (sushi) restaurant across the street (Ki Sushi, formerly known as Kirin Sushi) must have something to do, too. So yes, based on my meal, I have to say, unfortunately, their sushi offerings were sub-par. To those who think Japanese chef can’t go wrong with their own food… But, don’t be discouraged by my description. The meal as a whole was quite good. But, if I come back here, it won’t be for the sushi.
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I agree with your miso statement, although I have been practicing at home with red miso to make an out of the ballpark version (one day when the planets align it will be there). It’s a shame the sashimi doesn’t live up to the presentation…and tempura hash; that’s a new one for me too.
Wow, funny I didn’t think anyone else in Vancouver would’ve found this place, as I was here a few weeks ago as well, and found myself alone with the chef and waitress.
I ordered a few of the sushi rolls and while they had pretty fantastic presentation and decent quality, took a bit too long to make.
Its not the best neighborhood for a restaurant to be, and given that the chef is making an earnest effort with the food I really hope business picks for them.
Raidar, good luck on your quest. If you find a killer brand/combination for the miso paste, let us know!
Dan, I will admit I really wanted to like this place. But, alas, I must be objective. Don’t let my description discourage you (or other readers), I am willing to bet it was my expectations, specially due to my visit to Shima-Ya. Compared to other sushi restaurants, this place is way better. For completeness sake, though, I think I should visit Ki Sushi and then make comparisons.
About visiting places like this, well, what can I say! Although I could go to places west of Main Street, I think, to make it interesting, I should go to visit places not in most people’s radars.
Your pictures are soooo clear that I can see the tiny chip in the spoon!
Nice pic’s and review! I liked it because it’s deserted so it’s nice for a quiet meal.
I like this place but like you said it’s extremely uneven. It’s been around for a while but it’s always empty due to a number of factor’s.
1. Almost everytime I vary from the dinner special menu, I feel like the food is not good value. For example the shoyu ramen is basically noodles a few veggies and broth, no egg, no meat… so it’s really not a good value. The seafood salad came with three tiny pieces of seafood and the salad greens are iceburg but the price is $5.50. The sunomono is one shrimp with a small portion of noodles for $4. The don rice bowls are extremely small portions.
2. The portion sizes vary far too much, sometimes the chef is generous other times the portions are microscopic and this is with ordering the same thing! There is no rhyme or reason to it though. I remember ordering the salmon terriyaki dinner box once and it was only two small chunks of salmon terriyaki (not even a full salmon steak, it wasn’t even a quarter of a salmon steak, just two small chunks). It was odd.
3. So if you do go I recommend the tuna terriyaki appetizer, it’s three pieces for $3.50 and like the reviewer says the tempura’s are a strength here. Although be warned my friend ordered the seafood tempura, and then returned on another visit and said the tempura portions were much smaller.
4. The seafood is NOT fresh here, beware of eating raw stuff here. Because of the few customers there is too low of a turnover here. I’ve been served not fresh california rolls which is ridiculous. The california roll filling itself tasted old. I once had a seafood salad here which wasn’t fresh either. I just don’t eat raw stuff here.
5. The large tip platter beside their cash register irks me, the service there is so uneven, their prices are so all over the place that sometimes I just wonder how they justify what they charge, sometimes the food is not fresh… and yet they want tips. It’s just bizarre.
6. The bathroom is icky, it’s one of the worst bathrooms I have ever seen at a restaurant. Plus there is no running hot water. Why don’t they renovate it!
7. With their bizarre practice of uneven pricing and uneven portions and not fresh seafood they just turn off patrons, I liked going here but there is no point. Ki Sushi is a better value and at least it’s consistent. AND Ki sushi has the best tasty huge pieces of SOCKEYE salmon sashimi for such reasonable prices. I also love Ki’s generous chicken katsu that is plated with a side salad and their salmon fried rice is garlicky goodness.
I agree the chef is sort of freaky. And to gain business I just don’t see why they don’t have an before 4pm california roll for #2 special or something. I mean they are so deserted they should have daily specials to attract customers. I just think that Ki Sushi is so dominant in that area and offers much better value, if Rikka were in another area it might have done better. Plus the AYCE is over at the New West Quay so they need to offer better quality food at a better price.
MIa, that is a very thorough explanation/commet – thanks a lot! I did do a follow up on Ki Sushi and, agreed, it is a better option. As for the rest, I wouldn’t have found out unless I had several visits; however, given my initial impression…
Coming late to this post as I am researching New West restos, I am sad that the only place I’ve heard of nearish by that does shredded tempura is not so good. There was a place long ago downtown (on Howe Street I think) that did an exemplary shredded onion tempura but I have not encountered it since. The tempura fish wrapped in shiso looks quite attractive. FWIW: I recently had an outstanding prawn wrapped in shiso tempura at Dan in Vancouver. Their (seasonal) aparagus tempura was also exemplary and served with a curry salt which worked really well.
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