Ebisu on Broadway

Ebisu on Broadway
601 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC

I have mentioned previously that a “perk” of blogging is that you get to meet people. In this instance, I got to meet DVP (sorry, won’t mention her name unless she chooses to; instead, I will use a placeholder name, OK?), whom have been a frequent reader in some of the local blogs. Of course, it wasn’t solely for the food; in DVP’s case, she also had some questions about me, not to mention about my other “hobby”, namely photography. But, you know what? At times, no excuses are need to check with me for a meal!

Now, DVP had a particular request: a sushi restaurant. I found out the reason real behind afterwards but, in a way, I was up to the challenge. Unfortunately, it was the Victoria’s Day long weekend and, suddenly, all the places I had originally suggested were closed! In the end, while driving almost endlessly, I thought… Ebisu! So, in the end, to Ebisu we went.

There is reason why I remembered Ebisu: a couple of months ago, I met Erin of My Life on the E List for lunch and, on that day, option #1 was Ebisu but they were closed! So, this time, it would be attempt #2 (oh, on that note, had it failed again, the fall back place was Shiro, which, when driving to Ebisu, we found out it was open that night).

After been seated, it was the usual question… What to order? DVP had interest for some particular dishes and, as for myself, I think I went overboard and ordered way too much food… ^_^;;; Anyway, here is what we got on the table.

Three pieces of tuna sashimi, three pieces of salmon sashimi and three pieces of unagi sushi. Similar to lunch, where they have specials (as per my post here), they also have similar dinner specials, i.e., you can mix and match between different options for a flat price. In chose these base on DVP’s feedback and, for the most part, they were quite nice. The only issue was the size of sashimi: it was a bit thick but, again, otherwise, it was good in its own ways.

Remember back in February I visited Miku Restaurant and where one of their claims to fame was their aburi sushi, aka, seared sushi? Specifically that they have it trademarked and what not. Well, Ebisu has it as well, though with some obvious differences. For one, there are only two options, toro and mackerel. The other main difference is that there is no sauce on top. While the lightly seared fish develop some interesting fatty torched taste, the rice was a bit hard/chewy and the shiso leave sandwiched in between didn’t really work for me. In a way, the shiso leaf won’t have been much of an issue as it could be easily removed but I couldn’t let pass the rice. Otherwise, I prefer this one over the one in Miku mainly because I could taste the seared fish, compared to it being masked as in the case of Miku.

I ordered this one mostly out of curiosity – their sakura roll (?). On one side, the plating is quite interesting. And, despite the ingredients weren’t that exotic – tuna, salmon and avocado, at least, it combined quite well. And some of the seaweed helped by providing a crunchy taste.

Shrimp tempura. This was a bit of a fail for one reason: too thick of a batter. Not sure if, because of that, the shrimp ended up slightly overcooked. I wished I had ordered something else instead of this. >_<

Agedashi tofu. It was hot and crispy but, alas, the broth at the bottom made it somewhat too mushy by the time we got to those pieces. I wonder, can’t these be served separately? Also, some extra bonito shavings would have helped…

One dish I ordered as a token vegetable was goma-ae. Boiled spinach with some sesame paste and sesame seeds, it is a simple dish but, when it is good, it is good. Here, the twist they gave was in the form of having the spinach wrapping some enoki mushroom. Alas, I think I would have liked it more if it was served at the beginning of the meal, rather than at the end: I had to ask them if it was coming. Hmmmmm… But, back to the spinach itself, I thought there was a bit too much sauce but, since I was able to “push” them aside, it didn’t detract from the overall dish.

Overall, I thought the food was quite decent (specially if I compare it to what I had in its Robson location) and, for the most part, service was good, as plates were cleared and tea cups were filled constantly. The one “issue” with service was that they suddenly seem they have disappeared when I needed the bill. Odd as it might sound… But, past that, it provides what people expect and worked for me. So, for that reason, I see myself coming back.

Tagged under: Japanese • Seafood • Sushi • Vancouver