Shiro Japanese Restaurant
3096 Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC
It is said that when something bad happens, something good will. During the Olympics weeks, one afternoon, I decided to visit one of the houses/pavilions located outside of the major areas (Downtown Vancouver, Yaletown, Richmond O Zone, et al). That one place ended up being the Ukrainian House located near Cambie Street, not far from Vancouver City Hall. However, by some really odd twist of destiny, the one day I went was the one day they were closed. ARGGGGG!!! OK, I did check their site but, for some reason, it appeared as open that night but, the day after, I checked again and this time, it was listed as closed. >_<
Regardless, after this epic fail, I was walking back to the Skytrain station to go home when I saw Shiro. Based on the feedback of Sherman, I knew this was a place I should visit. And this night might be as good as any other night…
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Tagged as:
Cambie,
Japanese,
Seafood,
Sushi
Miku Restaurant
1055 W Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC
Sometime last year, I received an email from a person (to left unnamed) identifying herself as a person related to Miku Restaurant. According to the email, part of the reason I was sent the email was because I have blogged about a lot of restaurants in the Downtown area and there was an interest for me to write about them. As you know, I seldom accept such invitations and, when I actually go to the restaurant, I don’t identify myself. Of course, carrying a big camera does not help and you can easily be spotted. However, because of the Olympics, half the town might be tourist and, as a result, I was able to sneak past a lot of these checks. Seeing this opportunity, I checked with my friend PR if she would be interested in lunch. And to Miku we went…
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Tagged as:
Downtown,
Japanese,
Sushi,
Vancouver
Sushi Garden
4635 Kingsway (Location visited)
4269 Lougheed Highway
Burnaby, BC
In Vancouver, there are some sushi spots that are know to most people. There are high end places like Tojo’s or Octopus Garden and then there are all-you-can-eat sushi spots (too many to mention). One of the best known, non-all-you-can-eat sushi spots is Sushi Garden and, in a way, I find it interesting that I am finally blogging about it…
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Tagged as:
Burnaby,
Japanese,
Seafood,
Sushi
Azia
990 Smithe Street
Vancouver, BC
There has been a lot of times Sherman has been in Downtown Vancouver for lunch; however, for one reason or another, we can’t seem to agree on the time. I mean, what person who works regular hours have lunch at 2:00 p.m.? Anyway, this time Sherman was in the Downtown area and I checked with him if he wanted to go for lunch – at a *regular* time. By some odd circumstance, he said it should be OK until I realized there was one caveat: There will be some friends tagging along and they might not necessarily be the most adventurous group when it comes to food. That and other unrelated circumstances shot down a lot of options. As a result, I told Sherman: just come up with a place since he knew is group better than me. His choice? Azia.
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Tagged as:
Asian,
Chinese,
Downtown,
Lunch,
Sushi,
Vancouver
Irashai Grill
1368 W Pender Street
Vancouver, BC
When I officially started food blogging, among one of my earliest posts was that of Irashai Grill. Armed with high expectations, I went there for lunch and I was disappointed. Fast forward a couple of months later to May 2009. During a food bloggers gathering, Sherman (of Sherman’s Food Adventures) asks me if I will be going to an open house Irashai Grill was organizing, including a separate food bloggers lunch. I told him a categorical no, which shocked him in a way. After all, it was free food! As for what happened afterwards, I will just suggest you read this post (will open in a new window). It has a long story of its own.
Once again, fast forward to the end of 2009. I became aware of a photography workshop (by Jackie Connelly) specific to taking pictures of food. I have had my share of issues taking food pictures and, I thought, hey, why not! I forwarded that email to Sherman and Anita (of La Petite Foodie) and they were good to go as well. And, in sort of a coming to a full circle type post, the place where this workshop would take place was Irashai Grill. I guess, that gave Sherman and I the chance to do a revisit and make a better assessment of their food…
Ah, the old picture taken back in 2008… How time changes!
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Tagged as:
Downtown,
Japanese,
Lunch,
Sushi,
Vancouver,
West End
Nao Sushi
7060 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC
Whenever you hear “sushi” or Japanese food in Metro Vancouver, most people think of a handful of places near Downtown Vancouver, Kitsilano or the Mount Pleasant. And, in an odd way, some all-you-can-eat locations. Burnaby? With the exception of Sushi Garden, people will overlook Burnaby. This is despite in the Middlegate area of Burnaby there is a Japanese centre and where Hi Genki can be found. While I have been in Hi Genki (way before my days of food blogging), this post is about a nearby Japanese restaurant: Nao Sushi.
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Tagged as:
Burnaby,
Japanese,
Sushi
Ichi Umi
6 East 32nd Street, New York
352 Menlo Park Mall (Location visited)
Edison, NJ
As I have done in my last previous business trips, in that wish to make comparisons between sushi found in other cities and Vancouver, I did some quick search around and two places that kept popping out: Minado and Ichi Umi. There was a third restaurant I wanted to try, Mr. Pi Sushi, but, given the popularity of the previous two, I thought, hey, that is what people like so let’s go to one of these! And, out of the two, I ended up going to Ichi Umi mainly because that was the closest one (of course, “close” is a relative term given most of the drive was highway). However, there was something I neglected to do, not to mention something that was giving me bad vibes about this place: it is located in a mall. To make a really bad analogy, the two sushi restaurant in Vancouver that are in large malls (as far as I know and not counting the small stands) are Sui-Sha-Ya and Kawawa Japanese Restaurant. Both are all-you-can-eat and, out of the two, I have only been to the former (mainly due to peer pressure). As for the later, I will just refer to Sherman’s visit… But, back to Ichi Umi.
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Tagged as:
Japanese,
New Jersey,
Sushi
