Tsuki Sushi Bar

Name: Tsuki Sushi Bar 

Location: 509 Abbott Street, Vancouver, BC 

Website: http://tsukisushibar.ca

 Rated: 

Inside Signage

Ever since spotting this restaurant on my way to the Old Spaghetti Factory, I’ve been desperate to try it. Luckily, just one week later, I was able to. On Friday November 9th at roughly 6:30pm,I went with a group of friends to try it out!

It was fairly small ( roughly 5-6 tables, one long communal table and bar seats). Despite the size, the place was almost jam packed! Luckily, we only had to wait 5 minutes before we were seated at the bar.

Without further ado, onto the food!

On the table:
- Deluxe Sashimi
- Greater Vancouver Roll
- White Roll
- Half & Half Spicy Sashimi
- Salmon Toro ( 4 aburi)
- Oysters
- Green Tea Rare Cheesecake
- Black Sesame Creme Brulee
- Earl Grey Ice Cream
- Miso Soup

Miso Soup:

Since the restaurant was full, the waitress gave us complimentary miso soup as compensation ( although we didn't mind the wait)!

• It's pretty standard miso soup
• Tofu was soft and the green onions were fresh 

White Roll ($8.50):

"Dungeness Crab on top of Scallop Special Roll, torched w/Tsuki Sauce"
My friend, EngineerGirl, ordered this one.

• Real crab meat! 
• The flavour combination was very good 
• Wasn't too big a fan of the aburi on the crab meat 
• Presentation was simple and elegant 
• Scallop was very sweet and fresh 

Greater Vancouver Roll ($6):
"Seared Tuna and Tobiko on top of Vancouver Roll"
This caught my attention right off the bat, so of course I had to order it!

• The tuna was seared so perfectly
• The mixture of tobiko, tuna and steamed tuna was delicious
• Presented in the same style of White Roll
• My favourite roll of the night 

Golden Mantle Oysters ($1.50):
We originally ordered 8, but they ran out due to the high demand, so we settled for 5 instead.

• Part of their daily special $1.50/piece 
• Very popular and goes fast! 
• Small, with a crisp sharp taste 
• For oysters in the same area, I'd prefer to go to Oyster Express instead 
• Already have green onions and a sauce on top 

Half & Half Spicy Sashimi ($9):
My sister ordered this one, she absolutely loves spicy food.

• Wasn't too spicy, slight bit of kick 
• Sashimi was very fresh ( seems like they value that) 
• Salmon & Tuna 
• Comes with cucumbers slathered in the sauce 

Deluxe Sashimi Platter ($29):
The last person in our group, M, choose this dish.

• Hamachi, Salmon, Tuna, Tako, Ika, Hotate, Amaebi
• All the sashimis were super fresh 
• Hotate (Scallop) was sweet and crisp 
• Tako was surprisingly not too chewy and very "clean" tasting
• Salmon, Tuna, Hamachi were all very good without any mushiness or fishy taste 

Salmon Toro Nigiri ($2.50):

We all decided to order this, because hey, we don't get to have toro (of any kind) too often!

• Aburi (Flame searing) is available for $0.25 more 
• 4 out of the 6 were flame seared 
• The fattiness of the fish was melt in your mouth good 
• the sushi rice was a bit warm :(

The desserts were complimentary as well. 

Earl Grey Ice Cream ($4):

• Very fragrant and strong Earl Grey Flavour 
• Creamy and smooth 
• Probably the best ice cream I've ever tasted 

Black Sesame Creme Brûlée ($5):

• Unique style, I've never had it in this form before 
• Super creamy 
• The mixture of the two was a match made in heaven 
• Could NOT stop eating it!

Green Tea Rare Cheesecake ($6):

Engineer Girl and M each ordered one of these.

• Very smooth 
• Lots of green tea flavour 
• Graham cookie base was a bit crumbly 
• I don't get what's so "rare" in the cheesecake :S
• Delicious!

Overall: 

The Yay:

• Food: Great 
• Price: Roughly $94 with tip, $23.50/person  
• Location: Free parking! 
• Service: for the most part, was attentive and accommodating 

The Nay:

• No cocktails at the time we went (6:30-8:15) 
• Small space 

  

     

Beginning Again

Wow, it's been so long since I last posted an entry. The past (almost) two years have been full of turmoil, thus I haven't been faithful to blogging about food. However, I'm back on track again and will be beginning again! Stay tuned for a lot of blog posts about food!

Go Fish Ocean Emporium

Name: Go Fish Ocean Emporium
Location: 1505 W. 1st Avenue, Vancouver BC
Website: http://www.bin941.com/
Rated:

Whenever I want to check out unique or nichy little shops or just to eat, Granville Island is one of my absolute favourite places to to go. On this particular day though, I didn't want to eat at Tony's Fish and Oyster Cafe, or to the Blue Parrot Cafe, or anything in the food court ( well...except for gelato!). After a quick search on the Urbanspoon app, I finally decided on Go Fish Emporium.

They "go fishing" on Mondays and buy their fish fresh off the fisherman who shares the dock with them!

On the table:

- 2 piece salmon fish and chips

2 Piece Salmon Fish and Chips:

• My god, is this good!
• Batter was light and not too greasy 
• Super fresh!
• Salmon was nicely done ( not overcooked at all) 
• Pieces were bigger than what I expected 
• Tartar sauce was tangy 
• Wasn't a fan of cole slaw ( personally don't like any kind of cole slaw)
• Arrived in a little dimsum steamer haha 

Overall: 
The Yay:

• Food: Very fresh, not heavily battered 
• Price: $11

The Nay:

• Can be very busy ( expect long line ups) 
• Limited space (sit-downwise) 

Tony's Fish and Oyster Cafe

Name: Tony's Fish and Oyster Cafe
Location: 1511 Anderson St, Vancouver BC
Website: http://www.tonysfish-granvilleisland.com/

Rated:

Yet another day at Granville Island! I seriously can not get enough of this place.

While CL and I were waiting for a table ( there was a long line up ahead of us - 3 groups of 4), I left my jacket on the bench while looking at the info booth nearby. This middle aged asian guy then comes up to us and tells us to be careful and not to leave our stuff unattended as they could be stolen. We gratefully thanked him. He then sat next to us for 15 minutes and chatted about the tourism at Granville Island...Little did we know, we had just met Tony, the owner of Tony's Fish and Oyster Cafe!

On the table:
- Seafood Platter

Seafood Platter ($33.99:

• Contained Crab, Scallop, Oyster, Prawns, Mussels, and Cod 
• Came with Coleslaw ( Huge plate) 
• Also came with fries ( or salad) 
• Cod was the best part of the dish
• Cod was thick, and very fresh 
• Scallops were breaded and very fried...did not like :(
• Mussels were a bit small but still had lots of flavour
• Oyster was very deep fried, could barely taste the oyster flavour :(
• Crab and prawns were okay, nothing amazing 
• Coleslaw was creamy and tangy (not a fan of cole slaw personally) 
• Fries were beneath the seafood, so got some seafoody taste

Overall: 
The Yay:

• Location: Good view of all the tourists haha 
• Owner was funny and very sociable 

The YuNay?:

• Food: Was good for the most part, but hit and miss for some (oysters, scallops) 
• Service: Hit and miss,  sometimes it was hard to flag down a server 

The Nay:

• There can be a long wait for seats 
• Slightly cramped seating  
• Price: $41 incl tax and tip for two people ($20.50/person) 
• Wasn't really full 

Cafe Salade de Fruits

Name: Cafe Salade de Fruits
Location: 1551 W 7th Avenue, Vancouver, BC
Website: http://www.saladedefruits.com/
Rated:

Menu 

Cafe Salade de Fruits is right beside the French Cultural Centre. I actually visited this cafe when I was in high school for a french class expedition hahaha. This time however, I went with CL ( who was unfortunately not that hungry...)

The inside is adorned with signage from places in France and gives off a homey atmosphere.

On the table:
- Moules et Frites
- Bread and Butter

Bread and Butter:

• Complimentary 
• Warm 
• Refillable 
• Pretty standard 

Moules et Frites ($15):

• So delicious 
• Nearly 30 plump mussels ( yes, I counted...) 
• Broth was a tad bit salty, especially near the bottom 
• Mussels were very sweet 
• Fries were okay, nothing spectacular 
• They don't serve ketchup, only mayo 
• Quite a large plate of fries 
• Dip the fries into the broth, you won't regret it! 

The server was really funny, since when we asked to pack the fries to go, he jokingly threatened that he will only pack them IF and only if we swear on our lives not to eat them with ketchup.







Overall: 
The Yay:

• Food: C'est tres bon! 
• Service: Attentive, our glasses were always filled
• Price: $18 incl tax + tip for two people 

The Nay:

• A bit of a wait at times 
• Location can be hard to find for some  

Guu With Garlic!

First time going to the Guu with Garlic on Robson Street, and it was really yummy. I was super surprised at the quality and the ambiance in the small restaurant.

Ambiance: Love the bustle of the restaurant and the very traditional and japanese decor. There was a smaller room where diners kneel whilst eating and of course, there are tables and seating along the bar. It is a bit tight but it's quite bearable.

Food:
What we ordered:

First up : Korokke

It’s basically mashed potatoes with some creamy sauce and corn with a deep fried coating. It’s light and crispy, and the mashed potatoes were super fluffy. It also came with a sauce that was slightly tangy but also thick. Super yummy!

Second: Beef Carpaccio

Beef Carpaccio is slightly cooked ( very thinly on the sides) but mostly raw beef slices. This dish came with a creamy wasabi sauce that wasn’t too spicy and a plum sauce drizzled on top. It also included some fried garlic pieces and radish. It’s probably one of the best beef carpaccios I’ve ever tasted and my mouth is watering right now….

Third: Ton Toro

Ton Toro is fatty pork cheeks that have been cooked. It’s really soft meat and the outsides are slightly fried whilst the inside is super tender. It’s a bit salty for my taste but overall, the sauce that came with it ( sour ish) helped offset all the sodium haha.

Fourth: Salmon Carpaccio

                                                         

Although similar to beef carpaccio, the salmon differed slightly. It wasn’t cooked at all ( which I didn’t mind), was thin sliced, and came with a different sauce. However, the quality remained the same and it was amazing. The flavours were so vivid and totally burst on the tongue.

Fifth: Tuna Tataki

                                                         

Tuna tataki, is pretty much the same as the carpaccios, however it was slightly pan seared ( just the edges), although it still retained some element of rawness. The sauce it came with was salty but light. It was really fragrant and seemed to melt on my tongue.

Sixth: Ume-Shiso Udon

                                                       

Our last dish, this was more of a filler than an appetizer. It as made with ume ( plum) so it had a bit of a sour but tangy sharpness to the noodles and also had some meat ( beef or pork? I’m not quite sure). The noodles were chewy and tender, and the accompanying herbs and sauce was flavourful without being heavy.

Service: Excellent service! I am actually quite happy that we booked reservations because by the time we arrived ( 15 minutes late), the restaurant was packed. The staff were very friendly and accommodating. They even phoned me at 7:10pm to ask if I was coming still and charged nothing for it! They were extremely attentive and I never had an unfilled cup of tea!

Price: Price was pretty good, with dishes priced around $5-7 depending on what you pick. It's reasonable, especially for the quality.