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I love Izakaya and have heard many good reviews about Suika on Broadway. I was super excited when girl’s night ended up here. I love the vibe of this place. Fun and relaxing. Definitely a great place to wine-down from a busy week. Coincidentally Suika was celebrating their 1 year anniversary and had lots of different drink specials.
Corn Kakiage: corn nibbles that are fried with a cilantro batter, soy sauce and butter. I really enjoyed this dish. The batter was light and just a hint of soy sauce and butter. Really great for sharing.
Tuna-Avocado: Tuna sashimi and slices of avocado topped with a plum & seaweed sauce. Two of my favorite things together! The tuna was fresh and the seaweed sauce was very interesting. A hint of sweetness with full seaweed flavor. When you combine all of it together, it taste like sushi but without the rice.
Sashimi “Shake” Salad: I would have to say this is the salad to order there. This sashimi salad comes in a jar with shaking included. The waitress will actually shake up the salad for you and then serve it. Great idea!
Negitoro Battera Roll: Delicious pressed sushi.
Beef Short Rib: My favorite of the evening. The meat was so tender and came right off the bone. The rich, dark flavor was delicious. I would have wanted a second plate of this if I wasn’t so full!
Fries: I decided to order fries cause I just love eating them! Sauce was very addictive!
Aburi Hiramasa Carpaccio: The Hiramasa was thinly sliced with a great sesame say dressing.
Drink Special: Watermelon with Gin & Tonic. A delicious drink with watermelon puree.
Kakuni Bibimbap: Stewed pork belly with dried shrimp served in a hot stone bowl. The pork belly was delicious and the dried shrimp gives the rice that extra flavor. (forgot to take picture) look here!
Oden
Started off the long weekend with a much needed catch up session with high school friends and ended up at GuUGarden. I love the atmosphere there. Very bright and larger seating areas than the other Guu locations.
We started off with oden( mochi bag, free range egg, daikon and taro jelly stick) The mochi bag was my favorite. Mochi stuffed in a tofu bag. An interesting but great combination. Didn’t enjoy the taro stick (very bland).
Fresh Grapefruit Juice
When I ordered fresh grapfruit juice I didn’t know that it would be this fresh! Totally surprised when it arrived at the table. Thankfully, my friend volunteered to be my personal juicer and did a great job!
Ebi Mayo
The ebi was a bit smaller however the overall taste was good. Spicy plus mayo.
Tuna Takaki
Loves this as always!
Avocado Shrimp Salad
Really enjoyed this salad. Lots of avocados and shrimp chips. A very satisfying salad.
Long Bean Tempura
A great finger dish for sharing. Wished it was a bit crispier.
Chicken Karaage
Fried Chicken with a creamy mayo. Very comforting dish. Just the right amount of flavor and crispiness.
Grilled Saba
Grilled perfectly with onions and garlic chips.
Wasabi octopus
This dish was a bit too adventerous for me. Looked a lot more appetizing on the menu. The octopus was very chewy and the wasabi flavor was very strong. Only managed I bite.
GuU is always good. Dishes are fresh and the service is always great. Ideal place for chit chats, drinks and great food.
I can’t believe I have been back for almost a week already. Hawaii seems like a dream…a sweet dream. One of the things that I was most excited about throughout the whole vacation was eating. My family was a tad bit annoyed with me when we were all eating and I would ask “So..what should we eat later?” =)
On the first night we didn’t look for a place to eat until very late in the evening (11pm). As we walked around Waikiki, I remembered that Yard House had a great late night menu.There was a variety of things and we ended up ordering a bunch to share. (All items on their late night menu was 1/2 off) Such a good deal!
Yard House California Roll
This was their rendition of a California Roll. A large slab of rice with imitation crab meat, avocado on top and seaweed sprinkled. It was very interesting indeed. I prefer a regular Cali roll since this one didn’t have much taste. For $5 well worth the try!
Ahi Tuna Sashimi
This was very good. I was very surprised because it tasted very fresh and I didn’t expect that from a bar. Especially from a late night happy menu. It was perfectly seared and the sauce was a great match. Only $7. (wanted to order another one so bad).
Taiko– To celebrate a friend’s birthday( HBD Mr Cheng!) we did the AYCE at Taiko on Denman. I have never heard or seen this place before. However, it exceeded my expectations and has extinguish some of my fears for Japanese AYCE. The atmosphere is nice and the quality of the food is quite decent. The selection of dishes is extensive and for the price of $23.95 you really can’t go wrong.
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Hapa Izakaya– It was a good friend’s birthday last week and we decided to go for a girls night at Hapa Izakaya on Robson. I haven’t been back to this place for awhile and there was definitely some strong changes. For one, they expanded the location and took over another unit, so there is a lot more seating. Secondly, there were many new additions to the menu.
Ebi Avocado Mixed Green Salad
We started of the night with the Ebi Avocado Salad which came with a citrus dressing. I thought the salad was a bit bland. There wasn’t enough avocados and the whole salad only had a few pieces of ebi. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the citrus dressing. It would of been better with a creamier dressing and some cherry tomatoes.
Bintoro Tataki!
This dish was great. The tuna tasted fresh and the mustard vinegar sauce gave it the extra zing.
Ebi Mayo
This is always one of my favorite dishes. I love the overall crispiness and really enjoy the spicy mayo. I get this dish every time=)
Chicken Karaage
It was perfectly crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. Need I say more?
Ribeye Steak
This was something new that I have never tried before. It cost $16 but it was worth it. The steak was juicy and tender. I also loved the mushroom sauce that was drizzled on top. It was very flavorful and delicious!
Negitoro
I really enjoyed this dish. It consist of tuna belly chopped with green onions and served with garlic bread. I love the idea of spreading negitoro on garlic bread. An awesome combination!
Rice in Hot Stone Pot
I forgot the exact name of this dish because it wasn’t very good. The sauce was too spicy for me and the stone pot made the rice chewy. Overall, nothing great and not something that I would order again.
Strawberry Crepe
This was DELICIOUS! I liked the texture of the crepe and loved the creme filling. This dessert had layers of creme, strawberries and crepe. It tasted fresh and had the right amount of sweetness. A great way to end the evening.
Overall, Hapa is a great place for izakaya and drinks. There are many creative dishes that are great for sharing and indulging. The atmosphere is stylish and hip. The decor is simple but elegant. A great place to gather with friends.
GyudonYa— Gyudon is a traditional Japanese dish consisting of rice topped with thinly sliced beef and onions with a sweet sauce. I had this particular dish a few times before in Asia, but never had the chance to try it in Vancouver. Last Friday during my lunch break I decided to walk around a bit [...]
GyudonYa— Gyudon is a traditional Japanese dish consisting of rice topped with thinly sliced beef and onions with a sweet sauce. I had this particular dish a few times before in Asia, but never had the chance to try it in Vancouver.
Last Friday during my lunch break I decided to walk around a bit since the weather was so nice. I reached the corner of Robson and Richards and found Gyudon Ya.
It was about 1pm and there was a line-up pouring out the front entrance. (knowing me..nothing can stop me from getting food..) I walked up to the front and left my name on the waiting list. Since I was alone, I got a seat quite quickly. I was seated at the bar and was given the menu right away. After a long glance at the menu I decided to get the Gyudon Combo. The combo came with miso soup and potato salad for $6.95 (it felt like such a good deal at that moment).
As I was waiting for my food, I took a look around at the interior and the design of the place. The layout of the restaurant is very narrow. There are only 2 tables and the rest were bar seatings either facing the kitchen or the window. It was very hard to get around cause you are always bumming into someone or something.
When the Gyudon Combo came I was content since the portions seemed decent and the Gyudon looked great. I started off with the miso soup and it tasted normal, next was the potato salad and it was bland. It didn’t have much taste but it was decent enough for potato salad. Finally, it was time to try the Gyudon!
I am usually not that picky when it comes to meat on rice since I love rice so much. However, I was highly Disappointed! The beef was way too thin and there was no onions and the worst part was there was no taste!!
It tasted like they boiled the beef in water and added on the rice. It definitely didn’t taste like it was simmered in sauce. So I had to add a load of sweet soysauce on it, but it just wasn’t right.
Sad to say, but I can make a better Gyudon at home. I do not think I will be visiting this place again.
Save money and don’t try…..
Note: While I was eating I heard two girls claiming that ” it was the best beef rice bowl.” The waitress was like “oh really??” And the girls replied “well, it’s our first time eating this!” (phew..that explains it all)
Happy Socks!
