11:00 AM
Janice
After talking about going out for dinner for the longest time, I met up with Diana of Foodology, Gloria of I'm Busy Eating, and Amy of Food Queen for Japanese at Aki Sushi. Although it is noted as one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in Vancouver, none of us had been there, except for Diana who had went once for lunch recently. There were some tables of Japanese people too, and that's always a good sign.
The place is a bit hidden since there aren't any very visible signs that you can easily see as you're walking down the sidewalk. Rather, there's only one that you can see when you look directly at the door, which is below a small flight of stairs.
The seat that I sat in was quite crammed and squishy since it shared the same space with someone directly behind me. I think our chairs were probably right against each others'.
The clams in sake sauce ($8.50) were pretty good, but they cooled down way too quickly. I didn't find any clams that weren't opened or spoiled on my end.
Something we all agreed on was the assorted sashimi ($13.50), which came with salmon, tuna, and snapper. Snapper is quickly becoming one of my favourites since it's a bit firmer than salmon. I liked it here, but it was a bit expensive.
I don't even remember having the yakitori ($4.25), but apparently we did since I have a picture of it. It must've been just alright, since I didn't hate it enough to remember.
I wasn't a fan of the spicy tuna roll ($4.50) since I'm not a fan of spicy tuna in general. I just had a thought: rolls kind of make me think of left over bits of food to be concealed in rice -- kind of like those doggie treats where you can stick a pill inside. In the case of spicy tuna or salmon, they conceal it even more with hot sauce. Not a fan.
The chicken karaage ($8.95) was also very good, but it had bones in this one. I don't think there is a "right" type of meat to use though. It didn't have as strong of a ginger flavour compared to Torarenbo; still quite juicy though.
Rating: ★★★
Overall, it was alright. I don't love it, but I don't hate it. Maybe we weren't ordering the right things to be thoroughly impressed?
Aki Japanese Restaurant
745 Thurlow St
Vancouver, BC
The place is a bit hidden since there aren't any very visible signs that you can easily see as you're walking down the sidewalk. Rather, there's only one that you can see when you look directly at the door, which is below a small flight of stairs.
The seat that I sat in was quite crammed and squishy since it shared the same space with someone directly behind me. I think our chairs were probably right against each others'.
The clams in sake sauce ($8.50) were pretty good, but they cooled down way too quickly. I didn't find any clams that weren't opened or spoiled on my end.
Something we all agreed on was the assorted sashimi ($13.50), which came with salmon, tuna, and snapper. Snapper is quickly becoming one of my favourites since it's a bit firmer than salmon. I liked it here, but it was a bit expensive.
Everyone also wanted the black cod ($11.50), which was a bit oily. It was alright.
I wasn't a fan of the spicy tuna roll ($4.50) since I'm not a fan of spicy tuna in general. I just had a thought: rolls kind of make me think of left over bits of food to be concealed in rice -- kind of like those doggie treats where you can stick a pill inside. In the case of spicy tuna or salmon, they conceal it even more with hot sauce. Not a fan.
The chicken karaage ($8.95) was also very good, but it had bones in this one. I don't think there is a "right" type of meat to use though. It didn't have as strong of a ginger flavour compared to Torarenbo; still quite juicy though.
Still hungry, we ordered the yakiudon, which was very different from the one Kem usually orders at Guu. I rarely order yakiudon actually, but I liked the Guu one more for sure. I felt there were way too many veggies here (Gloria would agree), and the Guu one is more moist and has some sauce to it. Here, each noodle was rather bland in comparison.
Rating: ★★★
Overall, it was alright. I don't love it, but I don't hate it. Maybe we weren't ordering the right things to be thoroughly impressed?
Aki Japanese Restaurant
745 Thurlow St
Vancouver, BC
(604) 682-4032
4 comments:
Just because there are Japanese customers do not necessarily mean it is "good". I mean, there are tons of Chinese restaurants in Richmond, a lot of them frequented by Chinese but that does not necessarily mean half of them are good! :D
Along on the same lines of Aki and probably even older is Koko in East Hastings. I guess, because of the location, a lot of people aren't necessarily aware of it.
Two things about what you ordered:
1) Japanese food does not automatically translate into sushi. In the case of Aki, this is more of an (old school) izakaya type place and/or grilled items. I believe that serving sushi is collateral damage.
2) Ah... The eternal argument of nigiri sushi vs. maki. In a way, what you mentioned is one of the reasons why I seldom bother with maki (probably with the exception of the regular tuna or salmon rolls - not much to "hide" there!
@Kim: Yeah, I know what you mean by that, but I do give them credit for at least being known/visited by Japanese patrons... coughwildricecough.
Yeah, we didn't order much sushi but instead more cooked food. Their menu is more focused on those food items as well.
I have been to Aki twice, and was very much impressed by both visits. My favourite item is mackeral battera - it is heavenly good. I usually eat my sushi with soy sauce, but this is a rare exception, as I prefer to eat it as-is, so that I can taste the brilliant vinegar-iness of the mackeral and the added freshness from the shiso leaf (each piece of the battera has (half?) a shiso leaf in the middle).
@ver.a: thanks for the comment! I JUST heard that Aki will actually be closing unfortunately: https://twitter.com/#!/followmefoodie/status/143761819255836672
Perhaps I have to revisit before January!
Post a Comment