Kadoya Japanese - Sushi

Canuck's Roll


Phoenix Roll

Restaurant: Kadoya

Cuisine: Japanese/Sushi/Fusion
Last visited: November 8, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC - Downtown/West end
1063 Davie Street
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4
Service: 3
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Chinese owned and operated
• Extensive menu
• A standard Japanese restaurant serving "un-standard" rolls
• Popular for specialty rolls
• Huge cones
• Attracts locals
• Lots of creative funky rolls + pictures
• Creative rolls $7.50-$8.95
• Fusion items
• Very good fresh wasabi
• Lunch box $8.50/Dinner boxes $12
• Busy
• Chinese music
• Takes Visa/MC/Interac
• Eat-in/take-out
• 11am-10pm
• Closed Monday

**Recommendation: Volcano

I've been to Kadoya a few times and I must say I'm quite impressed and obviously I do return. It's a casual unpretentious little eatery located on Davie and Thurlow and perfect for lunch or quick dinners. It's a bit cramped and seats maybe 30 so you want to get in and out pretty quickly.

It's popularity is due to their fusion rolls that are also reasonably priced. From the outside and inside you wouldn't expect to see so much creativity. However I wish they had some homemade sauces to go with their funky rolls, only a couple had specialty sauces. Everything is quite inventive and they even offer a dessert sushi roll with deep fried banana and sprinkles! Each roll comes with 8 pieces, but I wish they didn't use the rice to make the roll look big...they kind of do that. The rice is also flavourful, but on the mushy side.

Overall it's a great place to go. There are better fusion/creative rolls out there even of the same caliber and restaurant style, but this one is still very good and a solid choice.

On the table:

• Canucks 4/6
• Spicy tuna, bonito, salmon tempura, butter $8.95

• This was pretty tasty, underneath the bonito is a drizzle of mayo - I wish it was a homemade sauce. The fluffy hair-like afro you see on top is dried bonito or dried squid. They're very soft and and almost melt in your mouth. It makes the roll looks pretty, but it's kind of messy to eat. I liked them.
• It's stuffed with a decent amount of spicy tuna, and the salmon tempura sits on top of the roll underneath the bonito.
  
• The rice was flavourful, but it was still hot so it was a bit too mushy for my liking - they also used quite a bit of rice so it the mushiness was obvious.
• I couldn't taste the butter at all, maybe it was on the salmon? I'm not sure.
  
• This is just being a bit picky, but I wish they layered the sushi rice more consistently - some pieces had more rice than others.
• Phoenix 3/6
  
• Pumpkin, salmon, imitation shark's fin $8.95

• This was a really interesting roll. I've never had imitation shark's fin on top of a roll. I think it has some Chinese influence because shark's fin is a Chinese delicacy.
  The typical imitation sharks' fin is actually vermicelli glass noodles - at Kadoya they used this with a mix of jellyfish to create the imitation shark's fin. I would have preferred all vermicelli glass noodles to keep the roll more delicate because the jellyfish was a bit overwhelming.
• Again they put a drizzle of mayo underneath the imitation shark's fin.
• The pumpkin was very lightly battered and very creamy and tender.
• I loved the texture of this dish because you get the soft pumpkin, crunchy tempura and a salty bite from the masago. It's also a bit slimey because of the jellyfish and salmon sashimi. I might get sick of eating the whole roll to myself, but I'd order it again.
• 
  
• Wasabi 5/6
  
• I have to make a shout out for their wasabi. It's not as fresh as Kingyo wasabi, but it's close! i think it's a mixture of the paste and freshly grated wasabi. It's almost watery so you know it's the actually radish. A little goes a long way. I love it.

The following 2 rolls are from my next visit to Kadoya on November 18, 09, but I decided to include them in the same review so there’s a better idea of what’s available.

On the table:

• **Volcano 5/6
• Spicy Salmon, Scallop with Black Sesame Sauce $8.95

• This is my favourite roll at Kodoya thus far, and I actually crave it from time to time.
• The black sesame sauce is what makes this roll popular. It’s sweet and tastes almost like gommae sauce they use in the spinach appetizer at Japanese restaurants. This is a homemade sauce and it’s sweet, nutty and creamy. It’s not too thick and not too runny either so it goes great with the roll.
• The scallop is found underneath the black sesame sauce...which I didn't really like becuase I always feel like that's the cheap way of doing it...so they can give you less and cover it up with sauce.
  
• Decent amount of spicy salmon, but again lots of rice to make ti look big.
  
• 

• Sakura 2.5/6
• Spicy Tuna, Chopped Scallop $8.50

• The chopped scallop was found under the tobiko. It blended in with the rice and because it was so dark, I felt like it was a cheap out on the ingredient again.
• The scallops they use are white...it's almost jelly like...I've never really seen scallop like this used in sushi. it tastes fine, but just different.
  
• It was a very average roll, nothing too special about it. For the price I would rather order something else.