Shabusen Yakiniku House

Restaurant: Shabusen Yakiniku House - Sushi & Korean BBQ
Cuisine: Japanese/Sushi/Korean BBQ/Buffet

Last visited: October 19, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC - Downtown (2 locations in Vancouver)

755 Burrard Street

Price Range: $20-30 ($23 dinner buffet price)

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

Food: 2

Service: 2.5

Ambiance: 2.5

Overall: 2.5

Additional comments:

• Offers Korean BBQ and popular Japanese items/sashimi
  
• Owned and operated by Chinese
• Not authentic Japanese sushi
• Typical all-you-can-eat/buffet standards
  
• Busy/crowded/line-ups
• Good for large groups
  
• Reservations recommended
• Lunch buffet $13 11-2:30pm
• Dinner buffet $23 5-10:30pm
• Open everyday

**Recommendation: n/a

What can I really say? It's another all-you-can-eat Japanese place except it also features all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ as well. It's convenient and good for large groups, not a bad deal, but I wouldn't pick it. It's not quite for me, but I'm not their target market either.

Compared to other all-you-can-eat places it's only better because you get you're Korean BBQ. The variety is decent with all your standard items but the quality and execution is better at others places.

Is the food at least good? Well it's all-you-can-eat for $23...it's not going to be gourmet, but it's not dog food either...although it doesn't look appetizing. It's very basic, slightly below average, and a rough assembly.

I've divided my review into 2 parts because it was too much to digest...ha! Love the pun.
1) Not deep-fried items
2) Deep fried items

As a side note, what I really liked about Shabusen is that they minimize waste by offering 1 piece ordering.

On the table:

• Kimchi 1.5/6
• Spicy preserved cabbage. A traditional Korean appetizer.
• It wasn't authentic here and the colour is off. It wasn't marinated/preserved long enough so the flavour was not strong enough. It was decently spicy, but not flavourful.
• The cabbage was cut too big, and it and I couldn't see any garlic bits, which there has to be.
• Gommae 1/6
• Spinach with what's supposed to be sesame sauce, but there was almost no sauce. It was very bland.
• Ohitashi 1.5/6
• A traditional Japanese appetizer: boiled spinach with soy sauce and Mirin or rice wine vinegar.
• This is simple, I prefer the gommae. Traditionally it should be served with bonito flakes.They didn't really do a bad job because it is a simple recipe, but I think they just used soy, it wasn't tangy enough.

• Sunomono Salad 1.5/6
• A traditional Japanese vermicelli salad appetizer soaked in vinegar, sugar and Mirin. Served with cucumbers and carrots.
  
• The flavour was alright, but there was no baby shrimp or anything on the top. Even a little frozen one would have been good. A lot of all-you-cat-eat places will include at least a couple baby shrimps.
• Salmon/Tuna Sashimi 3/6
• Fresh, but the quality of the tuna is pretty poor.
• Hamachi/Toro/Tomago Nigiri 3/6
  
• Hamachi/yellow fin tuna: the quality wasn't great. Not as smooth, cold or clean tasting.
  
• Toro/tuna belly: not bad. Has a richer/creamier/heartier texture than tuna.
  
• Tomago: a bit overcooked and dry. Tastes like it's been sitting there. Flavour wasn't bad though.
• California Roll/BC Roll 2/6
• The sushi rice isn't good here. There wasn't enough flavour in the rice and it was really poorly presented and executred even for an all-you-can-eat place.
  
• California roll: Too much rice around the roll and wasn't wrapped tight enough so it fell apart.
  
• BC roll: not a fan. Salmon skin was soggy. Lettuce wasn't as fresh, it had wilted leaves.
• Alaska Roll 3/6
  
• My favourite out of all the ones we ordered. It's not bad, but it was cut really really thin.
• Special Shrimp Roll 2/6
• Shrimp, imitation lobster and chopped scallop I think. It was alright.
• Chopped Scallop Cone
  
• I didn't try it.
• Vegetable Teriyaki 3/6
  
• It was actually freshly cut veggies, I thought they would have just bought the bag of pre-cut veggies. They give you a lot too and it tasted fresh. They weren't sauteed long enough though and because they were big pieces it was more on the raw side.
  
• It's lightly coated with Teriyaki sauce which is watered down and very bland. The sauce was probably bottled and watered down. No salt and pepper either.
• Salmon Teriyaki 3/6
• Frozen salmon fillets and it actually wasn't overcooked even though it looks like it. It wasn't marinated with teriyaki sauce, the sauce was just poured on top and served. It actually tasted pretty good.
  
• 
• BBQ Beef Short Rib 3/3
  
• It was well-marinated as in overnight - but the sauce was just packaged sauce or generic sauce.
• I didn't need any additional dipping sauce but it was very very oily and greasy. I could taste the canola oil. I grilled my corn on the BBQ after and my corn was super greasy from the short ribs.

Dinner didn't end here, to see the rest of it visit the 2nd part of the review: The deep fried part.

Yoko Sushi

Restaurant: Yoko Sushi

Cuisine: Japanese/Sushi

Last visited: October 22, 09
Area: Coquitlam, BC

1001 Austin ave

Price Range: $10-20

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

Food: 3.5

Service: 4

Ambiance: 3

Overall: 3.5

Additional comments:

• Owned and operated by Koreans
• Not really authentic - "Westerner's sushi"
• Clean, friendly, trendy for area
• Sashimi/Sushi/Donburi/Noodles/Meals
• Set meals/Bento boxes/Sushi platters
  
• Some specialty rolls
• Lunch specials 11am-4pm
• Can customize your own roll upon request
• Attracts locals within the area
• Dine in/Take-out
• Open everyday 11am-12am

**Recommendation: House Green Salad, Gomae, House roll, Yoko roll

Curious to try: Korean Chirashi "Donburi": sashimi, vegetables and rice mixed with spicy sauce $10.95

I've come here on several occasions and it's not really because the food is exceptional, but it's clean, comfortable, somewhat trendy, reasonably priced, and the food is good and well-prepared even though it's not "authentically" Japanese. The food tastes pretty good, but it's almost too perfect - kind of like ordering a Kung Pao Chicken bowl at an American chain restaurant - it's usually pretty good, but just not authentic.

It's only been around for about a year and it's owned and operated by a young group of Koreans. It attracts Westerners and Koreans around the area. The presentation is nice and the food is fresh so it's a good choice if you're around and craving sushi. It's decently busy during dinner, but you'll never be waiting in a line.

On the table:

• **House Green Salad 4/6
• Our signature house dressing $3.50

• Surprised? So was I! I never order house green salads at any restaurant. I've tried the Japanese green salad, but have never liked it until I tried this one.
• It's served with their signature house dressing, so it's homemade and really good.
• The dressing is made with a combination of apples and onions and it's nice and thick. It has the texture of pureed apples but and the flavour is sweet yet tangy at the same time. You also get that bite of finely grated onion. I would have liked more dressing though because there was a lot of salad.
• The green salad they use is really fresh and not that chopped ice berg lettuce most Japanese restaurants will serve. They used shredded romaine with some carrots and purple cabbage for colour - there wasn't one brown or wilted leaf.
• **Gomae 5/6
  
• Spinach with sesame dressing $3.95

• They make Gomae really good here. The sauce is homemade again and it's a mix of ground sesame and peanuts. Some places will only use sesame sauce, but I like it with peanuts because it's richer and gives it a deeper flavour.
• The picture looks like a lot of sauce, but it's actually the perfect amount and I love the sauce! More the merrier. It's just enough to perfectly coat each leaf after you mix it altogether.
• **House Roll 5/6
• Salmon, tuna, ebi, avocado, tamago & crab $6.95
• I really like the house roll here. They give you ebi (shrimp) and it's really rare to have this ingredient in it. Most people will use a cheaper ingredient even if they just wanted to make it bigger.
• At Yoko's they use really little rice in their house roll and give you tons of filling, which is great. However the rice is a little too wet and there' s not much flavour to it.
• Another thing they do differently is they wrap it in a soybean wrap (the yellow layer wrapped around it). The soybean wrap doesn't have much flavour, but it makes for nice presentation. It's almost like the texture of the seaweed wrapped on the inside. It kind of helps keep everything together and I really liked it.
• They drizzle it with this homemade mango sauce which was unexpected and creative. The mango was made with a mango syrup, almost like a coulis. It's sweet, but not overpowering because they didn't soak the roll with it. It wasn't really creamy and it wasn't made with mayo, but maybe evaporated milk or corn syrup, something of that sort. It was still nice and light and went well with the roll.
• It is a larger roll, as most house rolls are, but you get fresh ingredients and a lot of it. The portion of each ingredient was well balanced.
• 
• Kamikaze Roll 2/6
  
• Prawn tempura and crab with spicy tuna on top $8.95

• This was really whatever to me. The plating was nice, but that's about it. I actually expected more...especially at $8.95.
• The rice wasn't flavourful enough and the tuna wasn't spicy enough so it was kind of bland. The prawn tempura is pre-fried and they make batches at a time for the sushi chefs so we had one that had been sitting out for a bit. So it wasn't crispy and the batter was a bit soggy and not as fresh.
• The spicy tuna was pounded and got too mushy and they didn't give you enough for this roll. It was a bit inconsistent with each piece. The spicy marinade kind of tasted like Tabasco sauce and had that one dimensional flavour. This roll needed something crunchy - either green onions or cucumbers to give it that extra something. I wouldn't order it again.

• **Yoko Roll 4/6
  
• Salmon, avocado, and cream cheese then deep-fried $6.95

• I didn't order it on this occasion, but I've ordered it before and still think about it.
  
• Its a deep fried roll, and they do a good job with it. They do a great job with the deep frying and the whole thing is lightly battered and crispy when complete.
• The cream cheese gets all soft and warm and the roll literally melts in your mouth. The salmon doesn't cook so don't worry about it getting dry. The roll is creamy, rich and well-executed. A real treat, but you might want to share it because you may get sick of it if you just order that alone.
  
• 
• Vegetable Teriyaki Don 3/6
• Stir-fried mixed vegetables served over rice. Served with miso soup. $9.95

• They give you a decent amount of fresh veggies and it's a pretty big bowl.
• There's carrots, broccoli, bean sprouts, cabbage and zucchini, but it was missing mushrooms and onions - there were maybe some onions, but not enough.
  
• The sauce is a standard Teriyaki sauce, so nothing exceptional there, but still good.
  

Japadog

Restaurant: Japadog

Cuisine: Japanese/Fusion

Last visited: September 30, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC

Northwest corner of Burrard & Smithe, in front of Sutton Place hotel
Range: $10 or less

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

Food: 6

Service: 3

Ambiance: n/a...it's a hot dog stand

Overall: 5

Additional comments:

• Japanese hot dogs
• Pork, beef, turkey, veggie options
• Special for Kurobuta sausage: 100% pure all-natural Berkshire pork
• Most popular for Terimayo hot dog
• New Terimayo hot dog menu: ft different versions of most popular hot dog
• Hot, fresh w/exotic Japanese ingredients
• Japanese operated
• Japanese condiments: wasabi mayo etc.
• New condiment - special plum sauce from Japan
• Long lines, busy at peak hours
• Attracts locals, tourists and famous people
• Second location at W Pender & Burrard
• $4.75-6.25

**Recommendation: Terimayo, Okonomi

Japadog is Vancouver's latest trend in hot dogs. It's the Japanese version of an American favourite - a hot dog. Really popular to locals and tourists, this place also attracts celebrities that happen to be in town too. Definitely better than a normal hot dog, you can expect long lines during lunch or dinner hours. Help yourself to their unique Japanese condiments (free of charge) such as: Japanese mayo, spicy 7-spice seasoning (usually comes with Udon), and the new plum sauce etc.

On the table:

• Terimayo 6/6
• 100% all beef, Teriyaki sauce, Japanese mayo, fried onion, seaweed/nori $4.75
• This is the most popular hot dog and everyone's favourite. It's also my favourite. What a brilliant idea and combination of flavours. It's basically your favourite and most popular Japanese ingredients and fried onions thrown into a hot dog. Now how can you go wrong with that? The sausage is really plump, juicy, and coated with a standard Teriyaki sauce. It's sweet from the Teriyaki sauce and savoury from the meat and fried onions. It has great texture too because of the fried onions. Shredded seaweed is sprinkled on top before serving. The seaweed kind of melts as you eat it due to the steam from the hot dog. They put the Japanese mayo underneath the seaweed so the seaweed doesn't get soggy and chewy.
• This is a rather rich and hearty hot dog that is SO satisfying! You have to eat it with lots of wasabi mayo and it's even better. I stand by the wasabi mayo bottle when I eat this so I can reapply and load up with every bite :)



• Oroshi 3/6
• Bratwurst, grated radish, special soy, green onion $4.75

• This was good, but compared to the other two it was ok - that's why I gave it a 3/6 because if I didn't have the other two to compare this would have been good.
• The bratwurst they used is the white bratwurst. It's a thick sausage that doesn't taste that meaty and I don't recall them frying it. It's served warm and I feel like they boiled it instead of frying or grilling it. But correct me if I'm wrong. The meat is kind of milky and bland - it kind of tastes like a really soft hot dog - almost like a chicken or turkey meatloaf. The meat is really tender but it tastes kind of boring after eating a beef hot dog. Not as juicy or savoury, but now that I think about it I think it was made of turkey.
• They load the Oroshi with grated radish - the radish they use is daikon so it's not spicy at all. It tastes like nothing - like air. The texture is like eating very finely minced soft raw onions without the taste or crunchiness of onions. They squirt a sweet and slightly savoury Japanese soy on top of the mound of grated radish - that's basically the only flavour in this hot dog. Then they top it off with fresh green onions, and I topped it off with wasabi mayo - a must. You need it to give the hot dog another dimension or it's too plain...and wasabi mayo is just good too.
• I found this hot dog to be a little bland probably because it's turkey. It lacked flavour because there's probably not as much fat in the meat. and nothing fried on it and only one sauce. The only thing giving it flavour was basically the sweet soy sauce...and that doesn't even shine through too much. They don't pour too much of the sauce on it because it's a thin sauce. Adding more would have added more falvour but it would have also made the bun soggy and everything would fall apart. It's probably the "lightest" hot dog they serve. The bratwurst is juicy, but just not that flavourful - it tastes like a boiled sausage, so how much flavour can you get from that? Of course if they used a higher quality bratwurst it would have been more flavourful - but I don't really expect them to because it is just a hot dog stand.




• Okonomi 4.5/6
• Kurobuta sausage, okonomi sauce, Japanese mayo, fried cabbage, dried bonito $6.25
• Japadog prides itself for their Kurobuta sausage, a 100% pure all-natural Berkshire pork. It's the most highly prized pork in Japan and comparable to the standards of Kobe beef.
• I still liked the Terimayo better though, and most people would agree. I mean the sausage is good and it's not as heavy as the 100% beef hot dog. It carries a more gentle flavour than a beef hot dog. The Kurobuta sausage is very soft and tender and it tastes like a big version of those mini cocktail sausages they serve as hors d'oeuvres at parties.
• The okonomi sauce is like a tangy soy sauce with a slight kick at the end. It's a little sour, quite savoury, and then there's a kick - but not really a spicy kick...almost like how raw garlic has a kick.
• The fried cabbage is yummy - taste like stir-fried cabbage you get when you order Teriyaki plates from the food court. It's all shredded and they give you quite a bit. It's sauteed in a little Teriyaki sauce I think. It's kind of sweet and savoury. Then they top it off with dried bonito - which is dried flakes of squid. this almost tastes like fishy rice paper - it has a fishy taste, but not a very strong one. It just kind of melts away as you eat it, it melts away faster than seaweed does. It's not as crunchy or salty as dried seaweed though. Again, I topped this hot dog off with wasabi mayo! The perfect condiment for these Japadogs.