Suika @ West Broadway
Suika
1626 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6J1X8
604-730-1678
Sun – Thu Lunch 11:30AM – 2PM Dinner 5:30PM – 11:30PM last call
Fri – Sat Lunch 11:30AM – 2PM Dinner 5:30PM – 12:30AM last call
AND IT WOULD BE VERY SMART TO MAKE A RESERVATION!
Heading back from Thomas Haas, I discovered a Japanese restaurant called Suika. This one's only a block away from the Broadway/Granville Indigo Bookstore and makes it super convenient to get to by bus or by car.
The crowd that builds up in front of this place during opening hours is crazy, since Suika is really popular with adults in their 20's or 30's and business people meeting up for lunch. So once again, make a reservation and save yourself from waiting on the sidewalk. The staff are really friendly here and will do everything to make sure your meals are all served and everything is alright. They really do think of everything here; such as interior design, mouthwash in the bathroom and newspaper covers for the hot iron teppan plates. On the menu, sushi is a rare item here and it only shows up once or twice on the lunch and dinner menus. There's more of a snack style to the food here, focusing more on pork, sashimi itself and steak. The prices are typically what you'd expect from a japanese restaurant in the $10 - $20 range, but the food here blows your mind.
Hamachi Yellowtail Carpaccio - $9.20
Yellowtail with Cheese Mayo Soy Sauce Dressing
This was my first experience with "decked-out" sashimi and it was actually a once in a lifetime thing tasting this for the first time. The cheese soy sauce compliments the yellowtail very well and has just the perfect balance of salt needed to boost this fish to stardom. You should order this along with your meal to share with a friend!
Negitoro Bowl Set - $12.50
Chopped Negitoro Tuna and Scallions, Ikura, Moutain Potato, Shiso, Japanese Pickles and Sushi Rice
I had to wait a little bit for this one in particular, probably because it was forgotten in the busy rush of the lunch hour. But it came really quickly once the staff was notified. The first thing that caught my attention was the negitoro tuna ball sitting right smack in the middle of the rice bowl. It was MASSIVE!! To eat it like I do and make the tuna last longer, just mix everything together and enjoy!
Seafood Bowl Set - $15.80
Daily 5 kinds of Sashimi (Shrimp, Snapper, Sockeye, Tuna, Scallop) , Ikura, Tobiko, Okra,
Grated Mountain Potato, Sushi Rice
This dish was one of the rare occasions where there was actually enough sashimi without an overabundance of rice. I had enough to make a smaller bowl for my sister and still have some for myself. Make sure to try the Okra and the white blob on the left! Okra's super slimy but very healthy for you. I actually still don't know what the white blob is; perhaps its the "grated mountain potato"?!
Aburi Eihire ($4.20) + Tokyo Ox Tail Ramen ($9.80) + Aburi "Shime Saba" Sushi ($12.80)
The Aburi Eihire is stingray fin seared until dried to a jerky like texture. It is served with Suika's homemade Chili Mayo Sauce for dipping. It was so good my fam and I ordered seconds.
The Tokyo Oxtail Ramen's soup is different compared to the miso based broth we're probably all used to. In Japan, they have northern style ramen and southern style ramen each with its different soups. In this dish, the soup is basically a soy sauce broth which can compel you to drink every drop. Meaty Ox Tail bones are abundant and brings a different taste from typical Cha Shu pork slices.
Aburi "Shime Saba" Sushi is seared, cured mackerel pressed sushi with a mustard soy dressing. It's a little crumbly being pressed sushi, so eat it quick and don't drop anything! After I finished it was when I realized I wasn't eating unagi (eel) sushi, but in fact, mackerel! This was because, the typical salty and oily taste of mackerel was replaced by a melt in the mouth texture through the searing and curing process.
As long as it's sushi, I'll eat it haha.
Tuna Tataki Sampler from the Suika Osechi Special
