Asa Sushi (Burnaby)

There is no end to the number of tiny sushi joints there are in the Lower Mainland.  Take, for example, Asa Sushi which is located in a small mini-mall on the corner of Rumble and Royal Oak in Burnaby (the same mini-mall as the Polish bakery BJ Bakery) and within spitting distance of Makoto.

Posh (Burnaby) – Crab Hot Pot Horrors

Back in early January, we visited Posh (located right next to Pho Tan) in Burnaby for a crab hot pot meal.  It’s taken me this long to write the post because I was trying to forget the whole experience ever happened.

Umi Sushi Express (Richmond Centre)

For the longest time last year, they were renovating the food court at Richmond Centre – it seemed like it would never be finished.  We had made a stop by the mall just before Christmas time last year to do some last minute shopping and decided to check out their new “dining terrace”.

Osaka Island – Japanese Food on Edmonds

I’ve been avoiding Edmonds Street for a long time due to all of the construction that’s been going for the last few months.  Well the road is finally starting to regain some semblance of normalcy so I felt it was time to start venturing out for some eats.  Osaka Island is one of the many Japanese restaurants that dot the Lower Mainland’s landscape.  Located in a small mini mall next to a Korean restaurant, Osaka has plenty of free parking in the area.

Black Dragon Sushi

Black Dragon Sushi recently opened up in the now defunct Happy Day Metro location trading off Korean for Japanese fare.  The interior decor has also changed a bit with red bright red booth seating accenting the black marble-like tables.

Nao Sushi – BBQ Salmon Cheeks

Nao Sushi is located on the same block as Anatolia’s Gate and Highgate Chinese Restaurant in Burnaby.  Speaking of Highgate Chinese Restaurant… I was originally going to drop by for a revisit because I came down with a bad cold and was looking for some spicy food to clear up my sinuses.  However, I was discouraged when I discovered that they weren’t open at 11:30am (like the hours of operation on their door stated)… don’t you hate it when that happens?

Teppan Kitchen

When I think of teppanyaki, I usually think back to the classic Three’s Company episode where Jack Tripper is trying to pretend (rather unsuccessfully) to be a seasoned Japanese chef.  I think Teppan Kitchen has been at Aberdeen Centre for a while but I usually get distracted by all of the other food stalls that I’ve never given it much thought… until now.

Kimura – Kimura sans Kimura-san

Kimura was widely known for their special omakase meals where the diners “leave it to the chef” to decide on the dishes.  As it turns out, I’ve heard that there was a change of ownership back in May of this year and Kimura-san is no longer at this restaurant.  In any case, I’ve never been a trusting type… so we wound up picking the dishes that we wanted to try.

Kenzo Japanese Noodle House

I’ve often seen Kenzo Japanese Noodle House as I drive past it on Kingsway but from the reviews, I couldn’t really tell if this was a Japanese or Korean place… not that it really matters.

Fresh Box Sushi

Fresh Box Sushi is a tiny hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant located on the 2nd floor of Highgate Mall.  There’s only 3 small tables in this narrow establishment with a small sushi bar and 1 table outside but i think they do a lot of takeout business.

Hapa Izakaya (Cordova)

Hapa Izakaya first opened in 2003 and has since expanded to a number of outlets that serve Japanese-inspired tapas.  Hapa, which apparently means “leaf” in Japanese according to the owner, also means “half” or “mixed” in Hawaiian.  This latter translation properly holds more meaning as this restaurant is a bit of a twist on the original izakaya drinking establishments in Japan.

Hi Genki – Lunch at the Old Folks Home

I was watching one of those Discovery tv shows on Tokyo life the other day and it got me into the mood for some Japanese food.  What better place to try but Hi Genki?  Located in the Nikkei Place complex in Burnaby, Hi Genki is run by the same people that run Fujiya.