Sansei Seafood Restaurant – Hawaii 2013

There are 4 Sansei locations in the Hawaiian Islands… one of which is located on the 3rd floor of the Waikiki Beach Marriott.  Right next door is the d.k. Steak House (both of which are part of the D.K. Restaurant group).

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.

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?

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.

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.

Joey Burnaby – Stress Release Part 2

In Part 1 of our ode to stress relief, we visited Joey Broadway to drown our sorrows – I guess we were more stressed than we realized because we immediately made plans to visit Joey Burnaby the following night.  We started out our night with a virgin Mojito and a Really Fuzzy Navel – the Fuzzy Navel has slightly more alcohol than the Stiff Lemonade (2 oz vs. 1.25 oz).

Sushi Oyama – Three Times a Charm

It’s difficult for me to understand why I avoided Sushi Oyama for so long… and here we are on my third post for them already (see our last two visits here and here).  Fresh, quality ingredients… good serving sizes… and an interesting setting – what more can you ask for?

Genji Japanese Restaurant

Genji Japanese Restaurant has been around for a couple of years and I’ve often wondered how.  Located in the Market Crossing shopping area (near the Marble Slab Creamery), this spacious Japanese restaurant always seems to be empty whenever we pass by.

Izumi Sushi (Metrotown)

Izumi Sushi in the Metrotown food court (not to be confused with Ichimi Sushi in Brentwood) is just what you would expect from a mall food court that serves Japanese food… not necessarily a good thing.