Kimu Japanese Cuisine: Amazing Japanese Food

The corner of 29th and Boundary is a very busy location and I’ve driven by it on many occasions. However, I’ve never really noticed the Kimu Japanese Cuisine restaurant until recently.

I arrived for an early dinner in April and noticed that it actually got quite busy (always a good sign). They have a pretty good selection of Japanese food here so I got a little bit of everything. The Chopped Scallop ($1.80) and Ikura ($2.25) nigiri were the first to arrive at my table and foreshadowed the rest of the yummy food to follow. The chopped scallop was nice and creamy while the salmon roe was fresh and had a popping sensation when I bit into it.

Next up was the Chicken Karaage ($7.95). The boneless chicken pieces had the characteristic crispy exterior which kept the meat on the inside fairly juicy and was accompanied by a spicy dipping sauce.

I’ve had good and bad fish collars before. Fortunately, the Salmon Kama ($5.95) here was one of the good ones. If you don’t mind a few bones, make sure you try out this fatty dish.

Now, the thing that I really came here for… the aburi nigiri. While you can get a sampler, I prefer to pick my pieces and wound up ordering the Aburi Bluefin Chutoro ($5.50), Aburi Toro ($2.40), Aburi Sake Toro ($2.40), Aburi Hamachi ($2.80), Aburi Hotate ($2.80), and the Aburi Saba ($2.40).

The fatty bluefin chutoro was my favourite of the bunch and was much better than the toro (a less fatty part of the tuna belly). The salmon belly was another winner here with a melt-in-your-mouth texture. The buttery hotate (scallop) was topped with tobiko and nice and plump while the saba (mackerel) had a firmer flesh (I think I prefer the flavour of sime-saba though).

I was surprised at how good the Chicken Yakiudon ($9.95) was here. In fact, I think it’s one of the best I’ve had in Vancouver! The udon noodles on the sizzling hot plate were soft and springy, with a toothsome chew and a partially-charred exterior surface which gave them an amazing texture and flavour from the caramelization.

I couldn’t come here without tying their sashimi so I picked up an order of Sake Sashimi ($8.50) to-go. As expected, the salmon was fresh and clean.

I was anxious to revisit and wound up coming back a couple of weeks later. Starting things off, we ordered the Spinach Gomae ($4) which is boiled spinach surrounded by a sesame sauce and the Spicy Agadashi Tofu ($4.50) which is deep-fried tofu encased in a crispy skin and draped in a spicy sauce. These turned out pretty good.

Next up was the Chicken Teriyaki ($9.95) which comes with rice and miso soup. I wasn’t really a fan of this dish as I felt the sauce was lacking and I prefer my chicken teriyaki to have a bit of a crisp to the skin.

The Assorted Sashimi ($15.50) comes with 2 pieces each of salmon, tuna, tako, and tai in addition to 4 pieces of the chef’s choice (I think we had hokkigai and saba).

The last thing to arrive at our table was the Seafood Motoyaki ($4.95). Presented on a large metal serving spoon, it contained oyster, scallop and shrimp with a yuzu-flavoured motoyaki sauce. This really isn’t like the heavy mayo sauce that you find at some other restaurants (which is either a good or bad thing depending on what you like).

I finally managed to return for another visit about 3-4 months later. Remembering how good their nigiri was, I ordered Aburi Sake Toro ($2.40 each), Aburi Bluefin Chutoro ($5.50 each), Shima Aji ($2.75 each), and Hamachi Toro ($2.75 each). Both aburi were really good and melted in my mouth. I know bluefin chutoro is a bit more expensive than other cuts of fish but this price really isn’t bad.

The shima aji (striped horsemackerel) and hamachi toro (yellowtail belly) aren’t usual items that I find in a lot of sushi restaurants in Vancouver. While not on par with the bluefin chutoro and the salmon toro, these were pretty good and tasted fresh and clean.

The large windows here lets in a lot of light and the place feels airy with the tall ceilings. I really like how they have a good variety of cuts of fish that you don’t find at run-of-the-mill sushi restaurants in Vancouver.

4441 Boundary Road
Vancouver, BC

kimusushi.ca

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