Temaki Sushi: Chef’s Sashimi

While Temaki Sushi has been around since 2003, it really hasn’t been on my radar until just recently (I suppose the overabundance of sushi restaurants in Vancouver is partly to blame).

Nevertheless, we stopped by Temaki Sushi in late July for lunch and were pleasantly pleased with the food here. The Gomae ($5) and the Assorted Tempura ($14) were the first to arrive to the table. The cold spinach was wound up into a tight cone and was a bit difficult to unravel at first. Meanwhile, the tempura included 4 pieces of prawns and 3 pieces of veggies.

The Agedashi Tofu ($6.50) is deep-fried and topped with green onions and bonito flakes while swimming in a light broth.

The main event was the Chef’s Sashimi ($48) which is the chef’s selection of 30 various pieces of sashimi. During our visit, this included sockeye salmon, salmon toro, scallops, tuna gomae, halibut, mackerel, tako, hokkigai, kampachi (similar to hamachi), as well as ikura, and squid. The sashimi here is super fresh and well prepared. Loved the buttery softness of the salmon toro and the presentation of the sashimi was on point.

They have a number of items on their fresh sheet so it’s a great place to check out some sashimi that you don’t normally find at your typical run-of-the-mill sushi joint in Vancouver.

We returned a couple of months later to try their dinner service. This place gets pretty busy at night (both with walk-ins and with take-out orders). The thing that got to me was they weren’t very efficient at handling the mix of walk-ins, phone calls, and service. We arrived just before 6pm for our reservation and, although our table (and many other tables) were open and ready, she said she’d seat us in a few minutes and then went to the next people in line who she planned to seat at the open bar seats but told them she’d seat them in 5-10 minutes, etc… and she kept going through the steadily growing line-up of patrons waiting to be seated. So by not simply seating the people waiting, the foyer kept getting crammed full of people as the hostess created a bottleneck. Guess she’s never played Diner Dash before.

In any case, after finally being seated at our table that was waiting for us, we decided on our dishes for this night. First up was one of the items under the Chef’s Recommendations… the Snapper Tempura ($16). Breaking into the light and crisp tempura batter, the firm yet delicate white flakes of the snapper on the inside was piping hot.

We were quite pleased with the sashimi on our last visit so we ordered the Chef’s Sashimi ($48 for 30 pieces). The sashimi arrived in a large wooden bowl that had been chilled with ice underneath the sashimi. They do a good job with their fish here and the temperature is just right. Going clockwise from the top-left: wild salmon, tako (octopus), hokkaigai (surf clam), ika (squid), tuna gomae, Atlantic salmon, hamachi (yellowtail), ikura (salmon roe), hotate (scallop), and something which I think was some type of saba (mackerel). In the middle of the dish was the kanpachi (amberjack) which was really good and had a somewhat firmer texture but still excellent. Honestly, everything in this dish was really good.

Next up was the Kaki Miso ($10) served with in the oyster shell with a creamy motoyaki sauce.

And finally, the Crab Salad ($12) with real crab pieces, fresh mango, shiso leaves, cucumber, kaiware sprouts and a house ponzu dressing. I loved the big chunks of crab that they use in this dish.

Overall, the prices are fair given the quality of the food that they serve here.

2156 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC

www.temakisushi.ca