Kaneda Sushi

My post Vegas hangover had me craving something fresh and healthy, and what better meal to breathe life back into my broken body than sushi. Kaneda is located on Broadway between Granville and Hemlock. They are a dine in/take-out/ All You Can Eat/late night sushi joint with a pleasant decor and mid range prices. Theres a 15% discount on take-out orders, and a $30 minimum for delivery items. Right now they have a special where you can get a california roll for 99 cents.

My favourite item was the Salmon Nigiri ($1.50), it was the best I’ve ever had. The fish was so fresh and buttery, I could have eaten a whole meal of just nigiri. Look how succulent they are! Nom nom nom

The appetizer tempura ($6.95) came with two prawns and three root vegetables, and best of all, it was served with miso soup. What an excellent deal. The tempura batter was light and cooked all the way through, however the prawns were a little over cooked. Still, taste wise, everything was delicious.

When dining in I always try to be adventurous with my orders, but my take-out order staples are always Dynamite and Spicy Tuna. The Spicy Tuna was delicious, not drowning in sriracha sauce and not too fishy. The roll was perfectly balanced between spice and flavour, allowing the tuna to shine through. It was $4.25.

Like the spicy tuna, my dynamite roll was very fresh, especially the avocado – such a vibrant green! I don’t always like lettuce in my dynamite rolls but this was the perfect balance. I really enjoyed this, even at $4.50. But you get what you pay for, and this was worth it.

On my second take-out adventure I steered from the path and ordered a Yam Roll and a Gomaae roll. Sadly, the Gomaae was a little underwhelming. I was hoping it would have a peanut sauce drizzle over it, alas it was a little dry. But still, and interesting roll and who knows, the dine-in version might be better. I felt that at $4.00, this roll was over priced for what you got.

I don’t usually like Ebi Nigiri because they are alway so dried out, but after having tried the salmon and loving it, I thought why not. The ebi ($1.50) was better than other joints, still not my favourite, but I would order it again.

The yam roll was light for a battered root vegetable. Again, for a vegetable roll, I thought $4.00 was over priced.

Dinner at Tokyo John Sushi

Tokyo John Sushi on Cambie and 17th

Tonight I went to Tokyo John Sushi with a friend for dinner. I love to eat, but I LOVE to eat sushi. I’ve been going to this restaurant for years and noticed they’ve revamped their decor(probably for the Olympics) and prices on some of the fancier items went up.

It’s a small place with about 7 tables and limited seating at the sushi bar. When we arrived we were greeted with friendliness and warm cups of green tea. I decided since I’ve eaten here many times and can vouch for the yam, dynamite,spicy tuna/salmon rolls like its my 9 to 5, I would order items I’ve never tasted.

So I started with gomae instead of miso soup, (spinach with peanut sauce and sesame seeds). The cool temperature of the spinach was refreshing after gulping down green tea and the peanut sauce was delicious. I could always go with more sauce but the portion was alright and didn’t smoother or overpower the spinach. It may look like a lot of sesame seeds but once I mixed the salad it distributed evenly. The dish was $3.50

Gomae

This could have easily been $2.50 instead, I mean, it’s cold spinach with a teaspoon of peanut sauce. For the same price you can get a California, Alaska, BBQ, or Boston maki. I think I will put this dish down on my food “To Do” list and try making it at home.

Next came the Rainbow Roll for $6.95 (California roll covered with avocado, salmon, shrimp and tuna ) and a scallop nigiri for $1.80. I don’t like California rolls by themselves, they are like Kraft Dinner to Pasta in the sushi world, but this sounded good and it was. The crab/mayo/avocado combination in California rolls is sickening after a few pieces but in the Rainbow Roll the avocado, salmon, tuna and shrimp are spread over the top of the roll. It tasted different and had a different texture, and is something I will order again.

Rainbow Roll with Scallop Nigiri

Scallop Nigiri

The scallop nigiri with tobiko was interesting. I love scallops, been craving them, don’t know what I expected this would be but I didn’t like the creamy sauce the scallop was tossed in. I picked at it for a while thinking the whole thing was filled with this creamy mixture but then realized there was rice underneath. Biting into the whole nigiri was much better. If your new to raw fish texture I wouldn’t recommend this.

I love Tokyo John Sushi because it’s close and has inexpensive quality sushi. I normally go for one of the sushi combos which, with a miso soup, is under $12. This meal was $5 more, a little pricier than I would have liked, but I enjoyed the gastronomic adventure, so the experience was an overall success.

Sorry for the fuzzy pic, but it's my friend's Kappa Maki and Alaska Roll (salmon and avocado)