Kizami is a small Japanese restaurant that opened up last year in a tiny strip mall on Leslie Road & No.3 Road. The team comes from Manzo and is Chinese owned and operated. Kizami menu offers both fresh sheet and fish flown in from Japan along with a decent izakaya menu with lots of robata choices. What I like most is their pressed oshi sushi.

Unfortunately there is limited parking front of the restaurant and parking can be difficult during peak hours. I highly recommend making reservations. For parents this restaurant is kid-friendly and even has a changing table in the women’s bathroom. Kizami just earned itself plus 10 stars!

We came here for lunch of a quiet Wednesday weekday. Originally, we were going to order off their lunch set menu which includes a variety of Black Cod set, sashimi rice don sets and udon noodles – priced between $13 to $27. Instead we ordered a la carte.

Cheese Chikuwa 6.50: six pieces of deep fried chikuwa filled with a creamy cheese center. These were pretty tasty and would be a great late night snack!

Truffle Chawanmushi 7: Silky smooth savoury soft egg custard has a subtle truffle flavor that is delicate. Comes with one bouncy prawn.

Salmon Oshi 14: A good ratio of salmon to rice with a good balance of sauce. It isn’t too saucy like Hanamori. It’s a good option for pressed sushi when you don’t want to go all the way to Downtown for Miku.

Saba Oshi 13: This pressed sushi also had a good amount of saba but we found this oshi sushi to be less flavourful and bland in comparison.

We also ordered a few nigiri pieces and I was pleasantly surprised they also carried Engawa. The nigiri sushi are well portioned. I also love their A5 Wagyu Beef (fatty and juicy).

• Engawa 7 each
• Botan Ebi 5 each
• Uni 5 each
• Hotate 6 each
• Foie Gras 6 each
• A5 Wagyu Beef 12 each

I’m looking forward to my next return when we try their Chef’s Choice Sushi platter for $28 – 9 pieces of aburi style nigiri sushi and includes foie gras and wagyu beef topped with a quail. And also their grilled robata chicken wings which I hear is tender, juicy and falls off the bones!

Overall I think Kizami is a great Japanese restaurant with fresh quality ingredients. I love that they are kid-friendly! And if you stay long enough, you may run into some Hong Kong celebrities like Bernice Liu.

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Kizami Japanese Cuisine
URL: facebook
Cuisine: Japanese, Sushi

Hours:

Mon Closed
Tue 11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Wed 11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Thu 11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Fri 11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:00 pm – 12:00 am
Sat 11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:00 pm – 12:00 am
Sun 11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm

120 8031 Leslie Road, Richmond B C, V6X 1E4
(604) 247-2682

It’s been a very long time since we last visited Sushi K Kamizato. Even though we live mere minutes away, we’ve been going to eat at other places in the Tri-Cities. The menu has changed a lot since they first opened. It is more concise and focused on sashimi, Okonomi / nigiri pieces and fresh sheets directly from Japan. Cooked food is absent from the menu and don’t expect to see any bento boxes or California rolls options here.

Prices are relatively steep and an average dinner for dinner with drinks can run you $100. If you are looking for speciality items or daily specials, be sure to check their Facebook Page for updates. If you see something you fancy trying, I’d suggest asking for the price first. Some items like the Imonolith – marinated blue fin tuna cup, topped with snow crab leg and sweet shrimp mixed with my homemade avocado mayo sauce – is $11 per piece.

One thing is for certain, we probably will be coming back real soon. We’re already thinking about what to order next time! However, if you are pressed for time or expect to be somewhere in an hour, I’d suggest you visit Sushi K Kamizato another time. Their service is slow and the food takes time to come. There is only two people working there: the Chef and the server. Our last visit, it took over 50 minutes for our sushi pieces to arrive.

Has anyone tried their omakase? $40 seems very reasonable. The only caveat is that it requires one day advance notice.

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Miku at Coal Harbour waterfront is one of my favourite Japanese restaurant in Vancouver. It is located next to Canada Place and has wonderful views – you can watch the sunset over the North Shores. To celebrate our third wedding anniversary, Dave and I wanted to indulge in their omakase menu – Aburi Kaiseki Dinner.

Kaiseki menu is only available during dinner service. There are three choices of  Shokai (zensai, entree, signature sushi and dessert) $68 per person, Kaisen (six course chef’s tasting menu) $88 per person and Aburi (unique multi-course experience with premium and seasonal ingredients) $135 per person. Traditional Kaiseki Ryori incorporates region’s food culture and is presented in unique Arita plateware from Kyushu, Japan.

To start the evening we savoured a glass of Riesling while watching the thunderstorm – after all it is September in Vancouver.

Amuse Bouche: croquette

Aburi Sashimi: trio selection of flame seared salmon, scallop and tuna with signature sauces.

Appetizer: Presented in a beautiful bento box from Arita plateware that is so Instagram worthy. Seven seasonal bite size appetizers that consists of fresh oysters (or substitution for clams), Salt Spring mussels with mignonette and tiger prawn cocktail. The bottom layer includes octopus ceviche, pan seared Hakkaido scallop, beef carpaccio, and ahi tuna.

Lobster Tail: The third course consists of half lobster table grilled with tomato chili sauce served with seasonal vegetables.

Wagyu Beef: tender and cooked perfectly medium rare with a dash of pink Himalayan salt. Served with seasonal greens.

Miku’s Signature Sushi: The fifth course includes an assortment of Aburi nigiri, rolls (Miku roll and Red Wave Roll) and oshi sushi (salmon, ebi). Before ending the evening with dessert, you have the option to add more food a la carte. For us, it was the perfect amount. Besides we wanted to get ice cream afterwards…

Black Forest Tiramisu with Vanilla Bean ice cream. This dessert was airy, light and not too sweet. Just the way I like it.

If you are looking for an omakase dinner service with an amazing view. I highly recommend the Aburi Kaiseki dinner from Miku.

more: Where to Eat in Tri-Cities (Coquitlam, PoCo, Port Moody) | Good Coffee Portland | Cafe Myriade Montreal

 

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Miku Restaurant
URL:  https://mikurestaurant.com
Cuisine: Japanese

Hours:

Mon 11:30 am – 10:30 pm
Tue 11:30 am – 10:30 pm
Wed 11:30 am – 10:30 pm
Thu 11:30 am – 11:00 pm
Fri 11:30 am – 11:00 pm
Sat 11:30 am – 11:00 pm
Sun 11:30 am – 10:30 pm

200 Granville St #70, Vancouver, BC V6C 1S4
(604) 568-3900

Nubo Japanese Tapas is located on a quint little corner on 739 Pandora Ave. in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. We were over on Vancouver Island for a weekend getaway. Every time we are on vacation we always crave Asian food at least once – we always needed some sort of comfort food.

Nubo was clean and had a fusion, hip vibe. The menu offers more authentic Japanese cuisine than fancy fusion items.

Lucky Strike Roll 13: smoked salmon, seared tuna, spicy tuna, prawn tempura, avocado, fish eggs.

Nigiri sushi – Saba, Hotate, Amaebi. The sashimi was very fresh and I liked the giant pieces of butterfly scallops

Off the tapas menu we ordered Tamago Spam Musubi 9: spam, tamago, pressed sushi. This was not my favorite and thought it was rather dry and bland. The spam was too thin and the rice too dry.

Nabeyaki Udon 17: udon soup, mussels, scallop, prawn

We could never have a Japanese meal without at least some cooked food. This Nabeyaki Udon was especially comforting for a windy night after spending a day at the waterfalls!

Buta Gyoza 4: Pork dumplings.

If you have any recommendations for good quality sushi, please me know in the comments below! I need this next time we head over for a staycation!

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Nubo Japanese Tapas
URL: http://www.nubotapas.com
Cuisine: Japanese, Sushi Bar
Hours:

Mon 11:30 am – 2:45 pm, 5:00 pm – 11:45 pm
Tue 11:30 am – 2:45 pm, 5:00 pm – 11:45 pm
Wed 11:30 am – 2:45 pm, 5:00 pm – 11:45 pm
Thu 11:30 am – 2:45 pm, 5:00 pm – 11:45 pm
Fri 11:30 am – 2:45 pm, 5:00 pm – 11:45 pm
Sat 11:30 am – 2:45 pm, 5:00 pm – 11:45 pm
Sun 11:30 am – 2:45 pm, 5:00 pm – 11:45 pm

739 Pandora Ave, Victoria, BC V8W 1N9
(778) 265-9909