Updated: 18th Dec 2014; This restaurant is closed.
Nanzaro was away at a camp. He was none too happy when he found out that we went to a “gourmet” Japanese place for lunch on the weekend while he was away. For us, gourmet Japanese is anything that is not a AYCE.
So we went Daimasu that one weekend. Daimasu has been at this spot for as long as I remembered. What prevented us from coming to this place previously and what brought us here lately is their tagline — “A Fine Japanese Restaurant”.
Daimasu is located on Granville between No 3 and Garden City. You won’t miss it because of the imposing red sign that have up front.
In our mind this is very much a Chinese owned Japanese restaurant. We don’t know that for a fact but the workers there looked very Chinese and speaks Chinese too. So, we were surprised to see how authentic looking the decor is. We like the place as they do have a very good selection of bright and dim spots.
Apparently Daimasu has another outlet on the Burnaby portion of Kingsway. I work just a block away and I did not even realize it. I will want to check it out one day for sure.
I eyed a poster on the wall showing a new menu item which they call Sashimi Adventure. The poster said:
Dare to try our freshly imported selection of Yellow Tail (Hamachi), Wild Sockeye Salmon, Seared Mackeral (Saba), Garlic Pepper Tuna and Beef Sashimi.
Without hesitation, I ordered that … I like the “Adventure” part.
Fish Sashimi, that I can readily relate but beef sashimi? Actually this is the first time I had beef sashimi … and I must say it is very good. Normally you would get blood red meat when it is rare but not this one. It seems like they had lightly cooked the sides before it’s served.
I must give credit to the Japanese. I mean … how on earth did they managed to convince the world to call uncooked food cuisine. LOL! Suanne swears off sashimi but I love it.
The dip above is meant to go with the beef. Not exactly sure what it was though.
Between Mackeral, Hamachi and Tuna, I can hardly tell the difference between them … but am going to hazard a guess nevertheless. Let me know if I got this wrong.
The above looks like Mackeral. Although the menu said it is Seared Mackeral, it does not seem seared to me. There are quite a number of little garnishing all over the plate — all very nicely arranged. I figured that the chef would have placed the garnishings next to the sashimi pieces that they are meant to go along.
Seeing that the Mackeral is split in the middle, I took some of the greenish and orangey stuff (help me describe the orangey stuff here!) and sandwich it between the fish. Mmm … mmm … fresh.
The above, I think, is the Tuna … the Garlic Pepper Tuna. Those shredded white thingy, I think, is daikon.
Since the shredded daikon is located just next to this, I place it on top of the tuna and some green leaf. It has a good balance of soft tender tuna with refreshing crunchiness of the daikon.
Here is a trivia concerning tuna I recalled and just found on the internet. Back in 2001, someone actually paid $173,600 for a 444 pound very high grade Bluefish Tuna. That, people, works out to be $391 per pound!
This other item is perhaps the Hamachi (yellow tail). This one has very subtle flavour which is kind of hard to describe.
This is what I found out … sashimi is literally translated to “pierced meat”. This describes the traditional process where hand-caught fish has its brain pierced with a spike to kill it instantly and then placed in iced. This process is known to minimize the lactic acid from a slowly dying fish.
The Salmon Sashimi is the least exciting since we get so much salmon here in Metro Vancouver.
Oh … another trivia. Actually a question for you: Can you just buy a whole salmon from the supermarket, slice it up and then serve as sashimi?
The answer is no … sashimi is prepared different the salmon/fish you get from the supermarket. So, don’t go about buying a $40 sockeye, slice it up and think that you have $100 worth of sashimis.
The Sashimi Adventure costs $17. I enjoyed it but it is pricey. Suanne does not want to even have a nibble of it (which suits me fine!). She thinks that its repulsive eating raw meat and simply just can’t process that thought in her brain. Frankly, she feels squirmish even at the pinkish blood in a medium rare steak.
So Suanne ordered the Noodle Combo … she loves combos … she loves varieties. The Noodle Combo B costs $10 and has rice, noodles and tempura.
The Chicken Teriyaki on Rice is well made and respectably delicious. One can’t really say “wow” on a simple chicken teriyaki.
With the rice and the udon, this is a very filling combo. We had expected this to be steaming hot but was just warm soup. Well, Chinese definitely love soup noodles served in steaming hot soup but am not sure if authentic Japanese serve it similarly too.
There are two pieces of prawn and vegetable tempura each. We like it especially when it is not oily and greasy.
Arkensen had the Lunch Special Combo and selected the Maki Sushi Boat. This one is $9 and has 3 pieces each of California Rooll, Dynamite Roll, Tuna, Salmon and House Roll.
It came served in a boat shaped vessel … although I must say the vessel is too big for the food because it shows quite a bit of empty spaces.
I find this somewhat disappointing in that the maki’s are poorly shaped and do tend to clump together. We definitely had better makis elsewhere.
I fancy the way they cut up the orange. This is the easiest and least messy way to eat oranges. Now … why didn’t every restaurant think of doing it this way?
The total before tips is $37.64. We had a good time here. There are lots more on their menu to discover … so, we’ll be back here again for sure.
I love the ‘adventure’ tag on the sashimi dish. While not as adventurous as I was hoping, it would definitely sell me on more dishes around town if they described it like that.
Daimasu is a low-end japanese restaurant. There is nothing really “fine” about it. I use to frequent the Kingsway one which is next to Save-On-Foods at Metrotown back when there were few Japanese restaurants in the 90’s. Actually, I tend to go to the one on Cambie and Broadway before they closed down. However, since then, the quality of japanese food has really gone up and they are no longer comparable. Really, go to a better japanese restaurant. There are PLENTY out there.
I second Adversary’s opinion. When I was working in Richmond, a place my colleagues and I used to go was Kiyo Sushi, in the intersection of No 5 and Cambie. Other than the delay due to understaffing, I will have to say the food was darn good.
the hamachi looks delicious……
but for really good authentic, fresh sushi, you should really try Shiro on Cambie…. it’s small but has an all-Japanese staff with (in my opinion) one of the best Japanese sushi chefs around. If you go at lunch (I think they are closed Sunday and Monday), they have really good combo deals, too, ofr under $10…. definitely better than Daimasu.
Shiro is one of those hidden gems (literally and figuratively) in the city that doesn’t get much media exposure.
the old daimasu that was tucked in that complex on broadway and cambie used to be my favourite sushi joint. it had a nice view of downtown vancouver and i even used to buy my green tea from them! since they’ve closed down and after hearing there were two other locations, i decided id drop by either of them when i was in the immediate area. to my disappointment neither of the two remaining ones can compare to the old daimasu. the kingways/station square one being the worst. its a quick in and out, food court quality type restaurant. you’re probably correct about it being chinese run. i knew for a fact that the cambie location was run by chinese/vietnamese employees. i wouldnt doubt it about the kingsway one either.
That’s not true. I have been to many Chinese run sushi restaurants in Hong Kong/Taiwan which have very high quality.
@ Johnners: my experiences match yours. The old Cambie/Broadway location was a bit better than average for mainstream Japanese food, regardless of the owners’ nationality. Whereas the Metrotown location was at best “average”.
@ Peter: Johnners did not actually say sushi restaurants run by Chinese tend to be of lower quality than those by other nationalities. Please stop your over-interpretation and general defensiveness in this and other threads.
Well, I am gonna have to say that most every sub par sushi place I have ever gone to have been run by non Japanese people.
I don’t think I have really had a bad experience at any actual Japanese run Japanese restaurants, be that service or quality of food.
Read what you want into that, it’s just my 2 cents!
PS: I’m asian and I am NOT Japanese.
From the looks of it I’d say the orange stuff close to the beef sashimi would be crab eggs? woud that be possible?
Hi Julien: I am supposed to be the one asking the question. You can’t answer a question with a question. OK? 🙂 Ben
well, I guessed it would be crab eggs. but since I wasn’t the one who have eaten it I wouldn’t be sure. sorry if it wasn’t helpful.
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/shellfish/crab/images/dungeness-with-eggs_ODFW.jpg
Hi Julien: Thanks for the investigative work. I was just joking. Ben
Hey Ben,
Have you been back since? I heard they have some pretty good priced “late night menu”
Hi Eric: Nope. We had not. Ben