I don’t plan to blog about this place so soon and wanted to blog only sometime next week. But I think I better just go ahead and write about it since we accidentally published an unfinished post yesterday. So here goes.
Tokyo Joe’s is one of those place we would have never been to up until a few weeks ago. Our boys love sushi but the thing is, Suanne hates sushi. We are trying to get her to learn to love uncooked food so that we can visit more Japanese restaurants. Believe it or not … until today I had never been to a Izakaya before and ironically Suanne had. She went to Guu in Aberdeen.
In other thing that prevents us from giving Tokyo Joe’s a second glance is the name. It’s full name is Tokyo Joe’s Sushi Factory. The words “Joe” and “Factory” just does not evoke images of quality sushi.
We went this time. The boys wanted sushi and I said I will not go for sushi if mummy does not take at least one piece of sushi. Hehehe … that worked. Suanne will do anything for the boys. Of course just so that she does not back out, we all shook hands to seal the deal.
This place is … Korean owned. From the many pictures of their customers, it seems like the owners are Joe and Jun. Jun is very loud and I mean really loud. 🙂 She has boundless energy and all and I understand it is her style. She would yell the orders in front of the customer for the chef. Everyone knows what you ordered. It is not a problem to us but her voice is really loud. Just so you know.
There are a lot of choices. While they have a menu, it is easier to select looking at the pictures on the board. Nanzaro as usual takes the longest to decide what he wants. He goes to look at the pictures, comes back to table to look at the menu, still can’t decide and goes back to the board with the pictures. Of course, this annoys Arkensen to no end.
The menu above is clickable to show larger.
While the menu is large, it is somewhat filled with common sushi dishes. The only part I concentrated on was the specialty rolls. They also have brown rice options for their rolls but it is at an extra charge ($1 for rolls, 50 cents for maki, and 25 cents for nigri).
One thing we love about Tokyo Joe’s is the free Miso Soup. All you can drink! Strange thing is that the menu says it is $1.00 but yet the Miso Soup is there piping hot in a pot for everyone to help themselves for free.
So I had three bowls and Suanne had two. And I put LOTS of scallions which is by the side of the Miso Soup pot. The boys? They did not want any. They don’t know what they are missing.
Yeah, the deal was Suanne to have one piece of raw fish but she gets to order cooked food. So, sigh … she ordered the Okonomi Yaki which is $8.00.
Look at that one above. Compare it with this one.
I think Suanne makes a tastier version of the Okonomiyaki at home (see her recipe here).
Tokyo Joe’s version is cut into quarters with a side of salad. It is very brown and crusted on the outside which lead us to think they they made it using a mold or sometime like that. There is hardly anything in it except lots of batter. We did not think this is any good at all.
Nanzaro eventually decided on having two rolls — one fancier roll and one “insurance” roll to hedge on the risk he is taking on the fancier roll.
He got the Crazy Roll ($6.00) and Spicy Salmon Roll ($4.00).
The Crazy Roll is made up of spicy tuna, prawn tempura, crab meat and cucumber.
The Crazy Roll is a very big roll. It falls apart as we try to lift it up. This reminds us of the House Roll in Samurai Sushi and Banzai Sushi. The Crazy Roll is not as big as the House Rolls but it sure is hard to handle.
The Spicy Salmon Roll came in 8 pieces. As you can see, the rice is not sufficiently packed and are loose and grainy.
For Arkensen, he ordered the Maki Combo B which is $8.25.
It consists of California roll (8 pieces) , tuna roll (6 pieces) and salmon roll (6 pieces). Nothing too adventurous for him.
We did the calculation and see how much it cost if we were to order these rolls individually. They were: California roll ($3.45), tuna roll ($2.75) and salmon roll ($2.75). So, there is a saving of 70 cents (or 8%) if you were to order the combo.
For me I had the DX Spicy Combo. It is quite pricey at $13.00. I think this is their “the works” item on the menu. It consists of half serving of Spicy Tuna Sashimi, Spicy Tuna Roll and Negitoro Roll.
Suanne did another breakdown. If ordered individually: 1/2 serving Spicy Tuna Sashimi ($11.50/2=$5.75), Spicy Tuna Roll ($3.75), Negitoro ($2.75). So the total is $12.25 and thus not a saving for this combo.
This is the half serving of Spicy Tuna Sashimi. The full serving is $$11.50.
Big chunky pieces is how I would say. I counted 9 pieces all together even though the menu said 7 pieces.
Of course one piece goes to Suanne as part of the deal.
The Negitoro Roll is chopped tuna and green onion. Under normal circumstances, the boys would want it if I offer them this. It is the presence of the green stuff that they say they are allergic to.
And the above is the Spicy Tuna Roll. All in all, this is a no frills sushi place. What we like most is the free miso soup but the sushis are not head and shoulders above other nearby sushi places.
Having said that they are quite popular and when we were there for lunch on a weekend, the place was packed.
Tokyo Joe’s is now opened 7 days a week. They used to be closed on Sundays.
Our bill came to $43.74 before tips. They accept credit cards.
BUSINESS HOUR
7 days a week
Monday to Saturday: 10:30 AM to 9:00 PM
Sunday: 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM
I went to Gah Lok (same strip mall as Save On) to buy frozen dimsum on Sunday. When I drove out from the parkade, I saw Tokyo Joe and thought we should try it the next time we are in Richmond.
What a coincidence! 🙂
Ordered to-go: negitoro, california, avocado, spicy salmon and sashimi this afternoon. Not bad for a quick lunch. The negitoro has enough spring onions to balance out the tuna. California was pretty general but not bad. Their avocado roll is good with lots of big chunks of avocado. Spicy salmon.. so-so. I like Taka’s more. Tuna & salmon sashimi was ok and I love the big nest of shredded carrot that goes with it.
If you go to Tokyo Joe, you must try the Chirashi Don! I think it’s the best chirashi don I’ve had!
Tell me more about Chirashi Don, vhearts. Is Chirashi Don just Sashimi served over rice? Anyway, I can’t seem to find Chirashi Don on the menu above. Ben
Yeah Chirashi is sashimi on a bowl of sushi rice. The best I’ve had is at Kibune in Kitsilano. They have extremely good sushi rice. I also like that they speak Japanese in there.
Thanks Travis. We gotta learn a bit more about Japanese food from everyone. Chirashi Don … one dish I will definitely look out for going forward. Ben
Hi Ben,
Just be wary of restaurants that cheap out and use regular rice instead of sushi rice or only give you the “cheaper” toppings – two of my pet peeves when it comes to Chirashi lol~
Here’s a pic of the BEST Chirashi we’ve ever had:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carnivorousherbivores/5660355272/in/photostream
If you ever go to Tokyo, Japan, I will give you walking directions to this restaurant LOL!!!
– C.Herb
Hi C.Herb: That Chirashi you had doesn’t look particularly pretty. 🙂 I am sure it tastes better than it looked. Anyway, I am getting more curious of Chirashi Don. So the way I look at it, Chirashi Don is basically eating assorted sushi served in a bowl. I mean the ingredients are basically the same and it is just the manner of serving that is different. Is that right? Am gonna go look for Chirashi Don tomorrow! Ben
Hi Ben,
It’s not the most well taken image either, but I assure you, those ingredients were top-notch lol! They were one of few restaurants that significantly reduced their prices during lunch time so that everyday people would have a chance to enjoy their food.
It was funny because both Carn.H and I were recommended this restaurant by our respective clients around the same time – so we had to try it out. Dinner prices were supposed to range somewhere between $100-$200 (CAD) per person while lunches were only $10-$15. The lunch menu was limited, with only 3 items to choose from – nigiri combo, chirashi and bara chirashi – if I remember correctly. But a considerable variety of fish, which differed slightly according to the day’s catch, was served with miso soup and an always changing app that featured ingredients we had never seen or eaten before – most memorable was a silver-fish-like-fish that was super long and flat *mmm…. yum!* it was served raw with a sort of ponzu sauce and had a very interesting texture.
Sorry for the rant… going down memory lane LOL!
-C.Herb
Nice rant! Did you ever blog about it? Ben
Hi Ben,
(I can’t comment on your comment for some reason)
But to answer your Q: I checked…
http://members.sunnypages.jp/members/show/75e0627fe51d4fde54970158658d8fae
and sadly no, I didn’t… I think I only posted enough to earn me my SLR before I got all posted/”blogged” out (SunnyPages had a “contest” at the time so I posted almost all 100 of my posts within a month LOL~) and it was only afterwards that we found out about the restaurant.
Hi C.Herb: The reason you could not comment is because there is a limit to the number of levels for the nested comments. I think I’ve set that to 7 or 8 levels. Ben
So that is why I saw Tokyo Joe in the blogroll, but when I click it, there was an internal error!
Wanting to try this place, but I always find it closed.
Actually, next door, I really like the Fresh Slice pizza. Personal preference, but I like the crust soggy and foldable, just like Fresh Slice makes it. Some people hate that, but it’s a free world right.
Hi Ryan: I see a lot of new outlets of FreshSlice Pizza sprouting all over town and that they have a makeover too. It is like they are going head on against other fast food outlets like Subway, McDonalds, Tim Hortons and the likes. Ben
Speaking of the Big M ….. Tokyo Joe has 3 or 4 franchises in Vanc and Richmond. Maybe they want to be the McDonald’s of express sushi.
Oh really? Tokyo Joe is a franchise? Are they under some other name or something? Tried to search for “Tokyo Joe” but search turns up only one location. Ben
If you search “Toyko JOE’S” you get 3 locations:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=%22tokyo+joe's%22&aq=&sll=49.232844,-123.059235&sspn=0.346142,0.883026&gl=ca&ie=UTF8&hq=%22tokyo+joe's%22&hnear=&z=10
Thanks, LotusRapper. Did not know there were several Tokyo Joe’s. Ben
Hehehe … if we keep up the “jhup and rice”, I won’t be surprised someday someone would take that seriously and open up a chain of “jhup and rice”. LOL!
Time to get our “Jhup & Rice” chain started, buddy !
Jhup and rice!!!Now that is so crazy,It actually might work out.Regarding Chirashi Don,Its a great dish for people who dont want to bother to pick up and individually pick up sushi ,but just shovel up the food.
No way!! The best Chirashi Don is in Nao sushi!!!!