My boys picked Japanese cuisine for dinner.  We went to Ramen Izakaya Okawari on Akroyd Road.

Green tea is served like most Japanese restaurant. There is a charge of $2.95 for the pot.

I had the Spicy Sapporo Ramen. The broth was mildly spicy and quite creamy. The cha-siu was quite fatty and tender.

Nanzaro ordered the Beef Mentaiko Yakiudon. When his bowl arrived, the bonita flakes performed a little dance before settling down. (more…)

My family went to Gami Sushi on No. 3 Road for one of the birthday in the family.

Gami Sushi is my boys favourite sushi place in the neighbourhood.

We were there when the restaurant was just opened. This place is busy during lunch and dinner peak hours.

We had green tea for our drink.

Both my boys ordered their favourite Salmon Don. They like that the salmon was relatively thick cut. (more…)

Ben was away and the boys wanted Japanese for lunch on a Sunday afternoon.

We went to Matsuyama Japanese Restaurant on Alexandra Road. We were there after 1:30PM and parking did not come easy as the parking lot was full. Nevertheless we managed to find one, otherwise we will have to go somewhere else to eat.

Arkensen ordered the Tuna and Salmon Don. Beside sashimi, this is his next favourite item. He commented that the sushi rice here was too vinegarish for his taste.

Nanzaro ordered the Lunch Box E which comes with Spicy Salmon Sashimi, Spicy Tuna Roll, Dynamite Roll and Chicken Karaage. I tried a piece of his chicken karaage which was crunchy and hot (i.e. it was made to order). (more…)

Finally Ben and I visited Pepper Lunch after the long line up dies down.

We were there for lunch and there was no line up, perhaps it was still early.

We like that the menu is displayed outside the restaurant. It makes it easier for one to make a decision.

When we walked in, a server came by to take our order at the counter and payment is required immediately. (more…)

It’s another dinner before dropping Ben off at the airport for his monthly business trip. Ben decided to go to Union Square for dinner.

Apparently, there is not many restaurants in Union Square which the boys like. We finally settled with Yah-Yah-Ya Ramen. Customers register themselves on a registration sheet at the entrance like most Japanese restaurants practice. It was full house when we were there, so we waited like 15 minutes for a table.

Ben ordered the large Spicy Miso Ramen to share with me. The serving was really big and quite spicy too. We opted regular for the ramen hardness, broth strength and oiliness.

I ordered the Chashu Set to go with Ben’s order. The chashu was very soft and the mayonnaise adds sweetness to it.  (more…)

I joined a bible study group lunch at Steveston Village. It’s a long story as I do not belong to that bible study group. But one of the member is the teacher of one of the praise dance group I attended. She gave me ride to the praise dance most of the time. So, she invited me to go along since the lunch was on one of the praise dance day.

We had lunch at Mega Sushi at Chatham Street.

The restaurant was busy when we arrived. Luckily, we had reservation.

Roasted rice tea was served.

We shared the food to sample more variety. The above is the signature dish of Mega Sushi, i.e. Mega Tower. I’m sorry for the harsh lighting as we were seated by the window.  The Mega Tower is constructed from assorted sashimi on top of sushi rice in a tower-like shape with organic vegetable and apple sauce, balsamic vinegar and homemade special sauce. This is $19.95 but justifiable by it’s size. (more…)

This was a birthday lunch for the birthday boy in March.

Initially, he wanted AYCE from Ninkazu but we could not find a parking spot. So, we went with our plan B, Richmond Sushi. When I looked back at the archive of chowtimes.com, Richmond Sushi was one of the very early post. We have not come back as a family but Nanzaro had revisited it several times.

Some cute Japanese items at the display shelf at the entrance.

We can see the chefs working on our way to our tables.

Miso soup and edamame to start off our meal.

Various sushi.

I’m most surprised by the size of the grilled salmon head. They are humongous. I will certainly order this again the next time I’m here. (more…)

We had to pick up Nanzaro from his training run from the dyke near Tim Horton on No. 3 Road on a Sunday around 11:30AM. After we picked him up, we went for lunch.

We went to the new Sanpoutei Ramen in Kam Do Plaza. We were there just about noon and there was a line already. We waited for at least 20 minutes before we get a table.

We can view the making of ramen at the waiting area.

The seating area is quite pleasant. The kitchen area is also visible.

Nanzaro ordered the Tori Spicy Miso Ramen with flavoured soft-boiled egg. It has two slices of aburi chashu, vegetables and minced chicken. It was quite pricey at $13.00. (more…)