Sushi Garden

I really should have done a post on last Friday's dinner, but some things cropped up and it had to be cancelled, so pardon the emptiness this week. Haven't had anything interesting all week as I mostly cooked at home, recovering from the flu.

Today I went to Metrotown to meet my distant cousin, Jasmine, whom I have never met or heard of until a couple weeks ago. She came to Vancouver a year ago and this is the first time I heard about it. We decided to meet up and chat!

She said there were lots of Asian places to eat behind Metrotown, so off we went! The row of shops behind Metrotown were mostly restaurants and somehow we decided on Sushi Garden, because she said her friend recommended it.

*No pictures of the interior because the waitress stopped me and claimed the sushi chefs didn't like it. I was merely trying to take a picture of the overall atmosphere to show the bustle of the place. Is it me or do some restaurants do not welcome reviews?*

The place was packed when we went in, but somehow there was a table for two and we sat down. We saw everyone's tables with platters of HUGE pieces of sushi and large platters of noodles, tempura and such. We took a long time to decide and finally decided on the sushi combo for two.

The food came almost instantly as there were about six sushi chefs behind the counter who were probably just making everything on the menu that was popular, as it was lunch hour and the place was packed.



This is our 32-piece sushi combo, for only $19.50! That's a lot of sushi and quite a lot of variety if you ask me. Jasmine wanted sashimi but I thought this combo came with it but it did not (sorry Jasmine!). But the nigiri sushi that came was almost sashimi-like as it was so generous and thick!

I shall proceed to talk about each of the kinds of sushi, but I do not have any individual pictures as we were too busy chatting. Probably should have but I was already conscious of my photography from that annoying waitress.

1. Nigiri Sushi

Large, luscious piece of salmon, neatly sliced with a little "tail" at the end. Extremely fresh, one of the freshest salmon I have tasted. Smooth and creamy, the proportion of fish to rice was about 3 to 1, amazingly big if I may say so. Same goes for the tuna, also a HUGE slice of fish.

The shrimp nigiri was also extremely fresh and juicy! Just be careful about that little nub of wasabi secretly embedded between the rice and the fish of the nigiri. The fish roe nigiri was overflowing with the fish roe that half of it fell out when I tried to pick it up! *embarrassed* The fish roe was salty and crunchy, and you could tell it was the good-quality kind that is clearly distinct from the ones they sprinkled on the dynamite roll.

2. Salmon/tuna maki rolls

There were so many of them, six of each of salmon and tuna! The sushi was tightly rolled and showed no sign of falling apart even when biting them in half. The seaweed was not soggy and came apart easily as I bit into it. The rice was cool and sticky with just the right amount of vinegar to it. Very well done.

3. Dynamite roll

Prawn tempura with cucumber, avocado and lettuce wrapped with rice and seaweed, this was also a very large roll! The cucumber was very fresh and the tempura had some special sauce on it, it was pretty good.

4. California roll

There were eight pieces of this famous roll, and the crab meat inside was a little salty but tasted sweet at the same time. I'd like it to be a little less salty but it was also a very well-made roll.

That was A LOT of sushi for the both of us and we took such a long time to finish it! The waiters and waitresses also refilled our tea on quite a regular basis. Customers streamed in and out with a constant bunch waiting on the bench. This is apparently a very popular place and rather worthwhile, if you look at the size of the sushi/sashimi relative to the price. My only complaint was that rude waitress who didn't let me take pictures of the restaurant. She was not polite about it and looked like she wanted to bite my head off.

Good place to go for great quality sushi (assuming they are consistent with their skills) but be prepared for a lineup if you go there! The place showed no sign of slowing down even when we left after 2 p.m.!

Sushi Garden is located at 4269 Lougheed Highway, Burnaby, B.C. (behind Metrotown).

♥ Nikki