Yujiro - Tasty High End Japanese

When anyone asks me for the best Japanese restaurant in Winnipeg, I quickly answer with Yujiro. When I last blogged about it, I was impressed by the freshness of the fish as well as the care and effort the chefs put into their dishes. Thus when a few fellow residents asked to do a monthly handover event at Yujiro, I could not help but well up with excitement.

On Grant Avenue just off of Kenaston Bouvelard, Yujiro has amassed a well known reputation as high quality Japanese. Indeed everything about the restaurant exudes modern elegance with the pleasant but simple exterior signage, the gorgeous wooden tables and and magnificent sushi bar that gives a window into the world of sushi making. Always busy, one must make sure to grab a reservation to ensure a table is available.

The menu is attractive and features a wide array of Japanese staples. Appetizers including the ever popular Goma Ae or lightly fried soft shell crab; the usual tempura, donburi suspects; an assortment of the usual salmon and tuna sashimi as well as the unusal hamachi or gin dara and a dizzying array of house rolls and makis to round out the affair. Bento boxes are also available for those unable to choose and wanting a variety. Where Yujiro strives above the competition is in a daily features menu which houses award winning chef Ed Lam's daily adventures and experiments. Here Mr. Lam pushes the boundary of traditional Japanese cuisine and strives to introduce customers to unusual ingredients and unique pairings. Exciting indeed!

And of course I had to order off the daily menu. The Omakase Tempura assembles an assortment of mushrooms (Wild Morel, Shiitake, Wild Woodear, Shimeji), lightly dusted in tempura batter and fried to perfection. The absolutely gorgeous dish was almost too pretty to eat; and the first bites were equally pleasing. Light and airy tempura batter coat the dense and rich mushroom all finished off with a hint of powdered salt. Each mushroom had a distinctive textural contrast: the beefiness of the shiitake, the earthiness of the wild morel, the delicateness of the woodear and the softness of the shimeji; all working invariably well with the tempura batter. Incredible.

Wanting to try a bit of everything again I went with the a bento box. With any bento ordered diners are treated with a Salad and Miso Soup. Nothing terribly impressive or unique; the freshness and crispness of the salad goes well with the light ginger dressing, meanwhile being contrasted by the earthiness and saltiness of the miso soup.

  The Deluxe Special Bento Box features (from top left) Assorted Sashimi, three pieces of Nigiri, light Tempura vegetables and two handrolls (California and B.C.). The large pieces of sashimi include two Tuna, Two Salmon, one Octopus and one Scallop. Incredibly fresh and springy and devoid of any fishy smell or aftertaste, each fat piece of sashimi literally dances in your mouth as you eat. The star here is truly the salmon with a wonderful mix of soft springy meat with belly fat all accentuated by a touch of soy.

Similarly, the Nigiri feature the same delicate and delicious fish but now on a bed of sushi rice. Here the sushi rice acts as a nice textural compliment to the fatty fish. Furthermore, because of the thinner cut of fish, there is more room for the sweetness of the light soy dipping sauce to come through and envelop each tasty morsel of sushi.

The two handrolls are of equally good quality. The California Roll features the usual suspects of real crab meat, cucumber and avocado while the B.C. roll slightly more exciting with BBQ salmon skin and cucumber. The star here is the rich but surprisingly delicate salmon skin; toasted to perfection and drizzled with a light BBQ sauce.

Each meal finishes with your choice of ice cream. The Green Tea version here is traditional and tasted as you would expect. An nice complimentary ending to a fantastic meal.

Yujiro safely remains for me as the best Japanese restaurant in Winnipeg. Featuring absurdly fresh fish and a consistent attention to detail and care for flavour, the chefs have created a world class Japanese dining experience. Well worth the visit.

Read about my previous experience at Yujiro here: http://korean2016.blogspot.com/2014/10/sushi-ramen-at-yujiro.html

Waki Temaki - Upscale Sushi Food Truck

Summer is one of my favourite times of the year. With the white snow behind us and the promise of heat and sun going forward, summer is often the time when I am often the most adventurous and willing to try new things. Capitalizing on the summer air are a litany of Food Trucks who have started to adorn the streets and alleyways of Winnipeg's busiest areas selling trinkets of delicious food for would-be adventurers. One of the newer trucks this year is the Waki Temaki Sushi Truck.

The whole premise of a food truck is that it is mobile and able to set up at any number of locations throughout the city. I caught up to these guys outside the Legislature on Broadway on this specific day. The brightly lit truck and whimsical signage are all key aspects to attracting diners and customers. Appealing and attractive it was no surprise to find a healthy line of diners when I arrived shortly after noon.

Waki Temaki is owned by the family behind one of my favourite restaurants in Winnipeg, Yujiro (Edward Lam). Using their home menu as a base and the concept of handrolls, Mr. Lam has crafted a menu combining popular ingredients to create unique handrolls. Shrimp Tempura, California, Spicy Salmon all adorn those wanting the usual, while a Tuna & Green Onion or Spicy Breaded Shrimp roll await those more adventurous. On the other hand the chefs also offer small appetizers like Yakitori or Tako Yoki, an octopus donus ball. And finally for those wanting a larger meal, one can always go with a rice box featuring a small handful of protein options. Definitely enough to keep anyone happy, indeed.

The delicious Yakitori features two marinated chicken skewers fried in Teriyaki Sauce and finished with sesame. The subtlety of flavours here show the true ability of the chefs with the tender chicken holding its own against the slight saltiness and sweetness of the teriyaki and contrasted well with the crunch of the sesame seeds; all working together to form a nuanced umami taste.

Wanting something more substantial I went with the Beef Rice Box. While initial impressions might resemble that of a fastfood takeout rice bowl, the contrast of the flavours here cries against it. In actuality, the exquisitely tender beef has just a mild hint of salt and sugar which works extremely well with the bed of perfectly cooked morsels of Japanese sushi rice. Colour and textural contrasts are found in the smattering of green onions on top. Delicious.

Waki Temaki Food Truck showcases excellent Japanese cuisine that rivals most established restaurants. That it is able to perform such feats in the confines of a food truck is dazzling and incredible. While not cheap, the quality is there making Waki Temaki an absolute recommendation for anyone who sees its colourful truck parked on a streetcorner.

Wakoya Sushi - Flavourful Japanse/Korean

Spring is amongst us! And with spring comes warm weather, blue skies and the promise of summer. For me, this spring brings about a sense of responsibility, as I transition myself from the ranks of junior resident to that of a senior. With that leaving less time to dine out, I have to find and made a more concerted effort to blogging. One lonely afternoon, after finishing a pile of work, I grabbed a fellow resident for a quick and hearty meal at Wakoya Sushi.

Wakoya Sushi is located in the heart of Osborne Village on the corner of Wardlaw and Osborne. The nicely decorated restaurant has a modern sheen and tasteful Japanese decorations. Large lanterns adorn the entranceway while smiling wait-staff direct you to the table of choice.

While Wakoya calls itself a fusion restaurant, it truly features both Japanese and Korean cuisine. I have to laugh when these restaurants exist, as I find they offer mediocre food that does neither cuisine justice; rather I wish they stick with their base home cuisine (the owners are Korean by the way). Nevertheless the menu features a whopping number of dishes from the two respective countries. The usual suspects are found here with a nice combination of Korean fried foods and stews; the Japanese portion features a venerable mix of sushi, Nijiri, sashimi and rolls.

The Blue Ocean is an atypical roll that utilizes a cucumber as the sushi wrapper. Inside it holds a luscious combination of salmon, avocado, crab, shrimp and roe. The large list of ingredients might scare one off, but it truly works here as the nice combination of fish and seafood all lend a good textural contrast to one another. Holding it all together is a tasty spicy wasabi mayo that adds the needed saltiness and spiciness. At the end of the day though, the cucumber exterior did a poor job in holding everything together and added nothing to the dish, other than a sense of uniqueness.

Never missing an opportunity to try Korean food, we the classic Hot Stone Bibim Bap. The large stone bowl features Kimchi rice in the bottom filled with a laundry list of cooked and marinated vegetables and topped with a fresh egg. Mixing everything together with the supplied Korean hot sauce delivers a wonderful combination of sweet, salty and savoury. Nothing special about Wakoya's version here, it was as it should be.

Gochujang Jijjae was the closest they came to having pork bone soup. The stew consists of pork, cucumber, tofu and pork in a red pepper beef based broth. The bowl came beautiful presented with big pieces of vegetables and pork in a bubbling hot broth but unfortunately the soup was runny and thin, missing the luxuriousness usually found in such stews. And although the components of the stew were nicely cooked, they lacked any additional flavour.

With all of their Korean dishes, Wakoya delivers Banchans: Marinated Radish, Bean Sprouts, Marinated Lotus Root. A nice addition is the lotus roots which had a delicate crunch in a tasty sour marinate.

Altogether Wakoya delivered serviceable flavourful Korean and Japanese cuisine. While their rolls and soups were not up to par with the best in the city, there is enough here to satisfy most people in the mood for sushi or Korean.

Nomiya - Average Japanese (Edmonton 30 in 30)

Ramen is winter's soul food. There is nothing better than a steaming bowl of hot broth, dense noodles and tasty toppings to drive away the nippy cold that is the Canadian winters. Thriving in the cold north we would see numerous Japanese ramen houses pop up, serving up bowls of life sustaining warmth as patrons lined up out the doors. Nomiya was one such restaurant in Edmonton and one that sustained me through the longest and coldest of Edmonton winters. It was without a doubt that I had to re-frequent Nomiya during my stay here in Edmonton.

The location is prime for any south Edmontonian. Found on the corner of 38th avenue and Calgary Trail, the small restaurant is tucked away in a large and popular strip mall. Even though the owners tucked as many booths and seating into the small space as possible, you would still find lines of would-be patrons coalescing outside the doors, waiting for their name to be called. Clearly their popularity has remained.

The menu is adept and features the basics of Japanese cuisine. Their star to fame is their ramens featuring a good variety of soups and bases. Of course you get the classic Tonkotsu, Shoyo, and Miso broths; but Nomiya also features an intriguing curry, seafood and Tan Tan broth. If ramen is not in the cards, diners can also choose from a variety of bento boxes, rolls and small Japanese appetizers. Overall a functional menu and one that should satisfy most looking for a quick Japanese meal.

Feeling famished after a long morning of work, I started with a Bento Box. I like the organization of their lunch boxes here as patrons have three categories to choose from: a main, a side and a maki roll. What Nomiya does well here is offer variety and with four to eight options per category, an almost unlimited permutation of bento boxes can be created.

For my side I chose the Century Tofu. The base is firm fresh tofu which is topped with century fermented egg, salmon roe and scallions. The flavour comes from the fermented eggs that have been marinated in soy; and the texture comes from the firm tofu with the smooth juicy salmon roe. While the century tofu is an acquired taste I did appreciate the subtlety of tastes here and admire Nomiya for offering such a polarizing but tasty side in their bento boxes.

A sign for any good Japanese restaurant is the freshness of their Sashimi. Unfortunately, Nomiya produces a mixed bag. With the bento boxes they offer two large pieces of Tuna, Salmon and one of Surf Clam. While I enjoyed the fatty and springy pieces of salmon, the tuna had a mushy texture and was devoid of any flavour, almost as if it was defrosted too quickly. The surf clam was entirely average with its meaty and chewy meat.

For my maki I went with Nigiri. Three pieces arrived consisting of Salmon, Red Snapper and Mackerel. These were much better with the fatty and large salmon being the most impressive of the bunch. The red snapper had its customary gentle sweetness and the mackerel the typical meaty-ness.

I would be remiss if I did not order a ramen as well. The Tonkotsu ramen features a milky broth surrounding a bevy of tender noodles and toppings including chashu pork, marinated bamboo, corn and seaweed. The rich, creamy and thick broth was key here as it showed a depth only found when brewing for hours and hours. The tender noodles were springy and robust enough to keep its texture in the broth and while I would have appreciated more toppings, the included ones were tasty and added a nice balance of fattiness (from the pork), sweetness (from the corn) and saltiness (from the bamboo).

Nomiya offers thoughtful and solid Japanese food and ramen that should do for anyone in the craving for such. While the quality of their fish was a little suspect, they do supply a tasty ramen and made it up with an authentic take on century tofu. You will not find fine Japanese food here but rather will find average Japanese cuisine at a good value.

Vancouver 2015 Wedding - toshi Teppanyaki, YVR

After a feverish pace to the weekend and gaining a record number of pounds, I found myself back at Vancouver airport going back to trusty old Winnipeg. Flying in the evening meant that I would either need some food prior to leaving or some after. We arrived promptly to the airport with a good hour to go before boarding. I suggested we finish off our food marathon in Vancouver where it all began. We walked around the food court and settled on Toshi Teppanyaki.

I did not have any expectation going into Toshi. It certainly did not help when the owners of Toshi were the same as the bland Western Chinese Food stall right next to it. Lovely. The menu includes a number of quick teppan fried dishes and pre-packaged sushi dinners.

I ordered the Chicken Sukiyaki. A marinated chicken thigh finished on the teppan and served with mixed vegetables and rice. This was altogether disappointing, even for my low expectations. The skin was so soft and devoid of flavour that it was practically inedible. The chicken itself was simply average and the vegetables bland and tasteless.

My dining companion got the Sushi Combo. Four pieces each of pre-packaged salmon and tuna sushi. We felt the need to order some sushi in Vancouver and although this was better than most pre packaged variants, the tasteless and thin pieces of fish were a disappointment.

The truth is, this meal was purely for sustenance and while Toshi has many faults with its food, I do commend them on the large portion sizes and average prices. With that, we left Vancouver with full bellies and fond memories of a wonderful weekend.

Friday night Sushi, Wasabi Bistro

Wasabi is a well known brand in Winnipeg. Often touted as the best Japanese in town, the brand has expanded to three locations: the main location on broadway, an offshoot called Wasabi Sabi on Taylor Avenue and the fun Wasabi Sushi Bistro on Osborne.

On a wintry Friday night, a few of the peds residents wanted a relaxing dinner and board game night. My place being the haven of choice that night, we quickly descended upon the Wasabi Sushi Bistro for a meal.

Wasabi has a night-time bistro vibe to it. The decor was a nice mix of elegance and simplicity that spoke to the young adult and professional crowd dining there. Overall a nicely designed, albeit dimly lit, establishment.

The attentive wait staff quickly sat us down and brought us the drink menu. Needing some liquid courage to battle the cold settling into Winnipeg, we all decided upon: Sapporo Draft, the LOL (Vokda, Lychee Juice, Ginger Ale), Osborne Alley (Gin, Aliza, Lychee Juice) and Wasabitini (Sake, Gin, Plum Wine). Fun drinks to start the night.

We quickly decided to have a family-style meal and each proceeded to order a few items. We started off with a Beef Tataki. Thinly sliced Angus beef with a sweet sesame sauce, this was a highlight of the meal. Incredibly tender beef that accentuated well with the pungent sesame flavour.

No meal is complete without tempura. Wasabi's Yam Tempura is excellent. Lightly breaded pieces of yam fried to perfection, the secret to this dish is the ratio of batter to yam. Wasabi shows great restraint here to not over-batter their tempura, well done!

The Caterpillar Roll is aptly named because of its resemblance (only in visuals) of the small pre-butterfly bugs. The roll consists of eel and cucumber roll topped with avocado and finished with a sweet soy sauce. I found the soy sauce a little strong here and took away from the delicate taste of the eel.

Rainbow Rolls consist of a California Roll topped with fresh fish. Wasabi's freshness of the fish was obvious here: wonderfully tender and fatty slices of salmon and tuna house the California roll underneath. Altogether a solid roll, but nothing extroadinary.
 

Tonkatsu is a deep fried breaded pork cutlet. Here they serve it with a sweet sauce similar to Hoison. Wasabi is able to control the amount of batter and length of frying to make a solid cutlet.

Two rolls came next. The Will-san (top) roll consists of fresh salmon, avocado and spicy mayo topped with tempura crumbs. I ordered this solely for the name-sake, but it was honestly altogether bland and not memorable. Main takeaway was the freshness of the salmon.

The Baby Godzilla (bottom) roll consists of tempura shrimp, soft shell crab, scallops and avocado. This was one of the best rolls of the night with a nice contrast between the tempura shrimp and soft shell crab. I found there to be too many ingredients and thought the avocado was overshadowing the subtle flavour of the crab. Overall tasty.

The White Dynamite roll was an eye opener for me. Tempura shrimp, avocado and sprouts wrapped in a white radish crepe. The crunchiness and sharpness of the radish harmonized well with the greasiness of the shrimp and fattiness of the avocado. This really spoke to the skill of Wasabi's chef and their ability to invent and create novel rolls.

It was fairly obvious why the Wasabi group is popular here in Winnipeg. They are able to deliver fun, solid, and, at times innovative, dishes at a reasonable price. Overall this is a good place to go for a guaranteed solid Japanese dining experience.

Sushi & Ramen at Yujiro

Perhaps this is becoming something of a tradition now. After the most recent night of call, I forced myself up from the post-call slumber in search of food. Opening up my refrigerator, I found nothing appetizing in there, and began to search Urbanspoon for possible lunch locations. Yujiro had been on my bucket list of places to go to. Featuring fresh fish and authentic ingredients, many raved about the quality of this establishment. With a renewed sense of energy, I made the quarter hour drive to Yujiro.

Yujiro is located in River Heights close to a strip mall. It still amazes me where the best restaurants end up and how they end up there. Without word of mouth, I would not have ever considered dining here.

A nice touch are wooden re-usable chopsticks. Not only do they give a sense of authenticity, but is environmentally friendly. The complimentary hand wipe is also welcome, although some more upscale Japanese restaurants dole out warm hand towels to their customers.

I ended up ordering two lunch sets. Both came with a starter Vegi salad and the bento came with a Miso soup. The salad was nice, crisp and light with the ponzu dressing. The soup was above average with a nice miso flavour.

I cannot resist the temptation to order ramen. This Miso Ramen features a large bowl of noodles topped with sliced pork, half-boiled egg, marinated bamboo shoots and seawood in a rich miso broth. The broth was the real winner here! Wonderful rich, smooth and bursting with savoury flavour, it was the best rendition of miso soup I have had in Winnipeg.

The BBQ Saba Bento was on special ($1 cheaper) today so I had to order it. The most impressive part of their special bentos is the amount of fresh fish. Going clockwise from the fish, you have a nice portion of BBQ Mackerel, Assorted Sashimi, Tekka Maki (tuna roll), Light Seared Tuna in soy and oranges for dessert.

The Mackerel was very well done. Wonderfully cooked, intentionally non-seasoned, you really get an appreciation for the subtle sweetness of the fish. Make sure to accentuate it with the lemon!

I also wanted to take some time to focus on the assorted sashimi. Two thick pieces of salmon, three of tuna (both white and red), and one scallop. I was immediately impressed by the quality, size of cuts and freshness of the fish. Plump, juicy, flavorful, this was among the best sashimi I have had in Winnipeg. Highly recommended.