Monthly Archives: April 2013

Kaneda – All You Can Eat – CLOSED

Kaneda Japanese Restaurant 金田 on Urbanspoon

So, there were about 12 of us that went to try out the All You Can Eat at Kaneda. We went for Sunday lunch which was $13.95+tax+tip. (other days Mon-Thurs is $12.95/lunch) Like many of the sushi all you can eat places around town, you get a slip of paper with all the items. Indicate which ones you want and how many. Give the slip to the server and wait. Don’t get too caught up on what you ordered and who’s is what, especially with a large group. They will usually put all the rolls on one plate, making it difficult to figure out who ordered what. The beauty of all you can eat is you get to try foods that you might not normally order. And best of all, you can keep ordering as much as you want within the 90 minutes you get for the all you can eat.

The rolls were alright, and the nigiris were surprisingly good for an all you can eat. The sashimi, like most non-Japanese chef run places were super thick like blocks so I declined to take any of them. Other dishes like spring rolls, salmon teriyaki, grilled salmon, gyoza, agedashi tofu, etc were greasy and very heavy. The taste wasn’t anything great…just filling. The salmon and beef had a lot of fat, so they’re using low quality cheap food.

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One of them complained that the tea tasted like dishsoap, and the wasabi wasn’t that good. Well, you can always tell a good Japanese restaurant by it’s green tea. If it’s like faded yellow and has no taste, you can tell that the rest of the food is going to fall in the same quality. It’s not really a Japanese restaurant…it’s a fusion…Chinese spring rolls, and croquette that seemed more Korean than Japanese.

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The spicy tuna cone was actually good. Most of the sushi were ok, so maybe stick to them only…

The restaurant itself is fairly large and spacious. The tatami rooms, with separate walls are nice for privacy. If you want to fill up or have a variety of foods, this may be the place to go, but don’t count on quality. Good price for quantity but lacks quality. The servers aren’t what you’d call ‘friendly’ but they are fast and efficient. However, I will likely not be returning again.

CLOSED

A group of 5 of us went for lunch during the weekday. We phoned to make a reservation, but the staff just said ‘Yes, just come in.” without taking our names or number. I figure it was because they’re a fairly large restaurant and perhaps they don’t get too busy.

We ordered tons, from Shoyu Ramen, Yaki Udon, Tuna Tataki, Pork Gyoza, Shrimp Gyoza, Agedashi Tofu, 3 Gomae, Negitoro roll and a whole bunch of tuna and salmon sashimi. We were surprised with the complimentary miso soup, salad and mango pudding for dessert.

Food was ok, but the Tuna Tataki $10.95 was the worst one I’d ever had. It was super dry and hard, and one guy thought it was chicken! It was seared too much and seemed old. It was also a lot more expensive than other places with delicious tataki. The lettuce was yellow and cheap, the avocado was not fresh. Definitely would never order this dish again, but would not really return for the quality in the first place.

My stomach was not well that evening and the next morning…

Not surprisingly, after about 2 weeks after our lunch, the restaurant had closed down.

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Kadoya – Take Out Review

Kadoya Japanese Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato I always ended up going to the same sushi restaurants, despite the huge number of them right in downtown. So I decided I would try something different for a change. I’ve always walked by Kadoya, and it seemed like it was always full, so I thought it couldn’t be bad. Because of time restraints, we decided to take out. I was kind of glad, cuz as soon as I walked in, I was engulfed into a hot, humid sauna. The restaurant was small and cramped, with barely any walking space nor spaces between each table. The body heat from the customers and kitchen was heating up the restaurant pretty bad. I felt I needed to open a window to ventilate the place. It wasn’t a restaurant where you could sit down and relax to eat. The restaurant also had this blue ambient light…it felt a bit cheap, and un-Japanese or un-sushi-restaurant like.

The staff greeted me quickly and took my order – one Assorted Sushi Combo $10.99 and Sakura Roll $8.99. I waited by the door where there was one chair. The take out was ready in a reasonable time, considering it was full house.

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Sakura roll $8.99 for 8 small pieces. That’s more than a $1 per piece!!! But tastes good though. (spicy tuna and scallop)

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Presentation wise, they need to work on making the rolls round and not squished. The ends are way too huge.

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When I got home, I was shocked to see the Sakura roll. It was so puny. I couldn’t believe that I paid $9 for it. Luckily, the Assorted Sushi Combo had many more pieces and we were able to split the two orders between the two of us – and to our content, were full at the end. Despite the small portion of the Sakura roll, it tasted really good, so a thumbs up. Thumbs down for the price though. The Assorted Sushi was pretty good as well – priced reasonably too. I wouldn’t mind going back again, but probably go for take out again, as I’m not sure I want to eat there on site. Overall, good!

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Subeez – CLOSED

Subeez on UrbanspoonThis was my third time being there, though the other 2 times, it was during the day, so it was a different atmosphere. It’s nice to see that they finally got a real menu, since the first time I was there, it was just a legal size printed paper that was crinkled.

 

The staff greeted us as soon as we walked in, and were seated in a booth. The friendly server took a while to come to our table, but it wasn’t dreadfully long or anything, so no complaints. The decor in this restaurant is quite unique. It’s not so much my style…a bit garage, grungy, hipster or gothic feel. Seems like a lot of local artists get to put up their artwork on the wall. Not sure if they’re on sale or not, but good to see the support either way. The music was a bit too loud for our liking…we’re the type of people that doesn’t like shouting over the table to hear each other. It was dark and moody, with candles lit at every table, which was nice.

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Their menu before…

Anyways, I had a Groupon coupon for $10, (it was originally $20, but the voucher expired…so back to $10). I didn’t find there were much selection to choose from…especially anything healthy, except maybe the salads. We ordered the nachos $13 (ah! I know…very unhealthy >_<)

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Their new menu

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Inside at night

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The food came fairly quick (though I can’t imagine nachos taking too much time and effort to prepare). I found it way too salty…the sour cream and chopped up tomatoes and onions on the side were good. However, for $13 it wasn’t anything spectacular. I remember Boston’s Pizza’s nacho platter being way more bigger and delicious (though that was before I become more health conscious, so who knows how I’d rate it now)

For me, it’s not the type of food or setting I like, so I likely wont be going back unless a friend wants to go or something. However, the service was pretty good.

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