Category Archives: Korean

Akasaka

A fairly large and spacious Japanese restaurant run by Koreans in Surrey. Half of the restaurant has private tatami rooms, with even closing doors. We were there on a Sunday evening, and only the private rooms were occupied. The private room was very nice, and with the sliding door, we were able to shut out the noise and cold draft from the hallway. Unfortunately, unlike in Japan, the servers did not even make the effort to close it after they brought us tea or food, making it a little annoying for us to close it every single time, and eventually leaving it two-thirds of the way open.

The rooms were run down. The Asian artwork on the wall was ripped and had a hole as if someone had punched through it. The wall itself looked like it had gone through some war time. It was in serious need of renovation and upgrading.

Nice try on decorating, but rips and holes in the art? Better not to have it up in the first place if it is that damaged.

Scallop+Shrimp skewer $5.95

Tuna Tataki (small) $7.95

Negitoro roll $3.95

I ordered the negitoro roll $3.95, Scallop+Shrimp skewer $5.95 and Tuna Tataki (small) $7.95. The food came promptly except for one person’s bento box which took quite a long time. The negitoro was good. Scallop and shrimp was nice and juicy. The tuna tataki was ok. I think I’ve had better ones at Green Leaf for the same price. Could have used a bit more zest flavour in the ponzu. But overall, my food was satisfactory. I tried a bit of Sheepie’s Gangnam Style Chicken which was chicken enrobed in kimchi and a lot of oil. Kind of like those Chinese deep fried chicken with red sauce, but spicy. It was alright, but a bit greasy for me. Sheepie had the Viking roll, but he didn’t like how there was so much cream cheese inside. I didn’t try.

Service in terms of bringing food, tea and friendliness was satisfactory. Presentation of food was normal, prices were a bit high for the quantity and quality, but the taste was good enough to satisfy my dining experience. It’s a bit far to come all the way down to Surrey from downtown to dine, especially with all the good sushi restaurants in Vancouver area. But if you live in Surrey, or happen to be in that area, it’s an ok Japanese restaurant to check out.

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Sushi Oyama

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Been here many times, and the food and service has been consistently very good. Located near Metrotown, the restaurant is an impressive heritage house that was converted to the restaurant it now is today. It has a stone exterior, with Japanese-like interior. The waiting area has a striking water fall that makes it look like water is running down the glass wall.

The interior is spacious with lots of semi-sectioned off areas that make it feel a bit more private. There are private rooms available upstairs if you reserve for a large group.

The prices are good and the staff are efficient and mostly friendly. Sheepie and I ordered the Dinner for Two $23.95 to share. It came with one large udon, a plate of assorted sushi, chicken karaage, decent salad bowl, and 4-piece tempura. All of the food was decent, especially for the price. I wouldn’t rate the quality as excellent, but I was happy to see that the karaage was hot, crsipy and juicy with a lot of meat, unlike those cheap chicken wings you get at cheap all you can eat places that are all bones and no meat but grease.

Salad – nice and pretty. Tasted good too.

Assorted sushi

Four pieces of tempura

Udon

5 piece chicken karaage

For Lunch

We happened to be in the area, so we went for a late lunch. I ordered negitoro roll $3.10 and vegetable yakisoba $9.30. The negitoro was good, though I did have one time where the fish seemed a bit fishy. I ended up not finishing it, and giving them to Sheepie instead. But other than that one instance, it’s been good every time. The yakisoba is piled high! Look at all those noodles and veggies~. It was very tasty, but left you very thirsty afterwards >_<

Sheepie ordered the Red Roll (bottom) $5.40 and Red Crab Dynamite Roll (top) $7.90. They were both good, though presentation wise, they could do a bit better in keeping the rolls from looking so bulky and not look like they’re about to fall apart. I do wish they had less sauce on the Dynamite roll, but that’s just my preference in not really liking too much sauce. I find rolls with too much sauce kills the natural flavours of the ingredients.

Dragon roll – crazy roll!

We’ve been both happy with the service here, and continue to come back. If you’re looking for a place for decent price and food, check this place out.

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Dae Bak Bon Ga 대박본가

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A fairly large group of almost 15 people went to try out this restaurant on the second floor on Robson street. The interior was ghetto with ventilation corridors above each table for the grills on the table. None of us ordered anything to grill, so they weren’t used. We all sat, split between two tables at the very back of the restaurant. I unfortunately had the seat that was directly in the way of a really cold draft. This was poorly designed layout. I froze most of the time there and left with a headache and feverish feeling. Argh.

The restaurant was mostly bare. There were some customers, but since it was a long spacious restaurant, it felt as if we were the only ones there.

4 types of banchan came. I was happy to see that the unlimited supply of banchan were complimentary (after my experience in Hanok, Germany where it wasn’t free) I love banchan – kimichi, potatoes (my favourite!), bean sprouts, and green seaweed.

I ordered the Chicken Dolsot Bibimbap $9.95. The server took down each of our orders on a notepad, but had trouble remembering who ordered what. He kept looking at the note as if it was a complicated diagram or map and took a while before people got their dishes.

Chicken Dolsot Bibimbap $9.95

Even with the large group of people waiting for their food, other servers only aided our one server by bringing a cart, or dishes to him take over. If they had walked all the way from the kitchen to our table – which was quite far, why not give the hot plates to the customers? Instead, they left the dishes on the cart for him to sort out while he took more orders. Sure, they were in the hot stone bowls, so they weren’t likely going to cool down that much, but we wanted our food!

The bibimbap came with miso soup which was ok. Not Japanese, but still good. I didn’t really like the plastic cups for water. It just feels so cheap. If we’re paying $10 for a dish plus tip, I’d like to drink out of an actual glass. The bibimbap was standard and good. No complaints.

I was left with a not-so-great service impression. Food was good. Did not enjoy the cold draft blowing my hair like crazy. I had a headache by the time I left.

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