Tag Archives: all you can eat

Tomokazu

Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant 友和日本料理 on UrbanspoonI remember when I was a student that people would mention Tomokazu as a great sushi place because it was cheap. We thought we’d give it a try to see how it would live up to our expectations.

The restaurant is on the second floor with paid parking on Broadway. It is spacious so it can accommodate a large group. It was extremely cold and I had my coat on the entire time. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one freezing as other customers were also wearing their jackets.

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The host was friendly, and our server was also kind, but was hard to understand his English. He didn’t seem to familiar with the menu, so I wondered if he was new to the job.

idearabbit-tomokazu3I ordered a negitoro roll $3.95 which were terrible. Presentation was ok, but the rolls were slimy and the rice was hard. The fish had a fishy taste to it – definitely not fresh! Blah. I can’t believe they were charging $3.95 for those. There are much better ones for less.

I also had the salmon nigiri from Sheepie’s Assorted Sushi $11.95. The salmon was hard, stringy, and thick. Tasteless. Blah.

idearabbit-tomokazu5The Yakitori $4.50 was two skewers of chicken that were flavoured in curry? Never had a chicken skewer with curry before. It was soft, but most of it was fat… The salad’s dressing on the side was way too sour.

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The only thing that was satisfactory was the Agedashi Tofu $4.50.

Perhaps it’s a good restaurant if you’re a starving student. I know our class use to go to BC Sushi to do the all you can eat (which Tomokazu is well known for). But I can’t eat that much anymore (must be the age…lol) And the price for the a la carte is pricey for the poor quality. Overall, it was not a pleasant dining experience, and we wont be returning ever again! Do NOT recommend.

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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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