Name: Blowfish Sushi & Japanese Food
Where: Sunrise-Hastings, Vancouver, BC
Cuisine: Japanese
Affordability: $5 – $15
Let me start by saying that if you ever find yourself in Vancouver, sushi and Japanese restaurants are dime a dozen. You can literally have your pick of any sushi restaurant and you will unlikely going to be wrong. There are a handful misses here and there, but Blowfish Sushi on the Hastings-Sunrise borough of Vancouver is certainly not one of them.
Located in a tiny plaza across from the Holiday Inn on Hastings St. near the PNE, Blowfish serves up a good selection of Japanese fare that was not only delicious but at a good price. I ordered the Deluxe Bento for $12.95. It comes with a choice of Beef, Chicken, Salmon or Tofu Teriyaki along with Tempura, Chicken Karage, California Rolls, Green Salad, Rice and Miso soup. I ordered the Beef Teriyaki to complete my Bento box then ordered Sunomono Salad as well and, of course, the BC roll. I can only find a good BC roll in BC, so when I am here, I take advantage of it.
Deluxe Bento Box
The beef teriyaki was nice. It had similar sauces to that served in other Japanese restaurants, but the beef here was moist and not chewy. It was medium to my liking and I can eat it with my rice. I don’t like it when I have it with my rice; and I’m done chewing the rice, but not the meat. This one was right on the money. I had their chicken teriyaki for lunch a few days later (yes, I did come back because it was really good), but it didn’t measure up to the beef. Maybe it was grilled too long and it was a little on the dry side. This could be a one off. But I would definitely recommend the beef teriyaki.
The tempura was a mix of ebi and vegetables and it was fried to nice crispy batter finish whilst moist and soft on the inside. The California rolls were nicely put together meaning it didn’t fall apart. I hate it when my rolls are loosely packed. I should be able to pick it up with my chopsticks, dip it in the soy without it falling apart on its way to my mouth ending on my shirt or my lap half the time. It had imitation crab, but the fresh avocado made up for it. Very tasty compared to some very dry and bland California rolls I’ve had in the past. I don’t really consider California rolls to be a personal favourite (and people who say they eat Japanese food followed by “I’ll have California rolls, please”, is sadly mistaken that it is). I don’t even order it unless it came with the meal like in this bento box. But I must say that I wasn’t disappointed with this one. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised. California Rolls, I think, is so mass produced now that no one even think of it having any flavour or expect it to have a flavour, but this one did.
Sunomono Salad
The Sunomono Salad was definitely worth the additional $3.75. For those not in the know its a vinegary noodle soup served cold topped with your choice of Ebi or Tako (octopus). I had mine with Tako. I love octopus and this one was good! Many people snub octopus and other cephalopods, and refuse to try it just from the looks of it. But I find them really good if done right and this Tako was done right; it wasn’t rubbery or like biting on tires and chewy. I hope people try tako next time they are at a Japanese restaurant and I hope its good and you’ll have a good experience.
BC Roll
Now for the pièce de résistance, the BC roll! I usually prefer nigiris than rolls but “when in Rome” as they say. Blowfish’s BC roll contains grilled salmon skin, cucumber, sweet sauce, and pieces of grilled salmon as well for a mere $3.00. And boy was that worth every penny! It was everything I expected from my BC roll – moist, slightly crispy salmon skin, and an explosion of flavour. And once again, thankful that it didn’t fall apart considering it’s larger size and an inside-out type of a roll. Blowfish’s BC Roll is definitely worth a re-visit!
Overall, a very satisfying meal at Blowfish on Hastings and worth the second visit on the same week (as I mentioned previously). I was staying at the Holiday Inn across the street and walking over to get a good meal was not only convinient, it was worth it. So whenever you find yourself in the Hastings-Sunrise area or starving after a long day at the PNE, stop by Blowfish. I am more of a Nigiri and Sashimi kind of a guy instead of rolls; but the rolls and bento boxes at Blowfish was definitely a perfect alternate.
Foodie, EH? 