Raymond’s Sushi Adventures: Episode #223: Shizen Ya

After dying a bit on the within from our UBC sushi crawl, Vancity Noms and I made a decision to take issues a bit simpler for our subsequent sushi journey. That took us to Shizen Ya, a small restaurant chain with two areas in Vancouver, the place we deliberate to have a lightweight lunch.

Shizen Ya is the Complete Meals of the sushi restaurant world. All the things in regards to the restaurant screams wholesome and natural. There’s a massive vegetarian menu, in addition to many gluten-free choices. Their meals accommodates no components along with being MSG-free, they usually use natural brown rice for all of their sushi. In addition they make the costs excessive simply to offer you that actual Complete Meals expertise. Since Vancity Noms is an avid fan of Complete Meals, this was the proper sushi restaurant for her.

Hen Udon & Sushi Combo

Our “gentle” lunch rapidly was a feast through which our desk was utterly jam-packed with meals. I could not resist getting the Hen Udon & Sushi Combo, which was solely $10.95, however I additionally needed to attempt a great deal of different stuff. I ended up having to stability plates and menus on my legs in an effort to clear the desk barely sufficient for some meals images. Sadly, it is a common incidence with me.

Natural Salad – B+

The Natural Salad was an assortment of contemporary greens accompanied by a number of dressing. The dressing was somewhat acidic and had a slight alcoholic zing to it. Mmm…

Salmon Roll – A-

Dynamite Roll – B+

I by no means thought I would really like brown rice in my sushi, however Shizen Ya managed to make it work. The chopped sockeye salmon was tremendous tender and created a pleasant, creamy texture. The seaweed was additionally simple to chew. The Dynamite Roll got here with creamy avocado and juicy tempura prawn. The batter on the prawn was barely laborious, however the flavours labored nicely collectively.

Hen Breast Udon Noodle Soup – B

The principle filler of the combo, the Hen Breast Udon Noodle Soup, got here with white hen meat and thick udon noodles. The broth was on the richer facet, whereas the udon noodles tasted like normal fare. I assumed it might have been tastier had they frivolously grilled the hen.

Toro Tataki Nigiri – A-

Wild Sockeye Salmon Nigiri – A-

Albacore Tuna Nigiri – A

After the Sushi & Udon combo, I had three items of nigiri that actually blew my expectations. The Toro Tataki Nigiri was solely seared very barely, however had a particularly tender, melty texture. The feel was additionally good with the Wild Sockeye Salmon Nigiri. The Albacore Tuna Nigiri got here with a thick slice of extraordinarily contemporary tuna, and the natural brown rice was packed simply loosely sufficient to enhance the tender, delicate textures of the fish. 

Spicy Salmon Roll – A-

Subsequent up, the Spicy Salmon Roll got here with the identical tender and contemporary sockeye salmon and a good serving to of creamy avocado. The spicy sauce was used conservatively and didn’t overwhelm any of the components within the roll. 

Pure Bomber Roll – B+

Lastly, simply to explode my abdomen measurement a couple of extra notches, I went for the Pure Bomber Roll, which consisted of tiger prawn “complete wheat” tempura, contemporary actual crab, mayonnaise, cucumber, natural spring combine lettuce, natural avocado, and creamy bomber sauce. The crab meat was pleasantly tender and tasted considerably just like the Brunswick canned sardines I frequently eat as 4 a.m. snacks. The prawn tempura was a bit laborious, however the abundance of contemporary, tasty avocado and the richness of the mayonnaise-based creamy bomber sauce made up for it.

Service was not an issue regardless of how busy the restaurant obtained. General, I used to be fairly impressed by the very contemporary seafood and their capacity to make me like brown rice. The contemporary natural avocado was additionally a delight and an element of success in lots of the dishes. The superb meals right here gave me a sudden urge to blow an entire paycheque at Complete Meals, however fortuitously, I used to be deterred by how full I used to be. Perhaps another day, Vancity Noms…