Juno Vancouver Sushi Bistro-Everything fits!

After watching Robin Hood in Richmond, it's time for dinner. It's a sunny Saturday in Vancouver today! EU suggested to try a Vietnamese restaurant in Richmond, but given the wonderful weather today, I decided to go for something farther. Then Juno came to EU's mind because it was on our Wish Lists. Yaletown? A good place for an easy dinner. Japanese restaurant? Oh yeah. So Yaletown off we go!
Juno Vancouver Sushi Bistro
572 Davie St, Vancouver BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5
Price: 4
Service: 4.5
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 5

• Japanese fusion restaurant
• Run by a Japanese chef, Jun Okamura
• Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:45am-2:30pm
  Dinner: Mon-Fri 5:3o~ Sat, Sun & Holidays 4:30~
• Late night on Fri and Sat
• Special Rolls available
• Brown rice available for sushi rolls for extra $1
• Combos available
• Large variety in menu
• Sashimi fusion available

• Comfy atmosphere but have limited seatings
• Specials are on the chalk board. Don't forget to give it a check!
• Street parking available

We arrived at about 6 and there were already quite a few tables dining. The setting was simple. There were only three Japanese working in Juno: a man in the sushi bar, a girl as the waitress (and sometimes helping out in the kitchen), and chef Juno himself working in the kitchen

Salmon Gyoza-5.5/6

• $4.50(?)/5pcs
• It was one of their specials.
• This was surprisingly impressive! The only thing was the gyozas were a bit oily on the outside.

• The gyoza wrap was thin, and they did give us a generous amount of salmon.
• The gyozas still had a pungent salmon taste when it came to us. We enjoyed this a lot as we didn't expect much at first. Also, this is the first time for us having salmon gyoza. It was a good start for this meal :)

Aburi All-star

• $15
• Seared Amberjack, Tuna Belly, and Mackerel
• It is one of their "Must-Try"s

• Tuna Belly-6/6
• The sides were nicely seared, leaving the right amount of raw tuna belly in the middle.
• The tuna belly was fresh and soft, but did not taste mushy; it still got texture.
• Topped with some ponzu sauce that went well with the tuna.

• Mackerel-5.5/6
• Again, it was nicely seared on the sides. But both EU and I prefer the raw version of Mackerel (Saba) as it normally has that strong sour flavour :P
• Topped with Dijon mustard sauce.
• Served on a bed of red onions.

• Amberjack-5.5/6
• This was the smokiest among the three, and also the most sashimi-like.
• Topped with jalapeno slices.
• See that red thingy there next to the Amberjack fish? It was a red algae/seaweed/wakame. Although it was just a decoration, it added another bang to the dish as I'm a fan of wakame ;D

Aburi 'Saba'gon-5.5/6

• $12
• Seared saba & kampachi, cucumber, shisho leaf, tamago, and mustard mayo

• After the Salmon Gyoza, I was surprised by the amount of fish they gave us in this sushi roll! The saba and kampachi were fresh and soft. Since the saba was seared, I didn't expect to see the sourness I normally find in saba sashimi.

• I am a fan of tamago! So this is something I love to see in a sushi roll!
• The flavour of the shiso leaf was there. I could already spot the shiso leaf when I took the first bite. It was wrapped under the tamago and the cucumber.
• We chose brown rice rather than plain rice this time just because we've never tried brown rice sushi rolls before. EU then found the rice didn't have much vinegary flavour compare to plain rice.

Super Spicy Tuna-6/6

• $12
• One of their "Must-Try"s
• Chopped albacore & red tuna, mango, daikon sprout, jalapeno, mayo, and spicy sauce
• This dish caught my sight when I first got the menu. I'm not a spicy eater but I do like to have some spices from time to time. As for EU, she is totally not a spicy eater, so I didn't say anything at first. But after knowing this was one of their "Must-Try"s, EU decided to give it a shot; she said she can stand mild spicy. Good to hear that! ;D

• The red tuna was topped with jalapeno slices, so EU could remove easily part of the spiciness of this dish.
• The red tuna didn't taste special to me; it actually reminded me toro.
• The chopped albacore inside was mixed with some spicy sauce. So that's where you get your spiciness! For super-chilly eaters, that spiciness may not seem strong or satisfiable. But for someone like me, it's in the right level: spicy enough to give my tongue mild numbness ;)
• Again, we chose to have brown rice this time, but it didn't affect the roll much in general.
• EU found some of the mango were a bit sour though.
• I love how the texture of the mango and the chopped albacore mixed together. If you do not mind adding a little spice to your dinner, you should definitely try this! The numbness on your tongue afterwards is totally worth it!

I love the creativity Juno has. Even though the size of the sushi rolls are comparatively smaller than the ones you find outside, they are definitely worth trying. Another good reason for sushi rolls to have less rice is-you get the chance to try more special rolls/other food! :)