Last weekend, EU and I finally decided to start our food journey together again. For some reason, we both wanted to go to Kerrisdale (maybe this was due to the perfect weather last saturday :P). At first, I thought we're going to the one we have tried before-Asa Sushi. Then when EU suddenly pulled over and parked her car by the roadside, I realized we're going to try something new today woohoo! Well, actually this was EU's second visit, but she was also excited to show me this little restaurant across the road. Aha...Tokyo Thyme...herbs from Tokyo? :P
(all photos are from her blog since I didn't know we're going to try a new restaurant...)
Tokyo Thyme
5405 West Blvd, Vancouver BC
Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly
Food: 5 (only based on the food I ordered this time!)
Price: 4.5
Service: 6
Ambiance: 4.5
Overall: 5
- Mon-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm 4:30pm-9pm
Sat 12am-3pm 5pm-9pm
Closed on Sundays - Dine in/Take out
- Owned by a couple
The lady is a Japanese, and her service is beyond "Heavenly". She makes sure all customers are satisfied and asks for your comments after your meal. The man, on the other hand, is the sushi chef. He is really nice as well. We didn't talk to him, except asking him for the bill :P LOL. But we saw his hands changed from moderate to fast during busy hours haha. - Have a large variety in the menu, including lunch bento sets, sushi rolls, appetizers, sashimis, rice bowls, and noodles.
- Apart from the menu, they also have a small bamboo stand in each table showing their special rolls and lunch special.
- We were their first customers because we went early. It got crowded as lunch time appoached. They also got various take-out orders that day.
- It is a small restaurant, so seatings are limited. Its design is like a mix of pop-art and country...hmm it just looks and feels very homey :/
House Special Sunomono Salad-5/6- $5.50/half order $9.50/full order
- Imitated crabmeat, prawn, smoked salmon, yamaimo, and avocado wrapped in ribbon of cucumber
- "Errr sunomono? Where's the sunomono? Aha, is it under the rolls? Or its actually inside the rolls? :O" That was my reaction when the lady brought this dish to our table...
- I seldom order sunomono salad in Japanese restaurants but this is recommended by EU. She said they are very impressive: the taste, the presentation...
I couldn't wait to try one and I tried to eat them in parts as usual. The sauce resembled the sour liquid from sunomono, but this was definitely lighter. - The cucumber was nicely cut; thin and was very crunchy.
- Unlike sunomono, the rolls were not soaked in a bowl of liquid. If so, the cucumber would taste horrible :
- The ingredients were average BUT the yamaimo was interesting. This was the first time I had yamaimo and it tasted like Chinese yam. It is also called Dioscorea opposita which is a type of yam and can be eaten raw. For info, you can visit their page on wiki :)
If you chew the yamaimo longer, you will find it's actually slimy. It is close to tasteless but the texture is just...interesting. - The presentation here is more than I expected. I wouldn't notice such restaurant can make such pretty presentation! The lady does the presentation, and the man makes sushi and sashimi.
Nanbanzuke Salad-5.5/6- $6.50
- Marinated salmon served with mescalin greens
- The sauce of this salad is sour, but I seriously love it. I especially like the combination of sour sauce and cooeked salmon.
- It had salmon chunks, salad greens, sliced lotus roots and well-cut cucumbers. The dressing of the salad, again, did not overdrench the ingredients. I like.
- Another note on their service. The lady first got our order wrong; she though we order Nanbanzuke instead. The thing was after the nanbanzuke was cooked, she again spend sometime to make the presentation as great as possible. EU and I both felt bad after we clarified :( We also knew she's upset; yet, she still able to make another Perfecto! presentation :)
House Special-3.5/6- $5.50
- Red tuna, yamaimo, and Japanese mint
- "What? I thought House Roll is supposed to be huge, or at least big!" Aha, that was my reaction when this came...
- Red tuna and yamaimo did not make the House Special special though. They were average and did not add any "aha-point" to this dish.
- A good point on their sushi rolls is the use of Japanese mint, aka shiso leaf; almost all the sushi rolls here have shiso leaf.
The first time I had shiso leaf is at Guu Garden, when I ordered the Grilled Saba Shima Sushi (OH MY!). After that, I start loving the taste and aroma of shiso leaf. (For my Guu Garden posts, you can read here and here.)
Bloody Winter-6/6- $13.50
- Spicy albacore tuna, yamaimo and Japanese mint, topped with albacore tuna and tobiko
- This is one of their special rolls. And it is special. I mean this was EU and my favourite among all the foods we ordered!
- Thumbs up for the mixed texture. The spicy albacore tuna was finely chopped with the shiso leaf (Japanese mint). All the tuna in this dish were soft; however, the lady played with the texture by adding some crunchy sticks on top of each roll. I kind of ate this sushi roll from the top to the bottom, which mean I ate the crunchy stick first then moved on to the tuna. The mixed of textures were amazing. I like it, really. I WILL order this again next time for sure.
- I won't discuss whether the spicy albacore tuna is spicy enough or not. Everyone can stand a different level of spiciness, so...I will just leave that as: It's good on its own ;)
Tokyo Thyme is a hidden-gem in Kerrisdale. I know there are already many sushi restaurants there (Shota, Asa Sushi, Ajisai, Irashai...etc.) but trust me, you won't be disappointed/regret by giving Tokyo Thyme a try. They don't have many special rolls now; however, their other sushi rolls may already take you a long time to decide ;D
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