I visited the restaurant at Le Soleil around 7 or 8 years ago, and the impressive and airy dining room is much the same today, but with some updates I am sure. I’m really interested in visiting Copper Chimney again to see the current menu concept. In the meantime, here’s what Mary sent along about Copper Chimney:

“Consistently rated one of the city’s most stunning dining rooms. Enter into an exotic world of fusion where you will be treated to some of India’s finest flavors. Experience our award winning chef’s amazing command of the Tandoor , its copper chimney highlighting our open kitchen. Your senses will be heightened and you will be drawn to the warmth and comfort of one of the city’s most popular dining experiences. Sip handcrafted expertly mixed cocktails while enjoying an exotic selection of house music in the lounge or retreat to the dining mezzanine for a memorable meal. Have the Maitre D arrange your dinner in our VIP private dining room.”

Thanks to Mary for providing the tantalizing photos below! For some more reviews of Copper Chimney from customers, check out Urban Spoon or Yelp.

Copper Chimney restaurant at 567 Hornby Street in downtown Vancouver BC Canada.

Dining room of Copper Chimney restaurant at the LeSoleil hotel in Vancouver BC Canada.

My friend and I first ordered the Dragon Roll Sushi ($13.50, pictured below), which looked and tasted amazing. The Dragon Roll was on their special rolls menu (not listed on their web site) and was a creation made with shrimp, tempura, avocado, barbecued eel (unagi), and of course the sushi rice and nori seaweed. It was quite sweet tasting (because of the sauce that the eel is marinated with), and was light and immensely satisfying. I commented to my friend that I could easily eat one of these every day. If only I could afford it!

The Tako Sunomono (a cold salad made with octopus, vermicelli noodles and a sweet and tangy vinegary broth) was $7.50 and was presented very nicely in a large cocktail glass (pictured below). It is one of my favorite appetizers at Japanese restaurants and the Irashai version did not disappoint! I would have liked it to be bigger, but that is just my wishful thinking because it was a decent size for an appetizer after all.

Now comes to the most interesting part of the meal. We were perusing the menu and discovered a very unusual sounding sushi roll item. Unusual I say? Yes! I’ll explain.

In general, for creative dishes that are designed by the chef using a culinary “artistic license”, the name of the dish, if it is somewhat abstract and not a simple description of the ingredients, will relate to the theme of the dish in some way. What this means is, I was curious to see exactly what a Poison Spider Volcano would taste like. No kidding! Would there be an actual spider involved in this sushi, and would this spider have some sort of deadly poison? Also it was very important for me to find out how a volcano would be represented in the form of rice and other sushi-like ingredients on a dinner plate.

The good old poison spider and its friendly volcano home ($16, pictured below) was made with asparagus, soft shell crab, cream cheese, and was sprinkled with cheese. It was baked before serving and then topped with a super spicy miso sauce. Super spicy is an understatement! The powerful spicy sauce reminded me of the Crazy Boy Roll at Mr. Sushi but the Poison Spider Volcano sushi had a much more complex and rich flavor (thanks to the cheese and cream cheese). It was very filling, which is a good thing in my books. My vote: thumbs up, but the sauce was too spicy for my friend.

For dessert we tried their Marscapone Tiramisu ($5.50, also pictured below) which was a generous amount of cool sweet marscapone cheese served in an interesting ceramic tray topped with a layer of dusted cocoa. The cocoa was very fine and powdery. This was a wonderful contrasting dish to calm things down after the spicy spider!

Dragon Roll Sushi from Irashai Grill Japanese Fusion Restaurant in Vancouver BC Canada ($13.50)

Tako Sunomono Salad ($7.50) from Irashai Grill in Vancouver BC Canada.

Poison Spider Volcano Sushi ($16.00) from Irashai Japanese Restaurant in Coal Harbor, downtown Vancouver BC Canada.

Marscarpone Tiramisu dessert ($5.50) from Irashai Grill Japanese fusion restaurant in downtown Vancouver BC Canada.

Irashai is currently the talk of the town, after hosting a big open house party last week for local residents, bloggers, and news media. Below are some photos that show off the restaurant’s upscale decor and delicious food. I’d really like to go back to try a full meal at Irashai. Their menu is available on their web site.

Daikon (Japanese radish) salad - a nice appetizer from Irashai Grill in Vancouver.

Plate of Assorted sushi (partially eaten!) from Irashai Grill in Vancouver.

A taste of Spicy Tuna from Irashai Grill.

Yam Tempura Fries (yummy!) from Irashai Grill in Vancouver

Asian ladies wearing fancy dresses, eating sushi at the standup reception at Irashai Grill.

The fancy bar at Irashai Grill.

At Toratatsu the Uno family has created a space that looks like a cozy New York bistro, but with a definite Japanese vibe that they say “would fit downtown Tokyo perfectly.” Chef Kodai Uno, 26, trained at the Pacific Institute of Culinary arts and at French restaurant L’Emotion, and is the youngest in a family of professional chefs. He brings a great deal of creativity and skill to his kitchen, crafting modern Japanese tapas with a fusion twist.

itadakimasu, a reviewer on DineHere.ca writes (click here to read review):

I was getting a little tired of Gyoza King and Hapa (which I both still like) so had to try this place. The decor is cool and comfy. The service friendly (always smiling) and the food was great! familiar dishes like Agedashi Tofu but with a twist (yama imo potato on top with tasty sauce). We also had the daikon salad (those are little fish sprinkled on top) which was so good, had to order a second.

My friends and I were quite hungry so we sampled a lot of delicious dishes (some pictured below).

For an order of chef’s special sashimi ($15.80) we chose the saba (mackerel), scallops, and salmon. The mackerel and scallops were seared with a blow torch right at our table, which made for quite the fiery entertainment!

The crab avocado salad ($8.80) was delicate and light, combining two of my favorite ingredients in a most favorable way.

The Ebi Chili Mayo ($8.00, deep fried prawn with Japanese mayonnaise and hot chili sauces) was gigantic and disappeared in a flash.

The Cheese Tofu ($6.80) looked like a fancy dessert cheese with strawberries, slivered almonds, and a sweet glaze, but tasted like a combination of custard, tofu, and a soft brie cheese. We also tried the Ishiyaki Risotto ($8.30) which was a nice sticky rice mixed with some succulent seafood.

My friends also ordered the Smoke Kissed Duck ($8.80), the Tarako Kimchi Udon ($7.80), and the Sashimi salad ($8.80), which looked amazing but I didn’t get a chance to try them. Hopefully next time!

Sashimi Salad from Toratatsu Japanese restaurant in downtown Vancouver ($8.80)

Crab Avocado salad ($8.80) from Toratatsu Japanese Tapas restaurant in the West End of Vancouver (Denman).

Chef's special Sashimi ($15.80) from Toratatsu in Vancouver (being seared with a blow torch!)

Another shot of the Chef's special sashimi from Toratatsu Japanese restaurant in Vancouver.

Smoke kissed duck ($8.80) from Toratatsu on Denman Street in Vancouver.

Ebi Chili Mayo (deep fried prawn, $8.00) - wonderful!! from Toratatsu Japanese Tapas Bistro in Vancouver

Ishiyaki Seafood Risotto ($8.30) from Toratatsu Japanese Tapas in Vancouver.

Cheese Tofu ($6.80, a nice sweet dessert or appetizer) - with strawberries and slivered almonds. From Toratatsu Japanese restaurant in Vancouver BC Canada.

Cardero’s restaurant is about a 10-15 minute walk along the Coal Harbor waterfront from the Vancouver Convention Center downtown (Canada Place) as well as the downtown business district. It’s also really close to the Westin Bayshore Hotel.

Pictured below are the Fishermen’s Platter (2 fresh oysters, 2 jumbo prawns, 2 slices albacore tuna, 2 slices seared rare ahi tuna, and seaweed salad for $18.95), and the 10oz New York Steak (grilled, seasoned, with pink peppercorn sauce $28.95) to which I added a 1/2 dozen bistro prawns for $5.95.

Fishermen’s Platter (prawns, albacore tuna, ahi tuna, seaweed salad, and oyster), $18.95

Another view of the same Fishermen’s Platter (Raw Oysters, and various sauces and garnishes such as dijon mustard, wasabi, and pickled ginger)

10oz New York Steak with Bistro Prawns ($28.95 plus $5.95 extra for the prawns)