Japanese - Vancouver Restaurants

 

Fish on Rice Japanese Cuisine (Burnaby and Vancouver)

Fish On Rice Japanese Cuisine (website) is a popular Japanese “all you can eat” restaurant chain with two locations in the Vancouver area.

Their location in Burnaby (map, #201-4361 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC, phone: 604-439-8882) is about a 5 minute walk from the Patterson Skytrain station.

Fish on Rice’s Vancouver restaurant (map, 1414 W. Broadway, Vancouver, BC, phone: 604-732-0112) is located at Broadway and Hemlock (one block from Granville), and has a patio.

“All you can eat” sushi is a very popular phenomenon in Vancouver, and Fish on Rice does it well. The Japanese buffet at Fish and Rice costs $11.95 for lunch (served from 11am to 2:30pm) or $20.95 for dinner (served between 4:30pm and 10:30pm). Their happy hour ($13.95) is between 4:30pm and 6pm.

At Fish on Rice, similar to other All You Can Eat places in town, you make your order by writing desired quantities next to items on a little piece of paper. Pass the paper to your server, and the food will start arriving as it’s ready. Take care: if you write an order that’s too large, the food will just keep coming! Or if you didn’t order enough, you can request more forms when you need them.

At the Burnaby location, there are many large private tatami booths with inset tables (where you take your shoes off to dine while sitting on cushions) – these are great for large groups or families. There are also a bunch of regular booths and tables for couples or smaller parties.

Below are some pictures of the delicious sushi and other Japanese items we ordered. Note that the restaurant serves all the popular kinds of sushi such as California Roll and BC Roll, but being sushi aficionados we ordered a bunch of less common items to explore the large and varied menu.

Nigiri Sushi pieces from Fish On Rice Japanese Cuisine Restaurant

Nigiri Sushi pieces from Fish On Rice Japanese Cuisine Restaurant

Assorted Tuna and Salmon Sashimi from Fish on Rice Japanese Cuisine (all you can eat) in Burnaby BC Canada.

Assorted Tuna and Salmon Sashimi from Fish on Rice Japanese Cuisine (all you can eat) in Burnaby BC Canada.

Teriyaki Vegetables from Fish on Rice Japanese Cuisine (AYCE sushi) in Burnaby BC Canada

Teriyaki Vegetables from Fish on Rice Japanese Cuisine (AYCE sushi) in Burnaby BC Canada

Vegetarian Udon Noodles from Fish on Rice Japanese Restaurant in Burnaby BC Canada (All You Can Eat).

Vegetarian Udon Noodles from Fish on Rice Japanese Restaurant in Burnaby BC Canada (All You Can Eat).

Inari (sweet bean curd wrapper) nigiri sushi (from Fish on Rice All You Can Japanese Cuisine in Burnaby)

Inari (sweet bean curd wrapper) nigiri sushi (from Fish on Rice All You Can Japanese Cuisine in Burnaby)

Vegetable Tempura (pictured in front) plus other assorted Japanese dishes (from Fish on Rice Japanese All you can eat buffet restaurant).

Vegetable Tempura (pictured in front) plus other assorted Japanese dishes (from Fish on Rice Japanese All you can eat buffet restaurant).

Fish on Rice (Burnaby) on Urbanspoon

25,727 views - Posted Monday, November 9th, 2009

 

BC Ferries Bread Garden Food

View from the back of a BC Ferry

View from the back of a BC Ferry

BC Ferries take passengers around beautiful British Columbia (BC) Canada by sea. Start off in bustling and cosmopolitan Vancouver, and ride the ferry over to Vancouver Island. On the island you’ll find Victoria, the capital city of BC and a popular tourist destination.

Looking for a longer trip further off the beaten path? Visit the smaller towns on the Island such as Tofino, Ucluelet, Naniamo, Qualicum Beach, Courtenay, and more. The ferries will also take you to the serene and scenic Gulf Islands.

This summer I left the mainland quite a few times, and fortunately for me, there is food service available on board the ferries and in the terminal cafeterias.

Pictured below is some sushi and a ham sandwich (around $10) purchased from the Bread Garden cafeteria at the Swartz Bay Terminal. I bought it while I was waiting in line to go back to Vancouver (incidentally after playing a piano gig in Victoria with vocalist Peggy Hogan’s group – live recording here).

I am a little hesitant to admit that after my 4th ferry trip this summer I started developing a taste for – or rather, an addiction to – the Bread Garden sushi. It is now one of my favorite items offered by the BC Ferries food service – but sushi aficionados will tell you that is a far cry from what you can find in most land-based sushi restaurants in Vancouver or Victoria. One upside about the Bread Garden sushi is that a generous amount of wasabi and pickled ginger is provided, as well as chopsticks.

I put together a short travel video (accessible in the player below, or on Youtube) from a trip I took last year on BC Ferries from Vancouver to Victoria. The video shows some of the food and shopping available at the Tsawassen Terminal and sunset views of the Gulf Islands taken from the ferry itself.

The music in the video is my jazz band, the Geoff Peters Trio, performing live at Cactus Club in West Vancouver on New Years Eve 2007. I (Geoff Peters) was playing piano and joining me was Mark White (bass) and Brennan Saul (drums).

For more ferry food, check out my photo of the salmon entree from the on-board BC Ferries White Spot cafeteria, or the smoked salmon bagel I had at the BC Ferries Tsawassen Terminal (on the Vancouver side). Happy sailing!

BC Ferries Bread Garden Sushi (California roll, around $5)

BC Ferries Bread Garden Sushi (California roll, around $5)

Ham and swiss sandwich from the BC Ferries Cafeteria (around $5.00)

Ham and swiss sandwich from the BC Ferries Cafeteria (around $5.00)

19,468 views - Posted Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

 

Toyama Sushi (All You Can Eat, downtown)

Toyama Japanese Restaurant (web site, map, 757 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-688-3256) is a new “all you can eat” sushi restaurant that is open from 11am till midnight every day. Price is $11.95 for the all you can eat menu at lunch time, and $20.95 at dinner time. (They also have a late night price that is reduced to around $11 as well).

Toyama has been getting good reviews from visitors on the website DineHere.ca (click here to read), including galvinkuo2 who writes:

We really like this place and are considered regulars. Food is always fresh and very tasty. This is the best place for the price you can find in Downtown, too bad they don’t have all you can eat sashimi during lunch time, But Our suggestion is to go for a lunch all you can eat menu option. We always go for a lot of salmon sushi since this is the best place to get it. And of course the Oyster Motoyaki are “the must try” and the New stuff “BBQ Korean Pork” spicy and tasty!!

Pictured below are some of the items we ordered. I’m definitely going to go back to Toyama Sushi, maybe even on a regular basis!

Nigiri sushi from Toyama Japanese Restaurant

Nigiri sushi from Toyama Japanese Restaurant

Sushi cones from Toyama Sushi - All You Can Eat Japanese restaurant downtown

Sushi cones from Toyama Sushi - All You Can Eat Japanese restaurant downtown

Alaska roll and chopped scallop roll sushi

Alaska roll and chopped scallop roll sushi

Assorted sushi from Toyama All You Can Eat Chinese/Japanese food

Assorted sushi from Toyama All You Can Eat Chinese/Japanese food

Assorted Nigiri Sushi from Toyama All You Can Eat Sushi restaurant downtown.

Assorted Nigiri Sushi from Toyama All You Can Eat Sushi restaurant downtown.

Toyama on Urbanspoon

102,819 views - Posted Wednesday, July 29th, 2009