Yah Yah Ya Ramen - Richmond, BC

This is probably the best ramen place in Richmond. I heard from a friend that there's this new ramen place that opened. Being ramen lovers, Calvin and I had to go try it. Yah Yah Ya is located in the Union square mall, right beside Richmond Sushi. This place was only opened in July so we thought it would be empty but we were wrong. I think we waited around 20-30 mins for a table on a Friday night. The place isn't very big. There are probably around 10 tables. 

*update: We went back again on Tuesday night and there was no wait at all. 

Please keep in mind they are only opened until 9pm and their last call is 8:50pm so make sure you get there before then! 

You get to choose the type of noodle, the intensity of taste, the the amount of oil.
Noodles: hard, normal soft
Taste:  Heavy, normal, light
Oil: More, Normal, Less

Based on their menu, they also have the option of lean or fat chasiu but it wasn't available when we ordered.

The ambience is nice and relaxing.

I ordered my favourite Shoyu ramen and Calvin ordered his favourite Miso.  We ordered normal for everything. Below is the Shoyu.

Miso Ramen. There was a lot of bean sprouts in the Miso. We both liked the Shoyu base better. The Shoyu has a stronger taste where the Miso was more mild. Calvin said next time he will get soup with "heavy" taste instead of "normal". 

As you can tell, the chasiu looks kind of bland and it was. There wasn't really a taste to it. It pulled apart very easily but it basically felt like the meat was cooked in the soup for hours and has lost its flavour into the soup.

The noodle was decent though. We like our noodles slightly chewy and this was exactly that. The egg was pretty good though I would've enjoyed it more if it was marinaded longer.

We also ordered the gyoza and this was $5. They bring you sauces for you to mix on your own. All the pieces were stuck together so when we were trying to pick one up, the filling fell out. We weren't able to pick up one piece as a whole. The gyoza wasn't very special. There was more meat than veggies so the proportion wasn't very good. It was lacking some taste. I think they probably buy it outside though I can't be certain.

*Update: When we ordered it again second time on a Tuesday night, the gyoza was cooked better. We were able to separate them apart one by one without falling apart. The taste was still lacking but the skin was thinner.

Overall, I would definitely come back to this place again as I really enjoyed their soup base and their noodle. Although there are better ramen places in Vancouver, this one is pretty good too. 

Miku - Vancouver, BC

After having been to Minami, I didn't really see the need to go to to Miku given they have the same food. I came here because it was one of my girlfriends' birthday and she wanted to come here. I was very pleased that I did. 

First of all, the view was quite amazing. This is a new location for Miku and it is super busy. I don't think you would be able to get a table without reservation. I came late because of work and my girlfriends already ordered some food. 

They actually ordered a lot of food. They ordered the Aburi Sashimi Trio which has 3 types of flamed Seared Sashimi with signature sauces. Each one of the sauces went really well with the sashimi. The salmon had more of a mayo sauce, the one in the middle had more of a wasabi sauce and Tuna had a yuzu sauce.  The sashimi was obviously very fresh. That was a very mouth-watering dish. 

We then had the Miku Roll which had salmon, crab, cucumber, sea urchin, rolled in fish roe with seared MIKU sauce. The sauce was to die for but I feel the sauce overpowered the roll a bit. I couldn't taste the sea urchin one bit. I could taste the salmon, fish roe and the crab though. I could easily finished all of these bite-sized rolls in no time. 

As I was still enjoying the aftertaste of the rolls, the waitress brought over this ginormous plater and I had no idea what this was. I soon found out this was the MIKU waterfront platter which served 3. That was probably why my girls ordered it . This included chef's choice of sashimi, oysters, clams, mussels, jumbo prawns, kaizen poke, scallop ceviche and kale gomae. All for $78 which is a pretty good deal if you ask me. It equates to $26/person for all those seafood. I don't know if you can tell but it was a lot of food. The sashimi, clams, oysters were all super fresh. I didn't like the prawns that much though. It was lacking flavour. I wasn't sure if it was because they sat on top of a bucket of ice for a long time.

The kaizen poke was seasoned with miso and sesame which was good. The scallop was a bit sour with the citrus they added to it although it helped maintain the freshness of the scallop. The scallop was very fresh and full of flavour. Next time I would just ask to have a little bit less lemon.

Lastly, we ended with my favourite sushi, the salmon oshi sushi. This is one of their signature and it's just so so so good. After eating all the food above, I could still eat all the pieces. I really liked that they later the salmon with a piece in the centre. It really brings out the salmon flavour. The fact that the salmon on top was half seared just sealed the deal. The salmon melted in your month, just the right balance between rice, salmon and the sauce. 

I am sure you would know my thoughts on this restaurant by now. I would definitely go back again and bring others to here. Their food is just too awesome. 

Minami - Vancouver, BC (Dine Out Lunch 2014)

Minami's dine out menu was really good. I enjoyed my brunch at Minami a lot, especially the sushi. We went on a Saturday. We made a reservation thinking that it was going to be packed but to our surprise, it wasn't. We got seated right away and I like that the decor is very clean and simple. 

We had a choice of the regular brunch menu or the Dine out Lunch menu. Because their Dine Out Lunch was so popular, they decided to extend it. Looking at the Dine out Lunch Menu, I decided to try that and Calvin decided to order the Hatcho Miso Pork Belly. The Dine Out Lunch Menu definitely is a great choice for those who want to try their dishes and I do think that it's well worth the price. Here's the $28 Menu:

Miso Soup 

Zen Sampler

aburi bincho

wasabi masatake sauce

chicken tofu salad

baby greens, sous-vide chicken breast, miso marinated tofu, umami soy vinaigrette

ebi fritter

asian slaw, sweet chili mayo, soy-balsamic reduction

sterling silver karubi pork rib

apple-ginger haccho miso sauce, spiced apple-raisin chutney

Sushi

Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi

pressed BC wild salmon, jalapeño, miku sauce

Aburi Ebi Oshi

pressed shrimp, lime zest, ume sauce

Minami Roll

aburi short rib, spicy prawn, cucumber, wasabi masatake sauce

Aburi Saba Oshi Sushi

pressed house cured mackerel, miso sauce

Dessert

Miso-Salted-Caramel Ice Cream

Started off with the miso soup. Unlike other miso soups, this did not taste like soup made from powder. I believe the miso soup was made from miso paste.

Starting from the left, pork rib, ebi fritter, tofu salad, and aburi bincho. Minami definitely shines in their aburi compares to their cooked food.  

Tofu salad and aburi bonchi. The aburi is tuna with a very complimenting sauce. The salad wasn't that special but it was quite refreshing and they added a crunch into it which was a plus. 

Pork ribs and ebi fritter

The pork rib was quite ordinary. The ebi fritter on the hand is different than what I had before. The batter was quite thin and I believe they used jumbo prawn. The prawn tasted quite fresh.

These sushi were my favourite. Each sushi is very unique and all the flavours of each sushi go very well together. I would go back again just for the aburi sushi. No wonder they are famous for their aburi sushi because they are really good.

These two sushi weren't as spectacular as the ones below though they are still great tasting sushi. The fish was super fresh and they flamed them just right. 

From Left, minami roll, salmon aburi, ebi aburi

My favourite is the one in the middle, which is the salmon aburi. The fact that only part of the sushi was flamed creates a very complex texture and brings out the salmon flavour. The beef roll on the left was also very spectacular. The beef was also flamed partly but it didn't make the beef too meaty. The meat melted in your mouth and blends in with the flavours in the sushi. I really liked the sauce that went with the ebi aburi. The sourness of the sauce complimented the sweetness of the prawn. 

I was really looking forward to the miso-salted-caramel ice cream. I have heard good things about it. All their ice cream are made in-house. The flavours were good but they weren't as smooth as the ice cream at Ernest. The salted caramel I had at Ernest ice cream gets quite sweet as I had more but I think the miso flavour of this ice cream balances the sweetness and I was able to finish the whole thing without drinking water. 

Calvin had the Miso Pork Belly Bennys. You can see how big the pork belly was. His dish had a lot and he was so full from it. The eggs were cooked perfectly. The most interesting thing was the miso mayonnaise. The miso flavour wasn't very prominent but at the same time we found the mayonnaise was not sour enough, missing a bit of acidity. The pork belly was decent though we liked the one from Red Wagon more. 

Also came with potatoes and crispy brussels sprouts. The potatoes were lightly seasoned with salt and I didn't feel that they were very greasy. The brussels sprouts had slight burnt taste to it which gave it a different taste.

Our server was really friendly the whole time so we really enjoyed their as service as well. All the food came at a reasonable time.

Overall, I recommend everyone to try Minami's sushi. Their aburi sushi is very very good. I would not recommend their cooked food though because I believe there are better choices for that.

Sushi Hachi - Richmond, BC

This is my favourite sushi place in Vancouver so far. I have yet to go to those sushi restaurants that everybody's been raving about. There are several reasons why I like this place.

1. Their sashimi and seaweed are super fresh. The freshness of the seaweed definitely brings out the sushi flavour.

2. The fact that it's operated by a family gives it an added touch. However, with that said, because the husband only runs the sushi bar, the wife has to do everything else. So don't come here if you are in a hurry because you have to be patient to wait for the food and service.

3. The place is quiet and small. It is located in a mall with little traffic, so finding parking is never a problem. Because the place is small and quiet, it truly allows you to enjoy the food in serenity.

4. Reservations only. They are only open from Tuesday - Saturday from 6-9 pm. So if you walk in without reservation, it's very unlikely that you will be able to get a table. I've seen them turned down many customers simply because they don't have the capacity. What's good for those who have reservations is that you wouldn't have to wait. The table is usually ready for you.


I usually come with my boyfriend and we usually order the same thing. The chef's choice sushi along with a few other sushi by piece. The chef's choice sushi is $25 for 10 pieces and 1 roll. We always order that because it allows us to try sashimi that we have never had before. They don't usually tell you what you are eating unless you ask them. Even if we ask them, we usually don't remember what they've told us so we just give up.


This is an example of a chef's choice sushi.

This is another example of chef's choice sushi at another night.

This is the chef's choice sashimi. 

I do have to mention that their other food items are not outstanding compared to the sushi and sashimi. That's why we usually never order other things other than sashimi and sushi. 

Kiriri Japanese Cuisine & Sushi Bar - Richmond, BC

We have never gone to this place until one of our friends recommended us. The location is quite hidden. They are located across from the mall of Garden City and Blundell. They are at the corner of the complex that includes a grocery store, Master hung restaurant and a pizza place.

The lighting of the restaurant is quite dimmed, that's why it's quite easy to miss the restaurant when you are driving by. The restaurant itself is not very big. I would say probably around 8-10 tables plus the sushi bar. Sometimes they are quite packed, so reservations is recommended but you can catch them at odd times where you can just walk in without reservations.

We first noticed that the sushi chef is Japanese which is a good sign that this is an authentic Japanese restaurant. They do have daily specials that's usually different. After looking at the menu, we ordered a few things.

We decided to order the daily special which is hamachi carpaccio with ponzu sauce (dish on the right). We really enjoyed the dish because it's different than the normal carpaccio you would have. Hamachi itself is quite sweet and not fishy at all, adding the ponzu sauce made the dish very refreshing and light. It is definitely a good dish to start the meal and definitely different than just having hamachi sashimi. 

We also ordered miso Saba from the appetizer menu. The fish was seasoned well and the miso wasn't too strong that would overpower the taste of the fish. The fish was grilled nicely and the fish was very flaky and soft as you break into the fish. 

Of course, we had to order some sushi given this is a sushi bar. I had to order my favourite kinds of sushi which are salmon, chopped scallop and tamago. I always find that tamago and chopped scallop really allows you to see the quality and skills of the chef. The reason why I say that is because some sushi places would buy pre-made tamago while authentic sushi places would make their own. I can't guarantee 100% that their tamago is not pre-made, but it did taste quite fresh and wasn't too sweet. Chopped scallop is really about the balance between the sauce/mayo and the scallop. Some places would put way too much mayo to cover the fact that the scallop is not fresh. Kiriri's chopped scallop didn't have a lot of mayo so you were able to taste the scallop along with the fresh seaweed. 

The salmon sushi had nice colour and it was a nice big piece. Lastly to note is the west coast sushi roll wrapped in soy paper. The fact that it was wrapped in soy paper made the sushi taste not as heavy and we were able to focus more on the taste of the ingredients inside of the roll which included salmon. 

Lastly, we ordered a blacks sesame creme brûlée. We were quite surprised when we first saw the bowl. We thought the creme brûlée was actually the size of the bowl. That would have been a really good deal for $4.5. You can get an idea of the bowl size compared to the bowls beside it. 

After we opened the lid, we were confused for a few seconds since all we saw was just a bowl of fruits.  Then we saw the other side of the lid and noticed the creme brûlée. It was quite creative to present the creme brûlée this way. The fruits actually helped balanced the sweetness of the creme brûlée. The creme brûlée definitely had very strong black sesame flavour. Although I am not a big fan of black sesame, I did really enjoy this dessert, maybe because of the fruits that came with it. 

The service at Kiriri was also very good. All the waitresses had a smile on their faces and they would assist you immediately after you asked for something. After we finished our main course, they changed our existing tea to new hot tea which was very thoughtful. 

This place is definitely worth coming again but not a place that we would go often because the price is not that cheap. However, I do believe the prices do reflect the quality of the food and the services they provide.