What's a great way to celebrate Mother's Day? Avoid the Mother's Day crowds by doing early Mother's…read moreDay lunch one day before Mother's Day, and picking any good restaurant that's offering their regular menu and not some overpriced Mother's Day brunch menu! To be fair...I still like the Mother's Day brunch menus, buffets...etc. However, I am also just as happy going to just any good restaurant that serves food I like and isn't necessarily Mother's Day themed. So...this is what we did with my family. Bro chose Dosanko. I'd only ever been here one time for dinner and had always wanted to come back for their lunch menu so I happily agreed to Dosanko. We all ordered individual dishes for ourselves plus a few dishes for us all to share. We shared a Vegetable Tempura, Egg Salad sandwich and an Omu-Rice with Tomato Sauce on it. Egg Salad sandwich was better than the ones we now get at 7-Eleven stores here, but not sure it merits the price they charge for it. Then again $16 for an egg salad sandwich here is still a lot cheaper than paying for a ticket to Japan, plus hotel accommodation just so I can eat 7-Eleven Egg Salad sandwich in Japan! For my own personal dish, I had the Onigiri combo with a Crispy Cheesy Onigiri and a Kinpira Onigiri. So many tempting choices on the menu. It was a hard decision to make but I was quite happy with my choice. I'd forgotten how good their Cheesy Onigiri was. This was soooo good! The Kinpira Onigiri was also very tasty. My daughter ordered a Curry Rice and added Pork Tonkatsu to it. The rice looked sooooo cheesy. I might have to come and try the Vegetarian version sometime. It looked really good! I shared a Yakigori with my husband and daughter for dessert. This was a shaved ice dessert but it also had merengue, passion fruit curd, ice cream, and brandy for a bit of flame. Kinda like a Baked Alaska but way better!

I picked this restaurant for one of the stops on our bachelorette tour. The menu looked delicious…read moreand there were so many items that everyone wanted to try. The staff were very friendly and accommodating to our large group of 7. Even though the dishes were not all meant to be shareable in style they were easily split amongst the party. While we may have not gotten huge portions of each item, we at least got to try everything. If ordering individually I would say the portions were good, not oversized. My favorite items were the two different omurice (curry and tomato) but you really couldn't go wrong with anything you ordered. And the drinks, they were fun creative combinations that fit well with the Japanese menu.

A revisit after almost ten years and it was as delicious as I remember! We got their Masago Creamy…read moreSpaghetti, the Hiyashi with hamburg and the curry poutine. All delicious, homey and the best way to represent Japanese Western fusion! The place itself is quite small and only seats when your entire party is there. The service is friendly and genuine. Although they have a "time limit" for your party, you don't feel rushed and can enjoy a delicious meal here!

We sat outside and they were attentive checking on us multiple times. The food was okay. I don't…read morenecessarily crave Hayashi rice. It seem like a popular local spot if you are craving pasta and fish roe.

Recommended by a korean friend a while back so this cozy small restaurant has been on my list for a…read morewhile. It is a japanese-korean restaurant but we went to try the korean dishes. To be honest, we were a bit disappointed at what we selected. They are fairly average compared to the numerous korean restaurants across lower mainland. We ordered the beef bulgogi, bossam and kimchi soup. The beef bulgogi was quite oily and it looked more like a onion beef strips than bulgogi. the flavor was just missing The kimchi soup was average. Lots of tofu but missing kimchi. Bossam was decent though. But i think we would appreciate not serving bossam with romain lettuce which made it so hard to wrap the meat. All the regular korean banchan needed to be charged. Our server was good. she was very busy though as she was the only one working that night. Our bill also eas accurate though. we were charged the additional charge of rice with bossam which we did not order and did not arrive. Because my friend and i split the bill, we were charged full excharge price of rice on each of the bill. because the incorrect charge was minimal, we did choose to just pay and did not voice it so we just left.

A delicious establishment with Korean and Japanese cuisine. The two of which were each done…read morewell.The galbi ribs were impeccable and the aburi sushi was superb even though it was a lot less pricey than most places here. Service was friendly and the place had comfy seating.

Came here after a snowy afternoon at Cypress! It was just the right vibe - cozy and delicious. My…read morefavourites were the Korean fried chicken (soy garlic flavour) and the spicy soondubu (tofu stew). It was packed with flavour and the soup was nice and homey. The side dishes (banchan) were delicious too! The seafood pancake was a little soggy at the bottom, and I wished it was a bit thicker / more filling. The kimchi fried rice lacked a bit of flavour. The staff were very friendly and attentive! I'll be back soon :))

I got a seafood soup at Ssal. It was rich in flavour and consisted of fresh ingredients…read more The staff were attentive and quick, although the restaurant was empty when we were there. I'd be happy to return here when I'm in the area in the future.

PidGin delivered the best dining experience during our stay in Vancouver. We opted for the tasting…read moremenu, which is absolutely the way to do it. Every course showed real intention, but two will stick with me: the A5 Wagyu & Duxelle Nori Cappelletti was a small masterpiece, and the Duck that followed was perfectly cook and seasoned. Out of this world. What elevated the night beyond the food was the team. The chef, the kitchen, and the front-of-house were all genuinely knowledgeable and engaged. Every course came with context delivered like a conversation, not a script -- the kind of confidence you only get from people who actually love what they do. A stellar night out. We'll absolutely be back.

Valentine's Day dinner…read more location: PidGin food/drink: price: $$$$ review: This was the dinner I was looking forward the most to for my weekend trip in Vancouver. I had a great feeling about their customer service as I was in touch with Silvia via email about the delayed publishing of the set menu for Valentines Day. With the great ratings and look over the menu (especially vegetarian menu for my friend), we decided to book and pay for the meal in advance (deposit). I've never had a 6-course type meal and was looking forward to the nice treat, but my hopes must have been set too high. Overall, the plates were small and underwhelming. There was always one component of each dish that was unsatisfying. From the creamy yet acidic sauce that came with the ravioli, glorified avocado toast, or just a head of cabbage., my vegetarian friend didn't get the sustenance or value in her meal. For me, the duck and beef tartare were the best bites. We both liked the hojicha tiramisu, which we got packaged to go. It was a long service, almost 2.5 hrs, when we began at 8:45pm. The waitress kept it real with us, asking for our feedback, which led her to bring out a more classic dish that the restaurant offers for my friend to supplement her meal. It was okay, but not memorable or making up for the rest of the night. Maybe the menu was rushed, but the ingredients made us excited just for us to leave thinking we definitely could have had a better meal (and for cheaper) elsewhere.

Love the variety on their menu, execution is solid, and the staff are great!…read more Highly recommend trying the steamed vegetable dish with crab dip if you don't shy away from strong flavours, rich oils, or the taste of tomalley. It was super memorable and great value for only $12! Corn kakiage didn't quite live up to the corn ribs at the sister restaurants. Tai Carpaccio really nailed a cohesive flavour combo, enhancing the sea bream as more than just slices of raw fish. Pleasantly surprised by this. The signature chicken leg was a tad salty, but still juicy and crispy. Saikyo prawn aosa cream udon was tasty with great chew. All in all, would come again and recommend as a spot for date night or sharing dishes with friends!

Came here on the next day I came back from Japan. Plaza…read moreToyokan is downstairs, while Toyokan Bowl upstairs focuses more on sashimi don. Plaza Toyokan has more hot dishes and shareable plates. Overall, everything was solid. My top picks were the duck carpaccio, grilled spice chicken leg, and the unagi pizza. The chicken leg was recommended by the staff and it did not disappoint. The chicken oil sauce was the highlight. It's rich, fragrant and seriously addictive. If they served it with rice, I would happily pour the entire sauce over it. The duck carpaccio was light and refreshing with a marmalade-style sauce, and the unagi pizza had a creamy, cheesy finish that worked surprisingly well with the eel and nori. Portions are on the smaller side, similar to Japanese izakaya-style dining, so it's great for sharing and trying multiple dishes. Service was friendly and attentive, and they even offer a complimentary birthday treat. If you're dining with kids, Plaza Toyokan's menu feels more family-friendly compared to upstairs. Parking was a bit challenging though

Our first impression of the space was that it was light and airy. We arrived right at opening for…read morelunch on a Saturday, we had reservations but didn't end up needing them because it was quite slow, perhaps due to it being a FIFA game day. ​We ordered the Beef Tataki $18.99, Takoyaki $5.25, Chicken Nanban $23.99, Crispy Unagi Futomaki $24.50, the 9-piece assorted Nigiri $22.00, and a kids' train combo $9.99 that my son wanted to try. All of the food was delicious, chicken was dark meat and juicy, the katsu and all the batter weren't too heavy or greasy, and the sushi fish was fresh. My daughter and I enjoyed the crispy unagi eel, it was nicely fried and layered nicely on top of the futomaki roll. They even gave us scissors to make cutting it easier. The only con is the parking, as there isn't much around except for paid street parking. Otherwise, the prices seem reasonable and the portions are great. There are plenty of other items I would like to try, so we will definitely be back!

I got the Aburi negitoro futomaki, was enough for 1 person and pretty decent! It's quite saucy so…read moreno need to put more soya. I also got their hot sake which was also good and affordable.

We love the food. Gohan and the miso eggplant were our favorite; the kids menu is a boon too.read more

We had a reservation early evening and when we arrived were promptly greeted by a server. She…read moreseated is and gave us menus and informed us of any special items they had atm. She then left to let us peruse the menu. We took awhile to look so we were asked at once point if we were ready and we sis we needed a bit more time so the server was delightfully accommodating and said whenever we were ready to give a server a call. Later on when we were ready our order was taken by a male staff member. We ordered a decent amount. Miso cheese eggplant, chawan-mushi, fried fish collar served in some kind of broth, 8pc nigiri omakase, blue fin tuna&uni hand cone, another hand cone but I can't remember what was in it..wifey ordered it, vegetable tempura and a black truffle dynamite roll. The highlight for me was the black truffle dynamite roll, it's taste was perfect. The right amount of truffle used and not over powering like I've had at so many other venues. I was pleasantly surprised and delighted. It was smokey, earthy and tasted wonderful. The miso cheese eggplant was delicious, slightly salty from the miso and wonderfully roasted soft eggplant. The fish colar in broth was light and delicate, beautiful flavor and texture. Chawanmushi was soft and delicate, excellently flavored. The omakase which had fish from Japan was delicious, super fresh and masterfully prepared! The tempura came with a green tea seasalt which was different but very nice. For dessert we had the green tea tiramisu which was very tasty. The restaurant itself is small but cozy and wonderfully decorated. My wife and I had a wonderful meal and I would go back for special occasions.