Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Wednesday, March 23rd - Kadoya Japanese - Tastey Sushi in the West End

Spider and Tempura Salmon Rolls - Kadoya on Davie
Onward with my lunch time meanderings in the West End.  I was quite tempted after my horrible experience at the Samurai Sushi to just pack a lunch and stay in at St. Paul's.  But the days can be looooooong at a hospital so I really tried to get out for a bite.   I only have about an hour and really works out since I can't really marshall the energy for more than a block.  On a street like Davie, that shouldn't really place any limitations on my lunchtime options. Kadoya came recommended by the nurses.

It was full full at lunch time and as I was leaving there was a queue starting.  I didn't have to wait to be seated and I was attended to with tea and my order right away.  Kadoya is one of those sushi joints in town that specialises in their 'Chef Specialities', a dozen or so 'creative' rolls many of which are named after local streets and landmarks.  They'd never been found in your classic sushi restaurants but they are not as wacky as the Eatery in Kitsilano.  On the whole, they're spins off of more traditional rolls more than total curveballs.

Spider Roll - Kadoya Japanese on Davie
I ordered the Spider Roll because like Tiramisu and Escargots, if Spider is on the menu, I have to order it.  A classic Spider roll is basically a Tempura Soft Shell Crab roll.  This one was something of an amalgam of a California with Yam topped with the Soft Shell Crab.  The Rice was alright.  Not mushy like paste like Samurai but not bursting with flavour either.  The roll was flavourful and had a respectable ratio of rice to filling.  On the other hand, I ordered the Tempura Salmon Roll.  The roll itself was tastey but the rice to filling ratio was a tad slanted to rice but not too too much.  The Salmon was fried with Skin on which was happiness.

Tempura Salmon Roll - Kadoya Japanese on Davie
The price range is higher than your typical lunch sushi joints in downtown Vancouver, probably near double.  Funny though, that given that, I would think it's gearing itself for the higher dinner end crowd but the decor and ambiance does not reflect that at all.  It is clearly a sushi diner/dive feel. As well, the sushi itself, though quite good for lunch doesn't have that nice dinner out level of flavour. The staff is largely young, casual, ESL students. So I think it's a bit of an identity crisis.  Anyhoo, it was a nice lunch, tea was freely refilled and it was a world better than Samurai across the road which was also pricier than it should have been for the quality.

Cost: $$$ (for lunch sushi)
Service: Decent and attentive with Tea but a bit of a language barrier
Ambience: Diner

Kadoya Japanese
Robson Street/West End
1063 Davie St
Vancouver, BC V6E
www.kadoya.ca
(604) 608-1115
Kadoya Japanese (Davie Village) on Urbanspoon
for Lunch




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3 comments:

Noodle Soup said...

where is your fav place in Vancouver for reasonably priced sushi that you can take a group of several friends?

Noodle Soup said...

Hi there,

where would you recommend for inexpensive sushi for a group of several friends?

thanks

yummo said...

Hi Noodlesoup! Sorry for the delay. I post when I can get away from new lil dude. For inexpensive for friends, I'd suggest Ebisu on West Broadway for the mid-week deals and set menu. I'd suggest the Eatery purely for the funky rolls (they don't take reservations).