Tuesday, October 11th - Watami Sushi - Affordable Fairview Go-To Lunch Sushi!

Watami Sushi - Sushi Combo Special

Being home in Fairview all day has forced me to find a new cheap go-to lunch-sushi. I'll admit that one does make some concessions on lunch-sushi. This particularly easy when the range and availability is what it is in Vancouver. So lunch-sushi isn't going to break the bank at Tojo's or Miku everyday but it needn't dip as low as mushy, fake sushi like the ones on Dunsmuir near Richards targeting the ESL kids. No, good lunch-sushi should sate the sushi addict affordably a few times a week yet have 1. decent rice flavour, 2. good filling to rice ratio, 3. fresh ingredients, 4. lunch combo specials, 5. size matters and a California roll should NOT be the same size as a Cucumber roll and 6. miso or tea included is only a bonus.

I've come to terms with the fact that there is no sushi a five minute pop-out between conference calls like when I was working downtown. Most of the Fairview joints are near Cambie. I tried a newer one today. It's so new it isn't on the google streetview. I'm pretty sure it's still showing an Indian place.

The cool offer here is that you can make your own lunch combo, actually all day. You can choose any three of 30 different Rolls or Cones and Miso is included for $5.95 plus taxes. There is no catch on that combo as I would have thought: no filler rolls like cucumber, no tiny rolls, no pre-made rolls. The rolls were only made to order and were all a decent size. I wasn't overwhelmed by too much rice. The rice was a good consistency though could have used more seasoning. Contrary to an earlier post, ingredients were fresh, possibly because turnover has increased or they responded to feedback or I ordered well.

I ordered the Spicy California Roll, Spicy Salmon Roll and Dynamite Roll. The Spiciness was a tad disappointing. It was basically a 'mild' flavoured Mayo added on top of a regular California and Salmon rather than spicing the filling itself. Other than that, the rolls were a nice size with very fresh Salmon. The Salmon, it should be noted, wasn't one of those tiny rolls often in these combos, the diameter of a lifesaver candy. The Dynamite roll was crispy and the Shrimp was not lost to the tempura.

The bonus Miso was the on the upper end of the range of lunch-sushi bonus miso. It had nice large pieces of the seaweed that led me to think it wasn't the insta-miso. As well, there were chunks of Krab (Pollock) in it.

I think I might have found my go-to lunch-sushi in Fairview. Service was fine but I was just taking out.

p.s. I went back a few days later and the Spicy Sauce was not drizzled on top but inside the sushi roll that time. :^D

Watami Sushi

(604) 708-8638
Fairview
514 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC V5Z

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