This restaurant has been a Whalley landmark for ages.  It is only steps from Gateway Skytrain Station, so the location is pretty easy to get to.

We got there late on a Friday evening and the place was pretty busy. Most people were opting to sit at the bar, where the chef was chatting people up. It was nice to be greeted by the restaurant staff like an old friend.

We started with the wild salmon sashimi – I always judge a sushi restaurant by the quality of their sashimi. This one did not disappoint.  The sashimi was fresh and firm. Simply delicious.

I asked the chef for his most popular roll – he suggested the house roll, a combination of steamed prawn, smoked salmon, cucumber and radish sprout – it sounded pretty good, so we ordered it. Now I didn’t hate it, but in the end it tasted a bit generic.

We followed that with the beef sashimi – great presentation, except for one tiny, itsy bitsy problem – it was frozen! It was supposed to be fresh beef, seared and brought to the table. It was frozen. I took a bite and it was like taking a bite of a beef popsicle. That completely put me off the rest of the meal.

I ordered the Hawaiian tuna sushi and the Hirame (flounder) sushi. Again, uninspired. Ok, but not great. The salmon sashimi was the best part of the meal.

I suggest if you want great sushi, go downtown. This restaurant will satisfy a quick sushi craving, but it’s not an experience worth repeating.