Tojo's

I've always wanted to try Tojo's and finally gotten a chance to when my boyfriend surprised me by taking me there for our anniversary! <3

The restaurant is really spacious, modern Japanese decorations and surprisingly not too noisy for the amount of people that was inside. We sat down at our table and looked quickly through the menus. We knew that we wanted to try the omakase (chef's choice). I wished we sat at the bar as it would probably make the experience dining at Tojo's just a bit more special. We also saw Tojo busily working away at the sushi bar. When I took out my camera to take a photo of the restaurant, our waiter came by and asked if I wanted a photo with Tojo. He told me "You want a picture with Tojo? I can take. Go now. Don't be shy". I chuckled to myself before getting up and following the waiter up to the sushi bar where he snapped a photo of Tojo and me. After taking the photo, we placed our orders. We ordered the 5 course omakase ($80 per person). The waiter asked if we had any allergies before leaving to get our teas.

 Tojo's Restaurant Interior

Read more - Om nom nom

Sushi Oyama

For my friend's surprise engagement dinner, we all decided to go to Sushi Oyama in Burnaby for some Japanese food. The restaurant is located on Kingsway (near Metrowtown) and is in some sort of house. I believe it used to be a house, then funeral home, Korean restaurant and then Japanese restaurant.

The restaurant is usually busy and reservations are usually a good idea. My friend made a reservation for 9 people and the great thing is that they do not charge gratuity for large groups! When I arrived, I was greeted quickly and was brought to the table. The table was located upstairs! I didn't know they had an upstairs area. The table was located in a small room and had just enough room to fit 9 people comfortably. Since it was upstairs, there was also a phone inside the room where we could use to get a hold of a waitress. But we didn't use the phone since the waitress kept coming up and checking on us. Great service!

Now onto the food!

Salmon Nigiri

Read more - Om nom nom

ShuRaku Sake Bar & Bistro

ShuRaku = "enjoyment of sake".

ShuRaku is a sushi izakaya with an extensive list of sake located on Granville street. What makes this izakaya different from others is that they offer a wide selection of sushi along with the tapas. When we arrived, we were greeted and got a choice of either sitting at the sushi bar or at a table. We opted to sit at the table. Even though sitting at the sushi bar would have been nice too as you can see all the chefs work. Horray for open kitchens =)

We ordered some Genmaicha tea (roasted brown rice & green tea) and took a look at the menu. It took us a while to decide what we wanted to eat as we are indecisive most of the time. There is only so much food 2 people can eat! And it's tough to decide what to try at a restaurant we've haven't been to before. We decided to order 2 hot dishes, 2 signature rolls and some nigiri sushi.

Genmaicha Tea

Read more - Om nom nom