Japas Bistro
Today I had lunch with my parents at Japas Bistro on West Broadway. It's a small store and the entrance is very easy to miss. It was nice and bright inside, with simple and down-to-earth decor.
I was given green tea, as in many Japanese restaurants. And I got the drink special for free with my Indulge Living voucher. It was a watermelon mango drink (I think) and it was so thirst quenching :D
The lunch menu is rather limited. Pretty much the only choice is rice burgers. There are also a few appetizers/side dishes available. But why would they need anything else? I suppose the rice burger is a good enough selling point. After all, Japadog only has hot dogs on its menu and they made it big. I don't mind the lack of variety as long as they make that one dish right. I ordered a salmon sashimi rice burger ($8.50), and it came with fries and salad and a miso soup.
I'm so glad I chose the salmon sashimi because this turned out to be the best choice. The rice "bun" was soft and chewy, and it didn't fall apart like I expected. There were 3 rather large slices of salmon sashimi with avocado, tomato, lettuce and some kind of Japanese sauce in the "bun". The avocado tasted very fresh, and all the ingredients just blended together so perfectly. I was really surprised at how these simple ingredients could add up to such an amazing taste. My mom ordered the BBQ eel rice burger ($9), and she said it wasn't nearly as good as my salmon sashimi because the eel was hot and made her rice "bun" fall apart. My dad had the chicken rice burger ($7.50) and said the same thing. They both liked the taste, but said it didn't really wow them. But mine definitely wowed me :D Highly recommend the salmon sashimi rice burger!
Just look at the thick juicy slices of salmon sashimi inside!
We also ordered a side dish that consisted of a few different veggies mixed in Japanese sauce. There is a specific Japanese term for the dish, but I forgot what it is... It was only $3, but I didn't really like it because it was much too salty to be eaten by itself. But it would probably be ok as a side dish to a bowl of noodles or something.
Overall I was very happy with my lunch experience at Japas. The waiter was nice, and seemed receptive to comments/feedback. Planning to try dinner there next time :)
EDIT: Sep 24, 2010
I had dinner at Japas tonight and it was very enjoyable just like my previous visit. There are no rice burgers on the dinner menu, but a variety of hot/cold tapas, salads, and sashimi/sushi. I think this place is more of a tapas bar than a place for a family dinner. The menu is very limited and the portions are small. I think there are only 2-3 sushi rolls to choose from. We ordered a seared tuna sashimi garnished with green onions, which was very tasty.
Then we had a tofu salad that was half cold and half warm. The tofu and the greens were cold, while the mushrooms were warm. I guess we were supposed to mix them together. This dish was very small, as you can see from the picture below.
The avocado tempura we had was the most innovative. I've had yam tempura, pumpkin tempura, carrot tempura, and even eggplant tempura, but this was the first time I've had avocado tempura. I've never eaten avocado by itself before... only in sushi or salads. So I didn't expect it to be so flavourful by itself. And yam tempura has been my long-time favourite, so I was surprised that the avocado tempura was comparable in taste. The best part was that it wasn't oily at all. It was light and crisp on the outside, unlike other greasy tempura I've had that was soggy with oil.
We also tried the papaya roll. The red stuff on top of the roll looked like salmon sashimi, but it was actually papaya! There were avocado and cream cheese inside, and the dish was garnished with tobiko and drizzled with mayo. I loved the combination of papaya and cream cheese!
Because I was using SocialShopper vouchers this time, we were supposed to get free waffle desserts and ice cream. But the waiter told me the waffles didn't turn out well, so we got gelato instead. He also told me that the gelato was a bit soft because it was made in-house this morning. It was blueberry cheesecake flavoured, and it was delicious despite being slightly melted. Eating the gelato was almost like eating an actual blueberry cheesecake!
I was given green tea, as in many Japanese restaurants. And I got the drink special for free with my Indulge Living voucher. It was a watermelon mango drink (I think) and it was so thirst quenching :D
The lunch menu is rather limited. Pretty much the only choice is rice burgers. There are also a few appetizers/side dishes available. But why would they need anything else? I suppose the rice burger is a good enough selling point. After all, Japadog only has hot dogs on its menu and they made it big. I don't mind the lack of variety as long as they make that one dish right. I ordered a salmon sashimi rice burger ($8.50), and it came with fries and salad and a miso soup.
I'm so glad I chose the salmon sashimi because this turned out to be the best choice. The rice "bun" was soft and chewy, and it didn't fall apart like I expected. There were 3 rather large slices of salmon sashimi with avocado, tomato, lettuce and some kind of Japanese sauce in the "bun". The avocado tasted very fresh, and all the ingredients just blended together so perfectly. I was really surprised at how these simple ingredients could add up to such an amazing taste. My mom ordered the BBQ eel rice burger ($9), and she said it wasn't nearly as good as my salmon sashimi because the eel was hot and made her rice "bun" fall apart. My dad had the chicken rice burger ($7.50) and said the same thing. They both liked the taste, but said it didn't really wow them. But mine definitely wowed me :D Highly recommend the salmon sashimi rice burger!
Just look at the thick juicy slices of salmon sashimi inside!
We also ordered a side dish that consisted of a few different veggies mixed in Japanese sauce. There is a specific Japanese term for the dish, but I forgot what it is... It was only $3, but I didn't really like it because it was much too salty to be eaten by itself. But it would probably be ok as a side dish to a bowl of noodles or something.
Overall I was very happy with my lunch experience at Japas. The waiter was nice, and seemed receptive to comments/feedback. Planning to try dinner there next time :)
EDIT: Sep 24, 2010
I had dinner at Japas tonight and it was very enjoyable just like my previous visit. There are no rice burgers on the dinner menu, but a variety of hot/cold tapas, salads, and sashimi/sushi. I think this place is more of a tapas bar than a place for a family dinner. The menu is very limited and the portions are small. I think there are only 2-3 sushi rolls to choose from. We ordered a seared tuna sashimi garnished with green onions, which was very tasty.
Then we had a tofu salad that was half cold and half warm. The tofu and the greens were cold, while the mushrooms were warm. I guess we were supposed to mix them together. This dish was very small, as you can see from the picture below.
The avocado tempura we had was the most innovative. I've had yam tempura, pumpkin tempura, carrot tempura, and even eggplant tempura, but this was the first time I've had avocado tempura. I've never eaten avocado by itself before... only in sushi or salads. So I didn't expect it to be so flavourful by itself. And yam tempura has been my long-time favourite, so I was surprised that the avocado tempura was comparable in taste. The best part was that it wasn't oily at all. It was light and crisp on the outside, unlike other greasy tempura I've had that was soggy with oil.
We also tried the papaya roll. The red stuff on top of the roll looked like salmon sashimi, but it was actually papaya! There were avocado and cream cheese inside, and the dish was garnished with tobiko and drizzled with mayo. I loved the combination of papaya and cream cheese!
Because I was using SocialShopper vouchers this time, we were supposed to get free waffle desserts and ice cream. But the waiter told me the waffles didn't turn out well, so we got gelato instead. He also told me that the gelato was a bit soft because it was made in-house this morning. It was blueberry cheesecake flavoured, and it was delicious despite being slightly melted. Eating the gelato was almost like eating an actual blueberry cheesecake!
I can't wait to use my coupon too! I bought two and I wonder if I can order that much food with just two girls...
ReplyDeleteYea I bought 3 vouchers and only ended up using 2 between 3 people. But I saw the Japas page on facebook and this girl said the waiter wouldn't let her use 1 voucher between 2 people, so I dunno what's up with that? Have fun eating there ;)
ReplyDelete