Daimasu 大増 (Richmond)
I went out with coworkers again for a Japanese lunch at Daimasu. I ordered the $9.95 lunch special which includes a choice of 3 items from the list, as well as miso soup/steamed rice/soft drink/coffee. Miso soup is the conventional choice, and this one came with a lot of tofu chunks and seaweed.
Item #1: spicy salmon sashimi
The salmon was completely covered in hot sauce which tasted like the sweet and spicy Korean chili pepper paste used to make bibimbap. I liked the combination but found the sauce a bit too overpowering. I would have liked a bit more salmon flavour to come through.
Item #2: spicy tuna roll
I wasn't particularly craving spicy food, but I ended up getting the spicy tuna roll because none of the other sushi choices appealed to me and I didn't want rice or noodles. The roll was not bad with relatively fresh fish and a balanced ratio of rice to filling. I found it a bit odd though, that the hot sauce was simply dabbed on top instead of mixed in with the tuna.
Item #3: chikuwa cheese
Chikuwa cheese is one of my favourite Japanese tapas. It's probably a recent fusion food because it's hard to believe that deep fried fish cake stuffed with gooey melted cheese is a traditional snack. I love the combination of crunchy tempura batter, bouncy fish cake, and gooey savoury cheese, all topped with Japanese mayo and teriyaki sauce.
The quality of food was quite good and I enjoyed the meal despite the almost non-existent service. I overheard a few of the staff conversing in Chinese, so I initially thought the place was under Chinese management. It was not until I got around to writing this post that I realized the restaurant is part of the Kamei Royale chain. Unfortunately neither the food nor service here can compare to Kamei Royale, but that's understandable considering Kamei Royale is the flagship of the chain and price points among the 2 locations are quite different. So in conclusion, Daimasu is not a bad choice for a casual lunch or dinner with family and friends.
Item #1: spicy salmon sashimi
The salmon was completely covered in hot sauce which tasted like the sweet and spicy Korean chili pepper paste used to make bibimbap. I liked the combination but found the sauce a bit too overpowering. I would have liked a bit more salmon flavour to come through.
Item #2: spicy tuna roll
I wasn't particularly craving spicy food, but I ended up getting the spicy tuna roll because none of the other sushi choices appealed to me and I didn't want rice or noodles. The roll was not bad with relatively fresh fish and a balanced ratio of rice to filling. I found it a bit odd though, that the hot sauce was simply dabbed on top instead of mixed in with the tuna.
Item #3: chikuwa cheese
Chikuwa cheese is one of my favourite Japanese tapas. It's probably a recent fusion food because it's hard to believe that deep fried fish cake stuffed with gooey melted cheese is a traditional snack. I love the combination of crunchy tempura batter, bouncy fish cake, and gooey savoury cheese, all topped with Japanese mayo and teriyaki sauce.
The quality of food was quite good and I enjoyed the meal despite the almost non-existent service. I overheard a few of the staff conversing in Chinese, so I initially thought the place was under Chinese management. It was not until I got around to writing this post that I realized the restaurant is part of the Kamei Royale chain. Unfortunately neither the food nor service here can compare to Kamei Royale, but that's understandable considering Kamei Royale is the flagship of the chain and price points among the 2 locations are quite different. So in conclusion, Daimasu is not a bad choice for a casual lunch or dinner with family and friends.
I used to come here quite a bit too but not because I liked it (just cuz a friend liked it here). It's really just "meh" and it's not really that cheap either.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a huge fan of Kamei either. :/
@Janice: Yea Kamei is not one of the best Japanese places out there, but it's still a notch above Daimasu. I didn't look at the regular menu for Daimasu, but the $9.95 lunch is not unreasonably priced. Most of the combo boxes were around $10 as well and honestly I'd rather come here than Matsuyama lol.
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