By the time I left UBC yesterday, it was around 7PM. I was completely famished, especially after sitting in class learning about FOOD theory. So Fasha and I decided to eat out because we didn’t want to bother cooking ourselves. We were planning to check out Ajisai, but it was closed… so we crossed the street to try out Kerrisdale Nakamura for the very first time.
It’s a pretty small and cozy restaurant; probably seats 20 people including the sushi bar.
They had really nice dinnerware. Based on first impressions, I was really looking forward to their food.
The first dish to land on the table was the Prawn Tempura ($12). Presentation-wise, it crashed and burned. The failure to assemble any height in dish was more pronounced as the tempuras were so petite! No garnish, no flare.
The batter of the tempura wasn’t even crispy! Instead, it was soft and greasy, like a limp french fry. We thought that it was because they fried it at a lower temperature, which would’ve resulted in increased fat absorption.
On the bright side, the prawn was sweet and moist.
Fasha and I decided to share a Nabeyaki Udon ($12). The broth was absolutely bland! I had to scoop in some chili powder just to make it taste like something. What’s more sad were the skimpy toppings. There were two dinky pieces of chicken that were smaller than my pinky. At least it was hot…
Upper row: Salmon & Avocado Roll ($4). Lower row: Alaska Roll ($5).
Eye-gauging the sushi, it looks like they bought them in… why else would there be a fat barcode on it? Oh wait, that’s just the exposed seaweed due to incompetent rolling (they see me rolling… they hating…)! At first, I thought that the sushi chefs were low on rice, which I overheard the waitress say to a group of walk-ins. However, I looked at other people’s online photos of Nakamura, and they all have exposed seaweed.
What’s worse was that the seaweed was CHEWY. It was like they recently plucked it from the sea. While doing that, they probably also dunked the rice in the sea because it was mushy. When the foundation of sushi is complete crap, it doesn’t matter what you stuff in it – even if it is real crab meat in the Alaska Roll.
The colour of the Salmon Nigiri ($2/pc) looked really nice. Too bad, the flesh was falling apart and it didn’t taste fresh.
The Tako Nigiri ($2/pc) was okay – can’t really screw it up. Unless you put a lot of wasabi in it. Which they did.
Finally, there was the Negitoro Maki ($4.5). As with the other sushi, the rice and seaweed were terrible. Since negitoro is minced, the whole thing was complete mush. Also, it completely lacked the vibrant flavour that usually comes from the green onion.
Final Bytes
- Severely below average food. Quality does not match price at all.
- Waitress was very friendly and speedy!
- Comfortable seating, distressing eating.
Foodobyte’s Rating
don’t know where it is! but i know where to avoid. they’re pretty pricy compared to other kerrisdale japanese places
It’s right next to the Fish Cafe, across from Nando’s! It’s absolutely terrible…