Doesn’t TaZte Like Chicken

Location: Octupus Garden, Vancouver   

Author: My Husband

In all the years we have been eating Japanese food, we have never tried omakase. We’ve always preferred certain Japanese dishes over others, and weren’t convinced that a chef could read our minds well enough after a 3-min Q&A session to serve us what we liked. Some might argue that is a positive, that by leaving the choice of our dinner ingredients to the chef, we would be served dishes that could expand our culinary horizons and push our Japanese-food boundaries. That is a good argument, but when dollars that could be spent on food that we LIKE are being put up for a chef’s guess of our likes/dislikes, well, we’d have to be convinced that the chef was damned near psychic.

A few years ago, while talking about Japanese food with a friend from Japan, we asked her if there was a restaurant she particularly liked. She thought for a little bit, and said “Octopus Garden”. Thinking she misunderstood my question, I repeated it, this time with more emphasis on “Japanese”. “Octupus Garden” was the unblinking reply. That was the very first time we’d heard of this little restaurant in Kitsilano. Minako told us that even her visitors from Japan enjoyed the food at the restaurant, and she suggested that we have dinner there. So one fine day, back in 2003, we went to this funky and colourful little Japanese restaurant in Kitsilano where the food (and nautical décor) made a huge impression on us. Prices weren’t cheap, but we got what we paid for. For two or three years after that, we paid OG the occasional visit when we wanted good Japanese good. But after we moved to Richmond in 2006, we stopped visiting.

Two weeks ago, our foodie friend J took two out-of-town visitors to OG for omakase. She had a phenomenal experience there and painted such a beautiful picture of the food that…we had to drag her back there to experience it ourselves. On the strength of J’s recommendation and our faith in her tastebuds, we rounded up our new-found eating buddies B and W, and along with J and another friend D, headed off to OG for our very own omakase meal…

The exterior of the restaurant hasn’t changed much from 2006, but I think the interior has been reconfigured to include a “private” booth. And as was the case back in 2006, all the chefs and waitresses were Japanese. Interestingly, the chef did not conduct much of a Q&A with us; J told him we wanted the lobster omakase and after making sure we weren’t allergic to any foods, he set off to create our meal.

Here’s what we had:

I think these were kumamotos. These were not as fresh and clean tasting as they could be. Everybody commented on the too-strong smell of shellfish, so it wasn’t just one or two of the oysters that were over the freshness curve.

Mussels on a bed of greens. The mussels were fleshy and sweet, and these were fresh. The slightly bitter greens (with a vinaigrette dressing) were a good counterpoint for them.

Sashimi platter. Every guest had individually portioned servings of sashimi – salmon, snapper, and tuna – on a scallop shell. The salmon and snapper were very good, though sliced in an unorthodox fashion. My tuna, which was quite rich tasting, was a little too mushy for my taste. The lobster sashimi was very very good; it had a toothsome, almost crunchy, texture and a clean, sweet taste.

We were presented with some freshly grated wasabi for the sashimi. We tried to grate the root for more, but were not very successful at doing so.

Deep fried enoki mushrooms, deep fried cheeks of black cod, and squid ink pasta. The squid ink pasta was rich and the enoki crunchy. The cod cheeks were a little tough, maybe a smaller fish or a different style of preparation (e.g. robata), would have resulted in a finished product that was more tender?

Lobster soup. The leftover lobster meat was cooked in a garlicky miso-based broth that showed off multiple layers of flavours: umami, savory, sweet. It was very tasty!

Next came a beautifully presented platter of sushi. There were rolls made with lobster and spicy tuna. There were nigiri sushi made with black cod belly (though there was really more skin than belly) and a combination of salmon/ikura. While these were all good, I wouldn’t say they were particularly memorable. And yes, that was the lobster head being used as a lamp.

Then came some deep fried pieces of fish dressed in orange sauce (and chunks of orange). This may sound irreverent, but this dish tasted a bit like the sweet and sour fish you can get at Chinese restaurants. It certainly wasn’t bad, but again, not very memorable.

White sesame ice cream with a matcha-infused Madeleine. Very strong notes of sesame came through in the ice cream, and all of us enjoyed it tremendously. My wife, who loves black sesame ice cream, asked for and received a sample of the same. She said it was great.

So, what did I think of the omakase meal? Well, the chef served us dishes that we liked, so in that sense, he read us rather well. On the other hand, Christina and I (and our dining buddies in fact) are a lot more adventurous when it comes to Japanese food, and as such, the meal did not come close to expanding our horizons or pushing our boundaries. J also mentioned that the meal she had prior to this was better – certain ingredients were fresher, and the sashimi more varied. While the quality and preparation were good foodwise, I think the chefs at OG are capable of better. I remember the food being better back when Christina and I patronized the place, but there’s always the possibility that my memory may be playing tricks on me.

Ultimately, the company we had that evening made the meal really enjoyable, and thus, it was a fantastic dinner in my books. B, W, J, and D, thanks for a great evening! Christina and I look forward to doing it again soon!