Sunday, May 29, 2011

Sushi Town Coquitlam

My friend Bree in town last weekend. We had planned a tonne of fun outdoor "Vancouver" activites but were stymied by poor weather. As a fall back plan for Saturday afternoon/ evening, we decided to go shopping at Coquitlam Town Centre, eat a sushi dinner, and catch a 7:30pm showing of "Bridesmaids" at Silvercity Coquitlam- I did a bit of online research and stumbled across some positive reviews of Sushi Town Coquitlam. I have been to Sushi Town in Burnaby and LOVE their spicy tuna combo so I felt pretty confident that it would be fairly tasty food with large portions and fair prices.
The sous chef came to meet us, as did two of Bree's friends from the Fraser Valley. We arrived shortly after 6pm and the place was pretty packed. We got one of the last tables and were seated right away. We were waiting for the Fraser Valley friends to arrive, ordered drinks and dove in to the menu.
This strip mall sushi joint doesn't have much going on in atmosphere. It's just one huge open room crammed with bare bones tables, minimal decor, bad pop, hip-hop, "top 40" radio playing and a open sushi bar (approx 5-6 chefs working behind it). We waited around for about 15 minutes, ordered gomae appetizers and then one Fraser Valley friend arrived. About 10 minutes later, the gomae arrived, we dove in and it was pretty standard and tasty but nothing to rave about.
Around 6:45 we put in an order and let Bree take the reigns since she's been living in Peace River, AB where the only sushi option is from a grocery store that drives it in from Edmonton. She ordered about 6-8 rolls for us to share and the sous chef ordered a vegetable udon. Shortly after, the second Fraser Valley friend arrived.
They must've been slammed with take out orders around the time we put in our order because we ended up waiting a long time for our food and started getting nervous about eating and making the movie. Around 7:10 the sous-chef's vegetable udon ($5.95) arrived. The sous chef tried to politely wait, but we were started to check our watches and getting even more nervous, so we encouraged him to dig in. He really liked it and I tried some of the broth and thought it was nice- salty and quite full-bodied for a vegetable broth based soup.

Finally at 7:15pm we started to get really worried and began to try to pester our server, letting her know that we were rushing for a movie and to check in on the status of our food and to even cancel the order if they hadn't started making it. At 7:20 the first roll arrived, The Double Dragon Roll ($7.95). On the inside of the roll was avocado, cucumber, masago (eggs/roe), and unagi (eel). The exterior topping on each piece alternated between unagi and avacado.
This roll was absolutely delicious- I loved the contrast of the chewy BBq'd eel flavour with the creamy, rich avocado and flavour pops of the masago. I only wish I had the time to actually savour the taste, rather than stuffing it into my face as quickly as possible.
At 7:25 the rest of the rolls arrived with the bill and takeout container. They all looked delicious but I didn't even really notice what we were eating and any of the specifics because we were so rushed. We jammed these in our mouths and the takeout containers, paid the bill and rushed to the movie theatre. We arrived at the theatre just in time to catch the actual start of the film (we missed the previews) and were stuck in the front row. But- at least we made it!
The food was all good and the Double Dragon roll was amazing- but the sluggish food delivery and service really made for a rushed, frustrating experience (especially since we told them we were trying to make a movie...) with a bland atmosphere.

Sushi Town (Coquitlam) on Urbanspoon

No comments: