One night, RL suggested we should try out this Japanese restaurant located in Woodbridge. Yes, Woodbridge, which is not too bad since we were coming from Richmond Hill anyway. Driving from the east to the west on Hwy 7… passing Vaughan Mills and Weston Rd., we saw this BDC building on our left. The Japanese restaurant wasn’t hard to spot because of all the red lanterns.

It was around dinner time 7-8pm. At the front of the entrance, we saw a lot of pictures on the wall. In those pictures, I could recognize some familiar faces - singers/actors from Hong Kong. There were a lot of customers and there were a lot of staff. That was basically the first thing I’ve noticed. Looking at the dining room and the menu, I understood why they need so many people. The selection was huge - salad, sunomono, soup, sushi pizza, special rolls, maki, sashimi, set course, party tray, noodle in soup, cold noodle, pan fried noodle, donburi, bento box, hotpot, etc. The place was called “Japanese Seafood Restaurant” and I could see people having king clam (geoduck) sashimi. But for some reasons, I don’t really like eating that fresh/uncooked (in general - not specific to any restaurant). On the other hand, I saw they have lobster sashimi and I’d love to have some. I’ve always remember the ones that I had in New Zealand.

For that night we ordered a sashimi/sushi combo, a quasi-yakisoba (wasn’t on the menu, but we asked for it anyway), and handrolls.

Overall, The quality of the sushi and sashimi was ok. The soba was a bit soggy. The handrolls were good.

We then visited this place again two weeks after. Yup, better not comment just based on one visit. What we ordered this time were: a Sashimi combo, a spider roll, handrolls and grilled squid. The sashimi was ok. Spider roll and handroll were both quite tasty. I like the grilled squid - the sauce was the essence.

The place seemed to be always busy. Compared to many restaurants, I’d say the staff at this restaurant are generally very attentive and polite. They’re like “chop chop”. If you need anything, they’ll take the order right away, and even if you don’t need anything, they’d come and check if everything’s ok (of course without disturbing you). All the staffs are Chinese. In fact, I think there’s another Koganei in Shanghai opened by the same owner. Based on my two visits, I’d say the sashimi is so-so, the cooked dishes are generally better, especially the sauce they use. The price was good. I guess, the thing I like most was the service - very energetic and quick response. Western vs. Asian customers was about 70/30.

FYI: Koganei Japanese Seafood Restaurant
3901 Hwy7 West, BDC Bldg.
Main Floor, Suite 103, Woodbridge
Tel: 905-265-2288
*Free delivery with order over $25 (before tax) within 10km

Food Journal (fragments in Nov) - 3

Have been craving for some window shopping in the past month. No party, no shopping, not much eating out. So, one night… I said that’s enough! Gotta go out. So went to Vaughan Mills for a walk… Didn’t buy anything. Saw a really nice houndstooth coat - now it’s the 2nd item on my “Wish List” after the Tom Ford Sunglasses. I’ll see… after my year-end bonus. Afterall, those items aren’t a “must-have” and I’m not really an impulsive shopper. (Update: Just broke my cell - that’s gonna be the 3rd item on wish list. Thinking of N95 but that’s really chunky and pricy. Argh. What should I do… iPhone?)

After wandering in the mall for about 2 hours, we got a bit tired and decided to eat at a place nearby. So the lucky place was “Yang’s Teppanyaki & Sushi”. I heard about this place before and I think the owner also own another restaurant (AYCE Japanese) near Warden / Hwy 7. If you’ve been to that location, you know it’s not really a fancy place - I’d say it’s more like quick and dirty - but taste was pretty good last 2 times I was there (March, May 2006).

This Vaughan location is much fancier - you can even bring your date to this place consider the price point isn’t too bad. Dim light… 2 chandeliers near the entrance (in the first picture). Large teppanyaki cooking/dining tables at the back. Servers are mostly Chinese, but they were especially attentive (shh I wonder if it was because of my little camera - tried my best to hide it whenever I was in a restaurant).

Ordered the sushi and sashimi combo. Sushi was of good size. Taste was pretty good. Sashimi was ok fresh. Standard.

Spider roll that came with the combo… Not bad.

Beef Don. I liked it. In a very hot pot. Pretty juicy and good portion. Good enough to be a meal alone. I was quite full after all these. Peek at the table beside us, the couple still haven’t finished their sushi combo. (Were we fast? or… they were just too slow. Probably it was their first date… Keep chatting and not eating.)

Overall, I would say the restaurant was average. Not much surprise, but no complaint either. The service was prompt and friendly. It was a nice place after a good walk in the mall.

FYI: Yang’s Teppanyaki & Sushi
3255 Rutherford Rd., Unit 15-18, Building J, Vaughan, ON.
Tel: 905.761.0268

RL mentioned to me about this restaurant quite a while ago. On a Wednesday, after running some errands downtown, I met up with D and RL, and then we went for some shopping downtown. We walked around the Eaton Center and the surrounding areas. Then we went to Queen Street to continue our jacket hunting. What we had in mind was a jacket that was once on sale during Christmas @ Roots. One night we saw some guys wearing this pretty nice jacket and I couldn’t help stopping one person and asked where he got that. He said “Roots in Montreal”. Then, we checked out all the Roots but still no luck - no size or not the desired color. The price was around $400-500, but it was very cool looking and good quality.

That night, in the last store on Queen Street at 7:00pm, we found this jacket. It was actually not a Roots product. It’s a CANADIAN (yeah!) brand called “Canada Goose” (wiki). Apparently this brand has been around for almost 5 decades. (I wonder why I’ve never noticed it until last month.)

It started snowing so we quickly walked to St. Patrick Street and went in this restaurant. I remember walking by this restaurant quite a few times when I was working downtown. From outside, it has this very traditional look. It’s great that finally I was there. (Another Yeah!)

It is a Japanese-run restaurant. I like authentic Japanese food. The menu was bilingual - Japanese and English. When we arrived, we were greeted by some Japanese servers. Near the entrance, there were some newspaper and magazines. Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand a word except the I know it was related to the Canadian Opera Company.

(Again, I didn’t bring my camera, so I used my cell phone instead.)

To start, D ordered a hiyayakko, and RL recommended the beef tongue. Although the weather was a bit cold, the hiyayakko made a good appetizer. The beef tongue is something that I don’t usually get to eat. With some lemon juice, the beef tongue tasted very good! I like how chewy it was, but not sure if everyone would like that texture. RL described that as “kissing with the cow” (no comment).

Besides the appetizers and the salad & soup that came with my Don, we ordered three entrees:

1. Tempura soba

2. Katsu Don (Pork Cutlet)

3. Ramen

All of them were very tasty and filling. I tried my best but still couldn’t finish the Katsu Don. The Ramen was very good (according to D). I tried a bit of the Tempura soba, it was ok - maybe I’m just not very fond of Tempura. Next time if you are there by any chance, also check out their yakimono - I remember they had a selection of grilled and pan-fried dishes. Also, I remember seeing omakase on their menu for about $40-50 per person as well. It was a good experience overall. The final bill was a bit less than $60. Gotta thank D for that, I’ll treat you next time

FYI: EMATEI
30 St. Patrick St., Toronto, ON. M5T 3A3
Tel: 416-340-0472
Lunch: Mon-Fri: 11:45 - 2:30; Dinner: Mon-Sat 5:30-10:30, Sun 5:30 - 10:00