Suika

Ambiance: Dim light dining, Bar, Light Dining, Clean

Seating/Wait time: Don't come here without a reservation! Otherwise you'll be waiting a LONG TIME, for your convenience here's there phone number: (604) 730-1678

Dress Code: Casual, but could be Dressy Casual, I noticed a lot of people did do dressy casual.

Crowd: Everybody

Meal: 

Torotoro Cha-Shu
$6.80Very soft, yummy, but nothing special so you can do without this 

Tako Karaage
$8.80Great and different, better than the average calamari

Three Kinds of Sashimi
(3 tuna, 3 wild salmon, 3 Ebi)
$12.80
I like how they serve wild salmon, as opposed to the cheap quality salmon 

If you order this, you don't need to order the Amaebi Kimchi to try the sweet prawns

Amaebi Kimchi (4)
$5.00
It looks tasty, but the kimchi overpowers the sweetness of the natural flavour of the shrimp

Negitoro Battera (6pcs)
$9.80
This was not a good sushi, it was kind of bitter because of the scallions, it looks nice, but order the Aburi "Shime-Saba" Sushi, maybe that one is better.  This one is not tasty at all. 

Personal Remarks:  Lots of buzz from friends about this restaurant and it's been Number 1 on Urbanspoon for quite some time, it's hard to resist the urge to try this place out.  Especially, with that photo on the front page all the time taken by Benny of the kim chi spot prawns.

This restaurant does not have any pictures of their food and their description doesn't help much.  Ordering food off the menu took a lot of time because I like to see what I am about to eat.  When restaurants don't have pictures on their menu, it's hard to decide on what to order or even try "new things".

But if I don't try new things, I won't know if the food is good or bad.  Before sitting down I already knew that I wanted to order the Amaebi Kimchi as for the rest of the other stuff I ordered, I had no expectations whatsoever.  

When the Amaebi Kimchi came out, it was A LOT smaller than what I expected from Benny's picture.  They were only about 1/2 inch - 3/4 inch in length.  And I thought there would be more than just 4.


The comments about the rest of food ordered are captioned under the pictures.

Sushi wise, they only have 2 sushi rolls on the menu, this is NOT the everyday sushi restaurant.  This is a Japanese Tapas restaurant.  When you come in, there is a huge bar and that is the place to be sitting if you want to get the authentic Japanese feel.  

These kind of Tapas bars are very popular in Japan.  After a hard day at work you would find a lot of business men at these Tapas bars enjoying these small snacks with beer and their colleagues.  However, customizing this restaurant to Canadian tastes, they've included tables for your dining pleasure.  

All items on the menu are small plates and there are no entrées, but Vancouver, we eat these like share plates.  This is another great way to enjoy this restaurant and try everything on the menu.  

If you come here, don't be the designated driver, to get full pleasure out of the food you definitely need to order the Sapporo Beer to complement the food.  Don't sissy out with water~!  In Japan, train stations are close and convenient so everyone can get drink and eat.  However, in Vancouver, our heavy drinking and driving laws, Suika's sort of in the middle of nowhere and it's hard for everybody "tank" out and drink -OH(alcohol) with your meal.   

The items here are quite expensive, but you're paying for the ambiance, because when you're in here you feel like you're not in Vancouver anymore with the Japanese waitress and decor.  

Value: 4/5 Overall: 4/5