Throughout Vancouver,
Tojo's has quite a reputation. It's won pretty much every Japanese food award in the city, and regularly sweeps the "Best Of" lists in newspapers and magazines across town. The place is famous for its omakase, which come in C$50, C$75, C$100, and C$100+ levels. There is also a vegetarian option for $55. When asked to describe the difference in the price levels, our waiter (a really funny guy actually) said that the 75 is a step up in quantity, the 100 is quantity and quality, and the 100+ is just for the over the top stuff. We decided on the 100, which got us the following.
tuna tataki with sliced daikon
smoked salmon & raw scallop salad with dijon mustard
halibut cheek with red peppercorns, shitake mushrooms, chinese broccoli and a mandarin orange sauce
The tuna tataki was good - nice texture and the right amount of sear. The surprise was the daikon, which was probably the most refreshing
daikon I've ever had. It was extremely crisp and crunchy, and I ended up eating every last piece. The salmon and scallop salad was quite nice. I loved the scallop and the dijon vinaigrette, but I think I would have preferred salmon sashimi to smoked salmon. The smoked salmon proved a bit too salty in this dish for me. The halibut cheeks were tender and delicate, and the sauce provided a pleasant balance of tang and sweetness. The peppercorns added a bit too much kick I think - they didn't make the dish spicy, but when you actually bit one you got a huge rush of pepper. I avoided them for the most part after eating one or two. The rest of the dish was excellent though. Funny how cheeks always seem to be the most tender part of whatever animal...
"sun-tanned tuna" - tuna wrapped with seaweed, tempura'd, and served with mushroom, cabbage and a japanese plum sauce
smoked sable fish (as it was served)
smoked sable fish in broth with asparagus, bamboo shoots & mushrooms
The sun-tanned tuna was a great dish. Big, meaty pieces of tuna matched perfectly with the somewhat subtle plum sauce. The mushroom/cabbage mixture was delicious - the type of stuff that you could dip bread into. The sable fish had a very interesting presentation. All was wrapped up as in the picture, and revealed a stuffed piece of fish with an amazingly fragrant broth. The fish was melt-in-your-mouth tender, but the highlight was easily the broth, which lended both a delicious flavor and wonderful aroma.
golden roll, great canadian roll, pacific northwest roll, spicy tuna roll, tuna & amaebi nigiri
spicy tempura cone with avocado & asparagus
Next came the sushi, with a variety of Tojo's specialty rolls. The Golden roll is fresh prawns, salmon, scallop, crabmeat, and kaiware wrapped in a thin egg crepe. The Great Canadian roll has lobster and asparagus with lettuce rolls inside, and topped with smoked salmon. The Pacific Northwest roll is fresh crabmeat, avocado, and tamago rolled inside out with spinach, and topped with scallops and herring roe. The spicy tuna roll had some nice pieces of fish on the outside. I liked the golden roll a lot; it had a great seafood-salad type of taste. The Pacific Northwest roll was also nice. The yellow herring roe is a nice diversion from the usual masago. The Great Canadian was just so-so, I thought - again, I found the smoked salmon a bit overpowering. The spicy tuna roll was delicious. The toro was pretty good, but I've had much better. The amaebi tasted very fresh and clean - I'm sure amaebi lovers (I'm not one) would really enjoy it. The spicy tempura cones were excellent. This must have been the most quickly-served tempura roll I've ever had (in terms of time between the tempura being in the fryer and the cone being in my hands), because the tempura was so hot it almost burned my mouth. I for one love the concept of tempura in rolls, so this was right up my alley. Delicious...
We also got a little mango ice cream with a fruit-yogurt mixture as dessert. It was a great end to the meal. The only thing lacking was perhaps a meat course of some kind. We were expecting maybe some type of meat dish before the sushi showed up. Maybe if you get the 100+ they'll give you some Kobe beef. Still, it was a wonderful meal. The price reflected it too - though still cheap by U.S. comparison, there is definitely a significant premium compared to basically every other Japanese place in Vancouver that I've been to.
tuna tataki with sliced daikon
smoked salmon & raw scallop salad with dijon mustard
halibut cheek with red peppercorns, shitake mushrooms, chinese broccoli and a mandarin orange sauce
The tuna tataki was good - nice texture and the right amount of sear. The surprise was the daikon, which was probably the most refreshing
daikon I've ever had. It was extremely crisp and crunchy, and I ended up eating every last piece. The salmon and scallop salad was quite nice. I loved the scallop and the dijon vinaigrette, but I think I would have preferred salmon sashimi to smoked salmon. The smoked salmon proved a bit too salty in this dish for me. The halibut cheeks were tender and delicate, and the sauce provided a pleasant balance of tang and sweetness. The peppercorns added a bit too much kick I think - they didn't make the dish spicy, but when you actually bit one you got a huge rush of pepper. I avoided them for the most part after eating one or two. The rest of the dish was excellent though. Funny how cheeks always seem to be the most tender part of whatever animal...
"sun-tanned tuna" - tuna wrapped with seaweed, tempura'd, and served with mushroom, cabbage and a japanese plum sauce
smoked sable fish (as it was served)
smoked sable fish in broth with asparagus, bamboo shoots & mushrooms
The sun-tanned tuna was a great dish. Big, meaty pieces of tuna matched perfectly with the somewhat subtle plum sauce. The mushroom/cabbage mixture was delicious - the type of stuff that you could dip bread into. The sable fish had a very interesting presentation. All was wrapped up as in the picture, and revealed a stuffed piece of fish with an amazingly fragrant broth. The fish was melt-in-your-mouth tender, but the highlight was easily the broth, which lended both a delicious flavor and wonderful aroma.
golden roll, great canadian roll, pacific northwest roll, spicy tuna roll, tuna & amaebi nigiri
spicy tempura cone with avocado & asparagus
Next came the sushi, with a variety of Tojo's specialty rolls. The Golden roll is fresh prawns, salmon, scallop, crabmeat, and kaiware wrapped in a thin egg crepe. The Great Canadian roll has lobster and asparagus with lettuce rolls inside, and topped with smoked salmon. The Pacific Northwest roll is fresh crabmeat, avocado, and tamago rolled inside out with spinach, and topped with scallops and herring roe. The spicy tuna roll had some nice pieces of fish on the outside. I liked the golden roll a lot; it had a great seafood-salad type of taste. The Pacific Northwest roll was also nice. The yellow herring roe is a nice diversion from the usual masago. The Great Canadian was just so-so, I thought - again, I found the smoked salmon a bit overpowering. The spicy tuna roll was delicious. The toro was pretty good, but I've had much better. The amaebi tasted very fresh and clean - I'm sure amaebi lovers (I'm not one) would really enjoy it. The spicy tempura cones were excellent. This must have been the most quickly-served tempura roll I've ever had (in terms of time between the tempura being in the fryer and the cone being in my hands), because the tempura was so hot it almost burned my mouth. I for one love the concept of tempura in rolls, so this was right up my alley. Delicious...
We also got a little mango ice cream with a fruit-yogurt mixture as dessert. It was a great end to the meal. The only thing lacking was perhaps a meat course of some kind. We were expecting maybe some type of meat dish before the sushi showed up. Maybe if you get the 100+ they'll give you some Kobe beef. Still, it was a wonderful meal. The price reflected it too - though still cheap by U.S. comparison, there is definitely a significant premium compared to basically every other Japanese place in Vancouver that I've been to.