Katsura

At the Westin Prince Hotel

Fresh, best sashami I've had in a long time, and just a unique and different take on japanese food, more traditional, more attention to detail, in both presentation and taste.
I came here tonight with my parents because of Andrew A's review. I forgot about this place, but I used to come here a lot with I was kid, before the place became so pricey.

It was like being in familiar territory because the same people that were working here when i was a kid, still worked here except not in their usual kimono garb. The service is really attentive, at one point we had three people serving us, even the chef came out to say hello!

The food was very good, but very pricey! We had a sashami platter, and you can definately taste the difference between regular fish, and katsura fish (however, if you go to vancouver, it does taste this fresh with a third of the cost).

One thing that was very worth it was the grilled unagi rice. They make it in front of you, with the rice, wasabi, nori, eel (which he torch seared the top first0, egg, and some rice balls, mixed it up all together, and it served at like 7-8 bowls full. ($33)

We also got the black cod, which was very nice, smooth and crunchy. it same with small side garnishes, including a sticky rice mochi wrapped in a bamboo leaf, some pickled veggies, all edible.
What I loved was the attention to detail, and how delicate everything was.

For dessert we got the banana crepe ($8) which was flambeed with grand marnier and served with bananas on the side, and strawberries.

The total cost was $180 for 3 ppl. It was quite worth it, but only for a special occasion. Something unique fo sure. I wonder if it's comparable to the new Katseki place that opened at the japanese community centre.

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W Burger Bar

Friday evening. 6pm. Dinner with Conrad.

W. Burger bar

With advice from Kat F. I made reservations and so glad that I did. I was a bit late, but they still held the table for us. There was a lineup with about 3 parties, and we walked right by like VIPs and got seated at our table. AWESOME.
I guess this is the type of place that don't really need to allow reservations, but I'm very glad they did.

However, the table was right in front of the kitchen kind of in the middle nowhere. I commented to my friend that this was awesome, but we got the crappiest seat in the house. My friend said, are you gunna yelp about it? I said probably. Then... maybe he heard me, maybe he didn't, but the manager (? guy with glasses) passed by and said "you can see the kitchen? sorry about that. would you like free drinks?"
I'm like... uhh. SURE!!! and i got a half pint of beer :) :)

Onion rings are superb.

I took a long time to decide. My ultimate burger would be Bison + Egg + Pineapple + Mushroom + Cheese + avacado + Bacon ... but that's just heart attack waiting to happen.
Had to be selective.
Got a Bison ($9.95) + Chipotle Ketchup (free) + Monteray Jack Cheese ($1.25) + Portobello Mushroom ($2.50)

To be honest, it was good, but could have been better. The cheese was thin (i.e. melted, I can see thru it) and the ketchup was only in the middle of the sandwich so only tasted it with one bite.  The mushrooms were there, but didn't really add much to the burger.
However, I will come back there one day and try this infamous frilled cheese with egg.

Conrad got the egg + tomato + beef burger +onions

They were also good about subsitutes

We were a little hurried, to get our bill and sod off, but I could see why: there was at least another 5 parties waiting (and line up out the door). As we walked past them, I wanted to shout, You can CALL AHEAD!!