Vancouver is home to a lot of restaurants and bars, but there are tons of hidden gems that the majority of Vancouverites aren't unearthing. To help guide us to these potential discoveries, we've enlisted some of our city's food players to share their recommendations for a feature dubbed Dining Confidential. Know a chef who wants to share some top dining spots? The tipline is open.
[Photo via Wildebeest]
Co-owner of meat-centric Wildebeest and Kitsilano's favourite brunch spot,Abigail's Party, B.C. restaurant veteran James Iranzad shares his love of a hard-to-find sushi place in Kerrisdale.
Why do you love this place?
It's not fancy like Tojo's or expensive like a high-end sushi joint: it's smaller but their focus is totally on sushi. They don't have ventilation so they don't do cooked Japanese food. Ajisai is tiny and extrememly busy so they get super-fresh quality produce and it's just a lovely product.
What do you recommend eating there?
They have really good battera, pressed sushi that comes in squares and I like the unagi - the freshwater eel - it's just so delicious. They have some really weird things, for instance, they do lots of vegetable sushi like a fermented soy bean and mung beans! Their creativity is excellent and their presentation is beautiful. And it's cheap.
And where is it?
It's in the centre of the block, off the back lane, behind the London Drugs so it's kind of a bit complicated to find; it's technically not where the address makes you think it is - it's in the back of the building so you have to access it through the lane and that's part of the charm I guess.
· Ajisai [Facebook Site]
· Wildebeest [Official Site]