Have you heard about it? It’s all over the news: Restaurants in Japan are increasingly obsessed in offering “huge” food items. This recent trend is due to a Japanese TV show that intentionally compared the differences between food portions offered in Japanese restaurants and American restaurants. It’s ironic when you come to think of it, as the exact reason that Japanese food is so popular around the world, including Vancouver, is because of its portion sizes! With a variety of low-fat food that are divided among smaller plates and bowls, Japanese food therefore constitutes a type of “healthy food” in the mind of fellow Vancouverites. That’s also why Japan has the lowest obesity rate in the world due to its diet!
The thriving of Japanese restaurants here in Vancouver shows Vancouverites’ unquestionable loyalty towards Japanese cuisine. Most of the decent Japanese food in Vancouver is offered in small portions, like Zakkushi, a restaurant that offers different kinds of Japanese grilled tapas.
Zakkushi also offers a variety of cocktails. I’ve decided to try this mix of alcohol and tea: Cassis liqueur + Oolong tea. Oolong tea is a kind of Chinese tea. Together, the cocktail is overly sweet, and tasted and smelled just like Oolong tea with a hint of Cassis liqueur! Definitely a girl’s drink, but personally I don't like it when it’s too sweet.
As for the food, I am so excited to order Okonomiyaki, a type of Japanese Pan Fried Seafood Pancake which has received many compliments from my Japanese food lover friends. This will be my first taste of THE Okonomiyaki. It’s about half the size of a normal pizza slice. I almost thought it was Takoyaki when I first put it into my mouth. Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki taste similar, but have different fillings and presentation; one is mostly made up of cabbage and the latter is octopus.
Beef Tongue is a must-order whenever you come to this kind of Japanese Tapas restaurant. Instead of the square thick tongue, we ordered two of the thinly sliced beef tongue this time; one with the original flavour, and one with onion sauce.
Personally I love the original flavour better as the onion sauce comes in too strong that it covers up the deliciousness of the beef tongue itself. The beef tongue is perfect with its own natural flavours as it has been handled well.
Zakkushi Set (From left to right: Oropon Beef, P-toro, Me Maki, Momo, Umeshiso Yaki)
Oropon Beef is made of “AAA beef” with Japanese specialty sauce. It doesn't come as surprise as it is exactly as good as I imagined it to be.
P-toro is a type of pork that contains both fat and lean parts, which makes it tender and crunchy at the same time, yet juicy and tasty.
Me Maki, a garlic stub wrapped with pork, makes an amazingly delicious combination!
Momo is the house special flavoured chicken thigh. They’ve done a good job as the chicken is grilled tender and juicy.
The last piece of this set is Umeshiso Yaki, made of chicken thigh with sour plum and Japanese basil, which again proves that I am more prone to naturally-flavoured grilled meat, as I was not particularly fond of the sour plum and Japanese basil.
Aspara Maki
Asparagus wrapped with pork which tastes awe-fully similar with the Me Maki above. I’m in awe!
Grilled Rice Ball ( both Soy Sauce and Butter Soy Sauce)
This grilled rice ball order is to fulfill our still-pretty-empty stomachs despite all the other orders because of the small portions. Come to think of it, there’s a reason why Japanese food is divided among smaller plates and bowls, yet one can still receive satisfaction out of it. It’s all because of rice! Rice is a fulfilling and vital part of Japanese culinary tradition. It goes with almost everything and plays tricks with your stomach that makes you think you have enough.
Zakkushi is well known for its use of Japanese charcoal, called Binchotan, which can momentarily reach temperatures of 1000°C, yet it produces no flame or odour. Also, it has the ability to allow the grilled food to retain its own natural flavours at the most purest state, which is why they’re all so delicious.
The food is generally excellent in Zakkushi and it’s a nice place to hang out with friends late at night. The servers are Japanese and speak limited English, but they always come towards you with a tray of oozing food and a bewitchingly big smile that no one can resist. Nonetheless, you have to pay a fortune of money for a small portion of good food.
Let’s just hope Vancouver’s Japanese restaurants catch up with Japan’s newest trend of “large-portion-food” one day?
823 Denman Street，
Vancouver BC
(604) 538-8587
Atmosphere：4
Food：4
Service：4
Value：3.5
Recommendation：3.75
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