Lunch at Tojo's

Ryu-san preparing flounder sushi at Tojo's

Earlier this week I with some family friends went to Tojo's Restaurant to have an omakase lunch. It's considered not only one of the top Japanese restaurants in Vancouver but also one of the oldest started by Hidekazu Tojo 34 years ago.

"Scallop sandwich" with tamago, avocado puree

He trained in Osaka at a ryotei, a high-end traditional restaurant, but according to the restaurant's website, Tojo felt limited by the strict traditions of Japanese culinary arts and moved to Vancouver in 1971.

The website also claims he created the "inside out" Tojo roll, now known as the "California roll".

His creativity explains the various items his protege, Ryu-san or "Dragon" presented to us which are not very traditional in combination and presentation. 

Tojo's Restaurant is not usually open for lunch, but from Tuesday to Saturday, Ryu-san will open the restaurant just for lunch and for only 10 people seated at the sushi counter.

Local spot prawn and sweet potato tempura

On the day we went it was our party of six, along with a Taiwanese couple.

The meal costs CAD$150 (HK$916) per person, which by Vancouver standards is very expensive -- but we couldn't swallow the cost for dinner so we went for lunch. When we booked we also had to put down a deposit with our credit card.

The ingredients are very high quality -- fresh sweet scallops, delicious otoro, striped jack, Miyazaki M5 wagyu, spot prawns that are now in season, but they are used differently than what you would find in a traditional sushi restaurant.

For starters each piece was presented in a separate plate or bowl, instead of him serving the sushi at the counter. Also some were very big in size, like the scallop "sandwich" with a slice of tamago inside and topped with avocado puree so it was impossible to eat it all in one bite, let alone with fingers!

Cucumber and seaweed wrapped in squid

Nevertheless the combinations were interesting, like the spot prawn tempura with sweet potato tempura, thin slices of cucumber and seaweed wrapped underneath squid, marinated tuna with Japanese green onion, and otoro donburi topped with caviar, and lobster salad with slices of mango and Japanese pear.

Our last savoury item was uni, cucumber and asparagus on a shiso leaf with uni on top with rice and nori, and we had to make it ourselves, which was a bit odd, but perhaps to give us an opportunity to put it together ourselves. 

Dessert was matcha creme brulee with matcha ice cream, a bit of red bean and some fruits. 

Otoro donburi with caviar on top

Ryu-san talked mostly with the Taiwanese couple who were there for the first time to celebrate their anniversary. The husband, probably in his early 70s, was keen on telling the chef that he appreciated Japanese food and that he went to Japan once a year during his visits to Taiwan.

He wanted to make sure the chef would not cheat him and give him inferior food to eat! Ryu-san joked that if they saw someone mixing wasabi with soy sauce together then they would just get the ordinary cuts of tuna.

In any event it was quite the experience to go to Tojo's Restaurant because it's not somewhere you'd go everyday, though Ryu-san told us he has a regular who comes almost everyday for lunch or dinner. The restaurant is usually closed on Sunday, but if this customer texts him that day, he will come in to open the restaurant just to serve him.

Lobster salad with slices of mango and pear

Talk about big spender...

Tojo's Restaurant

1133 West Broadway

Vancouver

604 872 8050

Sole Candidate Reveals Election Platform

Lee finally shows off his election platform today

The sole candidate running for the next Chief Executive of Hong Kong finally unveiled his platform just days before the election on May 8.

John Lee Ka-chiu promised to strengthen governance, boost land and housing supply, improve Hong Kong's competitiveness, and build a caring society.

Lee has made requisite visit to grassroots families

Housing is a top issue for Beijing and now it's up to Lee to tackle it, just like every other chief executive has since Tung Chee-hwa in 1997 and they have all failed abominably.

How is Lee really going to break the developers' small circle and make them build more public housing remains to be seen, as no other leader has managed to make them heel? The supply of land is tight and that's what makes property values so high. No one wants to see them plunge. 

Meanwhile in his platform, the former chief secretary proposes a new scheme that would allow people to move into new public housing estates earlier, even when the surrounding infrastructure is not fully ready. He said that could shorten people's wait times by about a year.

But who wants to live in a completed building and yet there are no public transportation? How are these people supposed to get around? Walk? Bike? Maybe Lee has forgotten these low-income residents can't afford a car and parking space...

China is more developed at the border than HK

Lee has also proposed a pilot scheme to help those living in subdivided flats by giving them job training and support to some 1,000 school children... what that means is not clear, but what kind retraining are they talking about? If it's just to make a few dollars more per hour, it's not going to help these families significantly. He claims this program, which would run for two to three years would help tackle generational poverty.

That sounds like really short term help -- getting people out of poverty takes years of support. This is where NGOs and grassroots groups help low-income people with long-term solutions, but many of these organisations are worried about possibly violating the national security law if they do a better job than the government.

If elected Lee says he will review and plan for the Northern Metropolis and Lantau Tomorrow Vision schemes, which means current Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's proposals could be further tweaked, which is a good exit if he needs one. While further integrating with the mainland makes sense for Hong Kong, how is this going to work exactly? We hope the latter idea will be scrapped for environmental reasons.

Lee says national education will be strengthened

He is also keen on further enhancing national education for students. This is expected, as it is an order from Beijing. How can this be a taken seriously as part of his platform?

How about some new exciting ideas, John? 

Without a viable competitor, how is the public supposed to consider Lee a good candidate?

Oh I forgot -- we're not voting -- only 1,500 Beijing-approved are.

Surely he's going to do better than 689 and 777 when Lee already has more than 700 nominations...

Welcome to Goodbye HK, Hello YVR

Can't get enough of the pretty cherry blossoms

Welcome to Goodbye HK, Hello YVR!

It took me a long time to think of an appropriate name and I think this fits the bill as I will continue to write about Hong Kong, but also about adjusting back to Vancouver.

The last time I lived here was in 2003 for four years and 15 years later I'm back! I hope to document these changes as well as my experiences of reintegrating back into the community.

I've come back at a good time -- the cherry blossoms are out in bloom along with the rhododendrons, camellias and magnolias, and for the most part it isn't raining! 

It's great to be surrounded by natural scenery, unlike the parks in Hong Kong where ever inch is  programmed in case people don't know what to do with open spaces. 

The two extremes make great talking points and there will probably be a lot of comparisons!

Thanks for reading!