Rah! Rah! Rah! First Published Review!

Haha I'm quite excited. My first online restaurant review published on Vezeo.com - a San Francisco base international travel/food blog. They're just starting out but already they have quite a collection on restaurant reviews from around US and Canada. Actually, I have 5 restaurant reviews published on Asian Gourmet Magazine's fall edition 2007 on their "Eating Out..." section but I haven't gotten to scanning them yet due to other uncontrollable circumstances like EXAMS AND WORK :/ pffttt.... I will get to them soon.

Anyway back to this review published on Vezeo, I wrote about Tokyo Sushibar, a Japanese restaurant located in Old Montreal. The restaurant has a very specific name, even though they serve a myriad of Japanese fares. But they have been around for ages; I guess they must have started as a sushi bar before expanding into a full-fledge restaurant. Here's a screen shot of said review *beams with pride* :D

The article was published on November 5th but ....I sorta forgot about it until today.. Hehehe!

You can read the whole article here: Tokyo Sushibar; It's all in the rice!


Edit: It appears that I have been too quick to be joyful over this review posted. In my haste and excitement, I failed to read the article with thought and has now realized that the article posted up on that site has been modified beyond recognition. I am pissed. They have changed my article, presumably, to shorten it and in the process made it sound like it was churned out a word processing machine. It lacks soul and character; the article was VERY cold - as you would have noticed but was too nice to tell me so i could still keep my bubble (I love you guys :)). If they had wanted it to be shorter, they should have come back to me and I would gladly shorten it without compromising its fluidity - but they didn't so I am going to cook up a raging storm with them now.

I have wrote to them and to tell them how I feel about this. Let's see what happens.

In the mean time, you might wanna read the original article here - tell me if there isn't a difference and if mine isn't better.

Word to the wise: It’s all in the rice.

One of the many Japanese restaurants that litter the streets of Old Montreal is Tokyo Sushi Express. Do not let its name fool you into thinking that this is a sushi counter/bar; this is a seat in restaurant that specializes in sushis. With its exquisite décor that rings a familiar bell with the far East, one is welcomed with a nicely lit restaurant that smells like spicy sandalwood and Mirin. With large glass windows, the restaurant is situated in an old stoned building overlooks the busy St. Paul’s cobbled street, bustling with locals and tourists alike.

The welcoming sight and smell forged an impeccable but fleeting impression as the waiters were not only disorganized but unfriendly. Without a smile, we were finally seated to a table much earlier than the standard supper time. Being given their dinner menu and wine list, I began scrounging its content and was very pleased with their selection of sushi and Japanese fares. Everything from Nigiri to Sashimi to the humble but delicious Oyakodon were available.

Since Tokyo Sushi Express is known for their exceptionally good sushi, naturally it became our selection for our meal.

I have dined in many Japanese restaurants only to find many disappointing sushi, which is the most basic of Japanese cuisine. It is always in the rice! Sushi masters takes 10 years in their training to perfect their rice cooking skills before they were allowed to advance into making sushi, and for a very good reason too. The sushi rice must not be too soggy or mushy, and yet it must be glutinous enough to hold its shape showcasing every grain of glistening rice with a well balanced flavor of sweet, salty and sour. The perfect sushi rice makes for a perfect sushi. Everything else is secondary.

Imagine my pleasure when I bit into my 3 Jewel seafood (shrimp, sea urchin and scallops) roll and found it to be the perfect sushi; excellent rice and fresh, fresh seafood all rolled into one. Frankly, it was quite a surprise to find the quality of their sushi rice exceed my expectation. I was ready to devour under par but edible sushi rice due to their lack of quality service and management style. I only have myself to blame for such quick judgement.

There is nothing more comforting than the crunch of nori seaweed, bouncy texture of its sticky rice and the sweetness of fresh seafood all bundled in one. For this beautiful morsel of food on my chopstick, I forgave their lack of friendliness in service.

After consuming what seemed to be a piece of heaven, it was not long before the cravings for something sweet swelled within me. I beckoned a bored looking waiting shifting around the bar area to bring me the dessert menu and without much contemplation, I ordered their green tea ice cream as the perfect ending for my perfect sushi meal. What’s the point of having chocolate gateau in a Japanese restaurant when you can have it at your nearest cake shop?

Alas, what is best about green tea ice cream is that unexpected bittersweet flavor that no bittersweet chocolate can emulate. I would have liked to have my green tea ice cream slathered in green tea sauce but I guess this will have to do. I enjoyed every bite immensely here but I would have enjoyed it more had their service been more pleasant.

Tokyo Sushi Express is like an unpolished gem, tucked in between English pubs and high scale French restaurant in Old Montreal; unexpectedly surprising and full of potential.


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