Last week I got to visit Tawara. It’s a family owned restaurant in the Panorama Ridge area near 152nd St and Hwy 10 in Surrey. Looking at the menu it wasn’t one of the cheaper sushi joints in town.
Surprisingly, I ordered a bunch of stuff other than sushi, and for the hell of it, I ordered a Tamago nigiri. I ordered the Agedashi Tofu, Ramen, and Spicy Chicken. I could tell all of the dishes were made with care, but I wasn’t too impressed with most of the flavours. The agadeshi tofu was probably the best one. It was 5 pieces of battered and fried tofu completely separate from the sauce. I guess it’s good that it’s separate so it won’t get soggy after sitting in the sauce too long, but I did notice that it did lack flavour. The tofu was fried perfectly though, nice crunch outside, and the inside still was kinda firm, not soggy, just wish it was seasoned more. The sauce added a bit of saltiness, but not enough. I think it was missing daikon and green onions for more contrast and flavour.
I don’t know why I did it, but I ordered the Ramen too. I think Ramen is only good at Ramen restaurants, and the best part of a bowl of ramen is the fatty pork. The ramen here like most sushi places didn’t have the fatty pork, and either used the wrong noodles, or cooked it too long. The soup came with a bunch of vegetables – enoki mushrooms, bok choy, green onions – and noodles. The broth was decent, but the noodles were pretty soggy, didn’t have a bite to it anymore.
The chicken was also a bit weird. It came in bite sized pieces, but something about the batter was strange. It kind of had a grainy texture to it. And the chicken wasn’t very tender anymore. The sauce was OK, at least it wasn’t just that sweet thai chili sauce that’s used in a lot of places.
Finally, the tamago was really bright yellow. I’m not exactly sure what it was, but it wasn’t that good. The texture in either the egg or the rice wasn’t right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. That said, my friend actually liked his tamago that came in his chirashi don. So maybe I’m weird.
My friend ordered the Chirashi Don, and a spicy salmon roll. He liked his food a lot more than I liked mine. We were also given a few pieces of ika kara-age on the house. By the time we got to it, it was already cooled down, so we couldn’t really tell if it was good or not. I only took a tiny bite, because I’m still allergic to seafood.
The service was really good, and the decor was really nice. I think I’d go back to try their rolls. I’d stay away from the Ramen and the chicken dish. It is a little bit pricier too though.
Tawara Japanese
103-15153 Hwy 10
Surrey, BC
(604) 574-5353
