Day 4 of Vancouver Dine Out 2010 we visited Zakkushi Charcoal Grill on Main street. I was really excited about going here because their dine out menu sounded really delicious and also I have heard good things about them. I went with 4 other people, and for the 3 course meal, 4 of us got exactly the same things except for Dee, the one person who is allergic to seafood. Dine Out at Zakkushi is $28 dollars.
For appetizer, I had the Fisherman’s Favorite sashimi plate. The plate had of 10 pieces of sashimi that consisted of salmon, tuna, shrimp, uni (sea urchin), and red snapper. It was really delicious, the sashimi were fresh and they were cut in perfect bit size pieces.
The other appetizer was Japanese Antipasto Trio, which had beef tataki, marinated taro roots, and Gomaae. I had a little bit of the Gomaae, and it was really good. Overall, Dee said he enjoyed the non-seafood appetizer.
For the entrée, I picked Japanese Tradition. It was Japanese Bouillabaisse, seafood with broth. It had a lot of seafood in it, included king crab, clams, oysters, salmon, prawns, and black cod. It was really really yummy. The broth had a sweetness from the seafood, and it wasn’t too salty. Aside from the seafood, it also had corn, yam, and shitaki mushroom. The bowl was packed with the ingredients that all tasted really good.
The Japanese Tradition also came with 6 pieces of nigiri sushi. There was scallop, salmon and tuna nigiri. If you didn’t think the bouillabaisse will fill you up, these nigri sushi would do it for you. The fish on the nigiri sushis were good, but the rice wasn’t. The rice was not cooked properly for these sushis, they were too hard. That was for all nigiri sushis that was served on our table. Screwing up on rice for sushi.. yikes.
Another entrée we had was the Charcoal Grill Intensity. It had some bbq skewers, and a beef steak don. I had a little bit of the skewers, it had a really rich charcoal flavor. It was really nice. The beef steak don came in a really pretty bamboo trunk. The dish itself however, was again, ruined by hard rice.
As for dessert, I really recommend the Frozen Duet. It was a scoop of black sesame ice cream and a scoop of yuzu ice cream. The yuzu ice cream, was some what an acquired taste. It was a fruit with a little bit of lemon taste, and also a little by tarty. I was not a fan of it. The black sesame ice cream on the other hand, was sooo yummy, it was so yummy that in the end we were all fighting for each others black sesame ice cream. This is a must get.
The Green Tiramisu looked like a toy when it first got to our table. I think it was a cat. It was cute, very Japanese. The taramisu itself was pretty good too. I imagine green tea dessert lovers would like this a lot because it had a lot of matcha in it.
I liked this place a lot. The service was really friendly. The food was great, and it was too bad that they screwed up on the rice, otherwise, they would’ve received a higher rating. I will definitely come back to try the things on their regular menu. I loved the decoration of the restaurant, a lot of wood, very earthy. Check out their bathroom too, they have a very unique bathroom.
I think for the amount and the quality of food here, charging their customers $28 dollars was very reasonable. The 3 course meal felt like a 4 course meal because there were 2 parts to their entées. Don’t forget to try their saké sampler, 3 different kinds of saké for $8 dollars.
Zakkushi Charcoal Grill
4075 Main St
Vancouver, BC V5V
(604) 874-9455
www.zakkushi.com
3 Comments on "Zakkushi Charcoal Grill on Main"
The spinach gomaae was really good. The beef tataki was good too, but not the best I had. Actually… what’s the difference between beef tataki and beef sashimi? My tataki was a tiny bit warm. The lotus root was my least favorite of my appetizers but it wasn’t bad.
I really liked my skewers. I’d say the fatty pork was awesome, then the tsukune, then the asparagus, then the regular chicken. They did fail on the beef don though. The rice was nothing like how Japanese rice should be. And the meat was a bit tougher to chew than I would like, though the sauce on to of it was was good.
I’m not a big green tea dessert lover, so I wasn’t that fond of the tirimisu. It was a bit hard to cut into with a wooden spoon. The black sesame ice cream was awesome!
I think it was a good value for $28. We got lots of variety which I like.
wooo! zakkushi.. nice to hear that there’s at least ONE good dineout experience in vancouver this year… from what I’ve heard from others, a lot of dineouts have been at best, mediocre..
Hi, Thanks for sharing this great post with us.
Just want to say that if you’re looking for a great grill, choose any Weber’s grills. These are just great.
And if you’ve got some spare money, buy the chimney starter. The weber chminey starter does just great. I can’t recommend it enough.
Anyway. I just subscribed to your blog. Thanks!