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Kadoya Sushi
Address: 1036 Davie
Tel:604-608-1115

Kadoya Sushi

By Dan Fishman
Eat Vancouver Columnist
Wednesday, August 14th, 2006

** (of four stars)

I recently celebrated my 25th birthday, and what a day. First the Chairman treated me to New India Buffet, which was a delight, and then Ratbag suggested that we check out his new favorite sushi restaurant, Kadoya, on Davie St. We showed up around 6:30, and had no trouble getting a table, although the restaurant was mostly full. The décor was nothing special, typical sushi restaurant stuff, except that the walls are covered with cards featuring comments from previous customers. Personally I don’t see why anyone would care about what someone else thinks about a restaurant, but maybe some do (that’s a joke—you should care deeply about what other people think, especially if that other people is me).

Kadoya offers a full menu with your typical rolls, sashimi, teriyaki, etc. offered at a reasonable price, but the highlight of the menu is without a doubt the wide range of Chef’s special rolls which range in price from $6-8 for eight large pieces. These creative rolls are a great change of pace if you find yourself bored with regular sushi, and they are beautifully presented. Ratbag and I tried the Spider (crab and yam), Dragon (prawn and eel), and Maple (various salmon) rolls, and all three were very tasty. The Spider roll especially is a must try, with the warm yam tempura providing a great contrast to the softshell crab.

Ratbag and I also tried the house (or, more accurately, only) white wine, which was cheap but not overly good. Quaffable is probably the appropriate word.

I was so impressed with Kadoya that we decided to go back again the next weekend, trying a few of the same rolls and a few new ones, including the Jumping roll, a tempting dessert roll made with flambéed bananas, whipped cream, and pop rocks. I also tried a regular tuna roll, a seeming deal at $2 for 6 pieces, although it was really nothing special—I would stick to the specialty rolls.

Although I was initially very taken with Kadoya, after spending nearly $20 twice in a week, I have started to rethink my initial infatuation. Don’t get me wrong, the specialty rolls are very tasty, and definitely worth trying, but given the price Kadoya may be no better an option than some of the nicer sushi restaurants which serve more typical dishes but do them better. All in all, I would definitely recommend giving Kadoya a try, but stick to the Chef’s specialty rolls, and don’t go out of your way if you just want some cheap basic maki.

Dan Fishman is a PhD student at the University of British Columbia studying Psychology.