By Drunken Noms
Special to the Post

I was pleased the Mango Ebi Mayo. Featuring deep fried prawns with mango sauce on a bed of greens, cherry tomatoes, and garlic chips, this was a tropical twist on the classic izakaya dish. The star of the dish was the sweet mango mayonnaise. Despite coating, the mayonnaise did not affect the crunchy exterior. It was so good that we finished all the prawns and the salad!

We had the Kuma Assorted Sashimi featuring albacore tuna, sockeye salmon, hamachi, amaebi, and ika masago. My two favorites were the sweet, creamy amaebi, and the buttery hamachi. The most interesting selection was the ika masago, featuring masago (capelin roe), cucumber, and shiso leaf wrapped inside squid. The roll had a good crunch, with a good salty kick. Definitely worth trying.

One of the more interesting items was the Osso Buco featuring short ribs and vegetables simmered in a house made soy sauce-based sauce. It was a successful re-interpretation of the classic Italian dish. The star of the dish was the sauce, which had elements of a traditional osso buco, such as white wine and broth, as well as elements from Japanese cuisine, such as sugar and soy sauce. The sauce was sweet, savoury, and aromatic. The short ribs were fall of the bone tender, and the vegetables were flavourful. We used the sticky rice to sop up the sauce.

My absolute favorite item was the Aburi Sockeye Salmon Roll featuring seared sockeye salmon with aburi sauce and a jalapeno atop a California roll. This was a hybrid of a California roll and salmon oshi sushi. In every bite you got the butteriness of the salmon, the sweetness of the crab, the creaminess of the abri sauce, and a lingering heat from the jalapeno.

Overall the food was excellent, the portions generous, and the prices more than reasonable for the location. I’ve already made reservations to visit again.

Kuma Izakaya

1233 Hamilton Street, Vancouver, BC

Drunken Noms is composed of two bloggers 'Drunken Master' and 'Food Wench'.  – www.drunkennoms.com