By Sherman Chan,
Special to The Post

We had the Deluxe Assorted Sashimi consisting of hamachi, albacore tuna, Atlantic salmon, tai, hokkigai and tako. The slices of fish tasted as good as they looked with a bright sweetness (the hamachi and tai were the best). The hokkigai was rather salty though. We weren't as impressed with the Gyoza as they were too deep-fried and greasy.
Although deep fried, the Assorted Tempura was not too greasy. The batter was just right. I enjoyed the green beans. The Oyako-Don had the chicken pan-seared and aggressively seasoned.  Nothing wrong with the flavours. However, the chicken was mostly dried out and rather chewy.

The most visually appealing dish was the Sushi Cake featuring a deep fried sushi rice cake topped with a mix of imitation crab, marinated shiitake mushrooms and avocado. It also had a spicy tuna mix and torched salmon and tobiko with spicy mayo. Capers, garlic chips, BBQ sauce and balsamic reduction completed the dish.  There was too much going on in this dish.

Lastly, we had the Aburi Sushi Combo featuring salmon, tuna, mackerel, hotate, ebi and beef. We enjoyed the fish-to-rice ratio as well as the sushi rice itself. The sauces on top were generally subtle while not bland and not overly creamy. Our favourites of bunch was the buttery hotate and ebi. However, the beef was really chewy and not appealing to eat. Overall, the food at Kimu appeared to be prepared carefully and with skill. But, some things looked way better than how they actually tasted. It is worth a revisit as the ingredients they use are good.

Kimu Japanese Cuisine

4441 Boundary Road, Vancouver, BC

The Good:

• Carefully prepared food

• Friendly service

• Some creative dishes

The Bad:

• Food looked better than it actually ate

• Raw food better than the cooked items

Sherman Chan is the #1 ranked food blogger on the Vancouver portal of Urbanspoon.com. Read more of his reviews at www.shermansfoodadventures.com.