Shirakawa: Do I look like I'm 12?!

For CH's birthday, we chose this quaint restaurant nestled in the heart of Gastown. It was a bit difficult to find since it was tucked away in a little alley and their sign outside was dark and small ^^". Anyhow, the exterior looks classy and modern.

Restaurant: Shirakawa by Itoh Dining (visit their website here)

Location: 115-12 Water Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: Japanese, Drinks, Tapas
Price range: $25-$30+ per person





Date of visit: January 10, 2015
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Staff/service: 2/5
Food variety: 2/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 1/5

I did a little research before coming and was ecstatic to try their uni pasta. Sadly, I was informed they had no uni, and had to substitute with kani =( So I didn't get it. SexyNapkins had asked how big the portions were, and the waitress told her that usually 3-4 people share the dishes. I guess we misunderstood what she meant. Either way, BeautyQueen and BigGuns ordered before I could make up my mind.

One of the dishes they ordered was a salada (it was quite large), and this Salmon Nanban ($16.00). The presentation was beautiful, with the skin removed from the fish and fried. It sat on a bed of Shirakawa tartar sauce and aonori roasted potatoes.

LadyH ordered a Gindara ($15.00) which was saikyo miso marinated black cod on a bed of sauteed mushrooms and sundried tomato. There were a two sweet peas in there too. First thing, we were all surprised by how TINY the portion was. Sure, it's known for high quality ingredients, but I didn't hear about how stingy they were with it. It was oily but tasty, the fish was cooked well. LadyH wished there were more on her plate.

Adorables suggested their wagyu beef options, so I chose the Wagyu Tataki ($20.00). It was snake river wagyu beef with garlic soy and walla walla onions. There were some tomatoes too. Sadly, after ordering this (I was indecisive and took longer than everyone else), the waitress snatched the menu out of my hands, stating "It's made of paper and you'll get it dirty". DO I LOOK LIKE I'M TWELVE YEARS OLD?! I still wanted to order one more thing for Adorables (he was late), but she wouldn't give it back until I asserted my need for said menu and I would take GOOD CARE of her paper =.= So rude of her.

It was beautiful plating and beef was nicely marbled. I rolled everything up together and the taste was amazing! The portion definitely was not meant to be shared. There were five pieces of thinly sliced beef on top of about a cup of onions. Too much soy sauce at the end it overwhelmed the beef.

It was too busy of a night so they couldn't make us Buta Don, so we settled with Kakuni ($15.00). It was braised pork belly, sweet slow cooked gala apple, crisp onions, soy reduction with karashi mustard. Honestly, the pork itself was delicious. It melted in my mouth with the layers of fat and tender meat.

The apple tasted more like pear, the wasabi was very strong, and the onions were out of place. There were six pieces of 1" x 1" x 1.5" pork cubes. Needless to say, this was a tiny portion size.

Everyone left hungry, because as poor starving students, we couldn't afford any more. I guess it's just not our kind of place to hang. The ambiance and environment was nice though. Service could use some upgrading. I can see the effort and care put into each of their dishes though, the flavors just made me want more... or was it the portion size? xD