Fresh Prep: Delicious convenience in a box!

I apologize in advance, since I totally forgot to publish this post a year ago, but here it is nonetheless! I was contacted by a member of Fresh Prep to try out their meals and provide some feedback! My first time doing something like this, so please bear with me!

The website has evolved over time, so it's a little different than when I first ordered from them-- it's much cleaner and prettier. They have the option for you to look at their weekly menu, pricing, and explains how it works. You create an account and the current deal is getting two free meals with your first order. I ordered for a one-time delivery meal for two.

It comes in a convenient little box, delivered right to your door (if you're within their delivery range, they can also deliver to work if you want to pick up there, which is what we did). I ordered the Lemon Rosemary Salmon with Arugula and Ancient Grain Risotto ($14.00/portion).

Inside are the ingredients, nicely packaged with a cooking instructions sheet. The ingredients are labeled, so you won't need a lot of effort trying to figure out what each ingredient is, if you're unfamiliar with them! In the box, we got Wild Sockeye Salmon Filet, Ancient Grains, Lemon, Vegetable Stock, Rosemary Sprigs, Ground Rosemary, Arugula, Carrot, Himalayan Salt, Parmesan Cheese, and Garlic.

The herbs and seasoning ingredients, along with the salmon, all neatly packaged.

Fresh ingredients in each bag!

We followed the instructions on how to cook them, first was the salmon! Beautiful color and cut of salmon!

Next we put the risotto into a pot with water and the bouillon cube to boil.

Stir stir stir!

Now add the carrots!

The lemon was half cut into slices, for the convenience of placing half on the salmon and the other half for extra lemon juices if needed. They also provide dried and fresh rosemary for seasoning and plating!

Done baking in the oven now!

Onto plating, now this is where it gets personal on how you want to plate the dish, but the kitchen smelled amazing!

The salmon was nicely cooked according to their instructions, and we didn't end up using the Himalayan rock salt, since it was flavorful enough on its own.

Overall I quite enjoyed making this meal, it was straight-forward and easy to follow. Only extra we needed was water and basic kitchen utensils/tools (like a stove, oven, pot, tray, plates, etc). We were quite satisfied with the portion size, taste, and quality of ingredients-- we even had leftovers of the risotto! This was made on our anniversary night, and let's say thanks to Fresh Prep, we had a most memorable evening =) Continue being amazing!

Mega Sushi: Second dinner did not disappoint!

Still had some room in our tummies, and wanting to make the most of this trip to Steveston, we went to the other end of Steveston and got more food!

Restaurant: Mega Sushi (visit their website here)

Location: 100-3131 Chatham Street, Richmond
Cuisine: Japanese, Sushi, Seafood
Price range: $15-$20





Date of visit: June 14, 2014
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Staff/service: 5/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 4/5

Ordered a Salmon Sashimi ($7.95) which was wild salmon. Quite happy with the quantity and quality. Salmon was fresh (I think I need a synonym, fresh is getting . . . old xD).

I liked the sprig of celery on top hehe

One order of the Prawn Tempura ($7.95) was rather satisfying. It came in a cute dim sum container, which kept the tempura crispy. They were nicely sized and the batter was light and crunchy.

Chicken Teriyaki ($10.50) came on an iron plate, but I don't recall it being too sizzly. Kinda disappointing. Otherwise, chicken portion was good with lots of bean sprouts under it and rice.

Got a couple nigiris: Salmon ($2.25 each), Tobiko ($2.25 each), Chopped Scallop ($2.25 each) and Tuna ($1.75 each). All were well-proportioned and fresh. I felt that there was too much mayo for the chopped scallop but the tobiko instead of masago was a nice touch ;)

Mango Roll ($8.95) had sweet mango on it with crispy prawn tempura. They added some mango sauce to it to make it more mango-y I guess ^^" Plating was pretty and the flavors went well together as the sweet/tart of the mango cut the oily feeling of tempura.

I ordered a Rainbow Roll ($11.95) before and it was just as pleasing this time. They top it with 5 kinds of fish I believe and didn't fall apart. Very happy. Fish was fresh and delicious.

Salmon Combo ($12.95) was a lot of salmon. I'd have to say there's nothing super special about this because it was just salmon sashimi, salmon sushi, and salmon maki. That's it. Simply for a salmon-lover.

We got a Beef Udon ($9.25) to finish off our meal. The udon was chewy and plentiful. Soup was rich and the beef was tender.

They even gave us little "tubs" to share with ^-^

Everyone was uber satisfied with our second dinner, and with our bellies full, we left Steveston with happy memories.

Fishermen Sushi: I'm back already!

Brought our Hong Kong visitors to Steveston for a feel of how fishermens' harbors were like and ended up for more food after our quick tour!

Restaurant: Fishermen Sushi (visit their website here)

Location: 130-12251 No. 1 Road, Richmond
Cuisine: Japanese, Sushi, Seafood
Price range: $10-15





Date of visit: June 14, 2014
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4.5/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 5/5

I lured them here with cheap, fresh Oysters aka kaki pon ($0.75 each). Ordered a first conservative round of two dozen and they were slurped up quickly. Fresh and flavorful, they smoothly made their way into my digestive tract.

Felt weird not ordering anything else, and my daddy dearest doesn't eat raw much, so we got an Agedashi Tofu ($4.75). It was very fresh and crispy.

As well, we got Takoyaki ($4.95). These were creamy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Lovely.

Got another round of oysters . . .

 . . . And quickly gobbled them up too!

The waiters were super efficient and nice even though we only ordered their special oysters mainly-- which was great. I hate places that treat you poorly because you're not "ordering enough". Props to them! =)

Ichiro: Fresh sashimi, great variety!!

Date with Bonnishi! It's been far too long since I've met up with my fav sushi buddy ^-^















Restaurant: Ichiro Japanese (visit their website here)

Location: 12011 2nd Avenue, Richmond
Cuisine: Japanese, Sushi, Seafood
Price range: $20-30





Date of visit: September 6, 2014
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 5/5

Bonnishi had noted they had cute lunch sets and she was absolutely correct! I looked around and saw people with sets and wanted one for myself. But first, sushi. I tried one of their Ika Uni nigiri ($3.25) and it was really fresh. The ika was crunchy and a bit slimy-- just the way I like it. Uni was sweet and creamy but I wish there was more. Kinda hard to keep the uni on top I guess... cuz it slipped off partly.

Looked like a rocket ship to me xD

Took a while to decide, but finally settled for their Sashimi and Noodle set ($13.95). There were six kinds of sashimi, udon, rice, and edmame. I couldn't finish the rice and wasted it, should've just told them I don't need it ><" Anyhow, udon was chewy with good texture to it. Tasted pretty good.

Onto the different sashimis! They were all super fresh (so I don't repeat myself too much) and plated prettily. Tuna was nice, it wasn't overly-mushy nor sour. Actually tasted like... tuna. Yum!

Then there was salmon, which surprisingly melted in my mouth and wasn't tough like the other wild salmon I've had before!

Now, I've never been a fan of raw sweet shrimp, but this made me change my mind. I actually tasted the "sweet" to the shrimp without that disgusting metallic taste. It was a bit slimy but acceptable.

The spicy salmon was so pretty... flavors weren't overwhelming and the peanut-y sesame sauce was great. It wasn't actually very spicy, just enough to enhance the flavors.

Tuna Gomaae almost confused me, but then I realized it was the sauce that made it like gomaae. It was basically your normal tuna in sesame sauce. Also delicious.

Finally, Ichiro Zuke. Now what is this? I don't really have a good clue, but it was a mix of the tuna and salmon in a soy-based sauce topped with some ginger and radish. The flavors jumped out at me, surprised that they didn't mask the flavor of the fish!

Bonnishi ordered a Wanko and Sashimi Set ($19.50) which included 2 kinds of mini cold soba noodles (salmon egg on grated radish and poached egg), assorted tempura, sashimi (tuna, salmon, yellowtail, sweet shrimp), BBQ eel on rice, and miso soup. Everything looked so delicate and pretty =)

A close-up of her noodles, first the salmon eggs.

And then the poached egg.

And the BBQ eel on rice-- looked like a good size.

Of course neither of us could finish our food, but the quality was definitely worth the buck! Although my nigiri wasn't as worthy... I'd probably be back for their sashimi :3