Kita no Donburi

Kita no Donburi is a Japanese restaurant that features mainly rice bowls. There are several types of sushi to choose from as well as some traditional Japanese appetizers, like gomae (spinach salad with sesame dressing). I did notice a few Korean dishes available in the menu, such as bibimbap (a signature Korean dish that includes a mixture of kimchi, eggs, meat..etc with rice).

Location: 423 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC

Phone: (604) 669-3388

Ambiance: 3/5

Service: 3/5

Price: $$

I neither hate nor love the decor and atmosphere of the place. I noticed some tables near the window were set higher than the other tables and so the seat was difficult to reach as I’m not very tall. The restaurant is tiny as well. All in all, I think the environment is alright, nothing TOO special.

The menu that they give you is just a pamphlet. A wrinkled pamphlet.

SO…lets get on with the food. They have a few categories, and each categorie has 4-5 different rice bowls to choose from.

Food: 3/5

They give you complimentary miso soup to start, which was not noted in the menu. In addition, they have some beverages in front of the store which you could purchase. I noticed that they have ramune available. I was tempted to buy it but whatever, I’ll get it in the supermarket one day. Ramune is a japanese soda with a marble in the middle of the opening that seals it. You have to push the marble down before you drink it, obviously.

I ordered this:

: BBQ Unagi Kake

That is the BBQ Unagi Kake under the “Stone Grill” category. This includes some lettuce, loads of onion, rice of course, tiny chopped up pieces of unagi (eel) and lots of mushrooms. In general, I’d say this was okay. Nothing to rave about. I do notice that they drizzled a lot of garlic buttery on top and it gives the dish a very rich taste. I enjoyed the taste in the beginning and then afterwards, it just made me feel that it was too rich and too filling.

My boyfriend ordered the Yakiniku, which is also under the “Stone Grill” category. Lots of rice, onion, and bbq beef. Again, nothing to rave about.

We also shared a scallop tataki which is a sushi roll with seared scallop and a piece of avocado on top with salmon inside, if I recall. I forgot to mention that it was also topped with onions (is it just me or are they obsessed with adding onions to everything?). I LOVED THIS. I would totally come back just for this. The seared scallop gave such a nice hint of smoky flavour! Plus, I love avocado and onion!