Ye's Sushi - A Zeke Tasteem Review!© 2020
Where does the Pickleman family go when in Kitchener with an hour to kill before seeing a movie? YE'S!
I have been here many times in the past but not recently enough to have gathered my experience into a @tasteem blog to share with my legions of followers. What do I remember from the last time? Lots of variety, spotty delivery and a big bill. Let's see how they do now that I am a world famous restaurant critic!
As usual, the host stand looks like that of a corner store in Osaka but the strange thing is that there is not a line up of 20 people waiting to get in. This is probably because it is only 5:00 and only old white people eat dinner at 5:00. Old white people and a white family looking to kill an hour before a movie.
The place is clean ant neat with a satisfying style. You can see the kitchen in the back where the skilled staff assemble so much on any given day it would make your head hurt.
# Can I start you with a Drink?
You certainly can! The kids sheepishly ask for a Shirley Temple as if they are shocked by the question they are getting for the first time. Truth is they always request one of these drinks from every restaurant since first having one on a cruise years ago. I am not sure why I thought it was a good idea to show them how to tip the straw up, put the stick of the little umbrella in and blow out to launch if into the air but we spent a little time chasing those around the table.
It wouldn't be a Beerologist post without one of these and it wouldn't be a sushi dinner for me without a large Sapporo. I don't even have to review this beer as it is about as widely known as Heineken. I like it for the lightness, large size, universal availability and probably enjoy it most because I associate it with sushi I love so much.
Neat Menu/Ordering System
As we sip our drinks, it is time to review the menu and order. This restaurant automates that to a certain extent with the use of iPads. You can scroll through the different classifications and courses and see pictures of what you will be ordering. A little + is in the corner of each item and you click it for every one you would like.
The kids love this as they are fluent in iPad and enjoy the freedom to browse through and select their own treats. Good thing they come in these protective cases as drops and spills could cost a restaurant thousands of dollars to replace some of the dozens of $429 iPads as they are abused by patrons.
When you have selected way too much food, you click Confirm Order and that alerts one of the staff to come by, review your order, make sure you have not ordered 75 General Tao Chicken, approve and have it sent to the kitchen. Then it is the waiting game. So, it is time to.......
Prepare your Wasabi/Soy Sauce!
Let's face it: sushi is simply a vehicle for soy sauce and wasabi. You are given this but there is an art to making it great. Here is your Zeke's Crash Course in Wasabi Sauce Preparation.
While it might seem smart to put all the wasabi into the dish for consumption, it would be tasty as all hell but your nose might explode. So, I generally take half or a third of the portion, and put it in the little sauce dish given. Dry though and no soy sauce yet.
Then, you pour just a little sauce on top. Enough to break it up and create a paste but not so much that you are chasing the last little bits of wasabi around.
Next, you beat the living hell out of the wasabi and break up all those small bits. It will eventually become a paste with smooth consistency. Then you are ready for the next step.
Pour in the rest of your soy sauce and stir around. Not to the top though as dunking your sushi will overflow the vessel! Mine becomes a light brown liquid as I like it SPICY and tasty. Some other folks like to just put a touch of wasabi in their sauce or on top of the sushi itself but I find a strong mix in a soy solution enhances the taste.
Appetizers arrive!
The rest of my family are not into raw fish for whatever reason and the kids are big on the Teriyaki. This one is Teriyaki Beef and you will see it comes in a small portion on a small plate. This is actually preferable as you are generally here for the variety and need to have room for lots of little plates with different dishes.
My meatetarian also enjoys the Teriyaki Chicken as well. Unfortunately for me, she was really quick on the draw and managed to snag a piece or 2 before I was able to take the pic. If your are new to sushi and don't like the idea of raw fish but want to accompany someone who does to a sushi restaurant, get the teriyaki chicken if you eat poultry as it is tasty, not too exotic, and is really hard to screw up in the kitchen. Make sure it is not pink in the middle though!
SUSHI TIME
Everything I am after is in this shot. My wasabi sauce, a big beer, and a variety of sushi. I am partial to roles (though I do like sashimi) because of the other ingredients and ability to transport sauce into my face hole! This platter as most likely intended to sit in the middle of the table so that the whole party could pick from it but I am the sushi man so it sits right in front of me.
I generally order Spicy Salmon rolls and Spicy Tuna as they are on every menu I have seen and are good. This one is actually a Spicy Crispy Tuna Roll with a nice piece of tuna, some spicy sauce, and a but of the little crispy thingies for a neat taste and texture.
Zeke's Patented Dramatic Extreme Close up!
Another staple of my restaurant review is the close up. This is intended to immerse you in the taste and texture as if you were sitting right on the plate. It also serves to give you a chuckle as you imagine all the sideways glances I get when the other patrons see this hipster taking pictures of his food!
BAM! This is a Spicy Tuna Hand Roll. I really enjoy hand rolls as there is generally a healthy portion of fish,you can pour your wasabi sauce right into it, and it turns into a nice sushi ice cream cone.
Here is a bonus close up I have included to ask you, "What is wrong with this picture?" One answer could be that the salmon is actually cooked but that is actually intended with this particular roll. If you guessed "Damn that is a small proportion of fish to rice!" then you are right. Granted, it is the end of the roll so to speak, but you really need to have a batter ratio to impress me!
I may combine a contest with my next reviews if I can find things wrong and reward people with SBI or STEEM or something for answering and engaging.
Some of the other dishes
It was not all sushi for us as I have a couple raw fish detractors and a vegetarian in the family. This is a tasty little Udon Noodle and broccoli dish popular with both the vegetarian and other family members. I like this dish as picky kids will eat it because of the yummy sauce and fat fun noodles and it get veggies into them.
This delicious looking plate is Yam Tempura. The dipping sauce is good and yams are so good for you, you can ignore the fact that tempura is deep fried right?
Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls are also an easy favourite among kids and people a little intimidated with sushi or Chinese food. Neat little snack bites and a sweet and sour dipping sauce.
The Veggie Pad Thai looks more to me like Kim-chi but is always popular with my veggie. Perhaps not as legit as the same dish from one of the local Thai restaurants but she enjoyed it just the same.
The Beef Skewers are easy to get into as well though I find small pieces of beef like this generally get overcooked to my liking. Sesame sauce is tasty though.
I liked the Spicy Crispy Tuna Hand Roll so much, I ordered and enjoyed another.
The menu does boast a modest dessert section as well but we are generally too stuffed to partake. I am a professional though and have to cater to my varied audience though. So, I forced this plain cheese cake onto my order just for you if you are a dessert person. Nothing special to me but you are welcome!
Overall Impression
I come here for the variety and the volume. I have had better sushi but I am really not that picky as I mentioned it is simply a vehicle for Wasabi sauce as far as I am concerned. It is great for kids to taste so many different dishes because of the small portions. I also appreciate the ability for less adventurous diners to be able to find something non-scary to eat while the obscure adventurers can find something a little less conventional.
Every time I have been here, 10% of the dishes ordered have not been ordered. This is only a slight inconvenience as you can order as much and as often as you like. The food is good and the variety/volume is excellent. It is rather pricey at over $30/person so it is a special treat we like to have every once in a while.
STEEM and @Tasteem have empowered me to become a professional restaurant critic! I use the term professional lightly but being paid for your restaurant reviews makes it definitively pro! I would encourage you to check out www.tasteem.io, create a restaurant review of your own, and bask in the support from the community and platform managers. I hope that this database of culinary data becomes something special in the future. If not, thanks for the generous support in the past and financing the tip for my servers!
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Who is hungry for SUSHI?!
Restaurant Information
Ye's Sushi
70 Sportsworld Dr, Kitchener, ON N2P 2J1, Canada
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A true professional... eat that dessert! My kids love these buffet all you can eat sushi restaurants... I'm not so much of a fan... but the tablet ordering experience is pretty cool!
It is alright actually. Kinda annoying when they just don't bother to deliver something which always happens. Otherwise, it is a great place for the family to get stuffed.
Cheesecake = taking one for the team. ;)
the last time I had really good sushi was homemade (friend of the family). I'm not too excited with the local restaurants, but maybe that's just me! :)
It really does depend with sushi restaurants. Small towns are usually awful. The really large cities can be equally as bad unless you find the good place.
Home made sushi sounds like a thing of dreams! I wonder where I could get sushi grade fish that won't kill my family ;)
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My daughters love sushi, and I do too. I don't ever really have it because Dave is not a fan. I haven't had it for a bit. Looks delicous.
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Not much fan of sushi or maki rolls but I love donburi Japanese rice bowl meals. The place looks good and I haven't seen an ordering system like that here in our country.