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West-coast influenced Japanese restaurant offers standard sushi fare, plus some innovative fusion dishes.
Amongst a sea of crummy over-patronized complacent sushi places in the Burnaby area, Gohan is a very nice change. I first came here years ago for dinner after it just opened. I was impressed with the authentic service and the quality of the food, but was not impressed with the prices and the purely a la carte menu. So I didn't return until recently - we've eaten lunch a couple of times now.
My favourite thing is the relaxed atmosphere and the service. You can see a totally different relaxed clientelle here. The service isn't totally amazing at all times but the servers are totally adorable in that polite and cute Japanese girl kind of way. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this. They also have a lot of servers for such a small place.
The food I'm actually a little bit dissapointed in. The ingredients look to be of high quality (sockeye salmon, etc.), but for whatever reasons the preparation or freshness doesn't quite seem to live up the standards of the place in general. E.g. I usually find both the cooked items and the sashimi kind of mushy. It's not that bad, just saying it doesn't seem to mesh with all the other quality you find here. The portions are also not huge, and I usually leave not satiated unless I order extra items. But it's not unexpected for an authentic place as the Japanese just don't eat huge portions.
What I like most however that seems to have changed since opening is that there are now reasonably priced lunch combos. I'm sure we will visit this place many times for lunch as it is quick, reasonably priced, good service, and decent food. I simply can't think of many places in the Burnaby area that can claim the same as frankly they mostly all suck in one way or another.
I came here last night with my girlfriends. We wanted to dine in a nice cozy restaurant with ambiant lighting and I thought of this place. Luckily they were still open at 8:30pm. With only 1/2 hr before closing, we quickly sat down and decided what we wanted.
A few good notes: As L noted, the laminated menus were not sticky (a good sign of cleanliness), tea was hot and stayed hot, and we didn't feel rushed.
The menu items have changed slightly and I did notice a difference in some of the prices (gone up obviously). L ordered an oriental chicken salad - $8 - consisting of greens with the usual Japanese green salad dressing atopped with some fried chicken slices coated in a peanut sauce. K ordered salmon sashimi - $10 - gomae - $4 - and a bowl of rice. She commented that the gomae tasted nice. We were all shocked when her $10 sashimi came. It was 9 slices equivalent to the size of a match book, both size and thinness. Eventhough the fish was noticeably great quality, we couldn't help but to think what a rip off it was. I ordered a chicken locomoco on rice. This dish was a little off the range with the rest of the menu, but was by far the best value out of all our meals. For $7.25, I got rice with vegetables, fried chicken pieces under a fried egg generously drizzled with a dark sweet and sour sauce. I thought the sauce was way too overpowering and strong. What also threw me off was looking into the kitchen while waiting for my food, and only seeing a much-used microwave roaring. Not a sign of fresh cooked food.
Presentation of food was awesome, but after a $40 dinner, we left still pretty hungry and joked about going to McDonald's. Portions have definitely shrunk.
Was taken here by a co-worker and was very surprised that such a gem was around the corner from our office!
They have lots of great lunch specials, it's clean and the service is fast and polite--miles above typical sushi restaurant service.
I have been there twice and I have been impressed by their presentation and quality of food. I hope this place keeps up the good work.
The hidden twist to this place is the very reasonable take-out bento boxes, sushi combos or party platters.
It's a stapled on insert in their take-out menu and the prices are only valid for take-out. (I assume it's valid for dinnertime take-out as well.)
For example, Its $5.95 for the take-out chicken/beef terriyaki bento box with rice, 1/2 cali roll, salad and fruit.
I was in the area for a car appointment, and stumbled upon this place.
While the inside ambiance of the place is quite nicely designed and would fit in downtown, and there are plenty of windows it's also claustrophobic because of all the high rise condo's. Also sometimes spaces that are ultra modern come across as very cold, formal and impersonal. I found this place to be sort of cold and this was on a sunny day, on a rainy day this place must be depressing during the daytime.
I tried one of their sushi and sashimi lunch specials. While this restaurant is Japanese owned the sushi wasn't spectacular, it was good but not great.
They have some interesting dishes, some served only at dinner, but from the prices it doesn't look like they are tapa's sized but more meant for sharing between a few people.
It's smart of the owner to stagger the prices of the menu. The innovative items on the menu are more than the izakaya places downtown. However that contrasts with their reasonably priced take-out specials. Clearly, they are in tune with the people living in the area, most of who must have huge mortgages for their small condo's and very limited budgets for dining out.
I'm rarely in that area, but even if I were I doubt I would go out of my way to return here as it didn't wow me, some of their dinner-time dishes look interesting, but it seems similar to izakaya to me.
I question the quality of the portions at Gohan just by looking at the building itself. It seem to me that this restaurant should be located in downtown Vancouver instead of Burnaby North.
I went here with a friend who insist of going here because he liked it very much. I like the fact that the restaurant had a sleek and clean look to it. A modern approach to a japanses feel. The big windows made it very bright and the settiing of the tables great.
I was right about the food portion. It was small. It was also quite expensive for me. I was also hungry after eating here and felt ripped off. I'm so used to the cheap sushi in Vancouver. However, I do have to say the food was good.
The service was friendly. The tea stayed hot and the food came as quickly as you want it to be.
I really enjoyed the ambiance of this restaurant. I liked the modern look to it. However, the chairs I sat in were unconfortable and we sat in the middle of the restaurant making it feel weird for me.
I'm not too sure if I would return by myself. The restaurant doesn't peak my intrest.
I live a few blocks from this place, and go here often enough for an inexpensive night out.
The owner has put some Hawaiian influence into his food, and I absolutely love the Chicken Locomoco. I could eat this almost every day. The food is here definitely above-average quality for a Vancouver-area Japanese restaurant, and the prices aren't too bad, either. You can get a good meal for a reasonable price, which keeps me coming back.
The service is the one downside, as the waitresses are obviously students from Japan, and speak little English. I rarely see the same ones more than twice. It can be a bit challenging getting your order taken right. Still, if you are patient, it's worth it.
Stopped by here for lunch. My friends went for the lunch specials and rolls, while I went for some ala carte.
The lunch specials consisted of 3 pieces of sushi (tuna, salmon and snapper), miso soup, chicken cutlet with rice and salad. They have had this before and liked it along with the price of $7.95.
My ala carte items consisted of the Spinach Gomaae which was quite refreshing.
The other item I had was the Chicken Nanban, which was a kind of Karrage with a tartar sauce consisting of tartar, cucumbers, eggs and wasabe. It packed quite a kick.
We also ordered up some rolls of Tuna, Salmon, Spicy Tuna and a Black Dragon Roll (Avocado & Eel). The rolls were decent, though I have an aversion to Eel. My friend liked the Dragon Roll though. I played it safe with the Spicy Tuna and did not eat it with any wasabe. It was already spicy enough.
This place is becoming a favourite of our and we will try to come by for dinner next time.
I've been looking all over vancouver for a japanese restaurant that had a traditional taste and good food at a affordable price. Many of the plaves i've been to such as ebi, sushi garden, fish-on-rice, etc were all pretty cheap in price but the food was terrible. My co-worker the other day recommended that i give gohan a try. i thought hey might as well since it can't be any more worse than some that i have tried. To my surpise it WASN'T!!! The food here was AMAZING, i tired 2 recommendations made by the waitress, tuna tataki and seafood [something] (cant remember full name) springroll. These 2 dish was delicious!!! I instantly fell in love with this restaruant. The food here, after my daily visit for almost a week, has a traditional taste to it. For example in many other japanese restaurants i've tried the beef tataki's sauce is usually just ponzu with garlic and green onions. The soirness completely over powers all other flavours. But this place the sauce is more seattled, u can acutally taste the sauce working with the flavor of the meat. I have been visiting this place with friends amd family and i have to say the food here has been consistent in quality and the service perfect. I would recommend this place to anyone that likes japanese food and when you go make sure to try their tatakis and order from their specialty sections! They have food that i have not seen in any other japanese restaurants.
My boyfriend and I would go to Gohan every other week for dinner. The servers were always friendly and the service was consistent. One night we came on an unusually busy night. We both ordered our meals and only one meal came. They didn't realize that my boyfriend was eating alone! I don't think they were used to it being so busy as it rarely is ever packed in this restaurant. I figured they had an off night so we tried it again this past weekend. This time we were the only people in the restaurant - strange, since it was the dinner hour. We ordered our meals - I got mine this time! - but was again disappointed. They have raised the prices and lowered the portions. I think they microwaved my chicken before they drizzed teriyaki sauce and honey on top. Needless to say, that was our last time as patrons of this establishment.
I come here quite often as it is near home and with decent quality and value. No complaints really, always clean and service is decent.
Fav. dishes include the chicken karaage (very good dipping sauce), the spicy pasta, tuna tataki. The Gohan roll is also interesting and refreshing. This will continue to be a reliable place to go in Burnaby for a satisfying meal.
I've read other reviews about this restaurant, and I don't think the prices are too much here. Everything here is authentic Japanese, that is, not Chinese-owned which can be a common thing in Vancouver area. I really enjoyd the selection of food here and don't mind paying a little bit more for the selection. My friends and I always share our plates and items and always leave feeling full and satisfied with what we've eaten, and what we've paid for the meal. Service is excellent here - always friendly and helpful. It's nice to go out to a Japanese restaurant with a good selection of Japanese tapas, rolls, and meals.
There's really not that many places to eat in North Burnaby and when you find a nice, quite place to relax and have a nice lunch this is the place to go. The chicken teriyaki is nicely flavored and one of the best I've tasted for a long time. A place to try if your in the Brentwood Town Center area.
Go there from time to time for lunch. Usually we just ordered the lunch special. The one with sushi, and teriyaki chicken is quite good. The food is tasty and the price is reasonable ($7.5). But we ordered one with mostly sushi and rolls ($12.5), that is quite expensive considering we only got a mixed of salmon, tuna and some really common sushi, and some rolls like cucumber and tuna mini rolls. It is not worth a deal. The sushi tasted ok, but not impressive. The restaurant's ambience is very comfortable. The decoration is up-to-date.
The original menu is great, especially the seafood ones. Sushi menu is not so special. Sushi's still good, but not great.
The yaki onigiri is a bit hard. I like Benkei's onigiri more. Kakiage Don and Chicken Locomoco Don also good. Recommended original dishes: Garlic Tuna Tataki, Shrimp Imperial, and G & G Snapper.
Good ambiance, clean washroom. Decent priced.
I came here because I passed by often and always wanted to try it. It has been months since I acutally went in, so in my head, i had built the place up. It was a huge let down. I am a really big sushi fan and would eat it everyday if I could. I went in with a friend for take out. we arrived at 7:15pm. We ordered the tuna and salmon sashimi, toro sushi and special scallop sushi, and a philadelphia roll. We didnt get the food until 7:40pm and there were only 3 tables inside. The tuna and salmon sashimi were VERY small and did not taste very good. I am okay with the pieces being small if it was good, but it was not. The toro sushi did not taste like toro, but just like a regular tuna piece. The scallop sushi was also not up to par. The worst part of the meal though, was the philly roll. I asked the server what it was, and she replied with "cream cheese, salmon, avocado and crab meat that is lightly deep fried". It did not have salmon in it, and the deep fried batter stuck to my teeth and tasted a lot like cilantro which i cannot stand.
I don't think I will ever be returning to Gohan.
The food was good quality, but nothing "special", and very overpriced. I didn't get a combo though, so maybe I should have... I paid over $10 after tax and tip for a California Roll and Alaska Roll which I really didn't think was worth it. If you want big pieces for a good price in the area, try out Kita Sushi by Gilmore Skytrain station.
my family go here at least once a month and usually have good time there.
I am born and bred in Japan and love the foods in Gohan!
I usually don't order sushi but other main meals like chiken nanban, ginger pork, etc. and they never let me down. I especially like their sauce and dips. This restaurant menu reminds me Japanese home dinner (we don't eat sushi and sashimi for dinner everyday! they are for special occasion!!).
I went here once for lunch. I had the Chicken nanban--way too much tartar sauce. If you still venture to try it, ask for the sauce on the side. And I also had the salmon tataki. Talk about over-priced! Portions are great for Weight Watchers members. My husband had a chicken teri lunch box which was 8--it wasn't great but a deal compared to my two dishes which were 17-18...before tax and tip! I don't mind paying for food that's good. But I wouldn't say the food was good, and added with the portion size, I think you can do better elsewhere!
But...I did go there again with a friend. We were short for time so we wanted to stay in the N Bby area. At nite, Gohan does look nice-ish for a N Bby sushi place. I tried the But I definitely had something else this time! I had the Chicken Locomoco this time. It was chicken atop some veggies on rice. Once again, I could have had 2 bowls of this. But at least this was a more reasonable 8. My friend had some sushi. One of the rolls was a California roll. I'm sure I have seen better looking packaged Calif rolls at Safeway!
I do want to give an honorable mention to the servers I had on both occasions. They were quite helpful explaining menu items that had no descriptions. And they remembered to fill our tea.
The owner (?) though is intimidating and stoic. I think it best that he does not help serve. He is stone-faced and not very friendly. And if he is not the owner, then he should think about considering a profession that does not involve customer service. He walks around looking for unhappy, which negates the ambiance--the one thing that I thought Gohan had going for itself!
Overall, I would only go to Gohan in a bind. Otherwise, I would take the extra 15 minutes to drive out to Robson or even W. Brdwy. Or else I'll grin and bear the ambiance of a cheaper place in N Bby...but at least walk away feeling like I had a meal, rather than samples.
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