Aki Japanese Restaurant

Aki is a hidden away little gem in the core of downtown.  When I say hidden, I mean it's a bit hard to find because it's downstairs and out of sight.  If you know where Samba's is, you can find this place.

Kaki-ponzu, one of my favourite ways to have raw oysters.

An assortment of some of my favourite sushi - Unagi, Ikura, Toro, Uni, and Saba.

Their robata is pretty good, the chefs have the look - very serious, not distracted and concentrating on their trade.  Aki is one of the few places that has Tori Kawa - or chicken skin....pure bliss.

The tempura is not bad, it's not their speciaty, but not bad.  I'd say if you're going to go to Aki, definitely sample the sushi and the robata, which I consider their specialty.

Aki has some great food, and if your all into that whole authenticity thing, you have that as well.  Except for the fact that they have Robata, Sushi and Tempura all in the same shop, it's pretty authentic (most good places in Japan will specialize in one, and seldom have anything else).  The clientele is mostly Japanese (although you won't see the younger izakaya-type crowd here - mostly salary men, and some families.  Most of the servers, and chefs are Japanese.  It does get pretty busy at times though, so wait times can be a bit long, but I'd say it's worth the wait times.  Price-wise, I'd say it may be on par with or slightly cheaper than Yuji's or Octopus Garden, but not absurdly overpriced like Tojo's.

I'd go more often, but it's in Downtown, and parking is a nightmare in that area. 

Cactus Club - Broadway (Ash)

 I think it was someone's birthday that prompted us to go for lunch at Cactus Club on Broadway.  I've been there a few times in the evening and it's a pretty different atmosphere.  During lunch, the place is as sedate as White Spot.

Yam fries is starting to get pretty standard nowadays.

......but once in a while, you'll have somone craving the standard spud-fries.

Cactus Club's famous Jack Daniel's ribs.  They're pretty good, I have to admit, but I like my own better.  The flavour and seasoning and awesome as usual, but the meat itself isn't quite as tender as when I prepare ribs...I guess some people like it that way.  I head that they're prepared at some central location and the individual locations get them pre-bagged.  All they have to do is open the packet and throw it on the grill.

The service at the Broadway CC is pretty good, and as I said, I've been there at night when the mood is a bit more lively.  Not a place to grab a bite to eat.

Denny's on Davie

Where else can you go in downtown after a night of getting liquored up?  Tim Horton's?  7-11?  With the closure of Denny's on Burrard, options are pretty limited, especially when you're too hammered to go much further than the downtown core.  Vancouver clearly isn't set up for people who play all night and sleep all day.  I remember a few times in Japan, we could at least camp out in a Shirokiya (chain izakaya that's open till 6am....just drink until morning and catch the first train back home at 7am), or Yoshinoya and nurse a teriyaki beef bowl until morning. 

Well, the days of getting legless are pretty much over for me, but on ocassion, my friends and I find ourselves wandering around downtown late in the night looking for something greasy to soak up the excess alcohol.  The answer - Denny's....on Davie.  I dunno, are there any more Denny's downtown?

Nothing better than a grand slam at 0300.

......and finsh 'er off with a brownie sundae.

I don't know about the day staff, but in the middle of the night, they seemed quite accustomed to our type of crowd.  They are very patient, speak nice and slow and don't talk in extremely loud voices. The food comes pretty quick (or at least that's the perception), and the staff are generally pretty friendly.  Would I go back?  Heck yea, but then again, what other choices are there?  I guess that depends on which drinking hole is closest.  Timmy's on Alberni is closest to most of my favourite places, but they don't have the Grand Slam Breakfast.