Vancouver joins Burnaby with all-you-can-eat
Mia Stainsby
Sun
Diners enjpy their lunch in a tatami room at Fish on Rice
If I had a resident tapeworm, avaricious and requiring sustenance, I might be tempted by all-you-can-eat menus; but I don’t, and I’m not. But for those with Lycra stomachs capable of stretching to accommodate an all-you-can-eat assault, I give you Fish On Rice.
The first Fish On Rice opened three years ago in Burnaby and it’s been so successful, the owner recently moved into the more finicky Vancouver market.
I was checking out some art galleries on South Granville one Saturday (the Tiko Kerr exhibit at the Winsor Gallery in particular) and thought I’d try Fish on Rice for lunch. I opted to order a la carte and checked out the food and restaurant in general.
The place was packed, it’s got a nice buzz and I found the servers went out of their way to be helpful, even when they were running like crazy. Both locations have tatami rooms, something that seems to have had its day.
As you can imagine, an all-you-can-eat establishment cannot serve amazing food unless they run it as a charity. It’s a question of whether the food is decently prepared or whether it’s slop.
Well, at Fish On Rice, I had a nice lunch: tempura that didn’t suffer from greasiness; not-bad sashimi; black cod, cooked robata style (messily plated but tasty and fresh). The sushi didn’t sparkle, but it was fine.
The all-you-can-eat option is $11.95 for lunch and $20.95 for dinner, seven days a week. There’s also a “Happy Hour” option from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. for $13.95. (It costs less for kids and seniors.)
These open-ended meals are what most go for. The menu features some 120 items under appetizers, sashimi, sushi, donburi, tempura, teriyaki, robata, noodles categories.
But there are some rules. You have to finish off your plate (more or less) before ordering more and you’ve got two hours to eat and scram. General manager Tommy Chau says that’s because there’s usually people waiting for tables.
Chau has been shocked by people’s ability to pack it in. “They’re regular sized people,” he says. “One person, a female in her mid-20s who weighed about 100 pounds, sat for the two hours, read a book and ate non-stop. Probably, the amount she ate would have made three people feel full,” he says.
Chau says the next Fish On Rice will most likely be in Surrey. “We get customers from there coming to eat in Burnaby,” he says.
The restaurant also delivers through gowaiters.com and offers 15 per cent off for pick-up orders of $20 or more.
AT A GLANCE
FISH ON RICE
4361 Kingsway, Burnaby, 604-439-8882
And 1414 West Broadway, 604-732-0112
www.fishonricejapanesecuisine.com