Club Salmon Sushi Bar and Bistro — Restaurant in Burnaby

On a cold, grey, drizzly morning after a fasting blood glucose test and cardiac stress test, I was feeling drained and protein starved. What great fortune that I had read earlier about Club Salmon in the Burnaby Beacon and sorted out that it was a short walk from the clinic. Opening the door of the bistro, I felt I was entering a portal into another time. Subdued lighting, warm wood interior, lovely slow piano music, comfortable chairs and graciously welcoming staff. A well-illustrated picture menu as well as an extensive menu intended for more literate Japanese food buffs than I was slightly overwhelming, due to the range and inventiveness of food. Properly hot smoky green tea was poured to give me time to panic, and I pointed clumsily at the Lunch Box B because salmon = protein. In what seemed moments, an enormous tray of exquisitely presented dishes at appropriate temperatures appeared before me. I felt like Christmas had been staggered a few weeks in order to delight and nourish me. The lovely, contemplative piano music encouraged a slow appreciation of exquisite flavours juxtaposed to one another, like a gentle fireworks display. Remarking that the crispy garlic slices served as garnish were heavenly, I was presented with a side dish of them and assured the server that I posed a threat only to bus passengers sharing my breathing space on the ride home. I lost track of time as I nibbled my way through food which seemed prepared to dignify. A perfectly cooked piece of salmon resting on a bed of yam puree topped with delightfully salty pesto and a spring of thyme. Two pieces of Aburi roll which were so delicious I saved one of the two pieces as dessert. A mango salsa made my mouth dance, maybe a rhumba, maybe a salsa, partnered with anything I had been served. Short of licking the bowls clean, I gratefully ingested all but the remaining wasabi, as I didn't want to show off. I was taught long ago by a Cambodian friend that a grain of rice uneaten, so intensively extracted from the rice fields, is equal to a day in hell. I chop-sticked my way to a consideration at the pearly gates so clean was my perfectly prepared bowl of rice. The servers graciously tolerated my grizzled "senior who lives alone" banter and made me feel welcome to the Club Salmon, despite there not being a frequent customer club card with alluring prizes for dedicated patronage. This is the place I will go when I am feeling invisible, in need of beauty in nourishment and for value of diner dollar which is off the scale. Winter in the lower mainland is long, dark and grey and often unforgiving, like a cafe latte at Starbucks. Offset this illusion with a delightful meal at Club Salmon Sushi Bar and Bistro. And enjoy a complimentary "Kopiko" coffee flavoured candy, 5 of which are the equivalent of an espresso, presented with your bill, an Indonesian sweet which has been consumed by astronauts on the International Space Station. I will press for the "Club Salmon Membership Card", as surely volume of repeat business would ensure its success...

Recently ordered takeout from here and thought I would leave a review. For the most part, it was just ok. Food is pretty average. A bit expensive for what it is. Got a variety of items (californian korokke, tamago stick, carbonara udon, and rose house special roll). Nothing that really stood out really. The carbonara udon had a sour taste to it, which was off putting to eat. Rose house special roll was just a lot of rice and pasta. The salmon piece was really small. Pasta was quite bland. The sauce for the sushi pieces wasn't bad, but the roll itself was just a lot of rice. Hardly any filling in comparison. Korokke and tamago stick were alright, but I wouldn't order it if there wasn't a promo on it.

Update to clarify review based on the reply from the owner:

The takeaway I was trying to say regarding cost was that the quality of your food compared with the price was not up to par. My comment about too much rice and pasta is that if you are to give more pasta relative to the salmon, it should at least taste good. Instead, it was very bland. Similarly with the rice, if I'm eating sushi, I don't want to just taste rice. There should be more balance between the rice and the filling was my point. You don't need to give more filling. Just give less rice so that I can at least taste the filling.

I'm not trying to say you need to give less filler, more protein, and make it cheaper. You just need better food for what it cost because there are places at the same price point that...

Been meaning to try out Club Salmon for a while. They certainly have a salmon-centric menu but they do offer other items such as the Bbq unagi, agedashi tofu, and mango ebi mayo.

A bit surprised at how good some dishes were. The salmon tataki was good with the garlic chips and the half order of salmon sashimi was nice and fresh.

The club salmon roll is good if you want to avoid sushi rolls that have rice. But it fell apart quite easily.

The unagi melted in my mouth and is served with rice as well as lettuce and jalapeno and some type of sauce.

Only downside I saw here was their use of a hard-to-use menu. It's a big fold out menu that's double sided and it felt like I was trying to handle an unwieldly large origami piece.

Update: Returned for a revisit in late October. I was happy to see two types of menus (one that folds out like previously and an easier to use menu as well).

We arrived early and picked some happy hour items: 1/2 size calamari with crispy and tender squid and the 1/2 size salmon tataki with a light dressing.

Since we liked the Club salmon roll last time, we reordered it. We also got the salmon teriyaki which sat on a bed of sprouts.

We really enjoyed the korroke canape with California topping. It was like the creamy innards of a California roll sitting on top of a crispy fried korroke.

Not a huge number of non-salmon dishes but the items we had here...