Kita No Donburi — Restaurant in Vancouver

There is a saying in French which goes like this: « Une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps » (once a French teacher, always a French teacher….if such is the case for you, then you might agree…sigh) The saying means… “ One swallow doesn’t make a summer." Interestingly, the season is different – because in French, a swallow means that spring might be around the corner, while in English, it means summer might suddenly appear…..Sooooo…..All this to say that yours truly, in addition to using French idioms to talk about this restaurant, is also saying that to judge an eating establishment or anything else fairly… well this probably requires more than just one visit. Having been here three times this year, & very recently to boot, “you know who”, would say the following unreservedly: The value for the quality of welcoming friendly service is very good. The degree of willingness to indulge in humour (mine) was also gracious. The ingredients were fresh, & tastily prepared. It is a good place to take the under 18 set as the prices are reasonable & there are also “chicken, beef, & pork with sweet sauce noodle dishes”… For starved adolescents participating on a three-hour sailing tour to Gilligan’s Island through a rough weather storm maybe not! Better to catch the fish from the sailing craft, & grill thick juicy tuna steaks right then & there on board! Being unfamiliar with the topic of “fresh sushi quality wild caught fish”, this esteemed tour guide asks the question: Has there been an increase in the prices of sushi quality fish all around in Vancouver? The sushi was for my tastes, light on fish, but still well balanced with the vegetables & sauces used to flavour the tuna sashimi donburi and tuna roll, that was ordered. There is the saying in English ….”Everything in moderation”….which makes sense. There are “experts” who say that one should not consume too much fish, (even sushi) because the ocean is not so clean anymore. Less whale poop in the world’s oceans, (most likely) but more “metal, chemical and plastic pollution (for sure, for sure!) Not to mention the extensive serving of farmed Atlantic salmon in many sushi restaurants! (Pour moi, dégueulasse) Many like the taste of sushi & because it is very light on nonexistent mammal fat! The staff is very polite, friendly & pleasant. The food is very good considering everything, well, with the exception of the above noted. It’s well worth a visit; Kita Don Buri is a nice restaurant, with plates of various dishes represented by wax models in an outside display window. It’s located a stone’s throw from Waterfront Station. Try it, you’ll like it. The flavours are mild yet agreeable. (Photos of the restaurant, & not the actual food...

It’s been a while since my visits, but I still feel it’s necessary to share my two experiences here as a warning for others.

I’m a big fan of Japanese curry rice, so I had always wanted to try this place. On my first visit, the food itself was just okay, but I experienced the worst service I’ve ever had. I sat for a long time without anyone coming to take my order, so I had to go up to the counter myself. That alone wasn’t a dealbreaker, but when I came back to my table, my water had already been cleared and the server had seated someone else there. To make it worse, my food was brought out wrong—and despite all of that, they still tried to charge me for tips when I paid.

I decided to give it another chance and ordered a take-out pork cutlet curry. For nearly $20, I only got three pieces of pork cutlet, and one of them was clearly spoiled. Luckily, I hadn’t gone far and was able to return it for a refund. They took the rotten cutlet back to the kitchen, but no one offered an apology or showed the slightest concern.

Bad service is one thing, but food safety issues are absolutely unacceptable. If they can serve spoiled meat so casually, I would strongly caution anyone against...

We got a tonari set ($21.05 CAD) and chankodon ($15.55) to go in the late evening on a Wednesday. There were only two occupied tables inside and so the wait for our food was only about 10 minutes.

Chankodon: There are a lot of vegetables on this dish, but mostly shiitake mushrooms. It does come with gyudon beef slices as the primary protein, but it there were literally only 2 chunks of chicken. It came with a shrimp and two slices of tofu as well. However, it's well put together and tastes like a gyudon. All of this is served over a generous bowl of rice and comes with a small side of miso soup.

Tonari set: It comes with a small chirashi of fresh seafood and a small gyudon with chicken. Both are good. The gyudon is similar to the chankodon in that there is plenty of beef with seasoned eggs, and only a few chunks of marinated chicken. The chirashi has quite an assortment of various seafood and light fare. Modest but fresh and sure to please any seafood lover. Comes with a lot of wasabi/horseradish.

Overall very good food and reasonable prices. Okay value for the food for the cost. Tastes pretty authentically Japanese, for those who want a taste of...