Episode #78: Rokku Asian Cuisine

Surrey Southeast, $$ (Moderately Priced)
www.facebook.com/pages/Rokku-Asian-Cuisine/802545169802210

To celebrate a mostly successful team presentation which marked the end of one of my courses at SFU, I went down to Rokku Asian Cuisine for some fusion Japanese food. Unfortunately, I couldn't invite my teammates to come with me because some of them had other classes, so I texted them pictures of the food on Whatsapp. Close enough ... at least they can enjoy the food with their eyes.

Rokku Asian Cuisine is Chinese-operated and is one of South Surrey's newest Japanese restaurants. Perhaps the most notable thing about the menu is that there is a sizable selection of bubble teas on the back page, which I did not even notice until the server asked me if I would like bubble tea. My initial reaction was WTF? It also turns out that their bubble tea is only $1.99 with a $8 order during their Happy Hour (3 to 5 p.m.). Even though this was technically a steal, I turned down the offer so that I would have more capacity to try more dishes (bubble teas are quite filling).

Salmon Gomae - A-

The Salmon Gomae came with spinach on many small slices of salmon sashimi dressed with sesame sauce. The spinach was refreshing and easy to chew. As for the salmon sashimi, they did use the leftover pieces close to the skin that can't be served in a sashimi dish. However, the salmon went very well with the sesame dressing, and they wouldn't be able to give me nearly as many pieces of salmon for $5.95 if they used cuts that could be served as sashimi, so there wasn't much for me to complain about.

Seared Salmon Nigiri - A-

Seared Toro Nigiri - B+

Seared Saba Nigiri - B+

The Seared Toro Nigiri and the Seared Saba Nigiri didn't really manage to project a seared flavour and the seared toro was a total miss in terms of authenticity. However, the textures were correct and they saved the toro with spicy mayonnaise sauce. The Seared Salmon Nigiri was successfully seared and its smooth, creamy flavour was enjoyable. 

Lobster Roll - B+

The Lobster Roll consisted of lobster, avocado, cucumber, grilled salmon and cheese. I ordered this roll so that I would have an appetizing photo to text to my teammates. Now, I don't know if I would call it a Lobster Roll, because it was more like a Salmon Tataki Crunch Roll with Lobster Tempura in the middle. Despite the lack of lobster in the roll (there was only a very small amount of it inside the roll), both the "Salmon Tataki Crunch Roll" and the lobster tempura tasted decent. Oh, and you also get a small Wakame Salad under the lobster tempura.

Wasabi Mayo Prawns - B-

The Wasabi Mayo Prawns came with 6 tempura prawns and deep-fried cellophane noodles dressed in wasabi-mayo sauce. Unfortunately, I didn't see the word "deep-fried", so this ended up looking a bit unhealthier than I expected. The cellophane noodles tasted exactly like potato chips, and if you like wasabi chips, then you might like this dish. Unfortunately, I am one of the rare species of people who don't like potato chips. As for the prawns, they were quite meaty, but the batter has room for improvement.

My server was quite friendly and I liked how she was dressed in a kimono. A lot of the food was not technically prepared the correct way, but they still managed to make each dish taste decent in the end, so I'll give them credit for that. After all, I look for taste rather than authenticity. Next, I attempted to take a walk down to the beach where Moby Dick is, but I got lost about 50 times due to the ultra-confusing layout of roads just north of the beach. I celebrated with a sorbet after successfully finding a narrow staircase leading down to the beach.