Globefish hooks sushi lovers
Location, location, location. How many times have you heard that proclamation about real estate? It's all about having the right location. The same is true in restaurants.
Just ask Masa Ota, Koby Nakamura and Tammy Warabino, owners of Globefish at 326 14th St. N.W. (521-0222). I've heard for a few months about how Globefish is a hot new sushi bar that's doing all sorts of creative, stylish sushi. People told me it's run by newly arrived restaurateurs from Japan who had worked in the sushi business in Vancouver for a while.
So I checked out Globefish and found Ota, Nakamura and Warabino - a group of restaurateurs who looked very familiar. In spite of their recent acclaim, they have been in town for a couple of years and ran another sushi bar called Chopsticks.
Problem was, Chopsticks was buried in the Glencrest Centre at 3745 Memorial Dr. S.E. It's an awkward strip mall with difficult access and a checkered history and is known more for Caribbean food - it's also home to Dutchie's - than sushi. So Chopsticks languished out of main stream.
Then the Saigon Broadway location on 14th Street N.W., just north of Kensington Road, became available. The sushi group snapped it up, threw on some renovations, sold Chopsticks, and opened Globefish.
With only one other sushi bar in the Hillhurst - Sunnyside area - the fine Sushi Club (1240 Kensington Rd. N.W. 283-4100) - the market has been under served. So Globefish became an instant discovery for sushi buffs in the neighbourhood and those trawling the high-traffic channel of 14th Street.
Globefish is about much more than location, though. The sushi is among the most creative in the city. When I ordered the Hawaiian snapper sashimi, I expected to receive something interesting, but I got more than I anticipated. The snapper had been skilfully filleted and then the sashimi had been draped over remaining carcass. There was the head, the tail, the bones, a few leaves of lettuce and the sashimi. Definitely not everyone's style of presentation.
Globefish also does the popular large sushi rolls packed with tempura and various sashimi and other ingredients. Colourful and creative.
The owner call Globefish an izakaya, a style of Japanese restaurant or tavern that encourages lively dining. Numerous plates of food are served with copious amounts of beer and sake over the course of an evening, and the music and noise can get quite loud.
Izakaya are the animated antithesis of the quiet, staid Japanese restaurants that feature green tea and soothing music played on traditional stringed instruments.
So thanks to its new location, Globefish has been discovered. |
By John Gilchrist
