Octopus's Garden, Vancouver

Although you have to drive out of the downtown area, the drive is worth it. The sushi is fresh and there are many unique sushi rolls. They also offer a chef's choice 4 course and six course dinner. They have everything from sushi, fish and chips, udon to chicken. Try the Risky Business sushi roll- smoked wild sockeye, avocado, asparagus & bbq’d wild sockeye

Favorite Dish: Kumamoto oysters, miso crab soup, dragon roll.

One of the cutest, chic-est and authentically Japanese bistros in Vancouver, where the food you get on your plate is likely the same style of food you'd find in the trendy restaurants of modern-day Japan.

Located in Vancouver's hip beach community of Kitsilano, Octopus's Garden offers an excellent selection of modern variations on traditional Japanese food. The restaurant is small, with a gated outdoor patio at the front and a cozy interior, yet the sushi bar is bustling. The menu is ever-changing, with a good selection of temporary specials. The plates and bowls that you eat out of are all hand-crafted pottery. The food arrives aesthetically-pleasing on beautiful ceramics. Japanese food has always been, to me, an art, but at Octopus's Garden, they go even further!

Favorite Dish:
Dragon roll - Unagi (BBQ eel) roll with avocado and roast red pepper. The biggest grin appeared on my face when they brought this sushi roll in an elongated S-shaped dish, with each individual role placed upright (similar to a wheel), side by side. They shaved the avocado thinly and placed it on the exterior of the roll, giving off the appearance of green skin. They placed a square of roast red pepper on top, which gave the dragon flair. The end of the dragon had a tail made of raddish sprouts and green onion. The head of the dragon was made of sculped avocado and eyes made of 2 soy beans and 2 black sesame seeds. Out of the dragon's open mouth was shredded red pickle, for fire. This was the most artistically creative piece of food I had seen in a long time!

Goya chample with kimchi - They claim this is an Okinawan dish with a Korean touch. It's like a stir-fry of thinly-sliced bitter melon, tofu cubes, fried pork and kimchi. A unique combination, and very delicious! This was on their temporary special menu.

Yam tempurra - 6 pieces of round orange yam with crispy batter and tempura dipping sauce. Traditional, but oh-so-good!

Halibut cheeks - with mango sauce on a bed of watercress. The halibut pieces were tiny, but each was breaded and cooked to perfection. It reminded me of how much I love halibut!