Like this:

Robata, Chawan Mushi, tempura, soups, and on and on – there’s so much more to Japanese food than sushi.  Yes, sashimi is pretty much nature’s most perfect food, but that doesn’t mean the Japanese stopped there.  Vancouver’s Kamei Royale has been a favorite since I started regularly going to Vancouver over a decade ago. 

Unfortunately several other well rounded Japanese restaurants in the area have closed.  So, Kamei Royale must be patronized.  It must live. 

This night started with two skewers of salted ginko nut robata.  Straight ginko.  Sweet, slightly chewy, sort of starchy.  Punctuated by the salt.

This was followed quickly by their awesome agedashi tofu (right).  Their agedashi has a perfect battered skin, and very fresh grated ginger and green onions on top.

To the left in this picture is the seared tuna tataki salad.  Delicious rapid seared sushi with the inside still translucent and delicious.  These coming together was a perfect pairing of hot, cold, chewy and custardy.

Here we see them blow torching the Hamachi Inferno nigiri.  This was a rather large plate of Hamachi Nigiri with a thin layer of chiso leaves.  So, after the blow torch put a bit of a crispness on the top, the chiso gave an interesting almost minty punctuation inside the glutinous rice bed.

This isn’t something you find very often. It’s creative, tasty, and done with care. What I like about Kamei is that they will push boundaries.  In this case, I think, it really works.

What makes life worth living? Sweet potato tempura made with asian white sweet potato.  Kamei makes these as longer “fries” with an aioli.  The aioli is good – but I prefer normal tempura sauce.

Kamei’s is excellent. Tempura is light and fluffy and crispy.  Not even a hint of greasiness. 

I used to make a stop on every trip to Tama Sushi which had incredible sweet potato tempura.  It’s really hard to find sweet potato tempura in the states at all – and I’ve only seen it with asian white sweet potatoes once.  But .. seriously .. it’s the only way to do it.  They have a great flavor and hold up will to the frying process.  Other sweet potatoes get mushy.

The Oysters Motoyaki came with three very small very sweet oysters.  Perfectly baked.  The oysters are in an egg custard with a mayonnaise top.  The crème brulèe style top is like a light blanket keeping the stuff beneath warm.

While the Motoyaki came with toast points, they simply weren’t necessary.  The custard was totally worth eating with a spoon.  And rather quickly at that!

Next (quickly) came the deep fried soft shell crab and shrimp tempura.  The soft shell crab were huge.  And there were two whole crabs.  If you like crab cream, this is the dish for you.  Inside the crab, it had cooked into a rich and luxurious … well, like crab foie gras.

The shrimp was perfectly cooked, but clearly was there to decorate the plate and provide contrast to the dark and menacing crabs.

So this was quite a spread.

Our Menu:

• Agedashi Tofu
• Oyster Motoyaki
• Tuna Tataki Salad
• Hamachi Inferno
• Sweet Potato Fries
• Soft Shell Crab and Prawn Tempura
• Ginko Robata
• Coke
• Tea

Price:  $60.25 CDN

Kamei Royale
#211 – 1030 W. Georgia St.
Vancouver, BC

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