Kinyo Izakaya’s was our first real meal and we were determined to try out their infamous bento box. 12 items for $16.00 and only 10 sets are made per day! Seriously, such a gooood deal! Lucky for us, we got there early enough to grab two sets.
There already was a lineup by the time we arrived. We got there about 5 minutes before they opened (11am) and there already were half a dozen people ahead of us. Dayyyum, Vancouver peeps ain’t playing when it comes to deals.
Apparently, it’s a good idea to reserve a table ahead of time (didn’t know 11am would be so busy!) but there is a long communal table to sit at for drop ins. Bamboo shoots help give you a bit of privacy, such a clever idea. We were seated there and given menus to look at.
We pretty much knew what we wanted so we quickly ordered two deluxe bento boxes when our server came by and then perused the menu for another dish. Everyone else was doing the same so make sure you’re on the ball otherwise, you might not get one!
Kingyo’s assorted deluxe bento box ($16.00)
Limited to 10 SETS per day. As per their description, this is the “king of lunch”. 12 items for $16 – seriously, how can you go wrong? That’s hypothetical because you can’t! The bento box was awesome. Look at how much food is in that box and the variety! The perfect way to sample a bit of everything.
You get a lot of different items (from left to right, bottom to top) – rice, pickled daikon and carrots, yam(?), miso soup, prawn salad, pork kakuni, chicken karage, tuna tataki, tamago, negitoro, agedashi tofu and fried oyster.
November Special – Shio koji hot pot ($11.80)
You get rice, miso soup and hot pot which had root vegetables, sui choy, bok choy and chicken thighs marinated in shio koji (salt marinated rice malt). The broth was simple but had a homey, comforting flavour that you get whenever you eat hot pot. It definitely would be perfect on a cold rainy day. Simple but again, well done.
This place is totally legit. Awesome way to start our trip off! Definitely worth every penny.
Kingyo Izakaya
http://www.kingyo-izakaya.ca/
871 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC
(604) 608-1677
CHERRY BOB-OMBS 