Aji Hana Japanese Eatery & Udon

My friend and I were craving for sushi but unfortunately, I have not found a restaurant that seems like a must visit or be slightly above average in Richmond. So, when we started our late lunch trying out a few food stalls at Aberdeen Centre, she desperately wanted to try Aji Hana. Aji Hana is a newer food stall that serves udon, tempura and sushi as well as combos. As much as I tried to convince her the food may not be that great based on a hunch and that only a couple of people were ordering udon rather than sushi, somehow we both ended up with four pieces each.

TUNA ($1.25), SALMON ($1.25) AND TOBIKO ($1.25).

Despite having five staff members with a very organized system, two at the fryer, one at the front and two sushi chefs, we waited thirty minutes for only eight pieces of sushi. Also, we both requested for masago but was given tobiko which is understandable, I guess, since some may not be able to tell the difference. Although to be fair for my blog, anyone working at a Japanese food stall or restaurant should know the difference.

Starting with the rice, the rice has no taste of sushi vinegar and tastes very firm as well as stiff, although to be fair the formation at a food stall is not that important. Also, the rice is a starchier kind and just, does not taste good. Asides from the rice, the tuna as well as salmon tastes very dry and not fresh. The sashimi is pre-sliced which is fine since some busier restaurants do that, however, a slow food stall should never do that. The sashimi has been siting around for too long and is just not fresh. To be honest, even sushi at T&T Supermarket is a much better choice.

TOTAL: $5.25.

POSITIVES

- For those who work at Aberdeen Centre and want Japanese

NEGATIVES
- Sashimi is not fresh
- Wrong choice of rice for sushi
- Why does the food take so long when no one else is ordering sushi?
- A Japanese food stall that cannot tell the difference between tobiko and masago…

LITTLE THINGS
- Of course I do not have much expectations at a food stall and am okay with bland tasting rice (at a food stall). However, the rice is not just bland, it tastes hard and really crappy!

Food: 1/5
Service: N/A