By Amy Van Veen (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: January 11, 2012
9145 Glover Road
Fort Langley, BC
604.881.0168
Hours: Monday: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Friday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday 12:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Closed Sunday
Prices: up to $16.99 (not including combos)
There are many restaurants to choose from along Fort Langley’s historic main drag – lounges, bistros, diners and coffee shops, but what would it be without that Fraser Valley staple of anything sushi?
Japanese restaurants rival Starbucks in their popularity and tendency to be found around every corner. The Fort, then, is no exception with two sushi places in its small two-street “downtown.” The Iron Chef (Sushi Ichi) Japanese Restaurant is located beside the landmark that can be found in every TV movie that no one watches – the Fort Langley Community Hall.
Iron Chef—the restaurant, not the TV show—offers patrons quality sushi at incredibly affordable prices. The rolls, cones and sashimi don’t go higher than $8.99 and that includes those specialty rolls that, at other places, often begin at $8.99. They are also one of those sushi places that offers non-sushi options for those who get pulled along to the restaurant but aren’t brave enough to dive into seaweed and salmon skin. Among the Western menu options are a BLT sandwich, French fries and, most interestingly, bacon. Just bacon. Any place that sells bacon on its own is a place that deserves to be named.
For those who are bubble tea fans, this place has no shortage of options including milky, red/green and slush with at least a dozen flavours for each.
For my lunch order, I tried the Hawaiian roll (essentially a dynamite with pieces of pineapple) and the Langley roll (California with bits of tempura and cucumber rolled up in it). The ingredients were quality and the rice had the perfect consistency – not too sticky and not too dry. The Hawaiian roll, too, had an unexpectedly refreshing flavour with the inclusion of the pineapple. However, the thickness of each piece made consumption a little more difficult. Though it looked like there were many pieces within one roll, it caused each piece to inevitably fall apart right after I picked it up with my chopsticks – not exactly the most graceful of sushi experiences.
The layout of the restaurant—an L-shape instead of one big room—allowed for more private tables against either the wall or the window and the service was prompt, amiable and knowledgeable with quick responses to any questions regarding the menu and the ingredients.
The only downside about the atmosphere, which had nothing to do with the restaurant itself, was the prevalence of teenagers who hit it up during their lunch break from the school down the road. Some teenagers seem to think they can be as loud as they want with their conversations about less than riveting topics, so I would suggest choosing your lunch time strategically or going for dinner.
