Teri Boy

Ah, we bid a fond Buh-Bye to Sweet Puritea this month, but a fond Ohayo to TeriBoy! Located close to Gilmore Station, this place is the third Japanese place in the neighbourhood, after Kita Sushi and Sushi Garden. To be fair, this review is based on Day Two of their opening, so take it with a grain of salt. Once I revisit, I will definitely update you all with a revised post. 

 

Their menu is quite simple, a one-pager with all the offerings and with cartoon imagery of the various proteins for additional assistance. Nothing is over $10 and features mostly chicken or beef.  We opted for the Combo of Teriyaki Chicken and Beef, with comes with some takoyaki and a salad and miso soup.
I expected a more Japanese-style salad with a ponzu type dressing, but it actually came with a Thousand Island dressing. Instead of just your usual bagged salad, they enhanced the dish with a sprig of broccoli, a cherry tomato and some sliced cucumbers. These little extras were appreciated. Also, the miso soup came loaded with green onions, which is again a little rare for a Japanese soup. We almost expected it to be more of a wonton noodle soup base, but again, was pleasantly surprised at the actual taste when we started sipping. I would have preferred some seaweed and less green onions, but that's a personal preference.  So what is surprising with this combo plate is that we got the salad, again. There's plenty of rice under that generous portion of chicken and beef and it will fill you up. Off to the top of the plate is the Takoyaki. These were disappointing, lacking in the bouncy texture of a takoyaki, the taste of any tako and just overall bland. It was like eating a dough ball, a microwave reheated dough ball, at that. Speaking of the microwaves, that is the one predominant sound that you hear in this little restaurant. They are constantly reheating things, and the chicken was one of them. The meat was a tad dry and the teriyaki sauce on top didn't help matters enough. Also, I found the chicken too fatty for my liking. 
The daily special was a Pork Onigiri. We ordered this not knowing what to expect, but this sure wasn't it. Most onigiri are like the ones found at the end of this post from Hapa on Robson. It's usually a ball of rice, stuffed with fish and then wrapped in nori. What we have here is a ball of rice wrapped with thin slices of pork. The whole thin is then pan fried to a nice crispy exterior and and a warm filing of rice. And yes, more salad. This was definitely the better of the two dishes we tried. 
One of the things we noticed was the use of disposable materials, plates, cutlery, cups, everything. Perhaps the rest of the supplies hadn't arrived and they are just waiting for it? I will have to return to investigate and to try more dishes. Did you see the Yakisoba Sandwich on the menu? That's carb overload for sure! 

Take Note:

• Lots of disposable cutlery and plates - not too environmentally friendly
• Started have Spicy Salmon and Tuna on Rice just recently (have yet to try)
• Run by Japanese people