Tojo's - Vancouver

...is located in Vancouver at 1133 West Broadway. For a splurge this is a good sushi restaurant where the Omakase starts at CA$150 (depending on how many courses you can eat).

I started with a glass of Gerwurtraminer (CA$9) and was only able to eat 11 courses:

- Tojo tuna sashimi

- Tempura squash blossoms stuffed with scallops

- Crab roll with panko

- Blue fin tuna sushi

- Smoked sable with asparagus and mango

- Crab meat salad with spicy sauce and pickled radish

- Giant Clam handroll

- Egg crepe with mango, salmon and crab

- Tojo cucumber wrap

- Tempura sweet potato roll with crab and mango

- Green Tea creme brulee with sesame crisp

Landmarc

There are two outposts of the restaurant and we went to the one at the Time Warner Center at 10 Columbus Circle in NYC's Midtown.

We were seated near the windows overlooking Columbus Circle and Central Park and given a basket of bread and olive oil. "J" ordered a raspberry Smirnoff and soda and I ordered a glass of Cava ($10 each).

"J" stated with the smoked mozzarella & ricotta frittersfried zucchini & spicy tomato sauce ($11) - which our waitress described as little pillows of deliciousness...and indeed they were....lightly fried delicate cheese orbs.

I had the smoked duck & fontina tarte flambée grilled flatbread, red onions & watercress ($13) - this was large enough to be an entree. The duck reminded me of slices of pastrami.

"J" had the Landmarc hamburger with french fries & field greens ($15) - the burger was medium rare and tender. The burger was a house favorite as it was ordered by the two parties on either side of us.

I had a large order of mussels with french fries ($26) with my choose a sauce: shallots, parsley & white wine. The mussels were delicious, the sauce was wonderful for dipping bread and the wonderful crispy fries were served in a huge basket that could have fed 4 people.

Visa Signature had a special offer for cardholders - if each person ordered both an appetizer and entree (which we did) we received a complimentary Dessert Platter (regularly $16) - this had one of each of their mini desserts: crème brulée, blueberry crumble, nutella eclair, lemon tart, chocolate mousse and tiramisu. I love sampler platters because you get to try everything! And in addition, our delightful waitress brought us cotton candy which had a hint of orange. The cotton candy was our favorite and we devoured it.

I would definitely return to try the other menu items even though I have now tried everything on the dessert menu.