I made another visit to the popular Japanese restaurant Shabusen (map, web site, 755 Burrard Street, Unit 202, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-669-3883) and enjoyed a sushi buffet dinner. Reservations are a must at this restaurant, as people who did not have a reservation were waiting 45 minutes for a table!

Not only does the restaurant serve a great selection of tasty Japanese sushi, but also included in the price is all-you-can-eat Korean Barbecue that you cook at a grill at your table. Price per person at dinner time (for the all-you-can-eat sushi and BBQ) is $21.95 before tax and tip. Lunch prices are cheaper, around $13.50.

For more photos and info please view Part 1.

Salmon and Tuna sashimi from Shabusen Japanese restaurant in Vancouver (Burrard Street)

Meat for barbecuing (cook at your table), and sushi: Alaska roll, Avocado Roll, and Prawn Tempura roll from Shabusen Restaurant in Vancouver.

Assorted Nigiri Sushi (raw fish on rice) from Shabusen Japanese restaurant in Vancouver.

Gomae Japanese spinach (top left), Sunomono salad (bottom left), Mussels, from Shabusen all you can eat Japanese restaurant in Vancouver.

Salade de Fruits Cafe (web site, map, 1551 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver BC, Canada, phone 604-714-5987) is an authentic, unpretentious French restaurant that is hidden away inside the French Cultural Centre in Vancouver’s South Granville area. One of Vancouver’s “not so well kept secrets for French Food” (FoodVancouver.com), this casual bistro serves up some of the best French food in the city, but in a home-style atmosphere with friendly French (and English-speaking!) service.

Angela Murrills writes in the Georgia Straight (click here to read review):

Weekdays at noon it feels like small-town France, where everyone decamps from their office for a couple of hours during which the mark of a truly civilized country parking is free by law. A fresh-fish dish or two, grilled prawns, moules frites, quiche or a sandwich it’s all competently made, sans froufrou, and mostly under $10.

Christine G. Louie describes the food at Salade de Fruits (writing in the Peak, SFU’s student newspaper, click here to read review):

The moules et frites ($11.99) arrived with puffs of steam wafting up, the P.E.I. mussels fat, perfectly steamed little morsels sitting in the most fragrant of broths. Accompanying the pot of shiny black shells lay a stack of fresh-cooked pomme frites, still glistening from their bath of hot oil. Crispy, golden-brown, and thinly sliced, the pomme frites were perfect for dipping into the pool of broth or the little container of their homemade mayonnaise. The calamari dish came in thick ringlets, fried to a glorious golden-brown, and looking ravishingly hot. The smoked-salmon baguette was clean tasting, jazzed up with capers and sweet onions, and sandwiched in the same lovely bread. The steak dish was pounded into a thin large slab, arrived on top of a layer of gravy-smothered frites.

Wow, I love those descriptions, thanks Christine!

Pictured below is some of the food we enjoyed: the Saumon Sauvage (Wild salmon entree, around $16), the Calmars à la Nage (Calamari dish, $9.99), and the Escargots à l’Ail (snail in garlic, $5.99, a French delicacy!). My friend also ordered the T-Bone Steak served with fresh crab (not pictured), which he described as juicy and of really high quality (he’s a regular of steak places around town).

Saumon Sauvage (Wild Salmon entree, $16.99) from Salade De Fruits French restaurant in Vancouver

Calamari dish (Calmars à la Nage, $9.99) from Salade De Fruits French restaurant in Vancouver

Escargots à l'Ail ($5.99) - Snail in garlic, a French delicacy! Food from Salade De Fruits French restaurant in Vancouver.

Fresh baguette (French bread) included with the meal at Salade de Fruits French restaurant in Vancouver

The Noodle Box (web site, map, 1-1867 4th Avenue West, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-734-1310) is a South East Asian noodle bar (near Burrard and 4th) that is popular with the young, hip student crowd for casual dining and drinks. The restaurant is cafeteria style in that there is no table service: you order and pay first, and then find a table yourself. When your food is ready one of the chefs will call out your name. The atmosphere is high-energy and lively, making this a great place for hanging out with friends and people watching. Prices for entrees are in the $10 to $14 range, such as the Thai Green Curry (pictured below, around $12), which I ordered with a chicken and prawns combination. Thai spices were simmered in coconut milk and lime juice, served with rice noodles, Asian greens, mushrooms, sprouts, and herbs. Yum!

The Noodle Box also has two locations in Victoria: Chinatown (626 Fisgard, Victoria, BC, Canada, phone: 250-360-1312) and downtown (818 Douglas, Victoria, BC, Canada, phone: 250-384-1314).

Thai Green Curry from the Noodle Box restaurant in Vancouver