Sure, there are hundreds of Japanese restaurants in Metro Vancouver but the majority are so-so and don’t have Japanese DNA. When a good one opens, Japanese speaking customers flock to it and you see words like “authentic” bouncing around like popcorn in the online reviews.

When Kazu Japanese Restaurant opened within hailing distance of several other Japanese restaurants, such was the case.

‘FINALLY! A legit Japanese restaurant in North Burnaby!” someone Yelped. A Japanese-Canadian man, “elderly,” in his own words, emailed me to say Kazu had become his family’s favourite Japanese restaurant since it opened in August.

“Some so-called Japanese restaurants run by non-Japanese chefs don’t have authentic flavours,” he wrote. “He (Kazuhisa Tanimoto) uses the freshest ingredients and his flavouring is excellent. I think you will be impressed by the freshest sashimi.”

So off I went. I parked a block away where a lineup into Anton’s Pasta was withstanding a rainstorm. (I wanted to poke them to see if they were for real.) At Kazu, most patrons were speaking Japanese and the servers were super friendly.

Kazu is run by Tanimoto. He’s been a notable part of Japanese food in the city for some time, starting back in the 1980s at Koko on East Hastings (the son of the original owner now runs it); he spent a short time at the Pan Pacific Hotel then went to work at Shiro on Cambie Street, an unpretentious place known for good sushi. After 16 years there, he struck out on his own his own this summer.

Right off the bat, I was optimistic. There was a warm welcome and the green tea was much more flavourful than usual.

The all-important seafood comes from relatives in the fishing industry in Campbell River and you could see it’s fresh and handled properly. The sushi rice has a tang of vinegar, often-missing in lesser establishments. The maki sushi is rolled lightly but firmly (although I heard a young boy at the next table saying a maki sushi unrolled on his last visit).

The chef doesn’t go wild with fusion rolls (papaya, bacon, hoisin sauce, cream cheese and the like) but he does switch things up with within a Japanese context, as is the case with the ume shiso maki (sour plum paste, perilla leaves, cucumber) and Kazu roll (tuna, salmon, scallop, prawn, masago otherwise known as smelt, lettuce and mayo).

Futomaki (translation: fat roll) with marinated gourd strips, omelette, and spinach is brightly flavoured and was rolled with the right amount of tension. (It didn’t fall apart upon biting into it.)

Other menu items include donburi style dishes, noodles (including udons and soba noodle dishes) as well as appetizers (I can recommend the agedashi tofu, not the easiest dish to do well).

Tempura is lightly battered like a see-through negligee, yet it was crispy, held its heat and the vegetables were cooked just right. The breast meat in the chicken karaage wasn’t the moistest and could perhaps be brined for juiciness.

Tempura soba was served in a very light broth (maybe too light?) and looked camera-ready with fresh chives and half-moon pink-rimmed kamaboko (fish cakes) adding colour; the tempura (prawn and vegetables) was served on the side so it could remain crisp after a quick dip in the broth.

There were some menu items taped on the wall which we didn’t notice on the first visit. Aha! Seafood hot pot (yosenabe) sounded like an antidote for a cold, dark, wet fall evening. It was a thick with the components — a variety of seafood, shiitake mushrooms, translucent bean thread noodles. It was hearty but extremely hot and the seafood suffered from it. The surf clams were leathery.

Tanimoto is behind the sushi counter, fully concentrating on his work but a little more interaction with guests would elevate the experience.

But here’s something that shows the extent of his commitment to quality: His wasabi is fresh, not the paste of horseradish, mustard and food colouring. He buys it from a grower in Alberta and it costs a heck of a lot more. And yet, you can have a meal for two for about $30 to $40 at Kazu.

Kazu Japanese Restaurant

4332 Hastings St., Burnaby, 604-428-8533

Open: Lunch, Friday, Saturday and Sunday; dinner Tuesday to Sunday.

mstainsby@vancouversun.com

Blog: vancouversun.com/miastainsby

Twitter: Twitter.com/miastainsby

Restaurants visits are conducted anonymously and interviews done by phone.

VANCOUVER SUN RESTAURANT GUIDE: vancouversun.com/restaurantguide