Sukiyaki and Me....

I am sitting here in the coffee shop Khona, my tummy happy, content, and full from just having eaten an all you can eat feast at Victoria's one and only Sukiyaki restaurant, Posh. If you are in Victoria looking for a healthy alternative that is cheap and even gives you the chance to escape H.S.T. then look no further than "Posh" on 1063 Fort St (where fort meets cook st).

I was quickly seated by their friendly and polite staff but before I got seated, a sign at the entrance caught my attention. It said "Beat H.S.T. Between July - Sept we will take off H.S.T. if you pay entirely in cash." Upon reading that sign I was sold on this place. An all you can eat restaurant where simply by paying cash you can get 5% taken off your bill. Before I thought that such a place existed only in my imagination.

It didn't take long for me to learn exactly what Japanese Sukiyaki is. Many cultures in the world have their own version of a hot pot.  A type of meal where there is a hotpot in the centre and vegetable and meat get thrown into it. Sukiyaki is the Japanese version of a hotpot. How it works is that when you are seated at the restaurant, someone will come to you with an electric hotpot with some cabbage and water in it. The staff turns on the hotpot and the water starts to boil with the cabbage inside.

You then get given a sheet with a list of vegetables and types of meat. All you have to do is tick off what exactly you want and what quantities you want.  It is such a wicked deal because you can ask for as much meat or vegetables as you want. If I want 10 pieces of tofu and 4 bowls of rice, they will bring it to me.  I soon found myself with some platters with strips of raw meat a huge plate filled with all the vegetables I requested, and a side or raw noodles. Not to mention the three bowls of rice I had asked to go along with it. Looking back, if I had know that the meal would have been as filling as it was, I probably would not have asked for so much rice.

So i began tossing the different meats, vegetables and noodles into this boiling hotpot. Whenever the liquid got too low, there were containers filled with water and sauce at the side that I could use to refill the hotpot. My sukiyaki experience had begun........and it sure was tasty!  The amount if vegetables and meat I had ordered amounted to 3 course meal. As soon as I was done eating the first round, I threw on more vegetables and meat for the 2nd round. It was about halfway through the second round that I looked up and realized that there was just enough uncooked vegetables and meat left for a 3rd round, which I had no stomach left for. If i had been looking for a cheap way to fill my belly with as much as I possible could, I achieved my goal.

It was then I the brilliant idea to throw the rest of the food into the hotpot and cook to take back for dinner or possibly breakfast or lunch tomorrow. It was then I found out that technically, the restaurant does not do "take out" for the "all you can eat" type of meals. At least not in the sense that you and I are used to where we can have whatever is left over just packed way into boxes. Instead, if you want to take whatever is left of the food, you would pay $4 extra and they would give you a little carton for your take out. You have to pay $4 for each carton that you need or want. Fortunately, the remainder of my food all fit into one carton so I only ended up having to pay $4 extra.

Altogether, I ended up paying $22 in total including the tip. And I can't help feeling like I got a killer deal. I ate the equivalent to a two course meal until I was completely stuffed and had enough to take back with me for a 3rd meal. Along with a tall glass of authentic Japanese Matcha to wash down my food for $2.50  And I got the full sukiyaki experience without having to go to Japan.  Getting a cross cultural experience at such a low price leaves only one things to be said........ITADAKIMASU!!!!!!!

Posh