#3182 - 4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond, BC
604-295-9351
We were honored to be invited by Melody of Fairchild Restaurant Group to the launch of
Saboten on January 22nd. But because we're not fans of media events, we kindly decline the invitation but paid a visit to this express outlet seven days after its grand opening.
We arrived late in the afternoon and this stall was still packed with people. With only three people ordering ahead of me, it was difficult to tell exactly how many people were waiting for their food.
After waiting for approximately fifteen minutes, the cashier decided to put out a sign to inform new customers that there would be a ten-minute wait. Considering that I've already waited for fifteen minutes, I started tweeting about this, sarcastically. The longer I waited, the more I tweeted. Finally, after approximately forty minutes, I finally got my food. From a customer's standpoint, they really should have put out a sign a lot sooner, and earlier. There really shouldn't be any excuses of the long wait, after all, it's just deep-frying.
I ordered a
Saboten Set, which consisted of pork loin, shrimp and pork tenderloin. For $10, it doesn't look too bad, but doesn't look much either.
Just a note, if you want more sauce, you'll have to pay for it. Also, not sure if they're supposed to freshly grind the sesame seeds to every order, but mine lost the aromatic sesame fragrance. Considering how busy it was, they probably made a whole bunch beforehand.
If you watch them prepare the bread crumbs, it's quite impressive, and that's what made Saboten different. Unfortunately, I found the meats quite boring and bland, you really needed the sauces. The shrimp was basic, nothing extraordinary. The loin had part white and part dark, with some fat giving it a juicy tenderness. The tenderloin was, as expected, tender, however, it was quite dry...yup, they overcooked the tenderloin.
For a big guy like me, I had to get more food after. For better quality and price, I'd rather got to Guu on Thurlow or 29th Ave Cafe on Boundary. For strictly quality, it's got to be Kingyo Izakaya. In the end, the food did not impress me, especially for the wait. While we won't be returning, we do recommend everyone to give it a try, for the breading, not for the meat.
