The Land That Ugly Forgot The Bewildering, Beautiful and Blithe Happenings Around Vancouver, BC

Donburi-Ya on Robson

A new neighbourhood comes with so many things to discover. Part of the fun is making food an adventure, so we stopped into a place we've never been with the idea that we wanted a lunch snack. The sign outside Donburi-Ya advertising rice bowls drew us in.

In nothing less than typical Japanese fashion, the food was prepared efficiently, tasted fresh to order and the rice bowls somehow made me feel bright and complete (although that might be due to the swizzle hits of mayo distributed within the layers of the bowl - c'mon now, how does mayo ever not make you feel good).

I tried a Spicy Mabo Tofu Don (although it wasn't all that spicy, but I'm used to "spicy" meaning the equivalent of my lips are burning and steam rising off my scalp). Gosh, it was good. Too bad the computer screen isn't at least scratch and sniff for you to get a sense:

We also tried a beef bowl that was equally pleasantly, surprisingly fantastic:

A clean and airy but very 'intimate' eating area (i.e. small) means it's probably packed to the gills during busy times. We hit it for a late lunch and I already have a hankering to go back, especially given the really reasonable price tag. This one's been added to the regular hit list.