I have driven by this place everyday to and from work ever since they opened back in December 2010. For some reason, I never actually tried it. Probably because I tend to get Japanese takeout, at the Sushi Garden or Kita right by home or a nicer place like Miku in downtown. This month, my sister and nephew are in town, and he was craving udon. He was quite specific, not ramen, udon. And not the stirfry kind, the soup kind. Not wanting to venture all the way to Aki, we decided to check out Sushiholic, after giving their website and menu a thorough lookover. 
This was the first item to arrive and it made me so happy! The Pork Gyoza was deep fried to a golden brown.  The skin was nice and crispy and the filling was plentiful. And since there were five of us, this was perfect! The dipping sauce is your basic vinegar and soy blend but you can add a bit of punch to it with the shichimi togarashi (seven spice powder).
Next up was the Tako Sunomono, and this was a rather large bowl. Not like the half a cup serving you normally get at most places, this was enough for sharing. The noodles were slippery and held the flavour of the vinegar based dressing wonderfully. The tako had a nice firm texture to it as well. 
And this is the reason for our visit, the Beef Udon! This bowl of hot soupy goodness was loaded with lots of udon, bean sprouts and thinly sliced beef. The broth was rather mild, but again, top it off with some shichimi togarashi and you're set.
The portion size again is impressive, the bowl is bigger than his head!
We decided order some grilled items as well. This is their BBQ Grilled Mackerel (Saba Shioyaki). I was again surprised by the portion size, as well as the lovely grilled skin. I realize that the onions are there to prevent the fish from sticking to the plate, but they were far too raw. The fish itself was flakey and had good seasoning. 
Another grilled item we wanted was their Salmon Kama (cheek). This is one of the most tender parts of the fish and it's one of my favourites. And for $5.95, this is again a big portion. This one had a bit more soy in the seasoning and was quickly devoured by us.

 

They have a roll called the Awesome Roll, but we went for more traditional offerings. On the left is the Spicy Chopped Scallop Roll. The scallop to rice ratio was excellent, lots of plump scallop chunks. The spiciness is from the hot sauce drizzled on top, and it's not even really that spicy. The other larger roll on the right is the BC Roll, one of my mom's all-time favourites, as she really likes the grilled salmon skin. And given how well all the other grilled items were, you can be sure that the skin on this had a nice crispiness as well. I didn't expect the addition of the fake crab meat, but it actually worked, a bit of sweet in the savoury roll.
And the final item was the Deluxe Assorted Sashimi. The menu says there are 21 pieces, but included higher end items, such as hotate, amaebi and toro as well. And they didn't even flinch when we asked for the heads to be deep fried. 

Take Note:

• The restaurant is small, call ahead for reservations
• Grilled items are a standout, beats expectations
• Not open for lunch on Sundays

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