COFU Chinatown offers an 18-course plant-based sushi omakase experience in Vancouver. With just eight seats per seating, the meal takes place in an intimate counter setting.
Chef-owner Akiko Gulkison has created a menu featuring vegetables, tofu and plant-based dashi, moving through appetizers, soups, sushi and desserts. Here’s what I tried at a media event.
The meal began with Daikon Mochi with Truffle Sauce and Koya-Dofu with Shojin Dashi, Orange Oil and Green Peas. The opening dishes brought together earthy flavours, citrus and vegetables, giving the meal a range of flavours from the start.
These were followed by Steamed Soy Milk Custard, a clear shojin dashi soup with shiratama, and vegetable skewers. The custard and clear soup offered gentler flavours before the sushi courses.
The nigiri included Potato and Seasonal Vegetables, Sakamushi Shiitake and Peach, Radicchio Kobujime and Carrot Millefeuille. Shiitake and peach was an interesting combination, bringing the earthiness of mushrooms together with fruit. The radicchio introduced a bitter element, and the carrot millefeuille showed another way to prepare a familiar vegetable for sushi.
Eggplant Miso with Snow Fungus was served as a gunkan. The combination offered a contrast in texture, with soft eggplant and the delicate crunch of snow fungus.
Miso soup and tsukemono provided a break between the sushi courses. We then had Grilled Eggplant Nigiri and Oshibana with Daikon, followed by ochazuke. Eggplant appeared in two preparations, which gave a sense of how the same ingredient could take on different roles within the meal.
For dessert, there was Matcha Sponge Cake with Sweet Beans and a Beet-Based Sorbet. The matcha and sweet beans offered a familiar Japanese flavour combination, and beet was a less expected choice for a frozen dessert.
The meal finished with ceremonial matcha served with Kohakuto, a traditional Japanese sugar confection.
The appeal for me was seeing the different ways plant-based ingredients could be used across a full omakase menu. I enjoyed the experience and appreciated the thought and creativity behind the dishes.
488 Gore Ave, Vancouver, BC