Restaurant Review: Chopsticks

So, this week was my birthday. On Tuesday evening, I celebrated with my family, and I chose to go to a place in Castlegar, BC, that does the most amazing sushi around. Now, here in the boonies, good sushi is hard to come by. My local overpriced grocery store used to do a decent line, but they stopped making it on site and instead started to bring it in from elsewhere. I tried the new brand once and it was terrible. Other grocery stores in the area have average, grocery store sushi, that will do in a pinch but is nothing special at all.

Enter Chopsticks (no actual web site, unfortunately). Apart from my dad, I come from a sushi-crazy family. I'd had take out from Chopsticks a few times and it was always very good, but I'd never actually been there and had a meal, and I was the only member of my family who hadn't. Everyone I've known who's eaten at Chopsticks has raved about it, and along with the fact that I've been craving a good sushi feast, it was a natural choice for my birthday dinner.

Previously, I'd had the Dynamite Roll, made with prawn tempura, and the California Roll. The Dynamite Roll is my favourite, and Chopsticks does an excellent one. This was what I was particularly looking forward to. But, I had a take-out menu at my disposal before the dinner, so I was able to plot out in greater detail the sushi I wanted to order for my birthday. The one that struck my fancy was the Dragon Roll, because it has BBQ eel in it, which seems quite exotic to me. Also, the Caterpillar Roll has BBQ eel, along with avocado.

My sister-in-law ordered the sushi - and she ordered a ton of it. My dad wanted just Chinese food, as did my youngest brother, and I fancied chow mein for some reason. The result was an enormous feast. My other brother ordered Wor Won Ton but was shocked at the size of the "small" serving, so we split it. We all ate very well.

The food was excellent. The Chinese food (lemon chicken, chicken & mushroom chow mein, sweet & sour pork, and beef with ginger and green onions) was not greasy or overly salty, and it was hot and the veggies were fresh.

Our sushi feast was incredible. Some of it came in a gigantic wooden boat, beautifully presented. Some of it was elegantly plated on large platters. The most stunning presentation was the Caterpillar Roll that actually looked quite caterpillar-like. As for the BBQ eel - it was amazing. I was expecting it to be chewy, like calamari, but it had a texture more reminiscent of mussels or oysters. The sauce was perfect. The Dynamite Roll was up to it's usual high standard, and we also had a grilled salmon roll which was excellent.

The restaurant was extremely busy for a Tuesday night, and the table we had was too small for our many dishes. But those are small matters; it was a brilliant meal all 'round. If you're ever in BC's southern interior, Chopsticks is highly recommended by this coyote.