When Matt Ryan of Electric Bicycle Brewing travels, his food experiences are often the focus of his tales when he returns home to Vancouver. One-of-a-kind eats, unique experiences, and a little element of the unexpected can make a restaurant, bar, or taproom visit memorable no matter where you are.
Ryan and the team at the eclectic brewery had just that kind of "wow" factor in mind when they came up with a new food concept to offer at Electric Bicycle's Mount Pleasant tasting room.
Known for being a little left of centre with a menu of fruit- and sour-forward brews, the Electric Bicycle crew have made their mark being kind of different. Though the taproom had been serving up grilled cheese sandwiches to pair with their beers and neon-powered nostalgic vibes, Ryan tells Vancouver Is Awesome the team wanted to find a food concept that would stand out among their peers and - for more practical purposes - be something they could execute given the constraints of the space - as in, it doesn't have a full kitchen.
The answer: Sushi.
Sushi Radio is the name of Electric Bicycle's new food program, and it's got a tight menu of super-appealing dishes that Ryan says were inspired by some of the team's favourite items from around Vancouver and beyond.
What is on the menu at Sushi Radio?
Served on an eclectic array of vintage dishware (with the pink chopsticks presented in an empty Spam can), Sushi Radio offers a fun assortment of rolls, pieces, and easily shared bites that go (almost surprisingly) well with Electric Bicycle's brews.
Among Sushi Radio's offerings are sushi bar basics like seaweed or sunomono salad, as well as chilled edamame, but with a welcome and delicious twist: lemon zest.
Alongside fresh sashimi and nigiri pieces, you'll find Sushi Radio's iterations of some familiar items with cult followings. One is the two-piece Spam Musubi (now you know where they get those Spam cans) which features a slice of spam with pineapple, which Ryan says should remind you of eating Hawaiian pizza (minus the cheese and tomato, of course).
If you're among the legions of diners missing Cactus Club's late, great sushi pockets, fear not: Sushi Radio has its take on the legendary retired menu item.
To round out the menu, Sushi Radio has an assortment of rolls, cones, and pressed sushi, including fun house specialties like the Lemon Box - pressed sushi pieces with salmon and scallop and thin slices of lemon.
The quirkiness of having a small craft brewery outfit serving up sushi - instead of the expected salty or greasy standards - is absolutely deliberate for Electric Bicycle; after all, it's a taproom that has a plastic skeleton's parts tucked inside an Instagram-worthy floral wall installation to go with pours of tangy Technodrome Tart Pale Ale with Pink Guava and the super juicy Atomic Jam Raspberry sour.
Right now Sushi Radio is available Thursday through Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m. at the tasting room, with plans to expand soon to seven days a week, and then to include lunch service (sushi is underrepresented in the neighbourhood, which has increasingly become home to several offices). You can follow @sushiradio_yvr and @electricbicyclebrewing for more information and updates.
@vancouverisawesome It’s not really a secret, but… 🤫#forkingawesome #sushi #brewery #vancouverbc 👄: @lindsaywilliamross ♬ Walking On a Dream - Empire of the Sun
Sushi Radio x Electric Bicycle Brewing is located at 20 E 4th Ave in Vancouver.
