Wow! What a find. Cool vibe, reasonable prices and amazing food. Hot sake, dragon roll, funky fish dishes. Only weird part was the music in the background, went from elevator to rave in the blink of an eye! Still, this is my new sushi go to Wait staff lovely. Very quick read more

Great food and Service, with well environment with friends gathering. Mixed Sapporo Beers good read more

Kaori Izakaya - Sashimi - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Decent spot for izakaya on Main St! Not busy at all when we went so very prompt service. Takoyaki came out nice and hot. Chicken skewers were just mediocre but the aburi sushi was really good! Squid rings were also delicious but wish it was a bigger portion. read more

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Love love LOVE this sushi spot! My boyfriend and I discovered it at the start of Covid and it's been our takeout sushi go-to ever since (this and Tom's on Davie). It's super affordable too and the fish is always fresh. Sometimes I like to switch it up with an Udon or their Chicken Karage combo (their chicken is so juicy and flavoured nicely). Their rolls are sizeable but not like overly so which I find a lot of cheaper sushi restos in Vancouver do to show value but Kaori knows how to show value without compromising the quality of sushi. Very impressed with this little joint. I'd love to meet the people behind it once Covid has cleared up as for now we're just doing take out so we haven't sat in yet. If you're on the hunt for a solid sushi spot, look no further! read more

Kaori Izakaya - Chicken Karage combo - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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I went to use the bathroom and out comes the sushi chef with his latex gloves still on his hands. Obviously didn't wash his hands, I immediately turned around and lefqt the establishment. While leaving I caught him already handling food. Never eating here again. read more

came in late night after a concert with my gf (the army the navy is a national gay indie folk treasure$$$). we got here, cute asf. playing music we loved. then the nicest waitress came & served us (she had cute nails too!). Anyway, we ordered sushi's that actually ended up being way bigger proportions than we thought so thay was lit. absolutely tasty. anyway we ice creams at the end??? totally unprompted? idk if they always do that or if canadian people are just the best kind of person or soemthing but that alone sealed the deal. also for some reason some guy by us ordered like 15 beers for himself & left with them in a bag?? cool ig read more

Kaori Izakaya - sushi roll combos - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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The first time trying out this place was during the Covid lockdown and ordered a late night take out. We decided to give the place a dine in try out after a disappointing experience at Seiza a crossed the street. We called to see if they have the specialty fishes available and they said yes so we asked to book a table. Finding pay parking on the street was pretty easy as the restaurant is located at the hip restaurant strip along Main Street. We were greeted and promptly seated as we walked in. The restaurant looked pretty empty, only 2 tables with customer behind us. I would the restaurant has a casual atmosphere. Almost felt like a place for some late night drinking and casual hanging out place with your buddies. Anyways, here were what we ordered; 1. 3 kinds is sashimi, pretty fresh and the toros were fresh and buttery, nice! 2. Salmon toro, tuna toro, chu toro, Hokkaido uni, chopped scallops, madai, foie gras, engawa aburi. Everything was good EXCEPT for the chu toro and albacore toro; I don't know what happened with the albacore toro nigiris because they were tasteless and dry but the toro sashimi were fresh and buttery. The chu toro weren't so fresh, that's unfortunate cause it's one of the reason why we came here. 3. Oden combo. The soup base needed abit more flavour and hotter for the soup. Also some mustard would be nice?!? 4. Fantastic roll. Pretty average roll, nothing to run home screaming about. Overall, sooner or later was going to give this place a try so might as well get it over and done with to see if it can be a worthy option for future repeats. Unfortunately way too many other Japanese restaurants on the list to try or repeat. Plus for this price, I can think off the top of my head there are a handful of restaurants with better quality and ambience. I would say a soft 2.5 stars. read more

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I won a $100 gift card to Kaori Izakaya and decided to take my friend there to celebrate her be-lated Birthday. I made a reservation for a Friday night but we ended up running late (I forgot my phone and had to run back home before going to pick up my friend) so called and asked if we could push our reservation to 6:45pm or 7pm. The staff were very gracious and said it wasn't an issue. When arriving, the staff immediately greeted us, checked our vaccination status, and thanked us for calling ahead to let them know we would be late. The restaurant was only half full by the time we arrived right before 7pm but I could smell the aburi sushi flames and was hungry to start ordering. My friend and I ordered tea for both, chicken karage, scallop motaoyaki, salon aburi sushi, saba aburi sushi, Special BBQ eel roll, two pieces of uni nigri, a grilled black cod, and a chirashi don. The chicken karage came in a large basket and it was fresh, juicy, and perfectly fried - so good! Next was the scallop motoyaki, a first for me. It was delicious, cooked perfectly, and wasn't swimming in mayo like oyster motoyakis usually are. Highly recommend ordering the scallops! Next were the saba and salmon aburi sushi. I'm not a big fan of saba but it wasn't too fishy tasting. I really enjoyed the salmon aburi and would definitely order again! The special BBQ eel roll was solid and I really savoured the fresh melt-in-my-mouth uni nigri. Last was the chirashi don that was a good size and full of assorted fresh sashimi. Lastly, the black cod was buttery soft but I couldn't taste much of the miso sauce it was supposed to be cooked/marinated with. For two people, we definitely over ordered and struggled to finish all of our food. We weren't able to finish everything but ended up ordering an order of green tea ice cream to share. Service was great and the staff were very friendly and efficient! Nice decor and ambiance - I could see why this place is so popular. For all the food we ordered it came out to be $176 with taxes. Including tip, it worked out to be over $200. It was a bit for $200 but the quality of food and service was there. Plus, we had a $100 to help cover half the meal and we were celebrating a be-lated Birthday. Thanks for my first experience, Kaori! I'll definitely be back! read more

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Really good service, staff were very friendly and was able to get a table without a reservation. I expected there to be more skewers on the menu but their menu had lots of options. The beef tongue skewer was good but I guess I had higher hopes. Aburi set was my favourite. The scallop especially was delicious. Their crazy salmon roll was really good too, would order again. The okonomiyaki was not as tasty as i like. I think it was a little too cooked. read more

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One of our favourite places to go to! Really happy to see them open up again. We placed an order tonight and was surprised to find that they were offering a 10% discount for pick up orders. As much as we miss meet up with friends for LTE night here we are happy to be able to still enjoy their authentic Japanese flavours at the comfort of our home. read more

Kaori Izakaya - Fantastic roll, volcano roll, kawahagi, salmon sashimi, beef tongue, ebimayo - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Came here last night after seeing the good reviews. Everything was quite good considering but there was an issue with a dish. We ordered beef tongue and what came looked nothing like beef tongue and it tasted nothing like beef tongue. The pieces of meat was cross-sectioned and have a concentrated area of fat, like brisket/rib eye. When have anyone seen beef tongue like that? I've attached a photo for reference. Anyhow. We inquired with the waitress and without consulting with the chef or anyone, she insisted nicely that it's beef tongue. That to me is quite disappointing. And then towards the end of our meal, we just couldn't get anyone to bring us the check. The waitress was just in the kitchen and didn't come by again. We waited over 10 minutes before flagging someone down and that's never okay. read more

Kaori Izakaya - They say this meat cube is beef tongue. What do you think? - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

They have the best customer service and food was really good and fresh. The service is fast and the server are very nice and accommodating

I've been to this restaurant three times now.....yes, the food is so good I keep going back. Last time I had the chicken teriyaki lunch bento box. It was excellent and a lot of food for the price. Plus the servers are always so nice. read more

It's slightly strange coming into this Izakaya on Main Street. It's like stepping out of Vancouver, and into Japan (just a version of Japan where everyone speaks English...) As some other reviewers have mentioned, this isn't the cheapest of Izakayas in Vancouver. The thing is, I don't mind spending a little extra if the food tastes delicious and authentic. We tried 4 dishes for $19, and then an extra couple of dishes. It was probably slightly too much, but we munched it all. We tried: Agedashi tofu - I love it when this is done well. This was excellent Gyoza - Hot, but so delicious Aburi sushi - This was the best thing - om nom nom! Sushi combo - The nigiri sushi was all fresh and tasty, but I was not a fan of the maki sushi. If you like korean style spicy mayo, you might like it. Saba Shioyaki - This tasted just like my Japanese host mum used to make. It's not posh, but if you like saba, it'll make you really happy! read more

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Was walking around Mount Pleasant and saw this Japanese place opening soon. Couldn't wait to try it, I was happy to more Japanese restaurants in the neighbourhood. Finally had a chance to try it. Can't make my final decision on the food I may need to at least try it two more times. So far it's pretty good. Love the ambiance and the service. Price not too bad maybe a little high. Can't wait to come back and try some other dishes. read more

Pretty cute, cozy, clean and nicely renovated Japanese tapas taking over the old Mui Garden. Love that they close at 1:00 am the day we we out for late night eats. Front page of the menu consisted of the daily specials which was pick any 4 tapas for $23 which was great value and tasty. $48 for their deluxe assorted sashimi with a decent variety of fresh fish, scallops and B grade uni. They charge $3 for tea which other restaurants usually give for free so I'm knocking a star off for that. Overall decent eats but there's definitely no wow factor here. I would come back to try more of their other items and drinks next time. read more

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This Japanese Izakaya is recently opened. My husband and I thought to give it a try. Their menu has quite some varieties with appetizers, sashimi, sushi, rolls, grilled and deep fried dishes. Selection of sake is pretty good. We ordered the $19 for four appy, deluxe assorted sashimi, Saba oshi sushi, fantastic roll, grilled unagi. Fantastic roll was saucy with layer of tastes. Aburi salmon on top of California roll with rich sauce on top and fish flakes. Yummy! The 4 appts deal let you choose 4 out of 20 spots. We went with ika wasabi, takoyaki, kawahagi and chikuwa cheese. Love the chikuwa cheese the best. The deep fried batter was made just right. Warmly served with melted cheese inside crispy fish cake. Delicious! Their grilled unagi was very nice too. Creamy eel grilled to perfection. Tastes rich and flavorful! One star was taken off because of their order of presenting dish. We would expect sashimi to come first usually but instead some hot dishes came first. Also the deluxe assorted sashimi was not plated that well. read more

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It was me and my partners first time coming here and we had a good experience! Aside from it being a bit pricy, and waiting to get a servers attention to get our bill. Very pub like atmosphere, we came in around 930-10pm. We ordered the spicy salmon combo and the takoyaki - everything came in fast even though it looked like they were busy. The sauce in the spicy salmon sashimi combo was soooo good! We were served with 5 takoyakis - im always hoping for that initial crunch when I bite into that takoyaki - and boiii it had that crunch! It was hard to get our servers attention because we came during a busy hour, but as soon as our server came - he asked us how our food tasted, and I find that question unusual to ask at a pub, but I did appreciate him asking us that :) Will come back in the future for sure read more

Kaori Izakaya - Spicy salmon combo - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Delicious food and appetizer menu. The aburi sushi and signature rolls are pretty fantastic. There is no beef on the menu except for a beef tongue on the appetizer menu so it's great place to go if you or your friends have a beef allergy! Booth style seating available for intimate dinners is a plus. Not noisy. Tempura were well fried and surprisingly good. To get it to 5 star I think the serving staff could be more attentive. read more

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Passed by this place on the way to Toshi but Toshi was closed so we came here instead. The Yelp reviews looked promising but the food was really not great. We ordered chicken karaage, grilled squid, green salad, salmon oshi, salmon avocado roll, dynamite roll, yam roll, chicken yakitori, and agedashi tofu. The salmon avocado roll didn't taste fresh. All the rolls had really chewy rice and the seaweed was stale. Other items we ordered like squid, chicken takitori, salmon oshi all lacked flavour and tasted very bland. The service was really friendly and the place looked cute but the food was not it. read more

The service was excellent. Very fresh ingredients and good flavor. We enjoyed the casual ambiance. Good value and variety of dishes. The rolls were generously sized. I'd like to come back. read more

Quantity but not quality, and definitely not the most authentic Japanese fare. If you come here expecting a Zakkushi/Raisu/Kingyo/Suika/Guu type quality, turn around! The entire kitchen staff and sushi chefs are Chinese and the establishment is Chinese owned/operated as well...only the servers are Japanese, but you aren't fooling anyone, especially me. Being Asian myself, just do yourself a favor and respect the countries' food you are trying to recreate, or don't bother! You can be any race making any other cultures food, but if you do, it better be damn good and legitimate! We came here tonight and ordered their daily special, "4 for $19". Ordered the Miso Okra, Prawn Tempura, Beef Tongue and Grilled Saba. 1)The okra dish just came blandly grilled without any seasoning and a side of miso sauce for you to dip...they didn't even try! 2) Prawn tempura - nothing to write home about here, clumpy batter. 3) Beef tongue - This was a pretty thick cut which was nice, but who the hell gives sesame oil as a dipping sauce? Like why not just season it properly and serve?! Disappointing. 4) Grilled Saba was the best item out of the four, but the skin was chewy and not crispy, could have been under that broiler for a little longer. We also ordered the Oden combo. It tasted like the dashi was just out of a package and not homemade by reducing bonito flakes! When we asked for mustard to dip with the Oden, they gave us the kind you put on your HOT DOG, come on! Lastly we had the chicken karaage, thankfully this came out hot and crispy! This was the best all night, but then again, you'd have to be a completely incompetent chef to mess up deep fried chicken nuggets! read more

Huge improvement!!!! I have been here a handful of times since they opened. I'm not sure if they got new management?...new staff? Whatever it is, it is such a huge improvement. The first time I came, it was pretty good but went downhill from there. I was very hesitant going last night, but my first few choices of resturants were either too busy or closing soon. This was late night ( close to 11pm) Everything I ordered was just so good, and even the staple items I usually get just seemed better for some reason. The menu seemed slightly different so maybe they got a new chef? Everything was portioned very well, and tasted fresh. The only thing I'm kind of suspicious of is that the beef tongue does not really seem like beef tongue. Mind you it's super tender and super delicious. But it was cut thick and seemed fatty, which is unusual for beer tongue. It really reminded me of rib eye... But I didn't really care because it tasted good. I would of given this review a 4.5 but since there is no half stars I'll keep it at 5. read more

I used work literally three blocks away from Kaori Izakaya so I'm not sure why I've never actually seen or gone to the place! I've ordered through UberEats a bunch of times, usually getting the Chirashi Don. I do find their chirashi don is a little more on the expensive side, however the price does reflect the size, quality, and freshness of the bowl itself. It comes with a generous assortment of raw fish such as salmon and tuna, as well as tamago and masago! I love that they're open a little later in the evenings as well as I do tend to come home late, which is why I order from them quite frequently. I will definitely go visit the actual restaurant one day to write a full review when I can! read more

Ordered their chicken kaarage to go. Great service and for a reasonable price, large chunks of well seasoned and crispy chicken was served to me! Planning to come back and try some things soon! read more

Wonderful service and food arrived quick. However, out of all the 7 items we've ordered, it wasn't anything special. The aburi salmon roll had too much sauce and the hamachi sashimi was thick cut. The green salad seems like they used half ranch half ginger dressing. read more

Kaori Izakaya - Hamachi sashimi - thick cut - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

I will start by saying that I ordered delivery through DoorDash so I can't comment on the actual restaurant location or staff. I have the same sushi order that I get time and time again from different places around the city. So it's not like I ordered anything that I haven't had many times before. First of the packaging for delivery way substandard. The gomae was saucy and leaked because it was put in a styrofoam container with no seal. That being said it could because all of the sauce leaked out but the gomae had no flavour. It just tasted like boiled spinach. The agadeshi tofu was soggy. There was a gummy jelly like coating to it that made it inedible. Delivery was quick so it wasn't because it was sitting for a long time, it was just not cooked properly. The chopped scallop nigiri was ok. I've had better and I've had worse. The tamago nigiri was good. Big piece of tamago that was slightly sweet. Finally the yam tempura avocado roll was just ok as well. The flavour wasn't bad but the yam tempura was cold so I'm guessing that it was made earlier in the day. Would have prefered fresh like they do in most other restaurants. I couldn't eat a couple of pieces because they were covered in wasabi since there was no divider between the wasabi and the sushi in the container. Overall I would not order delivery from them again nor would I go to the restaurant. There are so many good sushi places in the city that ok sushi it just not worth spending money on. read more

Kaori Izakaya - Gummy jelly type coating on the agadeshi tofu - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Caveat- I am not a great connoisseur of sushi (I cheat with yam derivatives and edamame), but the food from this place was delicious, even when eaten cold. I will go back for sure. read more

Been here twice already. Love it. The staff is friendly and helpful and the food is exceptional. The appies we've tried were all very fresh and the tempura is light and not greasy. Atmosphere is wonderful but they could use a little help with their music selection... it was odd and did not fit but also didn't take away from the delicious food and friendly staff :) They also don't need the TV. It can hold its own without the need for distractions... read more

After finding out that the restaurant we were planning to eat at was closed one day, we decided to eat here. As vegans, this is not the ideal choice, but we found plenty to eat -- including a veggie sushi combo ($10++), Inari Nigiri, and a nice roasted okra tapas dish. The food was solid, but nothing special. Service was alright, a little slow and poor English spoken by many of the servers. Decent spot, but we weren't overly enamoured with the place. read more

I went here after the surrounding eateries all had ques! We were very surprised, the food and service was excellent. Highly recommend the volcano roll, this was a stand out! read more

I came here with a party of 4 for a party and to get some tapas. The tapas are a little $$ but nothing that it out of the wallet range. We split the bill evenly 4 ways for an assortment of dishes. The waitress was super nice and friendly and everything came out in a timely manner. We did the $20 for 4 appie special. read more

What a great experience. Staff were friendly, attentive, and very caring and respectful. Food came very quickly but did not have us feeling rushed. The food itself was amazing. Rice was not over cooked and the fish was very fresh. Rolls felt not too heavy while still packing tons of flavour. Even the wasabi and ginger didn't feel old and stale. Maybe a little pricier than some other places but the quality was top notch. Would definitely recommend to anyone, especially if you're going out for a more special occasion. read more

Decided to pop by since I was in the neighborhood.... We all ended up pleasantly surprised as this is such a hidden gem!!! The menu selections looked all tantalizing, the service was warm and friendly, the ambiance was cozy and authentic to the izakaya tradition, the food was the BOMB, and last but not least, the washroom was spotless and really diggin the cool doors by the way. My recommedations u have to try are: the pan seared foie gras, black cod, and deep fried oysters! we will no doubt be back for more treats! read more

Was invited here for a friend's birthday, and boy am I glad they picked this place! Service was fast and prices fair. The chicken karage was a little different than it was at most places - a thin, less crunchy batter wrapped around tender, juicy pieces of chicken thigh. Not bad. The salmon aburi roll, ika karage and cheese chikuwa were delicious too. Would definitely come back again to try more! read more

Came here for a late night bite after being on set and was happily met with a lovely sampling plate. Ended up drinking sake and tasting more with the owner and some restaurant industry locals. A++ read more

This plaze has amazing sushi. I ordered delivery and everything was perfection. Salmon aburi sushi roll was outstanding, the bbq eel was perfection. Hamachi was so fresh. I loved it and this delivery was better than most eat in places. It was packaged well, and the presentation was just like a restaurant. Only gripe is they forgot to pack chopsticks. read more

I'm shocked. I don't think I've ever had sushi so absolutely bland. Yakitori were really riding that fine line between cooked and uncooked. I would highly recommend avoiding this place. read more

PEOPLE PLEASE READ THIS COMMENT AND STAY AWAY FROM THIS RESTAURANT. Tasteless and very bad quality food I only had one bite of my spicy tuna crunch (which wasn't spicy or crunchy by the way) I am surprised I am not sick. The fish was grey and smelled very bad read more

Reasonably priced and delicious! The restaurant is tiny, with fantastic service. Their system for ordering take out is incredibly user friendly and easy to navigate. read more