Prices have tripled in 10 years. lol. Still bigger than average portions, friendly and fast service. read more

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Randomly discovered this place while on a trip in Vancouver and absolutely loved it! Wish that it is in NYC. Within four days, I came here twice! For the price, the portion was huge and the fish was very fresh! I really liked the ikura salmon don and the tuna sashimi. Everything was super fresh. The tuna was magical--it just melts in your mouth! The portion sizes differ per day though. The first time I went the portion size was normal, and the second time the portion became a lot bigger. Would definitely come back if I ever visit Vancouver again. read more

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The Salmon and Ikura Donburi looked good in picture, but it was not made right. The rice was hard throughout; it took work to chew. Remember this was a Donburi, so bad rice = fail. The Salmon sashimi and Ikura were fresh and delicious. Boyfriend ordered a Seafood Udon lunch set which included California rolls. He found the udon noodle okay, yet the squid in the udon was too tough to chew. The rolls were loose and tasteless. The Grilled Squid appenizer tasted okay but the texture on the tough side. The services was courteous. read more

Samurai Japanese Restaurant - Salmon and Ikura Donburi ($18) - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

3.5. Great prices and nice presentation but some of the fish was hit or miss, large cuts but less quality. Clean and nice service and the vibe was great. This is not high end sushi but you'll be full and generally happy. Worth a try! read more

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There are rolls and then there are ROLLS. Samurai's Special House Roll (half: $8.95; full: $15.95) falls into the latter category with its gargantuan size. For real, you may not be able to eat one in one bite because it is stuffed with imitation crab, tuna, salmon, tamago, and avocado. I consider myself to be a bottomless pit at times, but even four pieces can be considered a meal (good bang for your buck!). Given how packed these rolls are, they may fall apart as you pick them up or bite into it, but I do think the rice to filling ratio is appropriate here to fully savour each component. So why 4 stars as opposed to 5? I've ordered from Samurai countless times - both for dine-in and for takeout - but the other menu items don't appeal to me as much as the Special House Roll. Granted, I've only tried the Manhattan Roll ($7.50), Alaska Roll ($6.95), SSSR Roll ($6.95), Chopped Scallop Cone ($6.25), Seafood Salad ($11.95), and Nabeyaki Udon ($15.50), which is but a fraction of the menu items, but I've truthfully enjoyed them at other places more. Finally, I would recommend ordering takeout because Samurai itself is quite small and there doesn't seem to be any AC. The restaurant has been very efficient with my orders, with my most recent ones being less than 15 minutes. Give it a try if you'd like to see these giants up close and personal! read more

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Have to say this place was average at best. Sushi rolls were overly thick and hard to eat. Rolls kept falling apart. Spicy tuna roll was just odd. Definitely wouldn't return. Place left me wanting to try somewhere else. Upside was happy hour menu had a few decent items on it and discount on beer so price wasn't too bad. Overall though wouldn't return. read more

In the middle of the bustling Davie Village, Samurai Japanese Restaurant is quite hard to find given its small store front. I was recommended here by my friend in Vancouver. After a long day of walking around, I stopped by for dinner (visited March 2020). I have long been informed that Vancouver has the best sushi in Canada. Samurai's prices and quality would definitely be 5-star with Toronto's standards (may be 4 in Vancouver given the intense competition). I had the Chirashi as my main course, Takoyaki (comes with x6 per 1 order), torched (aburi) sushi x2, and 1 set of tempura. With all these, costs around $35 with tax. The tax here at Vancouver is so much lower than Toronto. A similar dinner would have been $50ish around GTA. The food was affordable for sure. This is one of those where I can order as much food as I like without feeling pressured by the prices. The Chirashi and sushi were fresh. Aburi sushi were torched well. My Chirashi bowl contained all kinds of fish and were quite satisfying. This restaurant is low-key but has excellent quality/pricing. The menu had such variety that I wanted to try everything. It's not necessarily high-class but definitely a great sushi option in Downtown Vancouver if you don't want the fancy sushi dinners. The location is perfect, I'd recommend a leisure stroll along Davie Street afterwards. read more

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This is not the most amazing Japanese food in Vancouver, but for the price, taste, variety, and quantity, I feel like it deserves 4 stars! I love that they do a bunch of grilled foods like salmon cheek, squid, and veggies. The menu has something for everybody. The udon noodle is chewy and tasty, and the teriyaki is generous in size. The tuna belly sashimi is a good deal compared to most restaurants. The restaurant is tiny so I usually do takeout. My favourite is the grilled squid and salmon kama, and my corgi puppy LOVES the salmon skin so I think he would actually give this place a five star rating. I've been coming here for years, and the staff is always friendly! read more

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I've eaten here since 2008. Haven't been back for a couple years. The quality of the food wasn't what I remember. The service was fine and the price was inexpensive, but the sushi rolls were loose, the fish did not taste as fresh, and the sushi seemed real dated (no special sauces, layered fish and ingredients on top of rolls, or other creative elements). read more

This is a great place, good atmosphere. Nice servers and decent sushi for a good price. Generally my go-to sushi spot because of the pricing, as well as consistency of good food and service. Great party trays too if you are entertaining. read more

Want that cheap oversized, too big to fit into your mouth Vancouver sushi? Samurai is notorious for that. There are 3 locations called Samurai and 1 called Bonzai in Richmond but they're all linked. This one is linked to the Fraser Street location (which is my favourite of them all). Came here for some late night eats and it was busy! This Samurai actually has wait staff and proper seating vs. the other locations in Vancouver. I ordered the Aburi set and a yam tempura roll. You can never go wrong with a yam tempura roll here, in fact it may just be my favourite in all of Vancouver because of its consistency, the slightly warm yam and the portion size. The Aburi set was a bit of a let down but I thought I would try it because I had never seen it on a Samurai menu. It was seared tuna and salmon on rice, but there was no fancy sauce, and was really bland so I wouldn't recommend it. I would suggest getting any of their rolls though. They'll big too big to fit in your mouth in one bite and they have tons of ingredients, though likely low quality... but if you're hankering for a sushi fix, this will hit your spot. read more

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I came here on a Sunday afternoon and it was busy but we were seated right away. The sizes here for some items are HUGE! The house roll was the most enormous sushi roll I had ever seen. We should've gotten a half order but we thought it would be normal sized. I attached a picture below. It's almost purely crab meat and just a little bit of salmon, tuna and rice. The crab meat wasn't that good to me. It felt like it had too much mayo but my mom loved it. Because of that I didn't like the house roll. We also got the tuna and salmon sashimi. The slices were extremely thick and large! The salmon was pretty good but the tuna was too soft for me to enjoy. Maybe it's just the type of tuna but I thought it was just ok and tasted a little fishy. The prices are super cheap and with large portions. For four people it was only $52 and we couldn't even finish the food. The servers are also very friendly! Would recommend for cheap lunch spot. read more

Samurai Japanese Restaurant - Giant house roll and spider roll - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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I visited here to get cost-effective sashimi and sushi from time to time. There were always people lining up before COVID-19, so I usually prefer take-out. Last time I ordered Aburi Sushi Set and Rainbow Roll to go. Both were delicious and worth the price. Aburi could be better for dining in, as it was a little cold and hard. read more

Samurai Japanese Restaurant - Aburi Sushi Set-$8.95 Rainbow Roll-$9.95 - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Return visit a year onwards. Coming to Samurai sushi on Davie occasionally for a few years, nearly 12 months has passed since we were last in. It was late afternoon and Samurai was quiet, no line ups, we were seated promptly and ordered straight away, food arrived a short time later. My biking companion was new to Japanese style food so ordered a teriyaki chicken combination bento box for 12.95. It was a LOT of food, and he couldn't quite 'get there', passed over the miso soup to me (it wasn't very flavourful or hot, I didn't consume it either. He liked his tempura prawns, veggies greasy said he). Couldn't get brown rice though he did try, server's language skills notwithstanding. Accompanying sushi roll was ok. Ate around the chicken, leaving some. Big portions said he, waaay big, okay taste for the most part. My CHIRASHI SASHIMI bowl was 4 bucks dearer, and stuck to the basics. I WAS allowed to have brown rice. And a tiny serve of TAMARI (gluten free) Rice a tad gluggy. Fish NOT as good as past visits. Raw is a curious beast innit? Every flaw is magnified, nowhere to hide. Tuff Tako, stringy sashimi, quality slipping, nothing stood out, though some components ( tobiko / shrimp/ scallop tiny cubes) were ok. Down a notch in quality based on yesterday's experience. Portion sizes for protein still B I G, but size isn't everything. Definately NOT where sashimi is concerned, and THIS one earned a 2.8 rating on the yelpmeter. Payment process was curious. Different server approached the table with a mobile machine and we inquired if CASH was ok? She seemed dissapointed to have to count my friend's coins? My 100$ note was taken with a 'snatching' motion. Not a lotta hospo goin' on this occasion. Parking on 1100 block Davie St. in Vancouver's west end is always a challenge, EVEN ON BICYCLE ! (We chained em to a designated stand some ways from the restaurant). Overall, a bare passing grade, C minus in the old money. Rounded up to THREE stars. pics to follow in due course read more

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#204 Been coming here for years, reasonable price and larger portions than most places. Small but comfortable place. Leave your umbrella at the door and enjoy some hot tea. Check the walls for new dishes and specials! Lots of to go orders from locals is always a good sign. With the new Happy Hour, you cannot go wrong. 52oz pitcher with no devices in the middle of the pitcher to keep it "cool" (don't fall for that). Open late daily especially on the weekend, one of the better priced sushi restaurants in the neighbourhood. I come here a lot so I get great service all day long. I have servers whom know what I want at a minimum. There is street parking but save yourself the drama, take transit or walk. Davie St has a lot going on so you don't want to miss that. read more

Samurai Japanese Restaurant - Ten piece sashimi - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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This isn't about the food -- it's about the service! On my last visit to Samurai Sushi on DAVIE this is exactly what my Waiter asked me after I paid my bill using Interact! I paid my bill on Interact and did not leave a tip on the interact machine where it asks if you want to leave a tip (because I was going to leave the tip in cash instead of Interact). But before I could do that, the Waiter actually had the audacity (nerve) to ask me if something was wrong!!! I said no, nothing is wrong. And then he said: "Well you didn't leave a tip" and remained standing at my table, looking at me!!!!!!! I mean are you kidding me???? A waiter actually asking Customers for a tip!!!!! Needless to say, THAT was the reason that in the end, I changed my mind about leaving him the nice cash tip I was about to leave him (before he had the rudeness and nerve to question me about a tip!!!!!) read more

Decided to get takeout from Samurai since I was in the area and haven't been here since pre-COVID times.. I ordered an avocado roll, cucumber roll, and yam tempura. The avocado roll was by far my favorite. The avocado was fresh and creamy and the roll tasted delicious. The cucumber roll was good too - although I wish it was a cucumber and avocado roll as those are my favorite type. I'm not sure if samurai sells those - didn't see on the menu online. We got the large size of the yam tempura but wished we had ordered the small as the portion size was huge. The tempura pieces were really big and the large came with about 6-7 pieces. We weren't huge fans of the tempura, which is usually a favorite of ours. It just didn't taste like anything special - I wouldn't recommend ordering this. Overall, I'd come back in the future but only for the avocado / cucumber rolls, not for their tempura. read more

I haven't been to this Japanese restaurant in a long time and I won't be going back, it might be cheap, but quality of the sushi is not. Their sushi is larger and breaks as you bite it. I will not be recommending this restaurant. read more

TL;DR: Really big portions, order as you go if it's your first time to avoid food wastage For the money you're paying, the food portions are humongous. The house roll (half order: $6.95) is by far one of the best deals, containing a little bit of raw fish, avocado, tamago, all wrapped up with a very large portion of fake crab meat salad. Compared to most other areas of Canada, the sashimi is pretty great, and the portions are great value. The three kinds of sashimi ($13.95) allows you to try a few different fish without committing on the first try, but I personally like the tuna most. I remember ordering one of the Teriyaki combos once, and it was so big that a friend and I couldn't finish it. Definitely a great value for lunch at around $13-15. read more

Samurai Japanese Restaurant - House Roll, half order (6.95) - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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I have been coming here for the last 15 years and used to be a huge fan of this place, but unfortunately their quality and service have really dropped in the last couple of years. We tried again recently for the sake of nostalgia but were deeply disappointed once again. The portions are smaller and the prices are higher, which would be fine given the current economy, but the quality of the sushi has also dropped significantly so you're not even paying more for the same product, you're paying more for garbage. Sadly, the old nice manager left a few years ago and now the servers are snarky and inattentive. They act like they're doing you a favour by letting you eat here and openly scoff and roll their eyes at people. It makes me sad to say this isn't the same place anymore and now deserves no more than 2 stars. read more

ordered through ubereats. Got Alska roll, karaage, mix combo, combination A , Red Dragon roll. It was probably around worth 4-5 portion. Very generous portion and reasonable price....which is rare now a-days! the rolls were decent. I like how they didn't put excess amount of weird spice or sauce like in some of the other sushi roll place. One thing that i didn't like was the karaage. The skin was extremely hard to the extent that i was not able to bite.. maybe it was reheated too much. read more

Humongous pieces of sashimi and super fresh and the texture is always so good! Great value without the frills! read more

AMBIANCE: Cute small venue right in the middle of gay district. Friendly, homely, quaint. I wouldn't go as far as call it romantic but causal for sure. LOCATION: on Davie St in the middle of all the gay bars and clubs. Easy to find and see. SERVICE: quick, friendly, welcoming. We came in with 15 mins till last call and they didn't even rush us or make us feel unwanted. They were great and got us our food fast and well done. FOOD: it was decent, not the best but it was a great late night joint. We shared a pork ramen and a tonkatsu pork breaded dish. The tonkatsu was delicious. The breadth was done well and flavorly. It was so crunchy! Loved it. The dipping sauce was a bit too sweet for me but to each their own. It came out with a huge portion, see photos. The ramen also came out with a huge portion. The broth was quite refreshing. The noodles cooked well but could have sat for another minute or 2. The only bad thing was how thick the pork was cut. It was not cooked tender enough to leave it that thick. It was quite hard to chew as it didn't just break apart easily. We managed to get through it though and it was a reasonably enjoyable meal. PRICING: it was fairly priced. 2 dishes for 2 people for ~$24. Everything else looked to be at a good price point as well. Sushi around $8-10. Appetizers $6-8. read more

Samurai Japanese Restaurant - Tonkotsu - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Average Sushi place. Food is okay and price is good. I did expect better quality and portions- size is fine but quality of roll is mediocre. Pretty loud inside as it was full, which doesn't make it a place to stay longer. Service for takeout is good and dine in average. The warm food options are slightly better than the sushi. read more

This place is always busy when I walk past and finally decided to try it out. Unfortunately it didn't quite hit the spot in terms of quality. I had the salmon teriyaki with tempura. The tempura batter was thick and lacked crunch. The salmon was had a sickly sweet teriyaki sauce over it. Bf had the pork katsu curry which he said wasn't bad at all. Overall good value for money but you get what you pay for. read more

Having been to all the other locations, this one is definitely different. It's more of a restaurant as opposed to a takeout place. The other big difference with this location is that it's open until 2300 or later everyday. The other locations all close at 2100. Parking is available after 2200 on Davie. Before then, there are some side streets. The interior, as mentioned, is more like a restaurant. Wooden panels and Japanese decorations everywhere. Feels a bit dated (1980s), but cozy. Staff were friendly. The food here is noticeably more expensive than the other locations, by $1-2 for the same dish. Something to keep in mind. The pieces also aren't as big. Normally I expect to destroy myself, but in this case I didn't leave clutching my stomach. The sushi selection here is also different from the other locations. Not a bad thing, but different. Keeping with the restaurant theme, they have dishes such as curry rice here. Not available at any of the other places. With that said, I can't tell if I like this place. It's decent, but just not the Samurai I am used to. Almost feels like the other locations in an alternate reality. It's a decent pick, but keep in mind the differences between this location and the others. read more

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What happened to this place? I had a combo with BC roll and the rolls were disgusting! The salmon skin tasted dead, the entire roll had no taste and crumbly rice. Also, the beef teriyaki looked like chicken that had soaked in soy sauce, it was pathetic. Even the miso taste like dirty dish water. What a shame, this used to be the best place for sushi. Server was nice. read more

I ate there on my first day in Vancouver and kept thinking about coming back every day. So I did. The lunch specials are good-sized meals, prices are low, the quality of food is wonderful. The special rolls are huge, literally the size of my palm. Their agedashi tofu is fantastic. I love this place! read more

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This is more like 3.5 stars for me, but sometimes it's just 3 stars. The sushi is decent. It's reasonably priced. I guess just remembering back to the times I come here, it's not as good as some other places. And when you start to compare sushi restaurants in this city, it gets really hard because there are so many. Would I put this restaurant on my go to list for sushi? It would certainly be one of the options that is for sure. Usually when I come here I get one of their boxes. Have I tried their sushi that is not in the boxes, yes. I do remember their sashimi being pretty big compared to other restaurants. But for some reason I just can't push this place to a four star review just yet. Perhaps with more time here I can. But for now, come here and try out some reasonable priced decent sushi. read more

Samurai Japanese Restaurant - Box C pork - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

best salmon sashimi ever! friendly staff and hidden gem in Vancouver. Tastes like food from Japan :)

Consistently fresh fish, with portion sizes that blow other places out of the water. Some might claim it's inauthentic (I've never seen such thick juicy slabs of sashimi or such fat fist-sized rolls in Japan), but who gives a hoot when it's delicious and amazing value. It's true that the larger house special roll has a tendency to fall apart, but I won't complain when they're trying to literally stuff as much yummy crab, fresh fish, and ripe avocado as possible into my roll. Other favorites include rainbow roll and tuna + salmon sashimi combo. The place is small and cozy with a student vibe, and service is perfectly friendly. At the end of the day, there's a reason I keep bringing all my friends from out of town here: Samurai consistently wows and satisfies, and everyone I've brought here has left with a happy heart and a full belly (and a non-empty wallet). Will be back on the regs. read more

So I'm from toronto and I was brought here by my cousin who has a sentimental attachment to this sushi restaurant because it was one of the first places she went to when she first came to Vancouver. So my verdict, I'm a huge Japanese lover and I absolutely loved the huge rolls! I have never seen such huge rolls in my life. I enjoyed the taste of the sushi as well. We ordered the samurai roll and just ordered the half portion cause my cousin said it was too much food if you order the whole roll, and she was right! We ordered half that portion and sashimi 3 kinds. Salmon , amaebi, and toro. I wasn't a huge fan of the toro because Of the fishy taste but the salmon and amaebi was soo yummy! But because they cut the salmon portions so huuge as well I got so full! Definitely a great place to check out! read more

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Hmmmmm it is like time has stood still for this Japanese eatery. It's been years since I've been here. For many reasons before Yelp was born I'd be coming here for big giant sushi and good portions and great prices . Most of all was the Udon soups which was a dish that I grew up with as a child . It was my go to comfort food. Then again now I realize as well that some things should be just left to memory ask times do change. However the soup was still comforting to me and brought me to a level where my anxieties ceased to exist. For that I am thankful that I was able to dine here last night. The familiarity of the surroundings and the sound of Japanese chatter mixed with English made me feel at home again. It brought me back to decades ago when I frequented here. Another life, a lifetime ago. Udon noodle soup is something that can't be made bad. It can't be. It's comfort food. But The Sushi... I'm super picky narcissistically analy super picky hyperventilatingly Uber picky about sushi. So it was a big mistake to have ordered it for me and my dining friend. Worst of all she's a Japanese food critique so I won't say what she told me. If she hadn't come with me. Maybe my opinions would have differed. I probably wouldn't have ordered sushi. If I did it would have been vegetarian to bet. So.... sushi 1 star Udon 4 stars Ebi tempura 2 stars. Beer oh that's 5 stars because of the really cute glass it was served in. Did I mention the glass was chilled? Yummm. read more

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Consistent 4-star un-fancy neighbourhood sushi spot: cheerful staff, reasonable service, tasty food in a tidy little spot. I mostly come here for sushi and/is sashimi and takeout of the same. So far so good, rice is well flavoured and I've yet to have had an unhappy tummy from the raw seafood - sounds simple enough, but not everywhere consistently delivers on raw seafood that's tummy friendly! I can't really comment on their bowls or other cooked dishes, I've only had a couple - they were okay, but I prefer other spots or those. Come here for rustic, delicious sushi and decent sashimi, not for luxury presentation and service and you'll have a great experience read more

Samurai Japanese Restaurant - spicy tuna roll, spicy scallop roll, tuna and salmon sashimi - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

If you're hungry af come here. Portions are absolutely large! I recommend full salmon sashimi, and the dragon roll. The house roll is no joke - that is the size of a fist. read more

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My favourite sushi place in the city used to be Sushi California on W. Broadway. Now it is Samurai. And not because the sushi is extra special compared to other places but because of the value for the dollar. I've only ordered one of the three combination plate for $18.50 (the other two were $14.50 each) available at dinner times. Came with 3 pieces of nigiri sushi, 5 HUGE pieces of sashimi, miso soup, salad, 5 generous pieces of tempura (two of which were shrimp) and teriaki (either chicken or beef). At lunch I had for $15.50 the bento box with chicken teriaki. Again, fabulous value for the dollar. Plus, they include two pieces of their wonderful spicy tofu. read more

Huge pieces of sashimi and sushi plus a brown rice option which is a plus. We went there for lunch and these three items cost around $24 1. Udon chicken noodle soup with shrimp tempura 2. California Roll 3. Salmon Sashimi read more

Samurai Japanese Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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My Uncle took me here for dinner. I didn't tell him (until after dinner) that I had a Japadog an hour before! Anyhow, the best part of the dinner was the salmon sashimi. The portion size for 1/2 an order was huge. The cuts where fresh, cold, and best of all they melted in my mouth. Like butter! We also ordered a spider roll (soft shell crab), a BC roll (salmon skin roll), and a Vancouver roll (smoked salmon and crab, shrimp meat). The sushi rolls were not user friendly at all. They were too large. The type that makes you have a tug of war with the seaweed. That's just messy. I'd rather have more manageable sushi that's packed with flavor and fresh ingredients than one that is bulked up with mayo and fake crab. I have not tried any of their entree items but from the photos, they look good. The prices here are very reasonable. Heck, compared to sushi places in California the prices at this place are downright cheap! read more

Samurai Japanese Restaurant - Largest cuts of sashimi ever! - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

I go here often as it's close to home and I like it. The food is consistently good with good service and a real community feel. It's usually busy and the prices are very reasonable. I give a 5 stars rating primarily because of the consistency. I always look forward to eating here with my friends. Try it, you'll like it! read more

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This is close to us but we never saw this place. It is a small spot and hence we pass it by. I decided to give it a try and I was not disappointed. They have huge servings; not too fancy, but can't beat the food and price. The slices are huge and I absolutely love their unagi nigiri. I eat like 5-6 pieces each time. They have a small, simple spot along Davie, but I believe it is one of the gems in the village. Come early though, coz it does fill up and the line can be very long! You won't be disappointed. read more

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