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    Samurai Japanese Restaurant

    3.3 (304 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 12:00 AM (Next day)

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    SAMURAI JAPANESE RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Classy
    Good for groups

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    the front of the restaurant
    Jeff W.

    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!

    Special House Roll (Full) ($15.95)
    Michelle W.

    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!

    Aburi (torched) sushi were tasty and done well. You can make any sushi "aburi" according to your liking.
    Kevin C.

    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.

    Beef teriyaki takeout
    Christina L.

    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!

    Chelsey H.

    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.

    Giant house roll and spider roll
    Anna L.

    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.

    Aburi Sushi Set-$8.95 Rainbow Roll-$9.95
    Teresa L.

    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.

    Lunch treat
    Simon B.

    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

    Ten piece sashimi
    James C.

    #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.

    House Roll, half order (6.95)
    Carol N.

    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.

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

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    Laksa - only comes in medium spicy and it's genuinely hottt
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    Kosoo Restaurant

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    5 stars for the bossam. The thick-cut, tender pork was rich and delicious. I could have used a bit…read moremore pickled radish and greens to balance it out, but honestly, it was the best I've ever had. We ordered a half serving and we couldn't finish. Dwenjang jjigae had an interesting twist. It was lighter and more radish-forward than the traditional version, which I didn't mind, but it felt a bit unusual to call it dwenjang jjigae. It came with mushrooms, radish, tofu, and thin slices of beef. Overall, it was light and very enjoyable. Soondae was different from the typical version I'm used to. Here, it's made with an innards casing and the filling was also different, like meaty with less noodles. It had a strong flavor and aroma that I didn't prefer but the texture was soft, not chewy, and it paired nicely with kimchi and radish. It was fine to try but I probably wouldn't order it again. We ordered a small, and couldn't finish. Side dishes were limited to three varieties (fish cake, kimchi, bean sprouts) and served in small portions. With the richness of the bossam and strong taste of the soondae, we needed more kimchi and pickled radish but it was hard to get our server's attention, likely because she was busy attending to all the tables. We enjoyed the warm ambiance, and it seemed like many diners were enjoying the army stew. We'll be back to try more items and for the bossam.

    We came here for their deal - $24/person for 10 lunch dishes. What a deal! Apparently only the…read moreCardero location offers this deal. There were 6 of us and so all dishes were served in bigger platters for us to share family style instead of individual small dishes as shown on the menu. Would have been nice but oh well, it's just as good. All the dishes were good, not superb except for the spicy pork and bulgogi which in my opinion, should be better from a Korean chef and a restaurant at that! FRESH OYSTER Fresh West Coast Oyster with Mignonette TUNA TARTARE Tuna with Romaine Lettuce Sesame Dressing MUSHROOM SALAD Mixed Greens, Balsamic Sauce, Feta Cheese and Tomato, Sauted Mushroom BIBIMBOB BALL Sautéed Veggie Rice Ball with Spicy Sauce KOSOO TACO Beef with Sweet & Spicy Sauce, Lettuce, Onion, French Crêpe as Soft Taco Shell JAPCHAE Traditional Korean Glass Noodles Stir Fried with Mixed Veggies JEYUK OR BULGOGI Spicy Pork / Soy Marinated Beef Brisket KOREAN SIDE DISHES 3 Type of Korean Side Dishes KOREAN MISO SOUP A Traditional Korean Home Dish Made with Soybean Paste with Mixed Veggies, Tofu, and Beef RICE BOWL Korean / Japanes Style Sticky Rice MATCHA CRÈME Not Overly Sweet. Think Crème Brulée but Made with Matcha One would think that for that price portions should be so small that you'd come out hungry. On the contrary, we were all full!

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    Interior
    Interior
    MUSHROOM SALAD Mixed Greens, Balsamic Sauce, Feta Cheese and Tomato, Sauted Mushroom
    MUSHROOM SALAD Mixed Greens, Balsamic Sauce, Feta Cheese and Tomato, Sauted Mushroom
    JAPCHAE Traditional Korean Glass Noodles Stir Fried with Mixed Veggies

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    JAPCHAE Traditional Korean Glass Noodles Stir Fried with Mixed Veggies

    Samurai Japanese Restaurant - japanese - Updated July 2026

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