We went during their 90s throwback price promotion, where they were offering discounted combos at…read more90s prices with a drink purchase. I got the spicy family (spicy salmon roll, spicy tuna roll and spicy chopped scallop roll) for $15.95 and it was disappointing. I was expecting the rolls to be smaller due to the deal, but they were thumbnail-sized sushi pieces and did not look like the menu photos at all. The environment and service were good, but the food was lacking.

Good happy hour and late night specials. Includes oysters, sushi, and appetizers…read more Place is a bit old, servers are nice but you need patience. Reservation not necessary. Prices are good.

One of my fav spots for a nice sit down meal with friends! I always get the unagi (fried eel)…read morefutomaki roll as a part of my meal. The servers are kind and always ready to top off our water!

Tastewise, the food was a 4 or 5 star rating…read more However I was quite disapponted with the add on option for my pasta. I asked if there was any protein add ons for the Mentaiko pasta. The server said $1 per prawn. This was interesting as opposed to a dollar amount price for a portion of prawns. I ordered 2. When the dish came out, the server mentioned that the "prawns" were small so they added an extra one. I thought it was a thoughtful gesture, until i looked at the dish and saw three MINI shrimp. I really wondered if I had ordered a pasta that came with prawns , how many would there have been ? If i had upgraded to the beef , how many pieces would i have gotten? The prawn add on was not on the menu so did the server make up the price? I had a lot of questions. My thoughts were if the prawns were small, why even keep it to the unit price vs just adding enough shrimp equivalent to a prawn- in my opinion, all 3 shrimps combined were worth 3/4 of ONE prawn. I don't usually do add ons to dishes but this has been the worst moments by far. My friend ordered the chicken namban which was a huge portion and the way they prepared the chicken was unique - I tried a bit and the sauce was delish. We also shared the salmon aburi. It was good , but lacked the smokiness flavour. The place had comfortable seating and on a Monday evening around 530pm, my friend and I were the only ones there. Later on, the place started to fill up. The place was also cutely adorned with plushies along the counter and window sills. If you are up for a 8 min walk and untimed parking, you could get lucky parking a bit further around Ash Street or W 7th. Maybe you can put the money saved for more prawns hahaha. The futomaki options looked interesting. Maybe if I could look past the shrimps I'll come back to try the other menu items.

This place specializes in mackerel, so if you really like grilled fish I would highly recommend it…read more My sister got the miso marinated mackerel ($28) and it was probably the best fish I've ever had. Not only was the fish so much bigger than the others. it was perfectly marinated in a delicious sweet, savoury and umami sauce and grilled just enough so it wasn't dry. I got the yuzu special mackeral set ($24). It was delicious and I'm a big fan of ochazuke too, so having that dashi broth on the side for me to pour into the rice was excellent. If you're not a fan of soupy rice I would not recommend you order this. I also didn't really taste yuzu and the mackerel was a bit dry. We also got a hojicha pudding ($12) and it was very rich in that roasted, chocolatey flavour but I found it a bit too sweet. Overall I would definitely come here again!

I came here to have dinner with my friends. We didn't look at the menu before coming. While looking…read moreat the menu, I learned that they are part of the toyokan, kingyo chain. They mainly serve teishoku and kamameshi sets. You pick your protein in the teishoku set and it comes with rice, miso soup and some sides. You can add add-ons like furikake, onsen egg. The kamameshi is a pot of mixed rice. I over heard from the next table that their mackerel dishes are really good so I ordered a miso mackerel even though I am not a fish bone person. My miso meckerel set came and I was quite surprised that the portion is so big. The set came with one whole fish. It is quite good value for $28. It I tried my friend's mirin meckerel and I liked the mirin one better. The mirin one has a sweetness to it and it doesn't have that fishy taste. My miso meckerel tasted light and the miso didn't cover the fishy flavor. My other friend ordered a yuzu mackerel hishimabushi. This option has no bones! I should have gone with one. Overall, aside from fish bones, the food is really good. We ended the meal with some hojicha pudding. That felt like a reward for picking out all the fish bones. The restaurant isn't that big so reservation is definitely recommended. There are free street parking after 6 pm.

Excellent food. Eaten there several times. Never disappointed. Keep going back. Always a different…read moremenu. Keeps it fresh!!

Crack Salad. The name is simply on the nose. My partner and I each got one and could have eaten…read morethree a piece. Parmesan galore with capers and citrus playing a strong supporting role. Unreal. We think the vegetables could have been roasted a bit longer for optimal chewiness but they were still divine--especially the way the dressing clung to the brassicas florets. As a kale lover, I would take much more kale, but that's just personal preference, not any denigration of the dish (more kale would make it more of a salad and less of a share plate). The service was friendly and the space had a peaceful minimalist appeal. I imagine other dishes are wonderful too, but it'd be hard not to repeat the salad over and over. We're from out of town but if and when we return to Vancouver, this will definitely be on the itinerary.

This place is extraordinary. Everything was fried to perfection. We were also told that the panko…read moreis created fresh everyday from a local bakery in Vancouver. I would recommend chicken or shrimp if you want a protein. I had the tonkatsu (pork) which was a little tougher. The thinly sliced pork with cheese inside was the best bite I had. I also enjoyed the katsu nabe but the soup does affect the texture of the fried pork. There was also unlimited rice, cabbage salad, and sesame sauce here. Amazing! My husband ordered the curry chicken katsu which was excellent and our friends ordered the Zenbu Katsu which was plenty to share between two people. The staff are very sweet and attentive and the restaurant is clean and simple.

I had no idea that katsu could taste this GOOD. I mean, all katsu I've had prior to eating at Saku…read morejust pales in comparison. Who knew??? My hubs and I vacationed in Vancouver a few weeks ago in late April. We had seen the long lines for dinner at Saku when we were here more than a year ago. So, we decided to give them a try for a late lunch around 2pm on a Wednesday afternoon. No wait. We got seated right away. We liked how spacious and airy the dining room was. Our wait staff were friendly and on point. They were considerate about answering our questions about the food and food allergies. I ordered the chicken thigh katsu ($26 Can) and my hubs got the chicken thigh curry ($28.50 Can). No dairy involved in either dish which I was happy about because I have challenges digesting milk protein. Yes, it's kinda pricey. Yes, it's totally worth it. The katsu is light, crispy, fried perfectly, not greasy, and comes with unlimited rice, miso soup, finely chopped cabbage salad, and an addictively delicious sesame dressing. My hubs' curry sauce was served on the side so he could pour out as much or as little as he wanted. All in all, it was a very pleasant and satisfying meal. Saku is top notch for katsu. You won't believe how good katsu can be until you try it.

Biggest takeaway and reason for 3 stars: Service needs a serious improvement. And it wasn't due to…read morelack of staff, there were a lot of servers on shift. I eat sushi once a week and I have my weekly go-tos and my fancy occasion go-to sushi joints. I would put this restaurant in the middle - the decor makes it nicer than your average takeout or dine-in spot and the way the sushi is presented is pretty and done with care. When we arrived the restaurant was pretty dead (we went before a show at 5pm) the servers told us we'd have to be out by 630 due to reservations. We were totally fine with that. We sat for a while before anyone came by to take our drink order (which is odd if you're telling us we're on a time limit). A server came by and we ordered ice water. Having walked down to the restaurant we were all extra parched. Server came around again and gave us hot tea. Then we asked for ice water a second time and ordered our food. What was frustrating was there was no acknowledgment of them forgetting or saying sorry after we asked 3 times total. Zero accountability. We got the sashimi salad, ocean pacific roll, appetizer tempura and a few nigiri to share. The food came out super quickly but alas, no ice water. We had to ask a third time. The sashimi salad is HUGE, tons of salmon, lacking abit on the tuna sashimi though. The nigiri was all yummy - we did toro and salmon. The tempura was crisp and light, good size on the prawns and veggies. And the ocean pacific roll was tasty. Finally the waters came near the end of the meal. All in all the food was quite good but where they fall really short is service.

Beautiful restaurant with lots of seating space! Very clean with modern interior, the staff were…read morefriendly and attentive as well. We enjoyed our meals, the meal sets were delicious but be careful as both cod and the mackerel has bones.

On our first night visiting Vancouver, we weren't sure where to have dinner. We were staying in a…read morehotel located in Yaletown, in the middle of so many dining options but we knew for sure we wanted Japanese food. From what I read on the website, they are known for their Osaka street food so we were excited to try it out and it did not disappoint! We ordered several small plates that we shared between the four of us and everything was amazing! I can't stop thinking about the Udon Carbonara, it was the highlight of my entire dinner. Because they have a rotating menu based on the chef, sometimes they will have different street food items which I think entices people to come back. The atmosphere was lively and staff was very friendly. I can't think of anything negative to say except that I wish we had something similar where we live. We will for sure be back again!

Excellent izakaya, somewhat similar to the other guu restaurants. They have a happy hour menu…read moreafter 10 I think and we ordered tons of stuff off of that. Very friendly and good place to relax or eat or chill. My favourites: - sashimi salad. Excellent. Great balance of everything. - cauliflower. Superb. One of the better ones I've had. - burdock. Everyone loved this. Great flavour and good texture. - okonomiyake. Great flavour and grilled well. Crunchy. - eggplant - loved the broth and flavour - Karaage, pork cutlet - not bad. The Karaage in particular has very smooth chicken. Everything tasted great and eveyone was super happy with the meal. Would definitely come back.

I really enjoyed my meal with a friend at Kagura in Kitsilano. They specialize in hand rolls and…read moretempura, and everything we tried was fresh and well prepared. I ordered the Kits Light Combo, which I thought was a good deal. It came with edamame and three hand rolls: tuna mayo, salmon avocado, and negitoro. The hand rolls were fresh and tasty, although we only received about six pieces of edamame, which felt a little skimpy. I was also surprised that they charge $0.50 for wasabi and ginger, especially since HelloNori includes them for free and offers refills. I also tried the ebi and unagi Kagura Bite mini rolls, which were a good size, really fresh, and delicious. The aburi yuzu salmon oishi was also good, although I couldn't really taste the yuzu. Service was friendly and attentive throughout our visit. I also really liked the restaurant's wooden decor--it gives the space a warm, cozy feel. Most of the seating is at the bar, with just a few small tables, so keep that in mind if you're looking for a more traditional table setup. They also offer a complimentary dessert if you leave a Google review, which is a nice touch. Overall, Kagura serves really fresh and tasty food at a reasonable price, and I'd definitely come back. That said, the experience did make me miss HelloNori's free, refillable ginger and wasabi, as well as their refillable nitro matcha. Still, Kagura is a solid option for fresh hand rolls in Kitsilano.

Not to be messy, but I think this place might be better than Hello Nori…read more Every. Single. Thing. Was. Delicious. The ingredients were incredibly fresh. The fish was melt-in-your-mouth-good, and didn't have a "fishy" taste at all. The seaweed, crispy. The rice, perfectly cooked and seasoned. The veggies for the tempura were perfectly cooked. Zucchini, which can usually turn mushy when deep fried from frozen, had a lovely bite to it. Would highly recommend the bluefin tasting trio, but honestly, everything was good The oshi was comparable to Miku/Minami Definitely a place to come for special occasions (meaning a bit pricey, but for the quality, I think reasonable). Also the staff are super sweet.