I still find their sashimi really fresh. But my latest experience left something to be desired and my 5 star experience will now lower to 4 stars. Entered the restaurant and a middle aged Japanese lady asked "have you been here before" to which we responded "yes". But as we looked at the à la carte menu out of curiosity, waitress goes on to say ((you have to order from the lunch set menu. And one dish per person from said lunch menu. After that, you can add stuff à la carte))... which is fine. But the attitude was not the best. Borderline condescending even. Then she went on to ask us "did you want tea"? To which I responded yes. It was never mentioned that each tea would be $2/ person. After looking at recent reviews on google, looks like they've been charging said fee for the last 2-3 years and I simply never bothered to look at the bill the last few times I went. Tea is pretty bland. I honestly don't think they should be charging for it. I also feel like the portion size has decreased for the special chirashi don. Will I come back, probably. Will it be my first choice or a place I'd recommend to friends again... perhaps not. The younger waitress was nice. It might be time for me to look for a new go to place for decent sashimi. read more

Sushi Bar Ajisai - Sushi Bars Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Quality fish, big fan of salmon and negitoro/negihama makis. Kanpachi (amberjack) was exactly how I imagined - $5 for the perfect bite was worth it to me. Unagi roll was tasty but eel was a bit tough (hard?) in texture, wasn't my favourite. The scallop roll however had super clean and sweet meaty chunks which we loved. Re-ordered some makis because they were generous with fish and had great bite and flavour. Great service, authentic shop. Would love to come back and order 3-4 orders of maki rolls. read more

Sushi Bar Ajisai - Sushi Bars Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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I came here last week for my birthday. I've lived in Kerrisdale for years but had never come before. The food was some of the best sushi I'd had in Vancouver (and that's saying a lot!). My father, a sushi chef of 15+ years experience, was equally blown away. The individual nigiri are insanely flavorful (the saba was my favorite--it is marinated every morning in house), and honestly well priced. The rolls were definitely a surprise hit for me, as I am used to them being overpriced or underfilled in even high end sushi bars, but they were great. I can confidently say that I've never had a dynamite roll that tasted this good before. The service is impeccable; obviously it's a small space and there is usually a long line to get in for dinner service, but the staff do absolute the best that they can. Come for amazing food at a reasonable price! I will be revisiting many times. read more

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This restaurant must be doing well since they expanded with another little place called Ajisai To Go. I have to say that the green tea was really good and the waiter was very attentive. Sushi was on the pricier side and portions small, but they were tasty and elegantly presented. Place is not huge with only four tables and a small bar to sit. Sitting at the bar gives you a nice view of the chef's making the sushi, and you can see that they take pride in their work. Service is fast, polite, and attentive. Parking is metered side street. Great for singles or couples, not great for groups. They don't take reservations and you only get seated if all your party is there. read more

Sushi Bar Ajisai - Sushi Bars Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Authentic sushi offering, friendly staff. Go for the chef's recommendation for the seasonal fishes read more

Sushi Bar Ajisai - Sushi Bars Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

This sushi restaurant/bar is located in a beautiful neighbourhood. I really liked the vibes of the restaurant with a little sushi bar on one side and restaurant seating on the other. The green tea was really good. The sushi was really delicious and fresh! One thing to caution is that the wasabi in this place was really strong. I'm not sure if it was just this day, but it had me in literal tears and my nostrils were burning. Great restaurant! I would come again!! read more

Sushi Bar Ajisai - Special assorted sushi combo (top) Assorted sushi combo (bottom) - Sushi Bars Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Came here on a Wednesday evening around 6:30p and there is already a waiting list. The place is rather small and they won't seat you until your whole party is there. Luckily we waited around the benches just outside. There is street parking or underground parking for London Drugs. Waited around 20-30 minutes for the seating and we were at the Sushi bar. Menu is an URL Code or you can look at their take out menu (there is a slight difference). We ordered: Jelly fish - very interesting and refreshing Special Assorted Sashimi - very fresh fish and yummy Unagi Battera pressed sushi - very juicy unagi pieces on top of a large roll 2 Fresh Hotate - the scallop is large, thick, and fresh Hamchi Kama - grilled to perfection Totally recommend this place. Lots of take out orders. read more

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The quality and simplicity of ajisai never fails to impress me with reasonably priced rolls that are encompassed with perfectly textured and flavoured rice and impeccably fresh fish. Their rolls are not the special rolls topped with sauce and frills but are well constructed and generously filled. I ordered the: Ika Ume Roll - squid and a little bit of plum with shiso (i believe) and not often seen on other menus, this little maki was so tasty as I love Ika and the touch of sourness brightens the whole roll. Toro Taku - fatty tuna belly with a little bit of pickled veggies, I LOVED THIS...buttery but not fishy, the pickle is what makes the roll feel light but satisfying. Overall, I now know to stick to their maki rolls for a delicious and delicate bite. Pro tip: I ordered take out a couple hours before they opened for dinner to secure a 5PM pick up and was surprised with a 5% discount for the meal! read more

This sushi place in Kerrisdale feels super authentic and the food tasted so fresh! There's not a lot of seating inside and they do get pretty busy, but it seems that a lot of customers are just getting take out so the wait wasn't long. They have a huge selection on their menu and it was very hard to choose. I ended up ordering the salmon ikura bowl and it was perfect :) They have so many options with different combinations of seafood for their bowls which I don't see a lot elsewhere. The only menu complaint is they don't seem to have any cocktail options. Drinks are pretty limited to sake and beer. Overall a delightful experience and I will definitely visit again! read more

Sushi Bar Ajisai - Sushi Bars Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Excellent sushi, super fresh fish and beautiful flavors. I'd say it's a neighborhood gem except I have friends coming up from the US just for this place! read more

Sushi Bar Ajisai - Uni, seared salmon - Sushi Bars Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

It was totally a horrible and disaster experience!!! When we entered to the restaurant, the waiter seemed not well- trained to welcome the customer. He said that he cleaned the bar table for us, then he was gone to do something else. After 20 minutes, he went back with the menu. That was a lunch combo menu, not the regular one, so we asked for the regular menu as we preferred ordering some sashimi instead of only rice combo. The waiter told us that we had to order the lunch menu first then we could order the regular one. What the heck he was saying? Did he mean we must order some food from the lunch menu, then we could order the others from the regular one? Insane! In addition, there were 2 Japanese sushi chefs and one trainee at the sushi bar. The two sushi chefs were in an unfriendly and an long-term angry mode when they were making the sushi. No wonder the food quality was totally going downhill, such as their Japanese Chirashi bowl which was fishy and not fresh at all. The most disgusting experience was when I was waiting outside of the restaurant, I suddenly smelt a strongly fishy and stingy smell. That smell was from the restaurant's somewhere, I started vomiting like crazy almost half an hour. Gosh! Ajisai was used to be a very good quality restaurant, and we would like to go there once or twice a week before year 2022. Unfortunately, it was not any more, their food quality was even worse than the 100 YEN sushi restaurant in Japan. No service, poor food quality, and unfriendly attitude, then why bothered! read more

Covid-19 safety protocols mean it is only open for take out by the door. They take the safety precaution seriously as they only take orders via the phone. Yes, please have your cell phone to make the call even if you are standing right in front of the restaurant. I have only tried the lunch bento as it is just so good. I like the variety of food you get in it -- miso soup, sashimi, inari, futomaki, some pieces of rolls, tamago nigiri and a Saba oshi. The food is fresh and filling. It makes a good lunch. Available from 11 am to 3 pm. They do have other specials which look pretty good too. read more

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Things have changed a lot since covid ! Came by for lunch and they only offer a lunch menu with specials during the lunch dining time. Can't order off the main menu but kids apparently can. The server made sure to tell us each person had to order a lunch special. Seems like there is a minimum spend in place? They don't take reservations so there's usually a wait of 20 min or more. We tried the Sashimi lunch set, assorted sushi set, unagi don and gindara. Sashimi and nigiri really fresh tasting and gindara was so tender. Really enjoyed my lunch experience as good quality good but I think this is more of a take out place for me now. read more

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Great selection and fresh sashimi. Arrive early to avoid waits!! Friendly staff, excellent service :) read more

Wow, what more can I say. This is hands down my favourite place to get sushi in the Lower Mainland. It's a pretty small sushi joint that usually gets really busy around dinner time (pre-COVID), so it's expected that you're waiting around half an hour for a seat. My favourite thing to get when coming with friends is the Pacific Combo and Combo C - which is just enough food for 2 people with decent sized appetites. Combo C comes with 2 pcs of nigiri per type of fish, perfect for sharing. The quality of the sushi is great for its price, and I've always left feeling super satisfied. They're still currently doing takeout during this time for lunch so definitely support! read more

Sushi Bar Ajisai - Combo C (middle), pacific combo (bottom), a la carte sushi (top) - Sushi Bars Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Few times here for dinner. Line up starts before doors open. That's the usual. Don't expect to it wait for a table. Pros: - traditional Japanese sushi - large menu variety - well priced menu for quality of fish - high quality fish Notes: - they do the sign-up format for tables and only seat if everyone is present (usually) - the entrance is covered from the rain, so waiting outside isn't too big a deal (personally) read more

Sushi Bar Ajisai - Special assorted sashimi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Worst customer service ever. The old granny (obasong) enjoy charging customer extra ginger when you had environmental friendly customer who don't want chopsticks and napkins. A little customer care wouldn't do it at all. Looking at her showing attitudes towards every customer just disgust me all time. When my food ready, not even bother inform me. Rather I look closely at the receipt sat on top of my togo box. It's very idiotic service tat when customer waiting outside for their togo and you just ignore it. Worst Japanese style service ever. Anyone plan go there eat just needs be aware this old granny grumpy bad attitude ! read more

They have the in my opinion rude and disrespectful rule not seating guests until everyone has arrived in a group. It's far better to set a time limit for each table instead. Regardless how good the sushi is, it's a big turn off. read more

Ordered a Toro Taku roll, ana Q roll, Pacific combo, assorted sushi combo and saba shiso roll. Took around 30 minutes for my order to be ready for pickup. Ajisai is one of my favourite sushi spots in Vancouver. Their sushi is reasonably priced and the sushi is always pretty fresh. Would definitely recommend their assorted sushi combo as you get a little bit of everything. They do the basic rolls the best. Simplicity at its finest. They so have daily specials so keep yourself updated on their instagram. Keep in mind, currently they are only doing takeout. read more

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This Japanese owned sushi bar makes very good quality sushi rolls and nigiri sushi. The sushi are freshly made upon order and ingredients are fresh and tasty. As I heard from the neighbours in Kerrisdale, their quality is consistently good. I tried today and I have no doubt about it. read more

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This is a well established Sushi Bar in the Kerrisdale neighbourhood, having been in operation since 2001, the restaurant is still going strong; as we approach a line is seen outside of the restaurant waiting for the doors to be opened! Lunch Items we ordered: Avocado Shrimp Salad $10.75 4/5 stars Simple item to make but the freshness of all ingredients make this a pleasant starter for the meal. Lobster Roll $25.00 5/5 stars This is a speciality item of the restaurant, I am glad the standard are kept well throughout the years! The layers of flavours and texture make this a must order item whenever I am here! Bravo! We also picked the following Nigiri Sushi $43.50 4/5 stars California Roll $4.50 4/5 stars: Spicy Scallop, Kampachi, Toro, Mirugai, Japanese Tako, Ika, Unagi, and an order of California Roll. All the above items were made with very fresh seafood, and with the proper rice/fish ratio, each piece of nigiri sushi provides a rich and satisfying pleasure! On a side note; we were seated besides a lady with her friend who lives in the neighbourhood for over 40yrs., we ended up chatting throughout our lunches, situations like this can only happen in a small restaurant where tables are set very close to each other. In fact I do not mind this at all since part of the pleasure of going out is to have a fun time, and what can be nicer to have an interesting conversation with people from the neighbourhood telling you some of the history around the area!! Final Score: 4.25 stars Verdict: Great neighbourhood Sushi Bar - Recommend! read more

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One of my favourite sushi place. Everything is fresh. The service is good. My favorite spot is sitting by the bar. A very intimate place.. read more

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Tried out this sushi place for the first time. I saw the reviews and thought we need to be there before opening at 5:00. So we went about 4:40, no one was there.. it was cold and raining. It was about 10 min before opening the couple came. So 5 of us waited another 10 min. I thought it would be nice if they let us inside though it's a small place and staff were busy getting ready. The sushi was great in terms of freshness of fish and price We ordered assorted nigiri $24, some single order nigiris about $3 ea, Saba batters $13, Gindara from appetizer $12 and a roll set $11! The portion of rice in nigiris were too much to me. I'd like a smaller portion, just my preference. My daughter loves hamachi and she said they were the best! She is pretty picky when it comes to Sushi. They offer quality at this restaurant and we sure will be back when we want Sushi. read more

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Ever since Covid, they are take-out only. The service is faster, the quality is the same. The assorted sushi contains a good variety of nigiri. Each piece is perfectly prepared; the rice is sweet, the fish are fresh. The employees are always nice and friendly. One of my favourite go-to sushi restaurant. It is worth the price. read more

Sushi Bar Ajisai - Sushi Bars Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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A bit small for the great food they prepare - one of my favorite Sushi Bars in Vancouver.

Ordered the Pacific Combo (tuna avocado roll, california roll, and ebi scallop roll) to pick up for lunch but asked to pay extra to substitute salmon for tuna (switch tuna avocado roll to salmon avocado roll). It was a delicious big lunch with 24 pieces and everything was fresh and of top quality, as usual. Glad Aji Sai is still operating the same even though the restaurant is only open for take out now. read more

Sushi Bar Ajisai - Pacific Combo - California roll, Ebi scallop roll, and Salmon avocado roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Ajisai Sushi Bar came as a Vancouver Local recommendation for top notch sushi at reasonable prices. We were told we'd be best to show up at opening hours as the City has limited seatings to 16 seats in the compact restaurant. Arriving shortly before dinner (5 pm) a small queue of locals had already begun to form on a weekday and by opening time, the restaurants max capacity had been reached. The menu features a daily special of both nigiri and Sashimi options and the regular menu features nigiri, Sashimi, Donburis (with an emphasis on ikura) as well as a small set of cooked dishes. Our order: Kani Uni Ikura Don - $33. Vancouver is known as the salmon capital so it's not surprising to find many donburis featuring cured salmon roe. This lovely bowl also had plentiful crab meat, slices of Uni (ok quality) and plentiful ikura (delicious). Overall very good. Saba and Anago Battera - $17/$18 boxed pressed is a subtype of nigiri from Osaka and I love the carefully shaped pieces. Saba (mackerel) and anago (fresh eel) are also among my favorite cuts. Excellent. 10 Piece Nigiri Omakase - $40. Stellar selection of nigiri including chutoro, engawa, aji, madai, and more. Excellent and a true deal. Shrimp and scallops Hand roll and Unagi Hand Roll - $9.25/$4.50. Very fresh and very good quality. Overall, Ajisai was a welcome recommendation and step up from our other sushi meal this trip. Great variety and excellent quality and the price is right. Ajisai accepts credit cards including Amex. read more

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WOW. Came for dinner on a weekday night and I didn't expect all that this small hole-in-the-wall had to offer. Although the wait is longer than usual due to the 16-person capacity, the service and food makes up for it. The sashimi is fresh, which loads of Yelpers have already said. But the sushi rolls take the cake. They have their usual California rolls and all, but they also have some of the most unique sushi rolls that I've tasted. I recommend trying the lobster dynamite roll as well as the inari nigiri! read more

Sushi Bar Ajisai - Sushi Bars Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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The freshest and tastiest nigiris I've had. I didn't know they could taste this good and a new bar has been set for my nigiri expectation. We came on Friday night, ended up waiting an hour since we planned poorly and came right in the middle of the dinner rush (7:30pm). We had: - Combo C ($28) - 14pcs of Nigiri. Sooo yummy. The rice was seasoned just right too. - Hamachi Battera ($17) - Hubby liked this but I found it a bit fishy for my taste. - Gindara ($12.25) - Very yummy, skin thoroughly crisp and crunchy, the meat was soft and buttery. - They also have a very reasonably priced kids menu with 3 combo options. We got the Kids Combo A ($5.75) for our toddler - it included tamago, inari, 1/2 kappa roll, 1/2 shinko roll. I had some and all tasted great. Service was attentive too. Our tea was always topped up, and they came quickly with extra napkins when our toddler spilled water on the table. They have a discount on take out if you order 2hrs in advance. I might try that next time to avoid the wait since there's not much to do in that area unless I need something from London Drugs. read more

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Delishhh!!!!! This was all that and a bag of chips!! Nearly missed my flight for it. For the love of handrolls is why I came. But stayed for the rest. And that long 16 seats capacity wait list! Painful!! Painfully long! And unknown. Almost missed my flight to Toronto for it!! But!! Viola. One of the rare times I can say it was worth the wait!! You have to come in and put your name down! Even Togo orders are done in person. Kinda good and bad. I came on a Friday evening before my flight to Toronto. I had a good 1.5 hours to kill. I planned to be at the airport by 8 pm for my 10 pm flight. Came here right before 6 pm! I barely made it! ( well the traffic was bad too but still) Initially they said 20 minutes but I ended up waiting 40 minutes. They are small and they have only have 16 people inside at once. With or without the empty seats. Which I get it, can be a painful wait! A lot more people came after me and waited too. I went and asked for Togo orders right before I got my table! The waitress was super nice about it and took my orders ( many things) but didn't put it in till after I got seated and told her it's a go!!! Next time I'm coming for lunch!! Onto my food!! Sansei look serious! The head chef! It's a tiny tiny kitchen crammed with 4 sushi chefs and a head chef. I can reach out to them if I wanted from my sushi counter seat!! Watching them work was pretty fun for me!! Except I was the only one at the counter and that kitchen area under the age of 50!!!!!!! Nobody was as excited or care how tie food look! Or food was being made! Whoooops!!! ( insert eye rolls over my many shutters / food pics) whatever!!!! Eat your own food! :P But the foooood!! It was so delightfully simple and amazing!! They have rolls that you can get in the hand roll form! Or a regular roll. I got a few of both. I got 4 hand rolls thinking they'd be the normal tiny size! But boy was I wrong!!! These are rolls on roids!! Rolls that lift!! Rolls that are swole!! Massive!! And $5 each!! It's bananas!! I ate one hand roll and one of the regular rolls! Having to bring a Togo box for the rest! So much food!! I also got their battera/ the pressed, box sushi with mackerel. It's nice and sweet! Fun watching them make it too. Also for the uni and tobikos with quail egg. In Seattle, this whole meal would've easily cost me $150!! But it cost me under $60!!! It is so cheap!! And great! I'm so coming back even with that wait. The scallops and spicy scallops are my favorite for rolls and hand rolls. And Dynamite lobster!! read more

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I WILL NOT go to this restaurant, Sushi Bar Ajisai @Kerrisdale again. I went there today, Dec 15. First of all, as many customers commented that they do not seat you until the whole party arrives, even though in cold weather days. We have 5 of us having lunch. One of us was very full and wanted to order 4 sets to share. They didn't allow it, so each of us needed to order one set, ended up we cannot finish it. The lunch set is $23 to $32, not cheap, though. When the bill came, they had already ADDED 20% of TIPS without telling us. Firstly, if you didn't check the bill , you might PAY AGAIN the tips. Second, with such poor services , I don't know why I should pay 20%??? They told me because we have a group of 5. I went to other restaurants, and they charged 18% tips for 6 or more people. My family member has even been forced to pay tips for takeaway. Ridiculous read more

Growing up in the neighbourhood, Ajisai is one of those sushi places that is near and dear to my heart that I recommend to everyone. Long waits should be expected, even for smaller parties, so put your name down well in advance and explore Kerrisdale for a bit. The restaurant itself is also quite cramped and you may just find yourself immersed in your neighbour's conversations. If you don't like that kind of claustrophobic ambiance, Ajisai may not be for you. Dinner came to around $100 for the two of us but I did order quite a healthy amount. The only menu item that was a miss for me was the Salmon Battera which was quite expensive and a bit too acidic for my liking. The rolls are what I come to Ajisai for, perfectly portioned and a really strong performance throughout the board. Even the cheaper rolls like the $3.25 chopped scallop roll or $2.50 Negitoro were amazing. The House Special roll is one of my go to's and their Nigiri priced betwewen $2 to $3 a piece are always fresh. The portions are decent without being overwhelming and there are a number of BBQ items that are worth trying as well. I like the Aji Hiraki (as long as you're ok with a lot of fish bones) and the Gindara It's just one of these places where you really can't go wrong as long as you don't mind spending a bit of time and money. They've been here for two decades more or less and the quality has not gone down since my dad took me here as a child. For me it's a toss up between Ajisai and Toshi for excellent semi-hole-in-the-wall type sushi joints. The menu selection at Ajisai is more extensive though. read more

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I cannot describe how delicious and fresh all the food here is! Every bite was perfect and everything was made to perfection. I loved all the sushi and rolls we got! The restaurant is really small, so you have to be prepared to wait in a long line to get a table at this place. Once we were seated, I was so happy that we decided to wait. You should definitely wait for a table to try their food! read more

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Consistency. Value. Freshness. Three key ingredients that makes Ajisai successful for so many years. Just about any night we go their for dinner, there's a wait. 15 if you're lucky; much longer if crowded. There aren't many tables but I actually quite like sitting at counter because of its coziness. The chefs are all friendly but they do focus on their jobs. We haven't had one dish that wasn't good all these years. The sushi combos seem to be the best deals but if you're at the counter, try the Japanese way and order sushi one by one. read more

Excellent nigiri and sashimi. Fresh cuts of meat. Great service. Nice presentation. Good sake selection. Toro is a bargain at $3 a piece and it melts in your mouth. Bbq gindara (black cod) was very tasty. Small place gets busy so be prepared to wait a little. Park at London drugs structure. Enjoy! read more

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I guess it was super lucky to get counter seats without waiting on Saturday evening. We ordered Special Chirashi don, Akami Tuna don, Lobster roll and saba. Besides of quality of seafood, I was impressed with detailed sushi rice for don. They mixed sesame and chopped and cooked shiitake. The chopped mushroom was almost same size of rice grain so that naturally being blended. Maybe I could have eaten even only rice. Very very good. Saba nigiri was awesome too. Through the cleared seaweed, you can see the ginger. Sweetness from seaweed, kobu and sourness from vinegar and spiciness from ginger were blended well on saba. The balance was amazing. If you could, I recommend to sit the counter seat. So fun and it emphasize the joy of sushi. read more

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Location is kind of hidden in a small walkway beside London Drugs. We arrived around 6:00pm with no reservation and luckily got seating immediately by the sushi bar. They have 3 or 4 chefs working at the sushi bar, so service is quick. If you're lazy like me and don't want to choose, just get the Nigiri combo for $22. It has your basic pieces which are delicious. My favorite pieces of the night are the tako and amaebi. Metered parking available on the street. There is a parkade in the alley, but not sure if you can park there. Taste: 5/5 Service: 5/5 Value: 4/5 read more

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Still one of the best sushi bar in town since day 1 I visited when Hide opened 2 decades ago!

Best sushi in town! Their sushi is so fresh! The tuna just melts in your mouth. The rolls and cones are also very good and filling. They don't serve tempura, udon, or teriyaki but hey the fresh sushi makes up for it :) They also have free 2 hrs parking at london drugs. I gave this place 4 stars because they don't seat customers efficiently. For example, they had empty bar seating for 3 people and there was at least 40 min long waitlist but they didn't seat anyone for a long time. They also don't take reservations which is too bad. read more

Sushi Bar Ajisai - Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

I didn't realize I haven't return to Ajisai for last 2 years, what was the reason to stop me for returning? May be.... - They don't accept reservations which first come, first serve. - You can smell the food when you walking in a quaint narrow corridor. I guess they don't have good vent system and the smell stays in my clothing for a while. - They don't have tempura on the menu. Anyway, I had things to do in that area, that's why I gave them a try again and time to update my review. Lunch set - sashimi and sushi with salad was ok. $12 with such fresh and tasty sashimi, fair enough. I ordered individual sushi and cone, it was ok. Not too fresh on sushi but not too bad. read more

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