50 Best Japanese Restaurants in Vancouver

“Great little spot for an elevated sushi experience. It’s a very small restaurant so make a reso. The attentive but non-disruptive service is appreciated, as the tables are quite small so the tidying is a nice touch. The prices are not cheap, for example, my nigiri set was $65. Pay street parking is available so arrive early for your reso to snag a spot nearby.“

“Celebrating his birthday with an unforgettable first omakase together.Zen ambiance, skillful chefs, the freshest bites, and impeccable service. Pricey, but perfect for a special occasion and they truly delivered an unforgettable experience.“

“The food is great but the service makes it outstanding.

Shoutout to Daniel, Chloe, and chef Felix for making this dining experience top tier.

Atmosphere is beautiful, moody, every detail feels intentional.

Standout was the pappardelle. Oysters always good. Tiramisu also delicious.

The pork - UNREAL. The juiciest, soft/qq, overall just a great bite.

Come with friends and share a lot. Come yourself and sit at the bar. Either way, worth checking out.“

“Oku Izakaya is a complete package of experience, vibe and flavor in one place. I was greated with a positive energy, a warm welcome as soon as I stepped in the restaurant or "heaven ". Yes I felt like I was in heaven. My table was ready with a sign showing Welcome with my name. Details, just magic details. The menu is small but small was not the amazing and delicious authentic Japanese food experience, the best in my life.“

“Absolutely amazing! My favourite go to sushi spot since 2021 since it’s so close to my home. Staff is nothing but lovely and food is always great. The yam roll is a fan favourite amongst all my friends. Really enjoy the food and the atmosphere and service!“

“Recommended here by one of our Nurse friends, so we dropped by for an early lunch today w/ my 2 coworkers. Sooo yummy! First impression? Delish!!! huge servings & the use of fluffy brown rice was the determining factor of the meal NOT being gastro-heavy! Very nice presentation! Good size servings! Will definitely return on another lunchbreak! yummmmmy!“

“Everyone is always super friendly when I come in and I love the food here.
The dynamite roll has corn flakes but the menu does say it’s their house style so I asked what made it different and I wasn’t surprised
I actually like it just as much as the tempura because it retains its crunchiness“

“Wonderful, attentive, and friendly service. The portions are perfectly sized. Not too much but not too little. Pricing, while note cheap, is extremely reasonable for the quality of the food that you're getting. A wonderful gem hidden in Kits. I highly recommend this to anyone. My bet is that you'll be left wanting to come back again.“

“We ordered some food for the Mother's day family get together, the service was fantastic, the order was ready on time, every single item was so delicious! Extreme good quality, a lot of varieties to choose from, excellent service, would highly recommend.“

“The meat quality was fresh and well-marinated, with a good variety of cuts to choose from. The service was attentive and friendly, and the staff explained the grilling tips clearly. The atmosphere was cozy and clean, perfect for gatherings with friends or family. Prices were reasonable for the quality and portion size. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys authentic yakiniku in Vancouver.“

“Went for my partner's birthday. Staff was friendly, attentive, and thoughtful (remembered it was her birthday from the reservation form and brought out a free dessert). The food was incredible (not cheap), but experience was worth it if you are looking for a cool special occasion. Cool ambiance too, not pretentious.“

“Check out Itamae Tomoko at their Brentwood location. The food and service are impressive. I'm waiting to write a review of their Burnaby restaurant.“

“Do not expect to get a table here. There were only 2 seats when we visited, so expect to get takeout. The waiting time for takeout was only 15 minutes on a Saturday for lunch.

We got 5 rolls, and the fish was very fresh and from Japan. Our favourite roll was the Yuki House Roll which is 5 pieces, but generously stuffed full of multiple fish. The Salmon Oshi was also pretty good, but a little too much sauce for our preference.

Would recommend if you're craving really fresh takeout sushi.“

“Some of the best sushi I’ve ever had! 🍣 The Alaska Rolls and Salmon Nigiri were outstanding — so fresh and full of flavor. The menu has a wide variety to choose from, and while it takes a little time for the food to come out, it’s absolutely worth the wait.

The restaurant felt very clean, and the staff was friendly and welcoming. A fantastic spot for sushi in Vancouver…highly recommended!“

“What you see here is the three piece Mogo chicken rice bowl for $16. Like others have found, the chicken is perfectly battered and good sense of crunchiness. The shio garlic sauce I did not use because I found it too salty, especially when the chicken itself has been marinated in salt already. The sweet chilli sauce might make a better balance. Finally, The bowl is topped with the most delicious little kale salad lightly seasoned with a sesame dressing. It would be worthwhile to order the kale salad either on its own as a side, or with teishoku. Seating arrangements are limited, so best to keep your group size maximum at six. Even so, you’ll likely spend some time waiting for a table - consider takeout.“

“Yummy good, 服務態度非常好“

“Service was great from the moment we walked in to the moment we left. Food was delicious, duck Carpaccio is something that we don't see often on the menu anywhere so we had to try it. It did not disappoint! Yakiudon & Soup Udons are must have! Will come back again!“

“Well priced sushi with good quality fish.
Very welcoming and no-nonsense.
Good quality / price ratio.
Owners are friendly.
If you want an easy and tasty sushi experience with a very Kits / Vancouver vibe, this is your place.“

“One day you will eat at Pizza Coming Soon“

“The food was absolutely fantastic! Complex and satisfying. Everything we tried was delicious!“

“Had an amazing time coming to Motonobu! The food has always been delicious, one of the better spots to bring people out of town to eat! Been here multiple times and every visit has been pleasent! Only downside is the waiters/waitresses can be inattentive at times. Overall though, Motonobu is a great spot to celebrate milestones at!“

“Happy this was my first omakase experience!

Tom and Ellie were exceptionally nice, and throughout the dine I loved that I learned so much about omakase.

Food portions are adequate and I felt full at the end of the course.“

“I like their newly renovated store. Chic, simple and clean. Service is great! Food is awesome! I like my spicy chopped scallops hand cone (not included in the photos). Exquisitely delicious with some dried garlic bits scattered on the top which enhanced the taste like new fusion style. Highly recommended to try.“

“Beautiful modern restaurant with personable owner. Friendly and professional team and every member knew the dishes well. The food was exquisite. We enjoyed the oysters, scallops, Kimchi croquettes, the cod dish to name a few. I would give them 10/10 and will be definitely going back!“

“Great food with fresh fish! Highly recommended.“

“I dine here at least 3 times a week as I’m close to here everyday. Friendly, super fast service and always there to answer questions about food/allergens. One of the best poke/ramen places in downtown Vancouver“

“friendly owners. tasty food. good price. generous portions.

Asking for a cup of water at any fast food place feels like pulling teeth. this owner recognized me after and called me over to refill it, asked how the food was, and seemed generally pleasant. something so simple missing at most establishments“

“Took out a couple of items for dinner. It'd been years since I visited this small, homey eatery. The nametake (enoki mushroom) onigiri was very good. Nice size, and the mushrooms inside were cooked until tender with a savoury soy flavour. The ikura don was alright. I love salmon roe, but wished there was more ikura or teriyaki sauce, in proportion to the white rice. Both items had a small yellow pickled radish for garnish. While the ikura don fell a bit flat for me, for around $15, I can't complain. In total, both items came to $20.50. Slightly more than what I would have thought based on their online menu, but there may have been take out container costs included.

The place was busy with groups finishing their meal close to closing at 7 pm on a Wednesday. While it was simple enough to call in my order for takeout, I felt like service at pick up was a bit abrupt and not overly friendly. It took me a bit to collect my cash to pay, and there were no greetings as I took my food and left. Either way, the restaurant has been a neighborhood staple for years. Would return to try some more onigiri.“

“Tried this place on a Saturday night & it was a fantastic experience! I got the basic set with 4 hand rolls. Everything tasted unbelievably fresh & high quality. The bluefin & yellowtail were my personal favourites. Truly delicious fish! Additionally the service was excellent. Very friendly staff & they were all eager to help, which you don’t see everywhere. I wouldn’t say it’s expensive, but it’s definitely on the higher end as far as sushi goes.“

“The Hire Katsu was so tasty and tender, very friendly staff too.“

“Good food and amazing service!“

“For as long as I can remember this location has always been a sushi restaurant. Despite changing names over the years, it seems like it’s just switched Korean owners. Parking is a little bit of a nuisance since it’s super limited especially off busy Broadway. The place is smaller with limited seating. The service was friendly, food was speedy and tasty. I guess they do a lot of take-outs since they have some party trays for “take out only”. The sushi game monopolized by Koreans in Vancouver so they know what’s up and what the local Vancouverites see as values“

“delicious!!! Japanese service = kindness and attention

The place could be nicer but it's not terrible. It's not for going on a date with your girlfriend if what you want is to take photos in the place... if what you want is crazy food, this is the place.

come on, dude“

“Family had a craving for Japanese food so we tried this place out. Ordered online and it was efficient and the service was friendly. The restaurant in a Tuesday was very busy which is great to see. We ordered mainly sushi with a beef udon and a tofu donburi. Seafood was fresh and the sushi was well prepared. It’s not totally authentic food but it’s pretty tasty food.“

“Delicious omakase. We loved how the nigiri rice was made, fresh wasabi, well balanced seasoning of the nigiri. Small hot appetizers prior to nigiri course were also amazing. Deserving of Michelin mentions if not more. Price is amazing for the quality and amount of food. We would certainly come back!“

“I recently moved from DT to this area and I sushi Kaido is go to. The sushi is so fresh! The miso soup in my fave in the city (always warm with a lot seaweed). Be sure to try the yam tempura roll & the salmon maki. You won't be disappointed! So good.“

“A lot of the time, the restaurant is only as good as the server. Hapa is a superior restaurant and my server was Shione! She recommended the Chipotle. I went with that and it was real tasty! How a server interacts with the customer is the most important part of the experience. She reacted as though she was rewarding me for going out to enjoy my food. Her mannerisms told me that my presence was important instead of someone who was just making her work. Thank you!🙂“

“Fresh and balanced delicious meal also reasonable priced to boot, what not to love! 😋“

“Great experiences every time! Slowly becoming a regular here because staff is very friendly and attentive, and the food is always delicious. The lunch teishokus are a great value for the amount of food you get. Sweet corn kakiage was so good we couldn’t resist eating some before taking a photo! Can’t go wrong with anything on the menu, everything is delicious!“

“Loved this place from beginning to end! A welcoming atmosphere, friendly staff, very tasty food/fish/sushi, reasonable pricing, and the tip options on the credit card terminal included a 12% option!!, which I never see anymore. Needless to say that I did not choose this option because of how wonderful my experience was :)“

“Excellent quality, great service and the prices are very reasonable. The atmosphere is nice too for an overall great experience!“

“wonderful atmosphere, very polite and kind staffing, wonderful food, awesome song selection for Kareoke. Definitely coming back tomorrow for more!“

“Their Ikura onigiri is great, and it’s affordable.
Large sized roe, and nikiri marinated.
What that means is they spend a lot more time to prepare it, rather than just salting the roe.
If you’ve ever made Ikura, as I do, you’d know it’s a lot more work.
I enjoy the other items too, but the Ikura is where it’s at.“

“Great option to have sushi on Davie St. Fast, polite and very professional customer service! Dishes are quite big and very tasty. I have tried a wide variety of dishes and they all have been very good! This evening, I went for the Assorted Sashimi and, as you can see on the picture, it was awesome, very fresh and very tasty! Also, their Gomae is delicious, so much so that I had two portions tonight! 😋“

“we had a great monday night dinner at guu toramasa, lively atmosphere, friendly service, and consistently tasty food. highlights included the three appetizers for $18, we got the seaweed salt fries, pork tenderloin cutlet, and ‘tofu steak'. in addition we got the grilled chicken with garlic salt, perfectly cooked and full of flavour, along with our usual kimchi fried rice, tuna and salmon tataki. they're celebrating 30 years of the guu chain, and it's easy to see why they've lasted so long. great menu, delicious food, fun cocktails, warm service, and a casual vibe, guu toramasa is always a very guu'd choice.“

“It was an amazing restaurant close to the water and nice for a really nice evening walk at the sea wall. Food was delicious and good.“

“I love sushi and I have tried a few good places in downtown, Coquitlam and Maple Ridge and I am telling ya, this place is FREAKING AWESOME 👌 👏 👍.
I went there for lunch. I was hungry and I did eat like a pig.
The vibe was so peaceful and the place was quiet and clean. The staff were very friendly. A lady welcomed me in and I picked my seat.
The service was fast and professional.
I ordered a spicy combo roll containing 3 different sushi rolls. All just superb. I picked 4 different sashimis plus I ordered dumplings and that octopus balls. The dumplings and balls were exquisite 👌 and Devine.
They have a good variety of beer and sake. I ordered a 633ml bottle of Japanese beer and drank it like water.
I ate it all..like fat greedy pig.
STRONGLY RECOMMEND.
DEFINITELY WILL GO THERE AGAIN AND AGAIN.“

“The food here is excellent — great quality, great flavour, and very good value. Everything tastes fresh and the selection is impressive. Staff are polite and the whole experience is consistently satisfying. Definitely worth the five stars.“

“Different kind of breakfast, reasonable price.“