Sushiyama

I usually dislike giving negative comments, you know the whole «if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all»… but then it would make giving honest reviews very difficult.
Before I focus more on the negatives, there are some positives. The size of the restaurant is biggest big, so getting a table wasn’t that difficult. My wife and I were seated immediately. The next positive is that the fishes, eggs, urchins, etc., were fresh.
I ordered a scallop roll, a Philadelphia roll, 2 ikura, 2 salmon, 2 toro and 1 uni nigiri. In terms of flavour, they were very tasty. Notice that I only mentioned taste, since the seaweed used were very tough and chewy, not good. Also, for the nigiri, the rice at the bottom was starting to dry and get crunchy.
Another issue, while we understand not every Japanese restaurant are owned, operated, staffed by Japanese… it is disappointing when my wife pronounce the menu items in a Japanese accent and the waitresses were unable to figure out what she’s saying. That was probably the reason our orders were incorrect first time around.
The food took quite a long time to arrive, seemingly felt like 10 minutes at least. With items presented not all at once, but piecemeal.
All in all, we found this place very disappointing. Lots of better sushi bars around town. ²⁄₅ stars and I’m being kinda generous.

Why isn’t there a half star? This place has really lost it. It used to be a very reliable good quality place to eat for many years.
Perhaps, at the very least, it was very unpleasant tonight.
It does not really matter because we will not be back.
Here is our very sad short story of our misfortune of picking the wrong restaurant to eat Japanese food.
Table for two. Busy Friday night around 8pm. 10 yr old daughter and her old man looking to eat, feeling very very hungry. Seated promptly and our order is barely in before the food starts showing up. Sounds like a good start, right?
Lighting fast our orders come in. I ordered the sushi sashimi combo (which comes with miso soup, tempura, and vegetable gyoza) and an order of pork gyoza because I couldn’t substitute the veg gyoza for pork gyoza in the combo for some inconceivable reason the waitress said. My daughter ordered a beef udon soup and a chicken teriyaki roll.
Everything arrives quickly– looking back maybe too quickly. The tempura is good. The gyoza is ok but I prefer it soft not crunchy. It takes a while for me to get to the sashimi and nigiri because we don’t have any soya sauce at the table. In the end I finish off all the cooked items and must ask for soya sauce because no one is checking on us. The nigiri is ok but the sashimi is not ok at all. The first and last bite of tuna, it was so gross I had to spit it out. It was so super large so I had to bite a piece off and it was too fishy and not of the sashimi deliciousness you would expect. I had to take a moment so as to make sure I wasn’t going to get sick. Thankfully I did not.
I finished off the small bit of my green tea and ate some of the udon soup to get the gross taste out of my mouth. The oversize thick slices of salmon and tuna sashimi no longer look appetizing but are giant size reminders of disgusting flavour. No one comes by to refill the tea, or to ask how the food was, or to ask if we want dessert. Someone brings the bill and plops it down and rushes off. I grab the bill and rush up to pay. The bill is $ 28.50– I leave one dollar as tip. No one asks why and we head off, unimpressed but for the very last time. I vaguely recall that I wasn’t super happy the last time I was here but obviously had forgotten.
The quality of the sashimi was really down tonight but I think it’s the service that really needs help. Or at least they should hire people that have an interest in the restaurant service industry. Restaurants can have problems but the problems can’t be solved if there are no check ins. If people aren’t happy when they leave a restaurant they will not be back. If a restaurant doesn’t even know why customers are unhappy, good luck fixing that!
As I finish writing and my stomach churns and groans — I pray I will be ok to eat sashimi again another day, somewhere that gives a damn. Good bye, Sushiyama, I’m leaving you because frankly, you just don’t give a damn.
My little girl’s stomach is fine so I am not feeling litigious. Thank you, Unilocal,for giving a damn and hearing my story. You’ve been warned!

Came here for a late dinner (around 8:45pm) since Chewy and I had a large, late lunch. I’ve had really great experiences at Sushiyama and raved about it to Chewy– who has since been itching to try this place.
Once we were seated and ready to order with our server, it was exactly 9pm. We decided to order 2 bento boxes (Deluxe Yama and Teriyaki Beef bento boxes) and an additional roll (Super Kalamary roll). I like ordering bento boxes because I like the variety and small portions of it. The menu states that bento boxes are available until 9pm. However, the server told us that we cannot order the bento boxes because it was past 9pm. I looked at my phone and she looked at her electronic ordering device and we both knew it was exactly 9pm on the dot. She proceeded to tell us that the kitchen said they are not making anymore bento boxes. I didn’t agree with her since the menu specifically says after 9pm (and not to mention we arrived at 8:45pm). I asked if she can check with her manager since it isn’t past 9pm. The manager said it was fine for us to order the bento boxes. It is ridiculous that management isn’t adhering to what is stated in their menu.
The bento boxes came within 5 minutes after we ordered. The hot items were what I expected– pretty good. However, the extra roll we ordered and the rolls on the bento boxes were a disappointment. They were horribly cut– the width of each roll varied, and they were sloppily rolled and presented. The roll wasn’t very round and loosely rolled. The Super Kalamary roll was definitely not worth $ 5. I could have made a better roll at home.
In addition, we had to constantly flag someone down for more tea. The first server we flagged down had forgotten that we asked and we had to flag another server to ask again. The place wasn’t full at all– it was ¹⁄₃ full at best. The servers were literally running around for some reason– we were thinking they are just unexperienced but we weren’t sure.
Given the questionable customer service and the poor quality rolls, we will not return. This place has definitely gone down hill.

Absolutely delicious !!! Always fresh !!! Highly recommended if you want fresh sashimi

Meh at best. The place is busy but I’m not sure why it smells like old dish rag and fishy.
Toro was so fishy I had to spit it out, crunch roll was ok, kamizee roll was only flavoured as hot with all the spicy sauce. Husband had Katsu donburi and the pork was raw and not very well flavoured. I wouldn’t recommend this place honestly it was open later so there a plus for it.

Some of the best sushi in Vancouver. Best chicken teriyaki I’ve ever had. Very fast and very cheap! Huge pieces of sashimi!!! Got try this place.

I couldn’t eat it.
Ordered the dragon roll and spicy tuna sashimi (which I didn’t get) got some other mess.
Both were disgusting and messy. Just subpar sushi.
This is the worst sushi I’ve ever had. Hands down. I’m honesty hoping I don’t barf.

So let’s get this straight. The food is not 5 star but all things being relative, considering the price I give this place really high marks.
Lived in Vancouver my whole life and eaten at pretty much every sushi place in town. This place is hands down my favorite in this price bracket.
Word to the wise, late night before closing quality drops, maybe it’s just me but I stay away from most restaurants before they close. If you’ve worked in a restaurant you know what I’m talking about.
Also, service can be great at times but also not so great when they’re super busy. Seems like there’s a lot of turnaround and new staff in training every time I go but that’s not why I eat here.
Some people also think of Japanese places being Korean owned as a negative but that’s extremely pretentious and frankly a bit racist? I’m not sure what that has to do with anything. I’ve never heard anyone complain about Caucasians owning and running noodle joints and even if people did complain then this is also stupid and has no value.
But I digress. Back to the food.
This place is not known for their noodles or cooked dishes. Not that it’s terrible but also not why I come here. It’s all about the sushi. Quality is great, portions are great, prices are very affordable. All of which have stayed pretty consistent as a regular which goes a long way for me.
Give it a try. They get pretty busy for lunch and dinner service so be patient. As long as you’re not expecting Jiro quality sushi and have a craving for some sushi, I guarantee it’ll hit the spot and be worth it.

On vacation in Vancouver and my husband and I were told to go here for sushi. I am a huge fan of rolls and sashimi and my husband wasn’t sure what he was going to have, so I ordered for him. We had veggie tempura, spider rolls, california rolls and I had tuna, salmon, and prawn sashimi. The tea we had at the table was delicious, and not bitter at all (like some other places I have tried). The presentation was lovely and the taste was awesome. Definitely fresh seafood, and well prepared. Great place!

I eat here regularly with my family. Food is good, prices are very reasonable, and service is hit and miss; mostly miss though. Have had a couple of incidents here where they brought out the wrong order but refuse to take it back. Didn’t want to make a big fuss about it so I just took that order anyways. Would be a five star if the service was not so subpar.

I eat here a lot. The rose garden roll (smoked salmon and radish) is my absolute favorite. I have eaten here for years and never had a bad meal until last night. I normally only get a few rolls but last night I ordered the teriyaki chicken box. It was a Saturday night and very busy so I assume some things were precooked as it was so busy. The box was pretty gross. The dumplings were disgusting looked like they’d been deep fried a few times before they landed on my plate, the chicken teriyaki looked like some one else leftovers, the order was about the size of half a deck of cards and the chicken looked old. Thank god I traded the California roll for a fresh tuna roll. My friend got the California roll and immediately we noticed the smell of the crab was off.
Shame on you Sushi Yama for trying to please the masses while sacrificing the freshness of your food. I am now on the hunt for a new sushi place

Extremely good quality for the price. Blue fin tuna special today was crazy fresh.
One star off for some subpar service. Awkward staff that don’t know the specials and only bring water to one person at the table.

I had an alright time here, the sushi was nothing to write home about. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t good, it was just fine. I had the chirashi don and an order of uni. They didn’t have shiso (mint) which I like with my uni. My boyfriend ordered the udon and although it looked appetizing to me with spinach on top he said the beef was chewy, the soup bland and the noodles overcooked. Take it or leave it, personally I probably won’t be looking to come back any time soon.

We are regulars at Sushiyama. I try other sushi places but keep coming back for the sushi pizza which is truly unique and amazing. Large fresh portions with little rice and great value keeps this place very popular. The only complaint is that the staff are sometimes slow on filling up the tea.

I don’t come here by choice, only for team lunches and so forth. Lunch boxes are alright, but it seems they are now skimping on fixings and also the chicken in their chicken teriyaki box. Donburi is ok, nothing special. I’d give them ³⁄₅ if it just ends here.
But they managed to mess up Nabeyaki Udon. I’ve never had a place messes that up, which is essentially hot udon soup with veggies, raw egg, and couple other cooked ingredients thrown into it. The soup base was OK, but there was a few things wrong with it: there was sand in the spinach; the egg was over cooked instead of soft poached; and the chicken was bone dry. It’s just overall terrible.

Best place for sushi! Love the sushi pizza, it’s a must-​have! Their rolls and sushi’s are nicely made and fresh — not too much rice. Pretty authentic. The only caveat is their service is sometimes lacking (slow and inattentive). Worth going back, and we do, often.

When my friend and I went there last time, I had no problem with my foods but my friend and I consider what they did to my friend’s food is serious problem.
All restaurants should temporarily take care of their food safe and sanity, this is mandatory and no excuses when they failed to manage that.
Straight to my point, they served rotten food to my friend. My friend ordered Don Katsu, which is deep fried pork cutlet with sauce on the side.
I think they could cover the fact the pork went bad and hide the smell of it by deep frying it and the sauce on it. When the food got in front of my friend, he smelled something bad but he still ate it because he wasnt sure his judgment. However taste couldnt trick him. It tasted bad and he was telling me that the food went bad, I tasted and I agreed.
He called one of waitresses and explained.
He got new Don Katsu but he just ate half of them, even I wouldnt finish it cuz rotten food was served and you never know what the new food happened in the kitchen, it may touched other porks and cross contaminating each others? Idk
And of course he had stomachache after.
We never go there again, even tho anyone would offer us to get paid to go there, uhuh no thankyo.

Definitely among the best, and most authentic, Sushi restaurants I’ve ever been too. We sampled a large number of items off the menu from Sushi to Sashimi to Maki. We got way too much food, but some how managed to eat it all.
The menu is pretty standard fair, there is nothing surprising about it other then the fact that they have sea urchin as a separate item. But, their Wasabi is the real deal. I can eat huge gobs of the American green Horseradish «Wasabi» with no problem. Here a TINY little dot is enough to get the eyes watering and clear out that pesky sinus congestion.
Definitely on our list to visit again, in fact we may even drive up from Portland specifically to eat here.

You folks in Vancouver probably don’t know how lucky you have it.
I say unpleasant things on Unilocal about the sushi back in Ohio, where we’ve lived for a few years, but this trip to Vancouver just highlighted how dire our sushi scene is.
I get the impression from these reviews that Sushiyama is a somewhat better-​than-​average neighborhood sushi joint in Vancouver. In Cincinnati, Ohio, this place would stomp the competition into a bloody mess on value alone.
Jeebus H. Christ, a sashimi PLATTER – what must have been a solid half-​kilo (more?) of salmon, horse mackerel, surf clam, yellow tail, and another fish I can’t remember – goes for twelve dollars and fifty cents Canadian. Incredible.
You could afford to feed a bear here.
(This plate of food would probably go for triple that in the U.S. Midwest. That’s assuming that the restaurant even served sashimi, given the high demand for gross, gloppy Americanized rolls.)
We also ordered seaweed salad, goma ae, grilled mackerel, and a couple of pieces each mackerel and uni nigiri. (That’s right: We love mackerel.) Also, a couple of beers.
Total bill for all of this: $ 50CAD. Ridiculous. I felt like we were putting something over on the owners.
Only reason I don’t go for the full five stars is because Sushiyama is indeed a bargain sushi stop, and the quality was decent, but not top-​notch, at least not compared to what we had at a couple of other Vancouver places (and our higher-​end and far more expensive Japanese place back home). And although massive chunks of raw fish for sashimi might satisfy a raw animal craving (read: it did for me), it’s not exactly sushi craftsmanship. Plus, the grilled mackerel was a bit overcooked and had some pin bones.
For bang-​for-​the-​buck sushi, however, Sushiyama is superb.
4.5 stars.

This is a little hole in the wall totally underrated! The servers and chefs are Japanese and super polite. From the moment we walked in they were all smiles and seated us by the window. My boyfriends cup of tea was leaking and when we called them over they quickly replaced it and wiped up the mess.
We had the Agedash Tofu, Tuna Tataki, Kamikaze Roll, Mango Mango Roll, Boston Roll, and the Salisfornia Roll. My absolute favourite was the Salisfornia — it’s a deep fried salmon roll so delicious! and they don’t skimp on the salmon either. We were SO full after eating all of this.
The prices are average but you get great value the rolls aren’t small and crappy like Sushi Garden. The people here are very nice, one side of the restaurant is nicer than the other — the side with the sushi bar is kind of aged looking but you get window view. The other side looks nicer but there are no windows.
Parking isn’t ideal here but if you’re at Kingsgate Mall anyways then just cross the street — loved it here!