Sushi Shelter 101

This place used to be my favorite till I realized it was pretty overpriced considering what was inside the sushi.
I am a big creative sushi roll lover. Anything with tons of toppings inside and out with layers of flavor is what I am down for.
For the most part this place is creative, great flavors but it’s a small joint and it’s quite expensive.
A lot of the rolls have imitation crab which is cheap. Yet they just call it crab on the roll. This got me thinking that other places use real crab and charge roughly the same. So I’d rather go there.
However overall. it’s not a bad place. Would I come back? I think I would but there are definitely better sushi joints in the tri cities for sure.

Small place with geek /​WWII décor !?! Mostly great food that is very creatively plated. Pleasant staff and food arrived very quickly. Will definitely go back.

Excellent and inventive sushi, surprisingly good prices. Funky gaming décor.
We’ll be back soon and often.
Sugoi!

Best sushi place by a landslide!!! My mom and I order our lunch from sushi shelter and drive from our work in Burnaby to Poco to pick up. Well worth the drive. Would recommend to anyone.

We love this restaurant so much. Their portions are ample, the quality is descent, pleasant serving staff and the value is reasonable. Especially good value on their assorted tempura.
We frequent this restaurant regularly; sometimes weekly and have referred many friends to them.
Recently we noticed a degradation in service. One example was that we made a RESERVATION for a Friday evening only to show up and find a sign that said they were catering. They never called before or after to tell us or apologize.
We tried calling them and reaching out via Facebook to tell them what happened. We saw they read the message but they did not respond.
We unfortunately cannot recommend this restaurant any longer due to their poor follow up service by management.
Update: We did receive a follow up 3 months later apologizing and inviting us back with a discount off our bill. I’ve improved the rating because of that.

LOVE this restaurant, it’s super nice and in style. Seems like a place that should belong downtown vancouver! Super pleased with the food and staff. Will be back!

I just made a PICKUP order, but I really enjoyed the food here and will definitely come back. Next time I need to be more adventurous!
I ordered:
— Veggie potato croquette (loved it!) a favorite of mine that I like to try at different places. MM tasty!
— Shelter crispy tofu (in garlic sauce) This had a nice texture, slightly crispy on the outside and softer inside, with a flavorful garlic sauce that was not overpowering. I would order this again.
— California cone — Another I would re-​order. It didn’t have a fishy or strong mayo taste that I’ve experienced at other sushi restaurants with cali rolls.
Chopped scallop roll — This I was not a huge fan of. I have never tried a scallop roll before and had been curious to finally try it. it didn’t have a whole lot of flavor, perhaps the texture of the scallop was a bit of a turn off too. Not my favorite.
Overall really enjoyed and will try in-​house next time. The photos I’ve seen look like some amazing creations.

I first tried Sushi Shelter 101 last week for lunch. I had their signature lunch box and it was excellent. The service was very good and my meal was wonderful! Everything tasted very fresh and the little nibbles as part of my lunch were creative. Presentation is obviously very important as each part of my lunch was presented beautifully. The 3 photos i have included here were all part of my $ 9 lunch. I left full and had enough for a snack later on. I will definitely bring my family here and look forward to trying different items on their menu. Love it!

Such a great place! Everything is made artfully and with quality. I bring my friends here all the time.

Unique rolls only found here were great. It’s a must try. There are over twenty different variety

Good quality food, presented well at a reasonable price. The menu is a good change from the standard sushi fare. :)
Good service from the only server working a Saturday night!
Location: Its hidden out of the way
Love the automated greeter!
The décor is on the verge of being really cool and funky Japanese’esque !! I almost love it
**BUT** They’ve put a lot of vintage/​antique products such as an old Singer sewing machine, old pop vending machine, old telephone etc around the small restaurant! Why? Here, they seem tacky, out of place and must be a nightmare to clean. They are all really unique pieces and would be cool in an appropriately themed establishment.
We’ll be back!

He is amazing. He used to work for Mr. Pae in Nagano. So he is gooood. Great food and amazing designs.

Both my wife and myself have had lunch at Sushi shelter four times and every time has been excellent. The presentation is better than 90% of the GVRDs sushi restaurants I’ve been to (30+). The food tastes fresh, and the restaurant is always clean. We have found the service to be quick and friendly so far. The atmosphere is also very unique.

A friend introduced me to this place down the street. To be honest I had no idea they were even there but I have been going back ever since. There are quite few decent sushi places in PoCo but this is definitely my favorite. Really good, fresh sushi and great drink selection (one of the few places that has Innis & Gunn). It’s kind of hidden away so it’s a pretty relaxed atmosphere. Highly recommend it.

I agree with Carly D. — this place is a hidden gem. Was expecting a run-​of-​the-​mill small sushi joint with all the typical décor and menu items. I was totally wrong. The space is cute and funky. Our server yesterday was friendly and professional. The food was presented in such original ways and the flavours were awesome. Had excellent veggie tempura, beef yakiudon, a «raw shot» and a funky roll. The only issue — sunomono had no vinegar in it, only sugar it seemed.
Other than that, a great experience and will definitely be returning!

Wow, the effort they put on the presentations is worth the travel time. The down side is that they dont offer nigiris.
I’ve tried a few rolls and really liked them. That said, they werent as good as the eatery. Still, it’s quite good and I strongly recommend it.

I was actually quite surprised to find a place like this nestled in Poco. Sushi Shelter is hidden in the Save On Foods Strip Mall and is very out-​of-​sight. I was impressed with the food which is a twist on traditional Japanese dishes. I would recommend the Red Bamboo (deep fried salmon sashimi things) off their appetizer menu, its definitely a specialty item and not something you can get at every sushi restaurant. For the adventurous eater, I would recommend the Chihuahua Roll which is a cooked beef roll topped with hot sauce and crunchy things for a Mexican twist. All the food was presented very beautifully and you can tell that the Chef really puts alot of attention into properly plating the food into works of art.
If you plan to visit here on a weekend, I would recommend coming early as they have limited seating, mostly due to the poorly thought out table arrangements. Otherwise, I came on a weeknight and had not trouble getting seated right away.

Sushi Shelter is a really quaint restaurant in PoCo. The décor is simple with a few quirks. Parking is a cinch, since there’s a big parking lot. It has a really unique take on traditional Japanese dishes. However, I find that too many of the dishes are deep fried, and the rolls that are actually done the traditional style don’t really stand out. Each dish has a beautiful presentation. I really liked how, at the end of the meal, they would serve frozen grapes. Fall Out roll is my favourite sushi dish, and chicken teriyaki donburi is my favourite rice dish. This place is worth trying at least once.

We actually showed up on the Shelters doorstep going to the highly rated Greek place next door– which isn’t open for lunch! This place was a plan b that turned out great. Very few tables in here, a few 2 – 4 person tables, but IMO the space is a bit wasted with some massive round 6 – 10 person tables. maybe they get a lot of large lunch parties, who knows?
They have the usual setup for sushi lunch packages but there is nothing standard about them! A lot of extra work put into prep and display, maybe even a little over the top on the funky garnishes! Well appreciated though. The croquettes transported me instantly back to osaka in 1995– good times!