Downtown Sushi Bar Japanese Restaurant

Bueno… no está tan mal. Barato y buena cantidad… en plena calle Davie St.
Tienen una amplia carta con bento box, sushi variado etc…
El sushi está bueno pero sin más…se nota que no está bien cocinado ya que el arroz se deshace en cuanto lo pinzas.
Por lo que pagas tampoco se puede pedir más.

Not gluten free!
They say they have a gluten free menu and they do have gluten free items clearly marked on the menu. However, I’d you’re celiac, I’d think twice about eating here. I think their idea of GF is really just to appease those that have gown on the GF bandwagon as a fad as they don’t seem to take it seriously at all. I’m not celiac but have other health issues that require I don’t eat gluten. I ordered a few GF rolls and asked for GF soy sauce (though had to ask twice). After the meal, my friend and I asked to have our leftovers packaged up. I didn’t specify to package it up separate as we ordered separately, ate separately and every roll he ordered had gluten in it. What happened? They threw it all in one box! So there goes all my leftovers into the garbage!
As for the food — I usually only have the rolls and the salmon I get always tastes fresh. the rolls are good, which is why this place gets 3 stars still. If they had better service and actually educated their staff on what the expectation is on a «gluten free» menu (which they advertise), I’d give more stars!

Every time I place a order they mess it up and I’ve had some pretty poorly crafted food arrive at my door. I keep giving them second chances to improve their food and service but I always end up disappointed. It’s a last resort when I’m starving and don’t want pizza.

We didn’t come in with high expectations, yet we still left feeling pretty lousy about our whole dinner experience. The food was mediocre at best but the service was really what killed it for us. We were served food without side plates or chopsticks. It took so long to get their attention that we got up and went to help ourselves to plates and chopsticks from the empty table next to us (and the place was NOT busy). One of the servers was simply too busy chatting loudly with a diner at the bar to bother paying attention to anyone else. And when it was time to get our bill, we couldn’t get anyone’s attention for ages (it was still not crowded) so we walked up to the counter to pay. The worst part is, the tally was wrong and the taxes didn’t add up correctly either. When we pointed this out to the waitress/​cashier, she was flippant and mumbly. We almost didn’t leave a tip. Will never go back.

CELIACS: DO NOT EAT HERE.
My friend and I went here for lunch the other day. We ordered, received the sushi, and my friend wondered why she had gotten such little wasabi– there was almost none there, as if it had been scraped off of her pickled ginger. We called the server over to ask for some, and she told us that it had gluten in it.
WELL that would have been nice to know before she ate it! Especially since she EXPLICITLY informed the server that she is a celiac. For a place that advertises its gluten-​free sushi on the menu board outside, this treatment was extremely inappropriate. How about next time when you realize you accidentally put wasabi on the pickled ginger, you don’t scrape it off, but throw it out and replace it, and spend the $ 0.03.
Needless to say my friend got very ill. I will be actively telling people to avoid this restaurant from now on. Just awful.

I came here because it is near my work and I appreciate when a sushi place serves only wild salmon. Today they had a special on large Japanese beers for 5.95. I almost always start with a tuna negiri and a salmon nigiri to test a new place out. The portions were large. The salmon was slightly fishy so I didn’t finish it and while the tuna tasted fresh the sushi rice was quite warm. I decided I would try the avocado roll which was large with perfectly ripened avocados and the sushi rice was the right temperature. I didnt order anything else after that. The service was polite and super fast. I feel like my experience echos many others. Not bad, good price but unpredictable. Order a few small things before deciding if you should order big.

Being in a such prime spot, this place needs to step up its game. Yes, it’s pretty cheap. But you get what you pay for. It seems that all the staff has only one thought on their mind: «can’t wait to go home». And it shows.
It really has a feel of a crappy diner on a forgotten freeway that decided to start serving raw fish. If Jiro came here, he’d shed a tear.

This was a decent sushi spot really close to where we stayed in Vancouver. The menu is huge and everyone can find something that they like! It was so hard for us to choose! The food was good – nothing extra special. Staff was very nice and we liked sitting at the big open window at the front where we could people watch.

Okay– nothing special, not very fresh rice (it’s rice, how difficult could it be?) got the negitoro roll (good), salmon roll (didn’t like it), smoked salmon roll (good, fresh avocado), BC roll (alright I guess, nothing special). I think this, coupled with the price (more than I’d care to pay for a dicey place in the West End), I won’t be returning. The rice really wrecked it. The Davie Independent Grocer has fresher, higher quality sushi, or the sunrise market. Honestly, I want my money back. For Vancouver it should be better. Sushi is practically a staple food here in Vancouver. I wish I read the other reviews before I tried it, I was just on my way home from work. Oh well! Guess I learned my lesson, Unilocal first, then try!

I didn’t have any sushi but did have the Oyaku Don and it was delicious. Service was okay. Looked around and saw lots of people enjoying their sushi. Did like they took American Express.

Echoing what a lot of people have said. It is hit or miss, but when it misses… Oh boy. I have gotten food poisoning here a few times. Never again will I be visiting.

I really wish that Unilocal had a 0 star option.
I have been to Downtown Sushi Bar NUMEROUS times… I would say 15 – 25 times. At first I was okay with the service. I mainly get take out so I do not have to deal with the employees, however when I went into the restaurant the employees are very rushed and busy and are taking on too much at once. Since I am there only to pick up the food I look past it for awhile, until it started to get worse.
You could say that I like the food, for me to keep going back even though the service was horrible. This might be true but its not like the food is THAT great. Sushi falls apart 95% of the time, one time the avocado was even brown in one of my rolls…
I decided one day that I would NEVER order from them ever again. EVER. The reason was that I called in an order and they RUSH you off of the phone every time. They don’t take your name or number, they just rush you off the phone once THEY think your order is done. I ordered a combo, and was about to order some tempura and the employee just kept saying «OKAY BYE, THANKS BYE, OKAY BYE» and I was saying «I also want tempura please!» and he hung up. I was unsure if he even got the last part of my order, and of course I show up to pick it up, and he did not. I told him that he hung up on me and he said sorry. The reason why I didn’t go back ever again is because this happened numerous times, where I had to fight with them just to get my full order out. This was just the first time that they actually DIDN’T make the last thing I wanted. If you want to rush me off the phone before finishing my order, then go ahead, lose that extra revenue.
I wanted to write a review back when this happened, probably August or September of 2014, but I decided not to, and that I would never go back.
Today I was browsing through «JustEat​.ca» where you can order your food online, and I noticed that Downtown Sushi Bar was on the list of options. I thought, whats the worst that could happen if I don’t have to call them, I can just pick my order and have it delivered!
I did this, and paid online so that I would not have to pay at the door. That’s my favorite thing about that website is that when its delivered I can just grab it from them and say bye. I realized very shortly after I paid online, that I forgot to leave the driver a tip! I felt really bad and I grabbed some change and put it in my pocket for when the driver showed up.
The older man showed up to my apartment door with the food and he said the price of the order. I mentioned to him how I had already paid online through Just Eat. You could tell that he didn’t know what I was talking about and didn’t believe me. He told me that he would call the restaurant and ask them. Next thing I know he is on the phone and he is literally screaming in my hallway at the top of his lungs in another language. Very VERY loud and it was very unpleasant. I was very uncomfortable and not happy. He then hangs up the phone and says that they confirmed I paid but he asked me «just need the tip now»… I was extremely caught off guard for him to rudely ask for a tip like that. I had the tip all ready to go, if I had great service from a nice driver. I did not get that. There was no way I was going to pay a tip now after the embarrassment that he called service.
I told him I paid everything I wanted to pay online and closed the door. I then opened the food up to find out that the sauce from the chicken teriyaki was spilled EVERYWHERE in the bag. Everywhere. There is literally no hope for this place and I just thought I would share my multiple stories with the public because I believe that places with AWFUL customer service do not belong in the real world. Downtown Sushi Bar needs a wake up call, as you cannot treat your customers so poorly. Its disgusting.

My bf and I have been here twice, like most of the reviews this place is hit or miss, mostly miss. The last time we were here it was the only place open, so we ventured in. We ordered a large beer for the both of us and the server split the beer all over the table and us. She only replaced it with a small bottle of Canadian. We had a sushi, it was okay. I then decided to order the calimari. we had one bit and wanted to return it and have it taken off our bill. The servers reply was we cannot take it off your bill. When asked why, her reply was because you had a bite. I am like well how would we know if we liked it if we had not taken a bite. She would not take it off our bill. This was the last time we were here and will NEVER return. I work in hospitality and recommend places to eat all the time in Vancouver, I would never recommend this place…

Service has vastly improved. I have a friend that likes the vegetarian options so I joined her and have been back a few times since.
I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they read my previous review???

Echoing a lot of the other reviews on here, this place is really hit or miss. Typically more miss, but it’s on the cheaper side and most of the time the food is «good enough.»
Finally penning down a review after a rather bizarre experience here the other day for an early dinner. The boyfriend and I were seated and greeted by a friendly Chinese girl. Ran through the typically paces of ordering drinks while thumbing through the menu. It was steady, but not busy, and so we anticipated we’d be in and out in about half an hour.
Our glasses of water were delivered by a much less friendly, somewhat frumpy Chinese woman who took our order. We had ordered the tonkatsu plate with a side salad for myself, some gyoza and short ribs to share, and a combo box for him.
The gyoza and the combo box came first. I’m not a roll person, but from what I understand they’re not bad. The gyoza were good, though the texture led me to believe that they come out of a box or a bag frozen. The short ribs weren’t bad either, but perhaps a bit under seasoned. Later our frumpy waitress returned with a plate of takoyaki (octopus ball) which was clearly not my tonkatsu, which she took away.
About fifteen minutes later I was getting annoyed because our appetizers had been eaten and my boyfriend was nearly finished his combo. It kinda sucks when the person your dining was has almost finished their meal and you haven’t even gotten yours yet. I got up to cancel the order, however the woman told me that it was coming and to please sit back down. Okay, fine.
When the tonkatsu did arrive, I wasn’t too thrilled with it. Again, it’s one of those hit or miss things. Sometimes it’s great, others not so much. The plate was splattered with grease and the salad dressing for the side salad had drenched the ordinarily crispy coating of the tonkatsu itself. Typically there’s also supposed to be a dipping sauce of some sort with the tonkatsu, which was also absent.
While taking my debit card, she sort of burst the personal space bubble a little bit with me and asked in this somewhat confused tone, «DID YOU LIKE THE SHORT RIB?» Looking back to my boyfriend, we said, «yes, they were okay!» And her face/​tone did a total 360 as if I had just asked her to prom or to marry me, «OHHHH THANNNNNK YOU.» She may have been blushing.
An overall unusual and frankly rather weird experience at Sushi Bar, but I’d go again in search of cheap eats.

Been here a few times and I love this place. Great prices, great atmosphere and the rolls are really good! I also am a fan of their open window, gives a patio effect which is great for the summer! Staff is friendly and service is quick! Highly recommend if you’re looking for cheap and delicious sushi on Davie!

this place is hit and miss in terms of quality, but the price is cheap, the food comes fast and they won’t poison you.
The big problem is the owner– she micromanages everything, not trusting her staff to do their job.
The food itself isn’t entirely authentic (chinese owned), but boss lady is actually pretty nice– to customers.
For a little more money, there’s another Chinese owned Japanese on Davie– it’s called Kadoya («corner store»); they actually have a second location on Denman.

Came here for some late night sushi.
Parking here is crappy unless you’re here past 2200. Then the free spots feel good.
The staff here are Chinese, not Japanese.
The interior is quite clean, with nice wood panels.
Special mention goes to the liquor specials — $ 4 for a small bottle of hot sake, and $ 6 for a large (650mL) bottle of Japanese beer. Very reasonable markup.
Unfortunately, the food here is quite expensive for what you get. My BC roll was about the size of a loonie. I couldn’t justify spending any more money here. You’re probably going to pay $ 20 and leave hungry here.

The place is really small and packed. The prices are a bit above average. Tuna tataki was like $ 12.
Just got some salmon nigiri, the dragon roll (prawn, salmon and eel) and the california roll.
Surprisingly it was really good. The nigiri are bite size, as they are supposed to. The dragon roll was really well made and tasty, and the california was OK (cut be better cut).
Looking fwd to coming back.

I don’t know why everyone is hating on this place, I’ve only ever had good experiences and I’ve been there about 5 – 6 different times.
The server woman isn’t rude she’s just kind of kooky. And you can’t expect to be hand held in a sushi place. it’s cheap food, so you get what you pay for.
The sushi is great quality and good portion. Nothing fishy smelling, the rice is cooked properly, and they have great variety. Maybe slightly more expensive but it is RIGHT downtown.
They’re part of that just-​eat online ordering program as well so it’s super easy to order ahead and pickup or get it delivered.

Reading some of the earlier posts, I would have to agree that — yes! — the service here is beyond a wee bit strange here.
I came in for a late night dinner. Considering the time, I didn’t want a huge meal, but did want to sample a number of items from the menu. I was pleased to right away see that the restaurant offered single servings of nigiri, albeit at about $ 1.50 to nearly $ 3.30 depending on the item. Ah well.
I decided on the calamari appetizer and two pieces to start — tuna and salmon. Now, I didn’t tell my server that I would likely go for a second round. Um, was that my mistake, because she gave me this weird smirk and the tilt of her head as if to say, «Oh, that’s it?» Then she spun on her heels and walked off.
No lie.
Then, two mistakes: 1. She brought the sushi first, then the calamari several minutes later (This is an issue around order: The heavier dish should have been served before the sushi). 2. She dropped the serving platters on the table as she walked by without ever stopping. Folks, without ever stopping at the table. It was quite abrasive and a little insulting.
Onward.
The tuna was actually quite nice, but the salmon had a that weird too-​soft taste. No, not the melt in your mouth taste, but the wrong-​cut-​of-​meat flavor. The calamari was, frankly, terrible! Just awful. Too much batter and tough meat. Thankfully, the sauce served alongside it was lovely, but — sorry, I didn’t come there for the sauce.
I should have left then. But I opted for a second order of tuna, yellowtail and toro. They were out of toro, so I went to with the scallops. The rest of the meal with a substantial improvement from the first. And, strangely, after my second order and an order of wine, the server became quite nice all of a sudden. This left me feeling sour, as I didn’t get the impression that she was authentic.
To offer a fair assessment, the sushi and wine were OK, as were the prices. But I would have given the place only one extra star even if the service had been much improved.