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Ikura Japanese Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Sushi Bars Restaurants Japanese Sushi Bars, Japanese [Edit]
8646 Granville StVancouver, BC V6P 5A1
Neighbourhood: Marpole
(604) 261-6382
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 11 am - 10 pm
Sun 12 pm - 10 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
L I. said: "Don't miss thier happy hours" read more »
19 reviews for Ikura Japanese Restaurant
19 reviews in English
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Review from Kenneth E.
Vancouver, BC
Updated - 5/12/2012 1 Check-in Here
Enough of the special sushi rolls i've been horking down lately, as you've noticed, time to cut back on the carbs ;)
Went for somewhat healthy, their Vegetable box...what a deal for $7.95.
you get:
vegetable roll
salad
tempura (5 pieces)
AND
tofu teriyaki.
The latter i could care for, but anything deep fried is always good lol but nice batter, carrot and zucchini were my fav. Pumpkin & yam also good too.
Salad good portion too.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/24/2012
Had heard some good things about this resto, kinda hard to miss if you're flying off the arhur liang… Read more »
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Review from Marlena M.
Vancouver, BC
5/18/2012
I've ordered takeaway from here twice and let me tell you, it's not every day that you eat sushi that compels you to floss.
I now have new food aversions thanks to this place. I have discovered I don't like Uni, and I'm not sure how that's possible. All the fish is cut really thick and clumsily and ends up tough and stringy. I have been consistently unimpressed with anything they serve on rice, teriyaki was just nasty, like bland and sitting in a pool of water and shortribs were sliced thin yet somehow managed to be tough, flavorless and grisly.
They make a fine tempura prawn, I've gotta hand it to them. I don't understand this either; how can they do that one thing well and fail at all other sushi aspects.
I couldn't even get my dog to eat my last piece of sushi, again, I don't know how that's possible, he's a pug, he loves all thing food-like.
Completely poopy. -
Review from Cay R.
Richmond, BC
12/30/2011
Well, this review comes after two sour experiences I've had with this place.
The first time, I came here with a girlfriend about 3 months ago. We waited to have our menu given to us for roughly 20 minutes (it never came). We left without making a fuss.
It took us three months to get over the sour tastes in our mouths. It's impressive how a restaurant can do that even without allowing you eat anything.
My most recent experience was better (we actually ate this time) but the service was what turned us off.
/Decor/:
It's okay. The decor is nice, quaint, and what you'd expect for a sushi/Japanese place on the last stretches of Granville street.
/Food/:
Avoid the Sunomono salad. The noodles were seriously UNDER-done (crunchy even) and the base was way too lemony for it to be considered proper Sunomono. For $3.50 each, we wasted 7 dollars right there.
The sushi is actually quite good. The California rolls were great (I judge a Japanese place on how much effort they put into making California rolls). The sashimi (Toro, Yellowfin, and Salmon) were delectable and fresh.
/Service/:
Horrific. It seems the waitress doesn't try to be cordial with you if she doesn't feel she needs to. There is no "oomph" that regular customers desire from servers. Our tea cups were not even once refilled (in the 45 minutes we were eating). No body came by to ask us how everything was (I was waiting to tell them about the horrid Sunomono). And after I paid the 40+ bill leaving only a 3$ tip (as a sign I was unhappy)--the server looked glaringly displeased, slapped the receipt on the counter and ran off to do something else without a thank you (or anything by that matter). It took her another 8 minutes to give us a to-go box so we can take whatever sushi we had not eaten.
Perhaps paying before expecting some more service was a mistake on my part.
Right at our table, she scraped the sushi carelessly and haphazardly into the box (breaking one).
We left quietly and disappointed once again.
/Conclusion/:
I completely understand you're pissed at your 3$ tip, but did she actually think she deserved it? Work your butt off for your customers, then those customers will gladly be willing to pay. I am coming to sincerely despise the attitude some servers have that whatever they do, they should expect a 15% tip. Uh, no, I'm sorry, not in a place like this you don't.
I would not recommend this place for the service or the average food to anybody if it was out of the way or something else was open. -
Review from Lisa T.
Vancouver, BC
5/16/2012
Great place for sushi time! Food was more than I asked for! Salmon sashimi is always fresh every time I visit, oyster was so fresh too, black cod and spicy chopped scallop are to die for! Can't forget the beef tataki!
Service was fantastic! Waitress always around for us our water glass was always filled.
Definitely will come back and will recommend to my friends! -
Review from Edward L.
Finally had a chance to check this place out today, based on my friend Vincent N's recommendation.
The place was pretty deserted except for 1 table when we came in today. Some people did come and go though, to pick up take-out.
Parking is available in the tiny lot (some 6 spots), as well as along Granville.
The place is short staffed. I think there are a whopping 2 people working there, and half the time we could've pulled a dine-and-dash. The waitress would disappear for 10 minutes, during which we would sit there with empty tea cups.
As for the food? It is decent quality for sure, but a bit on the pricey end.
Unagi rice - nice large chunks of eel.
Mango paradise (some roll with mango slices on top) - mango was fresh. Nice multi-coloured tobiko on top.
BC roll - decent size, but not much fish skin. It was filled with cooked salmon.
Sashimi Combo (Salmon, hamachi, toro) - really good. Nice decorative layout too. But at basically $1 a piece, all I could think of was how much longer I needed sit in front of my work computer.
The food isn't bad, but the items listed above set us back some $43. This place ain't no Sushi King.Listed in: 2011 Ed's Picks
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Review from Caleb W.
Vancouver, BC
12/20/2011
So glad that there is a sushi place nearby that delivers, too!
My boyfriend and I stumbled upon this place a while ago and just haven't gotten around to ordering it again until tonight ...
Within 20minutes I had fresh, delicious smelling sushi at my front door.
Their sushi has tasted fresh and delicious both times I have had the pleasure eating there (and believe me ... there will be more times)
Their special rolls are interesting and the waitresses are very pleasant. I recommend this place to anyone in the area (Heck, even outside of the area) you can't go wrong with Ikura!! -
Review from Vincent N.
Vancouver, BC
I still wish we could give 1/2 Stars! I'm giving this place 3.5 stars. My second one in a row.
If you ever catch me writing my reviews, I usually try to eat at restaurants during their quiet time. So I decided to visit this restaurant at 4pm on Saturday since there were some good reviews of the place.
I ordered the raw oyster appetizer, which at this moment, there's a special going on. 6 Oysters for 5.75, not bad, cheaper than buck a shuck places. The oysters were absolutely fantastic, I ordered 4 of them, and they were fresh, small, and didn't have the overbearing flavour sea salt. The ponzu sauce was a great touch, and the oysters had a nice hearty texture without being slimy. For me it was an absolute delight. I probably could have eaten another 20 oysters easily.
I then ordered a Bento box, and this is where things were a little different and I won't rave as much. The tempura that came with my Dinner box C, was nice and hot, hot enough that I can eat without burning myself, but taking my first bite, I knew that there was a lot of oil in it. I prefer more of a light crisp batter where there is as little as oil as possible. But if you enjoy eating greasy burgers then this might be great tempura place for you.
The Teriyaki sauce on the actual chicken was too salty.I had wipe the sauce off onto the white rice to make it manageable. It's probably the saltiest teriyaki sauce i've had. If they lessened up the salt it would have been great.
The sashimi was good, fresh, and pretty standard of the high Vancouver quality that residents are used too. The only trouble is that the slices are massive. If you like big slices the way that Samurai makes them then you'll be happy. I don't like big clunky fish, it's like having a burger that's way too big.
It's probably not the place I would go back every single week, but there's no doubt that if I'm hungry, I'd walk over and have dinner for sure.
They do make a lot of different creative rolls, which I'll probably try out next time.
The service was also pleasant and they have a TV that was showing Hockey Night in Canada. Just in case you wanted to know that. -
Review from Danielle B.
Vancouver, BC
2/10/2012
Holy s*#t the waitress is a b*+%ch!!! Sorry, but I NEVER say that. If you don't have a sushi place elsewhere in that hood, than by all means, eat there--the sushi IS good (I like the spicy tuna maki). The tempura is fantastic. & the guys at the sushi bar are doing a great job, but the one lone waitress has no idea how much she is puttin that restaurant to its grave!!!
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Review from Stephan W.
Langley, BC
4/26/2011 3 Check-ins Here
3.5 stars, what the heck let's round up to 4! I stopped in here for lunch today on a colleagues reccomendation. He lives in Marpole and said this place was cheaper and mo' better than the Japanese we usually eat for lunch near the office (Charcoal on 3 Rd.). I do have to disagree with that. My lunch bill was $14 and I left a little hungry. On the plus side the decor is cleancut upscale lunch sushi place with the specials written on the walls on whiteboards. On the down side there did'nt appear to be that lunch bento special (miso,rice,sunumono, cali roll, insert main here) but that lack forced me to build my own little sampler plate. Rice, miso, salmon belly, and that Osaka train station delicacy- Yakitori! I suppose I'm spoiled and a yakitori snob since I lived in Japan but their rendition was yumm- could have used a little more grilling and a little less sauce but still copacetic.
Good times. -
Review from sandy d.
West Vancouver, BC
12/5/2011
We may have ordered too much food or maybe the servings are just large. Some day we will learn. We did have trouble getting the waitress's attention for tea refills and ordering. I tried the shoyu ramen. Not great. It had a burnt taste to it and was very very salty. And I like salt. I think it was all precooked and then put together when I ordered it. The noodles were in a clump in the bottom of the bowl and the pork seemed like it had been roasted sometime ago and then put in the soup. The half of hard boiled egg in it was cold. I should know better than to order it at a sushi restaurant! The prawn tempura was okay. The other two at the table had the pork cutlet rice bowl and thought it was quite good. The sushi rolls were very good. The spider roll was huge. Too much sauce on the over cooked chicken yakitori.
If I go back I will stick to the sushi. -
Review from Vanessa G.
3/22/2011
Not bad at all. Came in here for a couple rolls (avocado and yam tempura to be exact), at $2.50 a piece i was completely satisfied. The Avocado was fresh, the yams yummy, and real ginger.. nice!
The server was cute and sweet. The only thing that was a little fly by wire was that their menus were the printed take out menus..which makes me think they might disappear into the night, but i really don't care about that as much as the food quality.Listed in: Marpole
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Review from Tessa B.
4/29/2011 1 Check-in Here
I am really into aesthetic, so when I stepped inside I was pleasantly surprised to see they put effort into theirs, and also happy to see my favourite rolls were only $2 each. I was not-so-pleasantly surprised when my rolls showed up already falling apart. Now, I've only made sushi once in my life and it was what could only be described as a failure, but my rolls didn't fall apart! Maybe I was using some frowned upon, cheater technique, I don't know. . . But it seems to me if you are a sushi chef you should be able to make food that's not a complete drag to eat.
All in all it's nice inside and the food tastes okay when you can wrangle it into your mouth. Don't go out of your way, but if you're in the neighborhood, go for it. -
Review from Kat S.
Updated - 6/28/2011 4 photos
Blerg.
The space is still nice, and the staff fairly friendly, though not as super attentive as last time.
I'm not sure if they constantly have new chefs in this place or not. The menu seems to have changed again. Apparently their spicy tuna is made with bits of tempura to give it a crunchy texture, which I was not aware of. So beware, those with allergies.
Their gomae is still okay. Needs more sauce.
The Sakura roll is what was disappointing, however. Things I like: spicy tuna, cucumbers, avocado, chopped scallop, tobiko. Hmm, seems like this would be a good roll, then. The cucumber was nearly non-existent, and the spicy tuna had strange bits of tempura in it, which I figured got in there by mistake (I was wrong). And the whole roll had an overly fishy taste that overshadowed the rest of the flavours. The tobiko on top was excessive, and came in three colours. It sure looked neat, but I was not expecting this. I think the black tobiko was part of the problem for me, but even after scraping it off I still had to choke down the rolls. Determined to get my $9 worth (!!!) and to fill the void in my belly, I persevered, but it wasn't pleasant. I did appreciate that the mayo was on the side, and not squirted all over the roll, since I despise mayo. But the extra spicy sauce was on the side mingling with the mayo, too. Since I wasn't provided wasabi or ginger I had to try and soak up the spicy sauce without contaminating the roll with excess mayo. I'm wondering if the tempura they use in the roll is from bits left floating in the fryer. The oily fish taste may have been from those.
There's better sushi up the road, so I think I will stick with Red Tuna from now on.Listed in: Lunch in Marpole
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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8/10/2010
Yay! So. Much. Better.
The staff were very attentive this time and no arguing between each other!
The… Read more »
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Review from Diane C.
11/14/2011 1 Check-in Here
The server was slow. We needed a high chair which took her a good five minutes to get for us after we sat down. The food was slow when served. The seafood was not very fresh! The fish had an awful smell that we had to cancel the order. The beef n asparagus was way overcooked! The asparagus was browning and the beef was too hard to chew!
I wouldn't go back again! -
Review from Miranda R.
Vancouver, BC
8/18/2011
Best sushi place that I've found in marpole. Thank goodness for Ikura. Their staff are awesome, it's clean, and the sushi is well made and not full of cheap filler like other places.
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Review from Amanda H.
I wanted to update this review since it had been a few months since we last ate here. We showed up around 3:30pm for an early dinner and there was only a handful of people. We noticed that the menus have changed and now miso soup is 75cents. We ordered the tempura, smoked salmon roll, spicy tuna roll and cali roll. Right away we realized that the rolls were much larger than before. All but the smoked salmon (still bland) even tasted better. They must have got a new chef. The waitress was different as well but service was still not very friendly or attentive. They made me happy when they told me that they had the green tea ice cream. My favorite! The meal was around $35 for two people. More than I like to pay but at least the food seems to have improved. They would get a definite five stars from me if their service improved too. I think they also have wifi but I didn't ask for the password.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/14/2011
We used to eat here a lot, then they either changed management or sold out or something. It is a… Read more »
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Review from adam b.
12/16/2010
Had the beef & calif. roll bento box. The california rolls were huge and almost too big to eat without splitting up. The rolls were ok. The teriyaki beef was ok to good. Everything here was better than average. The highlight was the salad.
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Review from Daniel W.
Langley, BC
5/22/2011
Didn't go so well for us here. Wife, her Mother, myself arrived for dinner 5:40, Sat. eve. Restaurant 20% full... Place was very clean, we were quickly seated at a nice booth, server pleasant. Food was slow to arrive, we ordered 3 Bento boxes and a motoyaki oyster app. My Bento box eventually arrived by itself, short of it's tempura. I asked about the motoyaki... server said "takes 20 min. to bake... will come later" ???? She left my Bento, but it wasn't for some time later that the two other Bentos arrived. My Bentos tempura had still not shown up so had to ask for that... was told was en-route. Eventually motoyaki arrived. Oysters little gamey with grit & hard particles... My sashimi was cut in huge pieces and was very soft, not firm, flavor flat. Tempura had some very oily pieces. Mother in law said her chicken teriyaki was good. Don't think we'll go back. In truth this was my first bad Japanese meal...
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Review from megan p.
1/12/2011
On my way to yvr I received an email notification that my flight was delayed. My boyfriend and I were hungry and almost to the airport so we stopped at ikura. The place is super clean and the staff helped us right away. Great sushi and like I said, perfect location right by airport. Looking forward to visiting again!
